Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told the FBI last year about a sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that was at the heart of a New York Times piece published over the weekend, reports the Washington Post.
Why it matters: Coons' letter to FBI director Christopher Wray described an account from Kavanaugh's Yale classmate Max Stier and was dated Oct. 2, 2018 — days before Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on Oct. 6. The FBI, despite conducting a supplemental background investigation into Kavanaugh after multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, did not investigate the allegation in Coons' letter.
What he said: Coons told Wray that he had "several individuals" contact him to levy allegations against Kavanaugh, but he singled out the Stier allegation as "one individual whom I would like to specifically refer to you for appropriate follow up," per the Post.
Details: Stier, who runs a nonprofit in D.C., said he saw "Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student." The story was corroborated with 2 officials who communicated with him, according to the NYT.
- Stier's allegation was uncovered during a 10-month investigation by NYT reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly and is included in their upcoming book, "'The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation."
- The Times took heat from right-wing media on Monday after it published an editor's note to its story regarding the Stier allegation, which read: "The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article."
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