Did Brett Kavanaugh perjure himself with regard to a New Yorker article?

Question

According to an October 1, 2018 article by Heidi Przybyla and Leigh Ann Caldwell of NBC News:

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath that the first time he heard of Ramirez’s allegation was in the Sept. 23 article in The New Yorker.

Kavanaugh was asked by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when he first heard of Ramirez’s allegations. Kavanaugh answered: “In the New Yorker story.”

The authors at NBC allege that this must have been a knowingly false statement, upon a simple review of text messages that they have obtained:

In a series of texts before the publication of the New Yorker story, Yarasavage wrote that she had been in contact with “Brett's guy,” and also with “Brett,” who wanted her to go on the record to refute Ramirez. According to Berchem, Yarasavage also told her friend that she turned over a copy of the wedding party photo to Kavanaugh, writing in a text: “I had to send it to Brett’s team too.”

Did Brett Kavanaugh perjure himself in the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27 in his answer to Senator Hatch?

Answer 1

The timing is questionable but not impossible. As Kavanaugh tells it, he heard Ramirez was texting mutual friends to see if they remembered something, and he was tipped off and started texting people to figure out what was being said. It wasn't until the New York Times did their pre-publication reach-out to Kavanaugh that he knew the full substance of the charges. While this telling of events is questionable, it is solid enough (with the evidence we know so far) to avoid perjury charges.