Jockeying over testimony and evidence comes as pressure is growing from President Donald Trump and party leaders on undecided GOP senators to back Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images Kavanaugh Confirmation Senate asks Kavanaugh about fourth misconduct accusation The nominee denied the newest allegation.

Brett Kavanaugh denied a fourth misconduct claim against him when asked by GOP investigators earlier this week, according to an interview transcript released Wednesday night by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

An anonymous woman wrote to Sen. Cory Gardner’s (R-Colo.) office on Sept. 22 alleging that the Supreme Court nominee shoved another woman “up against the wall very aggressively and sexually” in 1998 after leaving a bar where both had been drinking, the transcript states. Kavanaugh denied any involvement in the events alleged in that complaint, which was first reported by NBC.


“It's ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, I've never done anything like that,” Kavanaugh told Judiciary panel staff when asked about the anonymous complaint on Tuesday, the transcript states. That interview was conducted under penalty of felony.

The misconduct claim from 1998 follows three separate allegations of untoward sexual behavior against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee in recent days. Gardner's office said in a statement that the letter "contained no name or no contact info" and was shared with staff in both parties after it was received.

The transcript of Kavanaugh's Tuesday interview also cited another anonymous claim of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh, dating back to 1985 and sent to the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), which the judge also flatly denied to investigators. And GOP investigators said late Wednesday they received an additional anonymous claim of rape passed along by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

Republicans also said they have spoken to a man who believes he had an encounter with Christine Blasey Ford in 1982, not Kavanaugh.

A senior Senate Democratic aide said some in the minority are concerned about Republicans "now releasing anonymous allegations in an effort to make all allegations look frivolous. We’re focusing on the ones that have names attached."

The emergence of other misconduct allegations came hours after the Judiciary panel began to investigate sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh by a third woman, conducting a new interview with the Supreme Court nominee even as President Donald Trump decries "false accusations" by her attorney, according to correspondence obtained by POLITICO on Wednesday.

The panel held a call with Kavanaugh on Wednesday evening about attorney Michael Avenatti’s client, Julie Swetnick, who has alleged that she witnessed Kavanaugh's involvement in multiple episodes of misconduct. Kavanaugh denied the allegations to the committee on Wednesday, a person briefed on the call said.

Democrats on the call protested the lack of an FBI investigation, according to a person briefed on the call. Under penalty of felony, Kavanaugh denied the claims when Avenatti made them anonymously on Tuesday and ramped up his public disavowal on Wednesday, calling Swetnick's allegation "ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone." The committee is also asking Avenatti to allow them to interview Swetnick.

Kavanaugh's fresh round of denial came as his nomination continues to wobble despite GOP vows to press ahead to a vote within days of Thursday's blockbuster scheduled hearing with his first sexual misconduct accuser, Ford. Senate Republicans who are pushing forward with a committee vote on Kavanaugh as soon as Friday questioned the political implications of Avenatti's involvement — the lawyer is best known for representing Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels — but didn't dismiss Swetnick out of hand.

“We should listen to Mr. Avenatti’s client in terms of having her come to the committee and answer questions in a bipartisan fashion with staff and move on. Now, today. Today. Today, come in right now, today," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

In her affidavit as released by Avenatti, Swetnick alleged that she has witnessed Kavanaugh's involvement in multiple episodes of sexual misconduct, charging that he was present at parties where girls were sexually assaulted, including herself.

"I don’t know who this is and this never happened," Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House. Swetnick does not allege that Kavanaugh participated in the alleged assaults, though she does claim to have seen Trump's high court nominee touch young women without their consent.

Even as several Republicans said Wednesday that they wanted to study Swetnick's claim before commenting on how it might affect Kavanaugh's nomination, the GOP's No. 2 leader indicated it would not alter the party's plans for confirmation — and cast doubt on the credibility of her statements.

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“These most recent allegations don’t have anything to do with Dr. Ford," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) said. “My view is, the longer this nomination strings out the more you’re going to get more reckless allegations that have no basis in fact."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also said Thursday's hearing should go ahead as planned.

“The hearing should go forward tomorrow because we’ll find out valuable information,” said Collins, an undecided Republican. She takes the latest allegation Wednesday “very seriously,” she said.

Separately from the inquiry into Swetnick's claim, an attorney representing a former girlfriend of Mark Judge, the Kavanaugh friend whom Ford claims was in the room during her assault by Kavanaugh, told the Judiciary panel that her client would be willing to testify if need be about her comment to the New Yorker concerning Judge's alleged excessive drinking and sexual conduct.

The woman's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, wrote that client Elizabeth Rasor "believes that it is her duty as a citizen to tell the truth about what happened."

While new potential interviewees came forward, both parties rush to build their cases — legally and politically — ahead of the Judiciary Committee's scheduled Thursday hearing about Ford's sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh, which dates back to their high school years. Ford is set to tell the committee in her opening statement that "I don’t remember as much as I would like to" of her alleged assault by Kavanaugh, but "the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget."

The 51-year-old college professor also is set to add that "I greatly appreciated" California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's August vow to not share her letter detailing her allegation "without my consent," according to copy of Ford's prepared remarks for the Judiciary panel's landmark hearing that was obtained by POLITICO.

Ford's attorneys also on Wednesday gave the committee the report on the polygraph examination she took in August regarding her allegations. A copy of the report, obtained by POLITICO, shows the examiner classifying her answers about the veracity of her account of her assault as "not indicative of deception," with a 0.002 percent probability that her answers were deceptive.

Her attorneys declined to give the committee copies of her medical records, writing that they contain "private, highly sensitive information," but they earlier submitted affidavits to the committee from her husband and three friends who said Ford told them of the incident, in some cases several years ago. Ford’s attorney will use the affidavits to support her testimony during Thursday’s session.

In his own prepared remarks for Thursday's hearing, Kavanaugh will tell senators that he "categorically and unequivocally" denies that he sexually assaulted Ford when they were both in high school more than 30 years ago and call other accusations against him "smears."

As the controversy swirled, Trump himself weighed in on Twitter about Swetnick's third allegation against Kavanaugh, slamming Avenatti as "a total low-life."At a later press conference, he said the allegations against Kavanaugh "are all false to me. I can only say that what they have done to this man is incredible."

The White House is not backing down from defending Kavanaugh amid the fresh allegations, according to a source close to Kavanaugh and his team.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Republicans to suspend the nomination proceedings and for Kavanaugh to withdraw after the new allegations surfaced.

And Deborah Ramirez, who alleges that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while both were students at Yale University, has declined so far to speak to Judiciary Committee staffers abut that incident. Ramirez’s attorneys told the committee in a Wednesday letter obtained by POLITICO that she wants an FBI inquiry as a first step but is willing to testify in the Senate.

Ramirez’s attorney William Pittard wrote to the committee’s bipartisan leadership that GOP staff “thus far has been refused to even speak with” her counsels and instead “has insisted that Ms. Ramirez first ‘provide her evidence’. Respectfully, that demand misunderstands the process.”

Separately, the Judiciary panel on Wednesday released detailed calendars of Kavanaugh’s activity in the spring and summer of 1982, which included references to trips to St. Michael’s, Md., times Kavanaugh was “grounded” and when he went to the beach. There is no explicit reference to the party described by Ford.

The jockeying over testimony and evidence comes as pressure is growing from Trump and party leaders on undecided GOP senators to back Kavanaugh.

“I might have pushed it through a lot faster,” Trump said of the Kavanaugh nomination on Wednesday at the United Nations, indicating that he didn’t even think there should have been a hearing to review Ford’s allegations. “I know this particular man, Judge Kavanaugh ... He’s a gem. He’s an absolute gem.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) attacked Democrats on Wednesday for declaring that Kavanaugh should not enjoy the presumption of innocence and belittled the strength of the allegations before the Senate. He said that after the committee hears from Ford and Kavanaugh, “then it will be time to vote.”

McConnell is planning on keeping the Senate in this weekend so he can begin the process of bringing Kavanaugh’s nomination up for a final vote early next week, pending the outcome of a committee vote scheduled for Friday.

Senate Democrats blasted the moves by Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and McConnell, accusing the GOP leadership of prejudging Ford’s testimony before she’d even made it.

A spokeswoman for Ford's legal team said later Wednesday that the attorneys had learned of the outside prosecutor the GOP hired from news reports and are still awaiting an opportunity to meet with her, but Ford is "ready for tomorrow."

But first comes Thursday’s critical hearing, which will offer each senator only five minutes each to question Ford, then Kavanaugh. Senators will be able to defer to counsel for their questions if they choose. Democrats had hoped for more time.

John Bresnahan, Eliana Johnson, Nancy Cook and Rachael Bade contributed to this report.