WASHINGTON (AP) – As several Democratic presidential candidates called for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, newly disclosed allegations are reviving questions about the rush to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee at the height of the #MeToo movement.
The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh last October after emotional, widely watched hearings over an allegation of a sexual assault from his high school years. The vote provided a signature achievement for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, fulfilling a long-held Republican desire to pack the Supreme Court and much of the federal judiciary with conservatives.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that Kavanaugh faced a separate allegation from his time at Yale University and that the FBI did not investigate the claim. Still, many Democrats are reluctant to reprise the controversy that likely cost the party Senate seats in the midterm elections.
McConnell opened the Senate on Monday saying the new round of allegations against Kavanaugh “felt a little like Groundhog Day.” He called the Times report “yet another poorly sourced, thinly reported unsubstantiated allegation.”
While impeachment proceedings against Kavanaugh are extremely unlikely, the revelations raise fresh questions about the GOP rush to push Kavanaugh’s confirmation.