A foundation run by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros did not award a fellowship or grant to Deborah Ramirez, the second woman to accuse U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
The false assertion confused Deborah Ramirez of Colorado, with a Massachusetts woman of the same name. The claim circulated widely on blogs, online news sites and social media after The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday that Ramirez, who lives in Colorado, said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken dorm party in the 1983-84 academic year at Yale University. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
In an email, Deborah Ramirez of Massachusetts confirmed to The Associated Press that she was the recipient of the Soros fellowship in 2003 as well as a grant in 2002. A picture of Ramirez and her resume, which includes that information, is posted on the website for Northeastern University, where she is a professor at the law school.
The assertion originated on Twitter from a reporter at the conservative-friendly National Review. The reporter later apologized and corrected his tweet However, the claim continued to circulate on social media following the retraction.
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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.
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