Sen. Orrin Hatch faced swift backlash Tuesday — including accusations of “slut-shaming” — after sharing on Twitter an uncorroborated account from a Utah man questioning the legitimacy and sexual preferences of one of the women accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of misconduct.
The Republican senator tweeted excerpts from the signed statement of Dennis Ketterer — a former Democratic candidate for Congress and Washington, D.C., weatherman with ties to Centerville, Utah — saying the man reached out to his office this week to talk about Julie Swetnick and her allegations against Kavanaugh. Ketterer’s comments, Hatch said, were “made under pentaly [sic] of felony” to the Senate Judiciary Committee.