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Trump blasts Kavanaugh accuser as ‘all messed up,’ Lisa Murkowski bucks Republicans

Brett Kavanaugh is fighting back against allegations he sexually abused two women, denying any such behavior in his lifetime.

President Donald Trump goes on an angry rant about one of Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh's accusers during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters.
President Donald Trump goes on an angry rant about one of Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh's accusers during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, at U.N. Headquarters.Read moreEvan Vucci / AP Photo

A day after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh went on the offensive during an unprecedented interview on Fox News, President Trump blasted one of the Supreme Court nominee's accusers in an angry rant at the United Nations, claiming she was "totally inebriated and all messed up" and that Democrats were playing a "con game" and don't really believe her accusations.

"It's a con game they're playing, they're really con artists. They don't believe it themselves, okay," Trump said of Democrats. "They know [Kavanaugh's] a high-quality person. They don't believe it …"

"I can tell you that false accusations of all types are made against a lot of people," Trump, who has been accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct by at least 11 women, added. "This is a high quality person and I certainly hope, it would be a horrible insult to our country if this doesn't happen. And it would be a horrible horrible thing for future political people, judges… it cannot be allowed to happen."

Deborah Ramirez, a Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh, claims the Supreme Court nominee exposed himself to her while they were classmates at Yale University. The allegations were reported by the New Yorker Sunday night. She is the second woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct; last week, Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of groping her during a high school party. Kavanaugh vehemently denies both allegations.

Trump's comments about Ramirez's accusations come as Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, considered one of the few Republican swing votes on Kavanaugh's nomination, told the New York Times no one should prejudge sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.

"We are now in a place where it's not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified," Murkowski told the Times. "It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed."

>> READ MORE: Kavanaugh allegations stir old trauma for sexual violence survivors, prompting stories of #WhyIDidntReport

Murkowski also bucked her own party's position Tuesday by suggesting an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct was warranted.

"It would sure clear up all the questions, wouldn't it?" Murkowski told CNN's Manu Raju.

Here are other developments in the Kavanaugh nomination.

Democrats will ask questions during hearing, Republicans won’t

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley confirmed to CNN that Republicans have hired an outside counsel to question Ford and Kavanaugh during hearing on Thursday, instead of allowing the committee's 11 Republican senators question the witnesses themselves. The outside counsel is a woman, but her identity has not yet been released.

"Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7," Sen. Bob Corker (R., Ky.) told reporters on Tuesday, "Inadvertently somebody will do something that's insensitive. I would not be wanting to ask questions about something like this."

While outside counsel will ask questions for Republican senators, Democrats plan ask their own questions, according to multiple reports.

"This is not a criminal trial for which the involvement of an experienced sex crimes prosecutor would be appropriate," Michael Bromwich, one of Ford's lawyers, wrote in a the letter to Grassley objecting to the move. "Neither Dr. Blasey Ford nor Judge Kavanaugh is on trial. The goal should be to develop the relevant facts, not try a case."

Michael Avenatti locks Twitter account after promising new accuser

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels who has promoted a new client who would come forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, locked his Twitter account Tuesday afternoon.

Avenatti did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move took place after Avenatti tweeted Tuesday morning that he would disclose his client's name and accusations "only when SHE is ready and we have adequate security measures in place," adding "it is her choice and hers alone as to when to surface bc it is her life. We expect it within the next 36 hrs."

Avenatti had previously released sparse details about the woman, saying she had been granted multiple security clearances and could corroborate allegations involving Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge.

Another Yale classmate rebuts Kavanaugh

Stephen Kantrowitz, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who attended Yale with Kavanaugh, wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning that the Supreme Court nominee wasn't being truthful when he told Fox News host Martha MacCallum he was a virgin throughout high school and into college.

Kavanaugh made the comment as part of a rebuttal to a claim made by attorney Avenatti that he had knowledge that the Supreme Court nominee and his high school friend, Judge, targeted women with drugs and alcohol to "allow a 'train' of men to subsequently gang rape them." Kavanaugh called the allegations "totally false and outrageous."

Jane Mayer, the New Yorker's chief Washington correspondent who teamed up with Ronan Farrow to break the story of Ramirez's accusations, said Kantrowitz's comments were important when it comes to assessing Kavanaugh's credibility.

Kantrowitz isn't the only former classmate to claim Kavanaugh hasn't been completely honest about his past. James Roche, Kavanaugh's roommate at Yale, told an ABC affiliate in San Francisco that the Supreme Court nominee "was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk."

>> READ MORE: Kavanaugh allegations raise questions about alcohol, sexual assault, and the reliability of memory

"I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk," Roche added.

Kavanaugh high school yearbook comes under scrutiny

The New York Times reported that Kavanaugh's yearbook page from Georgetown Prep contains a disrespectful coded reference to a female student who attended a nearby Catholic high school for girls.

The yearbook recounts teenage year with "lots of football, plenty of drinking, parties at the beach," the Times said.

One yearbook photo of football team members, including Kavanaugh, has the caption "Renate Alumni."

The term was a reference to a girl from another high school and related to unsubstantiated boasting by football players about their conquests, the newspaper reported, quoting classmates of the players.

>> READ MORE: Amid Kavanaugh controversy, conservatives attack Cory Booker's 1992 admission to 'groping' a high school friend after a kiss

The former female student, Renate Schroeder Dolphin, told the Times she only learned about the phrase in recent days.

"I don't know what 'Renate Alumnus' actually means. I can't begin to comprehend what goes through the minds of 17-year-old boys who write such things, but the insinuation is horrible, hurtful and simply untrue," she said. "I pray their daughters are never treated this way. I will have no further comment."

Sanders: We’re open to allowing second accuser to testify

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that the Trump administration was open to having a second accuser of the Supreme Court nominee testify before Congress.

Appearing on Good Morning America, Sanders was asked by host George Stephanopoulos if Ramirez, who alleges Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while they were classmates at Yale University, should also be allowed to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday.

>> READ MORE: How do you investigate a decades-old sexual assault claim?

"Certainly we would be open to that, and that process could take place on Thursday," Sanders said. "The president's also been clear, let them speak but let's also let Brett Kavanaugh speak."

The Judiciary Committee already plans to hear testimony from Ford, but it is not clear yet if the committee would entertain an appearance by Ramirez.