Chief Justice Roberts refers Kavanagh ethics complaints to Denver circuit

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Christine Blasey Ford (inset) and Brett Kavanaugh

Chief Justice John Roberts has referred ethics complaints about statements made by Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings to federal judges outside the Beltway, Fox News reported.

In a letter posted on the website of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Roberts asked judges who handle ethics complaints at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, based in Denver, to deal with the claims.

Roberts said in his letter that he was initially notified of complaints against Kavanaugh on Sept. 20. The complaints deal with statements Kavanaugh made during his confirmation hearings and were initially filed with the D.C. Circuit, where Kavanaugh served for 12 years before joining the high court.

Roberts received the first three of 15 eventual complaints a week before Kavanaugh's angry denial of a sexual assault allegation by Christine Blasey Ford.

The complaints may never get investigated, though. If the circuit court judges determine they have no jurisdiction over a Supreme Court justice under the judiciary's ethics rules, they could dismiss the complaints.

With the AP