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FBI AGENTS INTERVIEWED one of the three women who have accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as Republicans and Democrats quarrelled over whether the bureau would have enough time and freedom to conduct a thorough investigation before a high-stakes vote on his nomination to the nation’s highest court.
The White House insisted it was not “micromanaging” the new one-week review of Kavanaugh’s background but some Democratic lawmakers claimed the White House was keeping investigators from interviewing certain witnesses.
President Donald Trump, for his part, tweeted that no matter how much time and discretion the FBI was given, “it will never be enough” for Democrats trying to keep Kavanaugh off the bench.
And even as the FBI explored the past allegations that have surfaced against Kavanaugh, another Yale classmate came forward to accuse the federal appellate judge of being untruthful in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the extent of his drinking in college.
In speaking to FBI agents, Deborah Ramirez detailed her allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in the early 1980s when they were students at Yale University, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Kavanaugh has denied Ramirez’s allegation.
The person familiar with Ramirez’s questioning, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said she also provided investigators with the names of others who she said could corroborate her account.
But Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, has not been contacted by the FBI since Trump on Friday ordered the agency to take another look at the nominee’s background, according to a member of Ford’s team.
Kavanaugh has denied assaulting Ford.
In a statement released Sunday, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s said he is “deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterisation by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale.”
Charles “Chad” Ludington, who now teaches at North Carolina State University, said he was friend of Kavanaugh’s at Yale and that Kavanaugh was “a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker.”
“On many occasions I heard Brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer. When Brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive,” Ludington said.
While saying that youthful drinking should not condemn a person for life, Ludington said he was concerned about Kavanaugh’s statements under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Speaking to the issue of the scope of the FBI’s investigation, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said White House counsel Don McGahn, who is managing Kavanaugh’s nomination, “has allowed the Senate to dictate what these terms look like, and what the scope of the investigation is.”
The White House isn’t intervening. We’re not micromanaging this process. It’s a Senate process. It has been from the beginning, and we’re letting the Senate continue to dictate what the terms look like.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said the investigation will be “limited in scope” and “will not be a fishing expedition. The FBI is not tasked to do that.”
Senate Judiciary Committee member Jeff Flake requested an investigation last Friday — after he and other Republicans on the panel voted along strict party lines in favour of Kavanaugh’s confirmation — as a condition for his own subsequent vote to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.
Another committee member, Senator Lindsey Graham said yesterday that testimony would be taken from Ramirez and Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge, who has been named by two of three women accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
“I think that will be the scope of it. And that should be the scope of it,” Graham said.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called on the White House and the FBI to provide the written directive regarding the investigation’s scope. In a letter Sunday, she also asked for updates on any expansion of the original directive.
Republicans control 51 seats in the closely divided 100-member Senate and cannot afford to lose more than one vote on confirmation.
Collins and Flake spoke throughout the weekend.
Investigation
Trump initially opposed such an investigation as allegations began mounting but relented and ordered one on Friday. He later said the FBI has “free rein.”
“They’re going to do whatever they have to do, whatever it is they do. They’ll be doing things that we have never even thought of,” Trump said Saturday as he departed the White House for a trip to West Virginia.
“And hopefully at the conclusion everything will be fine.”
He revisited the “scope” question later Saturday on Twitter, writing in part, “I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion.”
Sanders said Trump, who has vigorously defended Kavanaugh but also raised the slight possibility of withdrawing the nomination should damaging information be found, “will listen to the facts.”
At least three women have accused Kavanaugh of years-ago misconduct. He denies all the claims.
The third woman, Julie Swetnick, accused Kavanaugh and Judge of excessive drinking and inappropriate treatment of women in the early 1980s, among other accusations.
Kavanaugh has called her accusations a “joke.” Judge has said he “categorically” denies the allegations.
Swetnick’s lawyery, Michael Avenatti, said on Saturday that his client had not been contacted by the FBI but was willing to cooperate with investigators.
Ford also has said Judge was in the room when a drunken Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.
Judge has said he will cooperate with any law enforcement agency that will “confidentially investigate” sexual misconduct allegations against him and Kavanaugh. Judge has also denied misconduct allegations.
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no matter what anything we do is killing us.
Just fecking live life and enjoy it as you never know when you will die. Try and lead a fairly healthy life style and try extend your life but dont be a prune either.
Here today gone tomorrow enjoy enjoy. Get out smile have fun just be happy.
just as well we are all doctors of neurology as you can see those brain scan images are absolutely shocking. I spat my cornflakes out when I saw the fifth image, god help us all.
After all these years of drinking Guinness, it turns out its all the iron that’s effecting my brain. Who’d a thought it?
Nanny had it, horrible illness. If Im ever diagnosed, and should no new treatments emerge, I’d go abroad for assisted suicide. No way Id put my family through years of watching me deteriorate.
This link to red meat is alarming, Im not particularly a red meat man but I eat 100g of spinach a day! Ffs
That’s 2.7mg of Iron
Adam, you’d probably forget.
Spinach also contain oxylates which reduce iron absorption, so don’t worry.
just what u want to read after taking a multi vitiman and iron tablet!
I can never remember whether I’ve taken my iron supplement or not…now I know why!!!
Taking any supplements without a doctors’s instructions is stupid and almost certainly a waste of money. As someone said, vitamin supplements just give you expensive piss. You’re just been conned by the so called health food shops.
who said i wasnt taking them under doctors instructions?
Abi, I give up. Who said it?
This story needs to run every day. How else am I going to remember not to eat red meat?
High concentrations of iron in strawberries and broccoli too. In fact, most green veg and fruits. Better stay away from them too
risteard,
red meat is a killer, we don’t need it.
Interestingly, there are two different types of iron (heme and non-heme). Plant-based iron is non-heme, meaning the type of iron in meat/animal products is different to plant-based iron.
I’m not sure if this study looked at that, but it’s worth noting for those wondering about iron from fruit/veg – more here: http://www.irondisorders.org/iron-we-consume
I don’t think it’s that haem and non haem iron are different types of iron, rather they are different sources of iron. The different types of iron would be the iron ions Ferrous and Ferric iron (Fe2+ and Fe3+ respectively).
Ferrous iron is most common in meat based haem iron and ferric iron is most common in non-haem plant iron.
Meat based haem iron is much more readily absorbed by your body than plant derived non-haem iron.
Ferric non-haem iron needs to be supplemented by various foods because it requires various acids and peptides to facilitate the conversion of any non-haem iron in food to its absorbable ferrous state…
I think.
I eat red meat everyday and have done so for the past 20/30 years and it hasn’t done me any harm!
I eat red meat everyday and have done so for the past 20/30 years and it hasn’t done me any harm!
I eat red meat everyday and have done so for the past 20/30 years and it hasn’t done me any harm!
I eat red meat everyday and have done so for the past 20/30 years and it hasn’t done me any harm!
You remind me of a friend who used to chant, “I used to be a Hare Krishna but I’l alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, I’m alright now, …………………………” :))
Ah me hoop, read yesterday that the flu jab prevents heart attacks. Didn’t work for my dad though!
Didn’t Brian Cowan say we could all live on cheese!
I love the way they discover these things.
Alzheimer is now caused by red meat.
My nan and her two sister had this dreadful disease and I highly doubt red meat had anything to do with it, or Iron suplement for that matter Nan was born in 1926 in Poland and like her sisters, both older, lived through the 2nd World War Believe me , red meat was not on their menu, any meat was a treat. Even after the war and after we were born my nan was never a big meat eater She would have chicken every now and then but that was about it. Same with her sisters They always said they witnessed too much to be able to enjoy a bloody steak
Anyways, three sister had iron deficiency for years and all tree died of Alzheimer
It doesn’t say that red meat causes Alzheimer’s. One of the doctors is specifically quoted as saying “this does not mean that it is the sole cause of Alzheimer’s but may contribute to it”. I find it unbelievable that whenever any scientific research is published or discussed that some people immediately resort to anecdote. People should read articles properly or go and read the actual research paper and see what the research actually found, how it was found ie. methodology and then leave anecdotes out of the mix. Dr Ben Goldacre has an excellent book out called Bad science and he explains certain methodologies used in research that make it relatively easy for the layman (like me) to at least hazard an informed opinion on the results of research.
So it was the Chicken !!!!!
This has been suspected in the Down syndrome community for years where the advice by certain doctors is to never give an iron supplement. People with down Syndrome have a very high incidence of Alzheimer’s disease due to many factors mostly due to oxidative stress but iron has been suspected of increasing mental deterioration too.
True Catherine. In fact I believe up to date research finds that supplements in general are at best ineffective and at worst life shortening.
I disagree. As a sufferer of anemia I can’t function without ir
*iron supplements
Red meat tastes good.
We do not need to eat red meat or any animal flesh. Its true to say that eventually the animals get their revenge.
How can supposedly sane minded empathic people treat aninmals the way we do.
Cows/Chickens/Pigs/Farmed Fish
We deserve what we get.
Think of those poor potatoes too, looking into their little eyes breaks my heart
Without doubt that’s good Karma but a load of cr4p.
what about that poor horse you’re ” Gallopin” ,Hogan ?
I wont get it so my wife only gets me a steak once a month.
First of all, this study is purely correlational… The word “cause” should not be used at all! Unless more research demonstrating a stronger correlation is revealed I don’t see why people should stop consuming red meat or iron supplements. Secondly, I wish journalists would actually give you the citation details so it would be easier to find the paper with the details. Bloody annoying!!
Indeed it could be that the disease causes the increase in Iron! However, don’t take supplements unless your doctor tells you to.
Now everyone stop mopping about the place and smile and wave.
This is just one study, nothing can be based on just one study, so until many more have ran studies on this I’ll still be enjoying my steak ! Although I do agree there’s no real need for supplements in our lives as long as we’re having a varied diet.
Steak for dinner it is.
have your say