resident Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, to begin his confirmation to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.
- The Senate Judiciary says that staff spoke to two men who say they had "the encounter" with Christine Blasey Ford that led to sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
- The committee did not say how seriously it is taking the claims, or if any follow-up actions will be taken. The men are not identified.
- While Ford is not the only woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, she is the only one scheduled to testify publicly. The hearing is due to take place on Thursday.
Senate Judiciary Committee staff spoke separately to two men who believe that they, and not Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, had "the encounter" with Christine Blasey Ford that is the basis of her accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.
The information was released by the committee on Wednesday night, but the committee did not name the men or state if it felt their information was credible or would conduct a follow-up investigation.
The committee said that staff interviewed "a man who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis of his complaint" on September 24.
The man described the interaction in "some detail," according to the committee. They interviewed him again the next day.
He then produced two written statements about his recollection of the incident.
The committee also spoke to another by phone "with another man who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis of her allegation."
"He explained his recollection of the details of the encounter," the committee said.
The information was released as part of a day-by-day view of the committee's investigative work over the last two weeks since allegations surfaced targeting Kavanaugh.
Ford accuses Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed, groping her, and putting his hands over her mouth when she resisted at a high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the accusation and Ford has stood by her allegations.
While Ford was the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh and is the only one scheduled to publicly testify, more women have come forward with allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.
Deborah Ramirez claimed that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her in the 1980s and Julie Swetnick says that Kavanaugh was present at parties where teenage girls were plied with drugs and alcohol so that they could be "gang raped" at high school house parties.
Ford is due to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, while the panel's vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation is set for Friday.