A woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has confessed to federal authorities that she made up the claims because she was ‘angry’ as a ‘ploy’ to hurt his political career.
Senator Chuck Grassley referred the false accuser, Judy Munro-Leighton, to the Justice Department for investigation on Friday, after she admitted she ‘just wanted to get attention’ on Thursday.
Now it’s in the hands of the Department of Justice to investigate her for potentially making ‘materially false statements’ and for ‘obstruction’.
On September 19 Senator Kamala Harris received a letter signed Jane Doe, describing with graphic detail how Kavanaugh and a friend had supposedly raped her several times in the backseat of a car, but did not mention when or where.
On Friday Senator Chuck Grassley referred false Kavanaugh accuser Judy Munro-Leighton to the Department of Justice for investigation after she said she wrote a letter to the Committee claiming she was raped by Judge Kavanaugh then on Thursday recanted and said she wasn’t
Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed onto the Supreme Court on October 6 despite multiple allegations of sexual assault, including by Christine Blasey Ford who spoke before the Committee
Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed onto the Supreme Court on October 6 after undergoing public scrutiny as multiple women came forward to accuse him of sexual assault. Christine Blasey Ford led the forefront and testified before Senate Judiciary Committee to detail how she was raped back in the summer of 1982.
Senator Harris forwarded the letter to Committee investigators.
On September 26 the Committee questioned Kavanaugh and read out the letter to him. He responded saying: ‘The whole thing is ridiculous. Nothing ever — anything like that…The whole thing is just a crock, farce, wrong, didn’t happen, not anything close.’
Later that day the Committee publicly released the transcript of the interview as well as the full Jane Doe letter.
Then Munro-Leighton emailed the Committee staff days later on October 3 with the subject line: ‘I am Jane Doe from Oceanside CA — Kavanaugh raped me’, identifying herself as the letter’s author.
‘I refuse to allow Donald J. Trump to use me or my story as an ugly chant at one of his Republican rallies. I know that Jane Doe will get no media attention, but I am deathly afraid of revealing any information about myself of my family,’ she said in the e-mail.
‘I watched in horror as Trump vilified Dr. Blasey-Ford. I will not allow this abuse to be directed toward me,’ she added.
In her e-mail she referred to her earlier letter sent to Senator Harris and even included a typed version.
Senate investigators tracked her down and interviewed her. Although she signed her letter as ‘Jane Doe of Oceanside, California’ she was found in Kentucky.
The letter: Munro-Leighton claimed to be the ‘Jane Doe’ who wrote to Senator Kamala Harris on September 19, describing with graphic detail how Kavanaugh and a friend had supposedly raped her several times in the backseat of a car, but did not mention when or where
Then Munro-Leighton emailed the Committee staff on October 3 with the subject line: ‘I am Jane Doe from Oceanside CA — Kavanaugh raped me’, identifying herself as the letter’s author
The letter was signed Jane Doe from Oceanside California. Senator Grassley said she claimed she didn’t write the letter on Thursday, recanting her earlier claims that she did. She was decades older than Kavanaugh and was found in Kentucky and could have been taking credit for the letter while the real Jane Doe remains unidentified
She sent the letter to Senator Harris labeling it as ‘urgent’ and with no return address
Investigators finally got a hold of her on November 1 by phone and spoke with her about the allegations.
Under questioning however she admitted she was never sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh and said was not the author of the original ‘Jane Doe’ letter.
When investigators asked if she was the ‘Jane Doe’ from Oceanside, California who wrote to Senator Harris she said: ‘No, no, no. I did that as a way to grab attention. I am not Jane Doe…but I did read Jane Doe’s letter. I read the transcript of the call to your Committee…I saw it online. It was news.’
She fessed that she ‘just wanted to get attention’ and that it was a ‘tactic’ and ploy’.
When asked about the e-mail she said: ‘I was angry, and I sent it out’.
Investigators asked her if she ever met Judge Kavanaugh to which she replied ‘Oh Lord, no’.
In a phone conversation with the committee she said she ‘just wanted attention’ adding that she called the Congress multiple times to oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination during his hearing process
Grassley described Munro-Leighton as a left-wing activist who was ‘decades older than Judge Kavanaugh’ and referred her to be investigated by the DOJ and FBI.
While there is a chance Munro-Leighton could have been the original Jane Doe author, it is also possibly she saw the letter’s transcript online then took credit for it and e-mailed the Committee claiming to be the author.
‘The Committee is grateful to citizens who come forward with relevant information in good faith, even if they are not one hundred percent sure about what they know. But when individuals intentionally mislead the Committee, they divert Committee resources during time-sensitive investigations and materially impede our work,’ he said.
‘Such acts are not only unfair; they are potentially illegal. It is illegal to make materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements to Congressional investigators. It is illegal to obstruct Committee investigations,’ he added.