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Lawyer for Second Kavanaugh Accuser Says Republicans Refuse to Talk

The committee's Republican majority "refused" to have a phone conversation about the possible testimony of Deborah Ramirez, her lawyer said Tuesday

An attorney representing a second woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says Republicans on the decisive Senate Judiciary Committee have thwarted her efforts to testify ahead of its vote on the judge's appointment, now scheduled for Friday, NBC News reported.  

The committee's Republican majority "refused" to have a phone conversation about the possible testimony of Deborah Ramirez, and it has demanded she show all her cards before even negotiating an appearance, lawyer John Clune said Tuesday on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show."

"Here’s the problem, Rachel: They won’t talk to us," Clune said. "The demand that they keep making to us is, ‘Give us every piece of information that you have now and then we can talk about scheduling a phone call.' And that’s just not the kind of partisan game playing that our client deserves."

Ramirez emerged as a second Kavanaugh accuser Sunday after The New Yorker published a story in which she claimed Kavanaugh caused sexual contact without consent during a gathering when both attended Yale University in the 1983-84 school year.

Kavanaugh's first accuser, Christine Blasy Ford, told The New Yorker in a story published Sept. 14 that the federal judge got on top of her and put his hand over her mouth when both were in high school. The two are set to testify before the Judiciary Committee Thursday. 

Kavanaugh has denied both accusations. 

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