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In a new letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said he will “not be intimidated” by the new sexual-misconduct allegations made against him. “The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out,” he wrote to Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). “The last-minute character assassination will not succeed.” His statement comes after a second accuser publicly came forward in The New Yorker alleging Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a Yale party. In his letter, Kavanaugh called the allegations published in The New Yorker “false and uncorroborated.” “There is now a frenzy to come up with something—anything—that will block this process and a vote on my confirmation from occurring. These are smears, pure and simple,” he wrote. “And they debase our public discourse. But they are also a threat to any man or woman who wishes to serve our country.”
Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school, are expected to attend a public hearing on the allegations Thursday. In her own letter to the committee, Ford said her decision to come forward was a “very difficult one” but said she felt an “urgency and civic duty” to do so. “While I am frightened, please know, my fear will not hold me back from testifying and you will be provided with answers to all of your questions,” she wrote.