One name kept coming up over and over during yesterday’s (Sept. 27) polarizing Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: Mark Judge.
Judge, who has been hiding out (paywall) at a friend’s beach house in Delaware, was not present at the hearing. But Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when the two were in high school, stated multiple times that he was key to helping reconstruct the timeline of events that allegedly took place more than 30 years ago.
Described as Kavanaugh’s wingman in high school, Judge has become a central character in the ongoing Supreme Court saga in light of Ford’s claims and recent sexual-misconduct allegations from two other women. His 1997 memoir titled Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk has been scrutinized since these allegations have come to light, in part because it includes a character named Bart O’Kavanaugh and also appears to depict a pattern of excessive drinking in high school.
After Ford’s and Kavanaugh’s testimonies yesterday, Judge sent a letter to the committee (pdf)—his second, after one was sent on his behalf by his lawyer on Sept. 18—reiterating he doesn’t recall the alleged assault.
Read the full letter bellow:
Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein:
As I stated in my attorney [sic], Barbara Ven Gelder’s September 18, 2018, letter, I did not ask to be involved in this matter nor did anyone ask me to be involved. We have told the Committee that I do not want to comment about these events publicly. As a recovering alcoholic and a cancer survivor, I have struggled with depression and anxiety. As a result, I avoid public speaking.
Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school, but we have not spoken directly in several years. I do not recall the events described by Dr. Ford in her testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee today. I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.
I am knowingly submitting this letter under penalty of felony.
Sincerely yours,
Mark Judge
Witnessed By:
Barbara Ven Gelder, counsel for Mark Judge