Brett Kavanaugh called himself and friends ‘loud, obnoxious drunks’ in 1983 ‘beach week’ letter

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, in a 1983 letter preparing for “beach week”, refers to his friends and himself as a group full of “loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us”.

The letter, obtained by The New York Times, details plans for a trip to Ocean City, Maryland, where he and his pals were planning on renting out a condominium for a week of partying. The letter — signed by “Bart” in apparent reference to a high school nickname of Mr Kavanaugh’s — details the process to sign the condo lease, and to make sure they were not kicked out if too many people showed up for the week-long event.

The letter comes as questions have been raised about Mr Kavanaugh’s description of his behaviour when he was in high school and college — a topic that has itself been raised as a result of allegations of sexual misconduct from women who knew him in high school or college, and have alleged incidents that occurred while Mr Kavanaugh was drinking heavily.

Mr Kavanaugh has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.

The nominee has described himself as a well-behaved young man who liked beer but did not generally overindulge. Others, including a handful of people who say they knew him in college, say that is not the case.

“On one of the last occasions I purposefully socialised with Brett, I witnessed him respond to a semi-hostile remark, not by defusing the situation, but by throwing his beer in the man’s face and starting a fight that ends with one of our mutual friends in jail,” Chad Ludington, a Yale classmate of Mr Kavanaugh’s who says he frequently drank with the nominee in college, told The New York Times.

Others have also said that Mr Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker in college, and that his suggestion that he did not drink to the point of not remembering his actions is unlikely.

The FBI has launched an investigation into the claims of sexual misconduct, including allegations from Dr Christine Blasey Ford, who says that Mr Kavanaugh once assaulted her at a house party in high school while he was very drunk. Mr Kavanaugh, she said in Senate testimony last week, held her down and groped her, attempted to take off her clothes, and held her mouth shut to keep her from screaming.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Friday to send Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate for consideration. That vote passed along party lines, but Republican Senator Jeff Sessions suggested at the time that he would not vote to approve in the full Senate without the FBI investigation.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, has meanwhile attacked Democrats for what he has described as delay tactics to undermine Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination. Mr McConnell has promised a full Senate vote on Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination some time this week.