Statement from James Roche: "I was Brett Kavanaugh's roommate at Yale University in the Fall of 1983. We shared a two-bedroom unit in the basement of Lawrence Hall on the Old Campus. Despite conditions, Brett and I did not socialize beyond the first few days of freshman year. We talked at night as freshman roommates do and I would see him as he returned from nights out friends. It is from this experience that I concluded that although Brett was normally reserved, he was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time...
...and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk. I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk.
I became close friends with Debbie Ramirez shortly after we both arrived at Yale. She stood out as being exceptionally honest, with a trusting manner. As we got to know one another, I discovered that Debbie was very worried about fitting in. She felt that everyone at Yale was very rich, very smart and very sophisticated and that as a Puerto Rican woman from a less privileged background she was an outsider. Her response was to try hard to make friends and get along.
Based on my time with Debbie, I believe her to be unusually honest and straightforward and I cannot imagine her making this up.
Based on my time with Brett, I believe that he and his social circle were capable of the actions that Debbie described.
I do not consider myself to be a political person and I have no political agenda. I have shared thisninformation with a small number of reporters who reached out to me directly because Debbie has a right to be heard and I believe her.
I have been asked for more detail and additional stories, but this is all that I am comfortable with sharing. If I could contribute more first-hand information, I would, but I will not be granting any more interviews or answering any more questions at this time.
#shouldread
