US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday denied an allegation of sexual misconduct dating back to when he was a high school student, and a senior Republican senator said there was no reason to delay his confirmation to the court.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday she received information about Kavanaugh from a person she declined to identify, and that she had referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The New Yorker magazine reported on Friday that in July, shortly after President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh, Feinstein’s office received a letter detailing a woman’s alleged encounter with Kavanaugh while they were high school students.

She said the woman had accused Kavanaugh of trying to force himself on her at a party, holding her down and covering her mouth with his hand, but that she was able to free herself. Neither Feinstein nor the magazine identified the woman.

“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh, 53, said in a statement put out by the White House on Friday. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”

Democrats have fought Kavanaugh’s nomination and are seeking to delay his confirmation.

A spokesman for the committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley, on Friday said the planned committee vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation would proceed next Thursday as scheduled.

REUTERS