In Senate Testimony, Kavanaugh Implicated Georgetown Prep 'Friends' For Alcohol-Related 'Trouble'
During the third day of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Kennedy (R-La.) questioned Kavanaugh about “getting into trouble” at the elite all-boys school Georgetown Prep, eliciting nervous laughter.
Dodging the question, Kavanaugh told Kennedy that at Georgetown Prep, “I had a lot of friends, I’ve talked a lot about my friends. And they’ve been here. So it was very formative.”
When Kennedy pressed his question about “trouble,” Kavanaugh replied, “That’s encompassed by the friends, I think.”
Kennedy concluded by saying he’s decided to not ask Kavanaugh whether his underage friends were “sneaking a few beers past Jesus.” Kavanaugh shook his head, said “Hey,” and giggled again in response to a comment not caught by the microphone.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) took the microphone, saying, “I for one am grateful for the senator’s self-restraint.”
It is unknown what motivated Kennedy’s questions at the time, although Kavanaugh’s close friend and classmate Mike G. Judge recorded in his book Wasted the binge drinking that dominated those years at Georgetown Prep. Similarly, Kavanaugh’s yearbook entry made repeated references to keg parties and vomiting.
After the hearing, it was revealed that professor Christine Blasey Ford had informed members of Congress that Kavanaugh and Judge had sexually assaulted her while they were all in high school.
Full transcript:
KENNEDY: I can tell from your testimony from the last three days, or two days, that high school were formative years for you. You went to Georgetown Preparatory School?KAVANAUGH: I did, Georgetown Prep. Jesuit high school here. Um. It was very formative.
KENNEDY: What was it like for you? What were you like? Were you uh . . . Did you ever get in trouble?
KAVANAUGH: Nervous, high-pitched laughter.
KENNEDY: Were you more of a John Boy Walton-type or a Ferris Bueller-type?
KAVANAUGH: Nervous, high-pitched laughter continues.
KENNEDY: These ladies are old enough to understand.
KAVANAUGH: I loved sports, first and foremost. I think that, uh, I worked hard at school. I had a lot of friends, I’ve talked a lot about my friends. And they’ve been here. So it was very formative. Uh, and when I think back on it . . .
KENNEDY: You left out the trouble part.
KAVANAUGH: Ummm, right. I think that’s encompassed by the friends, I think. Nervous laughter.
KENNEDY: You were an athlete?
KAVANAUGH: Yes, I played football and basketball. My coach, my football coach was named Jim Fagan. And he’s a legendary football coach. For the last eight weeks, where I’ve been in a slightly different situation than I’ve been in the previous fifty-three years in terms of where I could go freely, I’ve been working out on weekends at my old high school, running on the track and ran into him out there. It was awesome to run into him. He still helps out with the football team. And he sent me a text three nights ago. So. It’s awesome.
KENNEDY: That’s all I’m going to get out of you? I understand. All right. Let me yield back. Strike that, Mr. Chairman. Just in case we have to have to have the time, I’m going to reserve my two hours and ten minutes. I’m sorry, my two minutes and seven seconds. Now, see, I was going to ask the judge, if not him, but if any of his underage running buddies had ever tried to sneak a few beers past Jesus or something like that in high school. But I’m not going to go there.
KAVANAUGH: shaking head… Hey…
someone off-mike: (?) I want you to. (?)
KAVANAUGH: More high-pitched laughter.
CORNYN: I for one am grateful for the senator’s self-restraint.