Tag Archives: sexual assault

The Wall Street Journal reports: French authorities placed the Vatican’s envoy to France under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting a local Paris official last month, the latest in a string of embarrassing episodes involving Holy See diplomats. Paris prosecutors opened an inquiry targeting Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vatican’s 74-year-old papal ambassador to France, after receiving a complaint from the office …

NPR reports: Virginia’s lieutenant governor showed no intention of resigning Saturday, the day after a second woman came forward to accuse him of sexual assault. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax released a statement late Saturday requesting that “no one rush to judgment,” and called for an FBI investigation so that “due process will provide the fairness, justice and honesty that is …

The New York Times reports: A second woman came forward Friday with claims that she had been sexually assaulted by Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, alleging that he raped her while they were students at Duke University in 2000 and demanding that he resign immediately. The statement released by a lawyer for Meredith Watson — who sent a letter to …

Via press from GLAAD: In light of the latest allegations against director Bryan Singer, GLAAD has made the difficult decision to remove Bohemian Rhapsody from contention for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category this year. This week’s story in The Atlantic documenting unspeakable harms endured by young men and teenage boys brought to light …

Bloomberg reports: Republican Senator Joni Ernst says that she was raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband physically abused her, making her one of the highest-profile women in her party to allege assaults in the era of the #MeToo movement. Ernst publicly disclosed the rape in an interview with Bloomberg News, which she decided to do …

The Washington Post reports: The global Catholic community Opus Dei in 2005 paid $977,000 to settle a sexual misconduct suit against the Rev. C. John McCloskey, a priest well-known for preparing for conversion big-name conservatives — Newt Gingrich, Larry Kudlow and Sam Brownback, among others. The woman who filed the complaint is a D.C.-area Catholic who was among the many …

Massachusetts Live reports: The sexual assault case against actor Kevin Spacey reportedly includes a Snapchat video of him touching the front of the alleged victim’s pants, according to a Massachusetts State Police investigative report. Spacey is facing a count of indecent assault on a person over the age of 14 for allegedly groping the teenage son of former WCVB news …

ABC News reports: A man arrested for allegedly touching a woman’s breast on an airplane, according to court documents, told authorities “the president of the United States says it’s OK to grab women by their private parts.” Bruce Alexander was on a Houston-to-Albuquerque flight on Sunday when he twice leaned forward and touched the breast of a woman sitting in …

Mediaite reports: Melania Trump is calling on sexual misconduct accusers to produce “hard evidence” to back up their claims. During an interview which was taped in Egypt last week as part of a one-hour special set to air Friday (which was previewed on Good Morning America Wednesday), ABC’s Tom Llamas asked the First Lady whether she believes “men in the …

Talking Points Memo reports: Pieter Hanson, whose mother’s “MY son” tweet went viral and prompted an onslaught of memes over the weekend, says he was disoriented and mortified when he found out that he’d become the poster boy of the #HimToo movement online. “It doesn’t represent me at all,” Hanson said. “I love my mom to death, but boy. … …

The Associated Press reports: The Senate is poised to take a crucial vote Friday on whether to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court as key Republican senators remain undecided amid allegations of sexual misconduct and intense protests that have divided the nation. “I said a few things I should not have said,” he wrote in an op-ed published …

Talking Points Memo reports: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday that she doesn’t plan to share any additional details from her recently revealed past sexual assault, calling the disclosure on Sunday unplanned. Speaking at The Atlantic’s Festival in Washington, D.C., the senior Trump White House aide shared that she has received negative comments since she revealed the assault during …

“It is not about Brett Kavanaugh at this point, it is about punishing everyone who looks like Brett Kavanaugh. You might wonder what in the world this story, the Kavanaugh story has to do with race. Seemingly nothing. Everyone in it is the same color. But you’d be too literal if you have concluded that, you’d be missing the point. …

Fortune Magazine reports: In light of the sexual assault allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his subsequent hearing, Donald Trump Jr. fears more for his sons than his daughters. Trump Jr., who has five children, told DailyMailTV in an interview published Monday, “I’ve got boys, and I’ve got girls. And when I see what’s going on right …

The Washington Post reports: Charles Ludington, a former varsity basketball player and friend of Kavanaugh’s at Yale, told The Washington Post on Sunday that he plans to deliver a statement to the FBI field office in Raleigh on Monday detailing violent drunken behavior by Kavanaugh in college. Ludington, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, provided a copy of …

Mediaite reports: John Oliver dedicated an entire episode of Last Week Tonight to dissecting — and brutally mocking — Brett Kavanaugh‘s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “We need to talk about Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court nominee and walking crushed beer can,” Oliver started. The HBO host took a look at Christine Blasey Ford‘s “brave and compelling” testimony, before moving …

Politico reports: White House adviser Kellyanne Conway startled CNN host Jake Tapper on Sunday by saying she herself was a victim of sexual assault. “I’m a victim of sexual assault,” Conway said on “State of the Union” as part of an extended statement in defense of both Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the rights of those who have been …

CNBC reports: A lawyer for Mark Judge, the high school buddy of embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, told CNBC that Judge “will answer any and all questions posed to him” by the FBI about serious sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. “If the FBI or any law enforcement agency requests Mr. Judge’s cooperation, he will answer any and all questions …

The New York Times reports: The American Bar Association called Thursday evening for postponing a vote on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court until sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others are investigated by the F.B.I. The request was made in a letter from the A.B.A.’s president, Robert M. Carlson, to the Senate Judiciary …

A new thread for the second half of this exhausting day. Frank Bruni recaps for the New York Times: Christine Blasey Ford didn’t try to play it cool. She didn’t worry about being perfectly composed. When she needed caffeine, she asked for caffeine. When nerves got the better of her, she giggled nervously. She smiled at odd times, the way …