NYT Reporters Say They Uncovered New Sexual Misconduct Claim Against Kavanaugh

Two New York Times reporters say theyve uncovered a previously unreported account of sexual misconduct allegedly carried out by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was a student at Yale.

In an op-ed for the Times , Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly said they learned of the alleged misconduct during a 10-month investigation of Kavanaughs life at prep school and Yale, including the assault accusations, for their upcoming book, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation.

According to Pogrebin and Kelly, Max Stier, a classmate of Kavanaughs at Yale, told senators and the FBI that he once saw Kavanaugh with his pants down while his friends pushed his penis into the hands of a female student during a dorm party.

The FBI didnt investigate Stiers account, and Stier has declined to discuss it publicly, according to the Times. However, Pogrebin and Kelly said they corroborated the story with two officials who have communicated with Stier.

What Stier said he witnessed is similar to an allegation lodged against Kavanaugh by his former classmate Deborah Ramirez, which was first reported by The New Yorkers Ronan Farrow last September.

Two @nytimes reporters, @rpogrebin and @katekelly, spent months independently reporting out Deborah Ramirezs allegation against Brett Kavanaugh and found it credibleand documented another serious claim of misconduct with an eyewitness: https://t.co/XquETEtHI1

Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) September 15, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Ronan Farrow","author_url":"https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow","cache_age":86400,"description":"Two @nytimes reporters, @rpogrebin and @katekelly, spent months independently reporting out Deborah Ramirezs allegation against Brett Kavanaugh and found it credibleand documented another serious claim of misconduct with an eyewitness: https://t.co/XquETEtHI1 Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) September 15, 2019\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Ronan Farrow on 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Two @nytimes reporters, @rpogrebin and @katekelly , spent months independently reporting out Deborah Ramirezs allegation against Brett Kavanaugh and found it credibleand documented another serious claim of misconduct with an eyewitness: https://t.co/XquETEtHI1
Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) September 15, 2019

Ramirez said that she was at a dorm room party with Kavanaugh and several others playing a drinking game when Kavanaugh pulled down his pants and thrust his penis at her. She pushed him away, she told The New Yorker last year, causing her to touch his penis.

Ramirez came forward with her accusations last September after Christine Blasey Ford publicly accused the then-Supreme Court nominee of drunkenly pinning her to a bed and trying to take off her clothes until she broke free and left while they were in high school.

Pogrebin and Kelly looked into both Ramirezs and Fords claims for their upcoming book, which takes a deeper look into Kavanaughs prep school and Ivy League days in an attempt to piece together who he is, according to a summary.

In their investigation, the Times reporters said they talked to at least seven people who heard of Ramirezs account long before Mr. Kavanaugh was a federal judge, including two former Yale students who learned of it days after it allegedly occurred.

While promoting Pogrebin and Kellys work, The New York Times opinion section posted a tweet that was meant to promote Pogrebin and Kellys work but instead appeared dismissive of sexual harassment.

The tweet suggested that having a penis thrust in your face at a drunken dorm party may seem like harmless fun.

The Times deleted the tweet after people pointed out that sexual harassment should never be described as harmless or fun.

We have deleted an earlier tweet to this article that was poorly phrased, the papers social media retraction said.

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Love to log into Twitter after the first episode of Unbelievable triggered a panic attack to see this now-deleted but very, very, very bad New York Times tweet.

I am so tired. https://t.co/2HMCaFflTi

Caitlin Tremblay (@ctrembz) September 14, 2019","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Caitlin Tremblay","author_url":"https://twitter.com/ctrembz","cache_age":86400,"description":"Love to log into Twitter after the first episode of Unbelievable triggered a panic attack to see this now-deleted but very, very, very bad New York Times tweet. I am so tired. https://t.co/2HMCaFflTi Caitlin Tremblay (@ctrembz) September 14, 2019\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Caitlin Tremblay on 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Love to log into Twitter after the first episode of Unbelievable triggered a panic attack to see this now-deleted but very, very, very bad New York Times tweet.

I am so tired. https://t.co/2HMCaFflTi
Caitlin Tremblay (@ctrembz) September 14, 2019

Clarification: Language has been amended to indicate that Stier reported his account of Kavanaugh at a Yale dorm party directly to lawmakers and the FBI, but declined to talk about it publicly.