NYT Prints 1983 Letter From High School Kavanaugh

He jokes about 'loud, obnoxious drunks'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2018 6:47 AM CDT
NYT Prints 1983 Letter From High School Kavanaugh
The entrance to the Georgetown Preparatory School Bethesda, Md., is shown, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. me Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Now, though, Judge’s memory has drawn a blank.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

The New York Times has unearthed an artifact from Brett Kavanaugh's youth: A letter preparing for "Beach Week" in the summer of 1983. In it, the 18-year-old Kavanaugh gives seven Georgetown Prep classmates details of a rented condo in Ocean City, Md.—and warns of the dangers of eviction. "Any girls we can beg to stay there are welcomed with open ..." he writes to fellow members of what classmates describe as a hard-partying clique of football players. The first students to arrive should "warn the neighbors that we’re loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us," writes Kavanaugh, whose teenage drinking has been in the spotlight amid sexual assault claims. More:

  • No biggie. The conservative Federalist accuses the Times of creating a "hit piece" based on nothing more than Kavanaugh's "party planning." The White House was also dismissive: "It seems the New York Times is committed to embarrassing Judge Kavanaugh with three-decade-old stories of adolescent drinking," said spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.

  • FBI probe expected to wrap up soon. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that the FBI, which had been given until Friday to finish its investigation of the Kavanaugh allegations, could wrap things up as soon as Wednesday. The findings will be shown to senators, but top Senate Republicans have given conflicting statements on whether they will be made public.
  • Ford wants to be interviewed. Christine Blasey Ford's lawyers have written to the FBI to complain that their client hasn't been interviewed in the investigation of her allegations. "It is inconceivable that the FBI could conduct a thorough investigation of Dr. Ford’s allegations without interviewing her, Judge Kavanaugh, or the witnesses we have identified in our letters to you," her lawyers wrote.
  • Who has the FBI spoken to? The Washington Post includes on that list Kavanaugh friends Mike Judge and Tim Gaudette, who hosted a party on July 1, 1983, that some suspect was where Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted Ford.

  • Chuck Schumer on the attack. The Senate minority leader said Tuesday that Kavanaugh had "grossly mischaracterized" his relationship with alcohol when he testified. "Even if you feel that what happened when he was 15 and 18 shouldn’t matter, what happens when he’s 53 does matter and his credibility is in real doubt," Schumer said. “Doubt enough, I think, for most Americans to say, ‘This man does not belong on the Supreme Court.'"
  • Chuck Grassley wants more evidence. The AP reports that Sen. Chuck Grassley, GOP chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote to Ford Tuesday night demanding evidence including notes from therapy sessions and recordings that might exist of her taking a polygraph test. He said the committee has received a letter from a man who says he is Ford's former boyfriend and saw her coaching people on how to relax during a polygraph test. Ford told senators last week that she had never given tips to anybody on taking polygraph tests.
(At a rally in Mississippi Tuesday night, Trump mocked Ford's testimony.)

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