NO DUE DILIGENCE?

Kavanaugh’s Former Classmates Say FBI Ignored Their Testimony

Say investigators didn’t contact them, though they can corroborate part of allegations.

As the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh wrapped up Wednesday, several potential witnesses and former classmates of the Supreme Court nominee questioned both his credibility and the probe into allegations he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford. Despite President Trump’s declaration that the FBI would have “free rein” to conduct its investigation, The New Yorker reports several potential witnesses who say they can corroborate allegations against Kavanaugh had not been contacted by investigators and had not heard back even after contacting the Bureau themselves. Among them was Kenneth G. Appold, a professor at the Princeton Theological Seminary, who told The New Yorker that he was “100 percent certain” he’d been told by an eyewitness about Kavanaugh exposing himself to his former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez. Ramirez, one of two women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has spoken with the FBI about her allegations but said she was “alarmed” that investigators didn’t appear to follow up on her claims by contacting witnesses she’d provided. James Roche, Kavanaugh’s roommate at Yale, also came forward Wednesday to question the fairness of the FBI’s investigation. In a piece written for Slate, Roche said he believes Ramirez’s allegation against Kavanaugh and was more than willing to speak to investigators to provide his own firsthand knowledge of events surrounding that time period. But “I wasn’t called… The FBI didn’t find Debbie’s story because they were not looking for it,” Roche wrote. He also disputed Kavanaugh’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying the federal judge “lied under oath,” and has “shown contempt for the truth” and “the rule of law” by claiming to have only drunk occasionally during college. According to The Washington Post, the FBI interviewed just six witnesses, five of whom had a direct connection to Ford or her allegation.

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