Brett Kavanaugh worked for President George W. Bush as an associate counsel and then staff secretary in the White House. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Kavanaugh Confirmation Exclusive: Bush reaffirms support for Kavanaugh

Former President George W. Bush is standing by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a former top White House aide whose confirmation to the high court has been thrown into doubt amid sexual assault allegations.

Bush told POLITICO in a statement on Tuesday: “Laura and I have known and respected Brett Kavanaugh for decades, and we stand by our comments the night Judge Kavanaugh was nominated.”


The former president had previously said of Kavanaugh: “He is a fine husband, father, and friend – and a man of the highest integrity. He will make a superb Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Kavanaugh worked for Bush as an associate counsel and then staff secretary in the White House, where he met his wife Ashley, who was Bush’s personal secretary. Bush appointed Kavanaugh in 2006 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, after a stalled 2003 nomination.

A California research psychologist, Christine Blasey Ford, stepped forward on Sunday to identify herself as the writer of an anonymous letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), alleging that as a teenager, Kavanaugh forcibly groped her and tried to remove her clothes in a bedroom at a party. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

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“Speaking for all of the Republicans, we feel that we want to go through this process, we want to give everybody a chance to say what they have to say,” President Donald Trump said, referring to a Senate hearing slated for Monday at which both Kavanaugh and Ford have been asked to testify. Ford has not said whether she will participate.

Bush, who didn’t vote for Trump in 2016, has largely refrained from getting involved in politics since Trump took office.

