Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who will be a pivotal vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, said the second woman to come out and accuse the judge of sexual misconduct should be contacted by the Senate Judiciary Committee for questioning under oath.
“I believe that the committee investigators should reach out to Deborah Ramirez in order to question her under oath about what she is alleging happened,” she said to CNN.
Collins rejected the idea however of having Ramirez testify during a hearing already scheduled this week. “No because there hasn’t even been an interview of her yet and I think that needs to take place first,” she said.
Soon after it was revealed that staff lawyers are seeking to interview Ramirez and present to the committee their findings. Committee members would then decide how to handle the accusation.
Ramirez’s allegation went public Sunday evening with a New Yorker report. Ramirez, who was a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s, alleged Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a college party, put his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away.
She follows California professor Christine Blasey Ford accusing Kavanaugh of drunkenly forcing himself on her at a Maryland party while they were both in high school during the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh vehemently denies both allegations.
Ford is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Kavanaugh, who denies the allegation, is set to testify again afterward.
Collins told CNN that she personally won’t make a decision on whether to support Kavanaugh until after the hearing Thursday.
