So it is.
And, dammit, this guy is talking about being drunk and aggressive in 2001, and asking his friends to keep it confidential?
‘I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out’
“I drank beer with my friends,” Kavanaugh yelled in his opening statement. “Almost everyone did. Sometimes I had too many beers. Sometimes others did. I liked beer. I still like beer. But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out, and I never sexually assaulted anyone.”
It shouldn’t matter if someone who likes to drink beer or used to binge-drink to the point of blacking out goes on to have a successful career. What is at issue is that Blasey alleged that Kavanaugh was “visibly drunk” when the alleged assault took place. It’s possible Kavanaugh had drunk too much to remember the event.
Kavanaugh repeatedly stated that he has never blacked out in his life. Numerous people who knew him in college and high school said this was likely impossible, based on the number of times they saw him staggering drunk.
“Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him,” said Dr. Liz Swisher, a college friend of Kavanaugh’s. “I watched him drink more than a lot of people. He’d end up slurring his words, stumbling.”
“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,” said James Roche, a freshman-year college roommate of Kavanaugh’s. “I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that while at Yale, he was a big partier, often drank to excess, and there had to be a number of nights where he does not remember,” said Lynn Brookes, a college classmate.
Kavanaugh and his friends were “loud, obnoxious frat boy-like drunks,” who were the “hardest drinkers on campus,” according to Kit Winter, Kavanaugh’s other freshman-year college roommate.
“I definitely saw him on multiple occasions stumbling drunk where he could not have rational control over his actions or clear recollection of them,” said Daniel Livan, who lived in Kavanaugh’s dorm. “His depiction of himself is inaccurate.”
“The fact is, at Yale, and I can speak to no other times, Brett was a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker,” said Chad Ludington, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s. “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.”
Ludington added, “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.”
Kavanaugh’s assertion that he has never blacked out from drinking is further challenged by his own stories and emails.
In a 2014 speech at Yale, Kavanaugh recounted his fun partying days with a story about “falling out of the bus onto the front steps of Yale Law School at about 4:45 a.m.” after attending a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. He then admitted that he and a friend had to put together their memory of the drunken night the next day.
“Indeed, as a classmate of mine and I were reminiscing and piecing things together the other day, we think we had more than a few beers before the banquet,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh, in an email to friends after a fun weekend vacation, apologized for getting belligerent after losing games of dice and said he didn’t remember it happening.
“Excellent time,” reads Kavanaugh’s email dated Sept. 10, 2001. “Apologies to all for missing Friday (good excuse), arriving late Saturday (weak excuse), and growing aggressive after blowing still another game of dice (don’t recall). Reminders to everyone to be very, very vigilant w/r/t confidentiality on all issues and all fronts, including with spouses.” (Emphasis added.)
