New reporting from NBC shows that Brett Kavanaugh may have been communicating with mutual friends of his and Debbie Ramirez well before the New Yorker story broke regarding her accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her by, without being too graphic, shoved his *thing* in her face and then laughed about it.

(Ok, that was graphic. There was no way to not be graphic when telling that story)

So here is where the problem begins for Kavanaugh: before the story even broke, Kavanaugh (and his legal team) were text messaging friends from Yale to "refute the claim" and NBC has the receipts (ie, text messages) to prove it.

RUH ROH.

The friend in question, Kerry Berchem, was at Yale with both Kavanaugh and Ramierz and says the she has been trying to get the messages in question to the FBI, to no avail. NBC reports that

"The texts suggest that the nominee was personally talking with former classmates about Ramirez’s story in advance of the New Yorker article that made her allegation public. In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story."

I am no lawyer, but that sounds a whole lot like witness tampering to me.

Berchem provided the following statement to NBC:

“I understand that President Trump and the U.S. Senate have ordered an FBI investigation into certain allegations of sexual misconduct by the nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I have no direct or indirect knowledge about any of the allegations against him. However, I am in receipt of text messages from a mutual friend of both Debbie and mine that raise questions related to the allegations. I have not drawn any conclusions as to what the texts may mean or may not mean but I do believe they merit investigation by the FBI and the Senate."

Berchem drafted a memo outlining her concerns and sent copies of the texts to FBI agent J.C. McDonough, but has not received a response yet. The memo named certain friends that she felt may have "pertinent information and evidence relevant to the inquiry."

Here's the additional problem for Brett Kavanaugh: During last week's testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh had this exchange with Senator Orrin Hatch:

HATCH: “When did you first hear of Ms. Ramirez’s allegations against you?”

KAVANAUGH: “In the last — in the period since then, the New Yorker story.”

If he truly did know in advance, and if these texts are true, he did...then not only did he potentially commit witness tampering, but he most definitely committed perjury.

Will the Republicans care, though? Probably not. Will Democrats? Absolutely.