A weekend report by The New York Times containing a new sexual-misconduct allegation against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh originally left out a key piece of information.
Adapted from a forthcoming book on Kavanaugh from two Times reporters, the report outlined in its 11th paragraph that Kavanaugh's college classmate Max Stier saw him "with his pants down" at a rowdy dorm party "where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student.
Stier contacted senators about the incident and reported it to the FBI, but it did not investigate, the report said.
On Sunday evening, The Times added an editors' note with more information about the allegation.
The note explained that friends of the female student said she couldn't recall the incident and that she declined to be interviewed for the book.
Normally, such a newsworthy bombshell would be near the top of an article, and critics pounced on the paper for the revelation's location and framing.
The journalist Laura Rozen said it appeared that The Times sought to "diminish" its reporting with "soft cultural context."
Critics and defenders of Kavanaugh are using The Times' reporting as ammo in a renewed battle over whether Kavanaugh is fit to serve on the Supreme Court.
After he was nominated to the high court last year, he faced several allegations of sexual misconduct — and he was narrowly confirmed, despite emotional testimony from the Stanford University professor Christine Blasey Ford alleging that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her at a party in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh Assaulted by lies and Fake News!" Trump tweeted.Other Republicans also leaped to Kavanaugh's defense. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said on ABC on Sunday that last year's Senate hearings had already reviewed the allegations against Kavanaugh. Cruz also accused Democrats of trying to smear Kavanaugh again.
Democrats, however, latched onto the revelations to push for Kavanaugh's removal from the Supreme Court. Over the weekend, a flurry of 2020 presidential candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, and Beto O'Rourke, called for his impeachment.
The Times' handling of the report was heavily scrutinized as well. The paper apologized for a Saturday tweet with the article from its Opinion account that partially read "Having a penis thrust in your face at a drunken dorm party may seem like harmless fun."
The paper's official communications account also tweeted an explanation about the book's reporting process.
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