Hold tight, kids. This hayride’s taken another hairpin turn.

The Senate Judiciary Committee revealed late last night it has interviewed on multiple occasions this week a man who says he is the one who had the encounter with Christine Blasey Ford that’s the basis for her assault claim on Brett Kavanaugh.

A second man also phoned in to suggest he’s the one Ford is talking about.

Does she have the wrong guy?! 

What the Judiciary Committee is Saying

The bombshell was revealed as part of a Senate Judiciary Committee statement on its investigation of the assorted claims against Kavanaugh. According to the committee, both say “they had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis for this complaint.”

The first — as yet unidentified — man sent a written statement to the Committee stating he “had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982.” The man was interviewed Tuesday by staffers, and then submitted a more extensive written statement Wednesday. 

Democrats, who have already been furious over the handling of the investigation of these allegations, had not been told of the following interviews by GOP until info was publicly released tonight, per senior Democratic official. Ds had asked for all relevant evidence pic.twitter.com/AabHjf4TsQ

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) September 27, 2018

The committee spoke to the second man via phone. He offered “details” of this alleged encounter with Ford.

Ford claims she was sexually assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh at a party in the summer of 1982 when both were teenagers.

Up to now, Ford has said there is “zero chance” she is mistaken in blaming Kavanaugh for the alleged attack. Whether that changes with this new testimony is yet to be seen. 

The Late Revelation Has Democrats Upset

In a dubious show of the pot calling the kettle black, Democrats are upset that the GOP withheld news of the two men until last night. (These are the same people, of course, who held onto Dr. Ford’s allegations for two months.)

An aide to Democrats on the committee offered their spin. “The Republicans are flailing,” the aide told NBC News, “They are desperately trying to muddy the waters. … Twelve hours before the hearing they suggest two anonymous men claimed to have assaulted her. Democrats were never informed of these assertions in interviews, in violation of Senate rules.”

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch openly mocked the Democrats response on Twitter. “Some might find it exceedingly difficult to imagine Judiciary Committee Democrats expressing this complaint with straight faces.” 

Still, the Democrats have reason to be anxious. Two men are, in essence, confessing to what Ford says was attempted rape. One is doing so in a written statement, where giving a false testimony is a felony. 

The sun is barely up for today’s hearing and it’s already proving to be a scorcher.