The chief of police in Montgomery County, Md., says his officers are not looking into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, appearing to contradict a local news report that “investigators” were looking at a potential second high school misconduct allegation.
“I have spoken with my chief of detectives, and neither of us have any knowledge of anyone coming forward to us to report any allegations involving Judge Kavanaugh,” police Chief J. Thomas Manger told the Washington Examiner in an email.
The Montgomery County Sentinel reported Monday that “Montgomery County investigators” were “looking at” a “potential second sexual assault complaint” dating from Kavanaugh’s senior year the Georgetown Prep high school “after an anonymous witness came forward this weekend.”
The local publication did not identify the “investigators” as police, but ordinarily county police would investigate an alleged crime before a decision on whether to prosecute.
The Montgomery County Sentinel reported that the allegation “would potentially bring the number to four women accusing Kavanaugh of wrongdoing.”
The initial allegation against Kavanaugh was made by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, who is likely to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week about Kavanaugh allegedly attempting to forcibly remove her clothes when she was 15 and he was 17.
On Sunday, a former classmate at Yale University, Deborah Ramirez, accused Kavanaugh of flashing her during a party and forcing her to touch his penis. Kavanaugh denies the allegations from both Ford and Ramirez.
Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels, separately claimed on Twitter to represent a woman with “credible information regarding Judge Kavanaugh and Mark Judge,” who Ford said witnessed her alleged assault.
Avenatti did not respond to an email regarding whether he was involved with the reported claim in Montgomery County. A spokesman for the Montgomery County State’s Attorneys Office also did not respond to an inquiry into whether they were reviewing a new claim.
Although Kavanaugh graduated high school approximately 35 years ago, there’s no statute of limitation for certain sex crimes in Maryland, including attempted rape, though significant questions of evidence exist.
Update:
On Monday afternoon, the local publication modified its reporting, changing the original wording “Montgomery County investigators” to “Government investigators.”
The revised report now reads: “Government investigators confirmed Monday they’re aware of a potential second sexual assault complaint in the county against former Georgetown Prep student and Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh.”
The article’s author wrote on Twitter, “We updated the story so people would not think that MoCo police were our source.” The journalist did not elaborate either on the source of his reporting or the investigators with whom the reported Kavanaugh misconduct witness communicated.
