Brett Kavanaugh’s Former Yale Classmate Chad Ludington Says Judge Lied About Drinking History
On Sunday, a former Yale classmate of Brett Kavanaugh responded to the judge’s testimony on Thursday by disputing the claims the Supreme Court nominee made about his drinking habits.
Chad Ludington, a college professor from North Carolina, said in a statement that he often drank alcohol with Kavanaugh and that he was a “heavy drinker.” Ludington also described Kavanaugh as “often belligerent and aggressive.”
“In recent days I have become deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale,” Ludington wrote. “When I watched Brett and his wife being interviewed on Fox News on Monday, and when I watched Brett deliver his testimony under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, I cringed.”
Ludington went on to note that although nobody should be mistreated for the rest of their life because of their history with alcohol in college, Kavanaugh’s lies alone are a strong enough reason to deny him a lifetime position on the nation’s highest court.
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“If he lied about his past actions on national television, and more especially while speaking under oath in front of the United States Senate, I believe those lies should have consequences,” said Ludington. “It is truth that is at stake, and I believe that the ability to speak the truth, even when it does not reflect well upon oneself, is a paramount quality we seek in our nation’s most powerful judges.”
Aside from Ludington, Kavanaugh’s former Yale roommate Stephen Kantrowitz also refuted a different claim Kavanaugh made last week: that he was still a virgin in college.
Here is Ludington’s full statement, as shared by the New York Times:
“I have been contacted by numerous reporters about Brett Kavanaugh and have not wanted to say anything because I had nothing to contribute about what kind of justice he would be. I knew Brett at Yale because I was a classmate and a varsity basketball player and Brett enjoyed socializing with athletes. Indeed, athletes formed the core of Brett’s social circle.
In recent days I have become deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale. When I watched Brett and his wife being interviewed on Fox News on Monday, and when I watched Brett deliver his testimony under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, I cringed. For the fact is, at Yale, and I can speak to no other times, Brett was a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker. I know, because, especially in our first two years of college, I often drank with him. On many occasions I heard Brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer. When Brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive. On one of the last occasions I purposely socialized with Brett, I witnessed him respond to a semi-hostile remark, not by defusing the situation, but by throwing his beer in the man’s face and starting a fight that ended with one of our mutual friends in jail.
I do not believe that the heavy drinking or even loutish behavior of an 18- or even 21-year-old should condemn a person for the rest of his life. I would be a hypocrite to think so. However, I have direct and repeated knowledge about his drinking and his disposition while drunk. And I do believe that Brett’s actions as a 53-year-old federal judge matter. If he lied about his past actions on national television, and more especially while speaking under oath in front of the United States Senate, I believe those lies should have consequences. It is truth that is at stake, and I believe that the ability to speak the truth, even when it does not reflect well upon oneself, is a paramount quality we seek in our nation’s most powerful judges.
I can unequivocally say that in denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking, and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, Brett has not told the truth.
I felt it was my civic duty to tell of my experience while drinking with Brett, and I offer this statement to the press. I have no desire to speak further publicly, and nothing more to say to the press at this time. I will, however, take my information to the F.B.I.
Charles (Chad) Ludington”
The FBI is currently investigating multiple sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, and the probe is set to be finished over the next week.
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