Washington (CNN) Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said he reached out to disgraced Judge Alex Kozinski after his resignation because he was "concerned about his mental health."

Kozinski resigned in December 2017 after multiple former clerks and junior staffers came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him. Kavanaugh said during his confirmation hearings last week that when he learned about the allegations when they were made public, it was a "gut punch" for him.

Kavanaugh once clerked for Kozinski, but in his written responses to senators on the Judiciary Committee, said that he was not aware of the misconduct until it was made public by news outlets.

"And when I heard, when it became public I think it was in December it was a gut punch. It was a gut punch for me. It was a gut punch for the judiciary, and I was shocked and disappointed, angry, a swirl of emotions," Kavanaugh recalled at his Senate hearing last week.

Kozinski served as chief judge on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals for several years.

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