Kavanaugh's Yale freshman roommate says when he drank heavily, he got 'aggressive and belligerent'

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last updated 26 September 2018

On Monday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's freshman roommate at Yale, James Roche, elaborated on a statement he gave to The New Yorker about Kavanaugh's alcohol consumption and social network during the period their classmate Deborah Ramirez says Kavanaugh stuck his penis in her face at a party. "Brett and I did not socialize beyond the first few days of freshman year," he said. "We talked at night as freshman roommates do and I would see him as he returned from nights out with his friends." Roche added:

It is from this experience that I concluded that although Brett was normally reserved, he was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk. I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk. ... Based on my time with Debbie, I believe her to be unusually honest and straightforward and I cannot imagine her making this up. Based on my time with Brett, I believe that he and his social circle were capable of the actions that Debbie described. [James Roche]

Fox News' Martha MacCallum asked Kavanaugh about Roche's characterization on Monday, and Kavanaugh repeated that he has "always treated women with dignity and respect" and emphasized that Roche "does not corroborate the incident at all." When McCallum asked, Kavanaugh said he's "not going to speculate about [Roche's] motives" and there was never a time when he drank so much he couldn't remember the night before.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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