Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testified Wednesday that he knew “nothing” about reportedly pervasive sexual harassment of aides by former appeals court judge Alex Kozinski, who retired last year.
Kavanaugh clerked for Kozinski in 1991-1992, but told senators during his confirmation hearings that he was blindsided by public claims from 15 women alleging unwanted physical contact and crude remarks. Kavanaugh, a D.C. circuit judge since 2006, said he had a “swirl of emotions” reading news reports about Kozinski’s alleged misconduct.
“When it became public, I think it was in December, it was a gut punch. It was a gut punch for me, for the judiciary, and I was shocked, disappointed, angry, swirl of emotions. No woman should be subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace,” he said.
Kozinski announced his retirement from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit shortly after a blog post from former clerk Heidi Bond, who worked for the judge in 2006-2007.
Bond said Kozinski showed her pornography on his computer. “I don’t think your co-clerks would be interested in this. Do you think this is photoshopped?” he allegedly asked her about an image.
Other women came forward after Bond.
One female lawyer alleged that in 2008, Kozinski abruptly hugged and kissed her on the lips without consent. A University of California at Irvine law professor told the Washington Post that Kozinski pinched her at a dinner and said he had just had sex with his wife and that dinner attendees would be “happy to know it still works.”
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