Yet Another Former Classmate Of Brett Kavanaugh Says He Drank More Than He Lets On

Chad Ludington, who went to Yale with Kavanaugh, told the New York Times he often saw Kavanaugh “staggering from alcohol consumption.”

By Doha Madani

North Carolina State University professor Chad Ludington has joined a handful of other former classmates of Brett Kavanaugh in contradicting the Supreme Court nominee’s claims about his past drinking habits.

Ludington told the New York Times in a statement Sunday that Kavanaugh played down “the degree and frequency” of his drinking to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. He said he often saw Kavanaugh “staggering from alcohol consumption.”

Kavanaugh, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by three different women, denied in his testimony that there was any possibility he ever drank so much alcohol that he may have lapses in his memory.

Ludington called Kavanaugh’s answers about drinking a “blatant mischaracterization” based on his experiences around the judge when they attended Yale University together.  Ludington claimed he often saw Kavanaugh “belligerent and aggressive” while drunk.

“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,” Ludington said in a statement to the Times.

And Ludington’s not the only one countering parts of Kavanaugh’s testimony.
Former Yale classmates Liz Swisher, James Roche, and Lynne Brookes have also made public statements about Kavanaugh’s excessive drinking during their youth. Swisher told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Friday that though she never saw Kavanaugh be sexually aggressive, the judge was a “sloppy drunk.”

“There’s no problem in drinking beer in college, the problem is lying about it,” Swisher told CNN. “He drank heavily, he was a partier, he liked to do beer bongs, he played drinking games, he was sloppy drunk.”

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all allegations against him.

Roche, a roommate of Kavanaugh’s during freshman year, told the New Yorker he found Ramirez’s claims to be credible. Roche added that he saw Kavanaugh “frequently, incoherently drunk.” Another unnamed classmate told the New Yorker Kavanaugh could be “aggressive and even belligerent” when he drank.

Brookes, who also attended Yale, told CNN Thursday that Kavanaugh was “lying” to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his drinking.

“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,” Brookes told CNN.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked that the FBI investigate Kavanaugh’s old drinking habits, as well as several other statements by the Judge Sander’s believes may have been lies. Lying to Congress under oath is a federal crime.

Ludington told the Times he wants to take his “information to the FBI.”