Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) forwarded a letter from Tad Low, who says he was an undergraduate student at Yale in 1987-88, and was present at a “shocking ceremony” taking place inside Kavanaugh’s fraternity house, involving “a semi-circle of cheering frat brothers watching a local prostitute perform a public sex act.”

“I can’t say for certain that Judge Kavanaugh was present in the frat house during the event,” Low admits, but suggests the FBI could examine his “meticulous personal calendars” to check.

“This allegation has all the makings of a tabloid headline,” Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent back in reply, pointing out that the accuser “apparently created a television show in which people strip while dancing to their favorite music.”

“All he alleges is that he once witnessed a salacious party at a house owned by Judge Kavanaugh’s undergraduate fraternity,” Grassley wrote, noting that Kavanaugh had already graduated and was attending Yale Law at that time.

“We have reached a new level of absurdity with this allegation,” Grassley argued, saying it amounted to a guilt-by-association tactic that is “the basest form of political attack and deserves unqualified condemnation.” Grassley signed off by – politely – telling Coons and the Democrats to stop wasting the committee’s time.

Coons was the senator who took the lead last Friday in persuading Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) to condition his vote on opening a FBI background investigation into accusations against Kavanaugh. Democrats had demanded a FBI probe repeatedly during last week’s hearing. Now, however, the minority is saying that a one-week deadline set for the probe is too short, and that it should be unlimited in time and scope.

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Meanwhile, the New York Times published a story about Kavanaugh getting into a fight at a bar in 1985 and throwing an ice cube at someone, while NBC News interviewed Julie Swetnick, a woman who originally claimed Kavanaugh and a friend were involved in spiking the punch at gang-rape parties she supposedly attended. Swetnick walked back most of her claims, now saying that Kavanaugh was “present” at the parties, but maintained that “if” he had anything to do with the alleged abuse he shouldn’t become a Justice.

Democrats have also argued that Kavanaugh “lied” about how much he drank in high school and college, and that his “temperament” disqualified him from the Supreme Court regardless of the outcome of the FBI’s investigation.

Republicans had hoped to have Kavanaugh confirmed before the Supreme Court goes back into session. The court convened on Monday with the ninth seat empty, however. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to have a vote on Kavanaugh “this week,” no matter what.

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