In a defiant letter sent to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh alleges that the two women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault are part of a conspiracy theory aimed at bringing him down.

“The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out,” Kavanaugh alleges.

JUST IN: Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in a new letter, writes, "These are smears, pure and simple. … I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process." https://t.co/XIkarfmGre pic.twitter.com/RDp1jY7jvk — Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) September 24, 2018

But there’s no evidence that Kavanaugh’s accusers, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, coordinated with each other in any way. Kavanaugh doesn’t provide any basis for the outlandish claim in the letter.


The New Yorker broke the news on Sunday of Ramirez’s allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party while the two of them were students at Yale. Ramirez told the publication that she had no political motivation for coming forward, but hoped her story would support Ford’s account of being assaulted by Kavanaugh while the two of them were high school students in Maryland.

“I’m afraid how this will all come back on me,” Ramirez told the publication, alluding to the smear campaign against Ford that has forced her family into hiding.

This is far from the first dubious claim Kavanaugh has made since Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court. During his confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh struggled to answer questions about his apparent involvement in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program and in the trafficking of emails hacked from Democratic congressional staffers. In fact, the very first thing that came out of Kavanaugh’s mouth after Trump nominated him in July was a blatant lie.

It is worth remembering that literally the first thing Kavanaugh said as Trump's SCOTUS nominee was a brazen lie https://t.co/CbLM9LPLTP — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2018

Kavanaugh’s claim that a conspiracy is working to bring him down was echoed on Monday by the White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Democrats are demeaning both the Senate and the Supreme Court through their partisan games and transparent attempts at character assassination. We should hear from Dr. Ford on Thursday as planned. Then we should vote. pic.twitter.com/19M2kX4qD8 — Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) September 24, 2018

Meanwhile, Ford sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Monday in which she vowed to testify on Thursday, but said in the meantime she’s “spending considerable time managing death threats.”