Ayanna Pressley to submit resolution calling for an impeachment inquiry of Brett Kavanaugh

Representative Ayanna Pressley in Washington last week.Zach Gibson/Getty Images/Getty Images

US Representative Ayanna Pressley plans to introduce a House resolution Tuesday calling for an impeachment inquiry of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in the wake of a New York Times story that detailed an allegation of sexual impropriety when he was in college.

Kavanaugh was confirmed last October after emotional hearings in the Senate over a sexual assault allegation from his high school years. During those hearings, Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychologist, told a Senate committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her decades ago when they were both teenagers.

Over the weekend, a Times piece reported that Kavanaugh faced a separate allegation from his time at Yale University and that the FBI did not investigate the claim, which mirrors one offered during his confirmation process by Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate who claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken party.

In an editor’s note after initial publication, the Times said the book on which the report was based noted that ‘‘the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident.’’

Kavanaugh has denied all allegations of impropriety.

Now, Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, plans to introduce a proposal that would allow a committee to take affidavits and depositions and issue subpoenas in connection with an impeachment inquiry of Kavanaugh.

“I believe Christine Blasey Ford,” said Pressley in a Monday statement. “I believe Deborah Ramirez. It is our responsibility to collectively affirm the dignity and humanity of survivors.”

She continued, “Sexual predators do not deserve a seat on the nation’s highest court and Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process set a dangerous precedent. We must demand justice for survivors and hold Kavanaugh accountable for his actions.”

Pressley, a former Boston city councilor, spoke at an anti-Kavanaugh rally last fall, and penned a Globe op-ed saying Kavanaugh’s confirmation process “has been plagued by a lack of transparency.”

Pressley’s Monday comments came after some Democratic presidential candidates called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment in recent days.

Some calling for his impeachment, like Senator Kamala Harris, speculated that he lied under oath during the confirmation process.

“Brett Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people,” she said.

Julian Castro, a former US housing secretary, said in a Saturday tweet, ‘‘It’s more clear than ever that Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath. He should be impeached. And Congress should review the failure of the Department of Justice to properly investigate the matter.’’

Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a Sunday tweet that “Last year the Kavanaugh nomination was rammed through the Senate without a thorough examination of the allegations against him.”

She continued, “Confirmation is not exoneration, and these newest revelations are disturbing. Like the man who appointed him, Kavanaugh should be impeached.”

On Twitter Sunday, President Trump defended Kavanaugh, saying the judge is the “one who is actually being assaulted.”

“The lies being told about him are unbelievable,” said the president in a tweet. “False Accusations without recrimination. When does it stop? They are trying to influence his opinions. Can’t let that happen!”

Earlier this summer, prominent author and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexual assault during the 1990s. The White House denied the claim.