If all the dates line up and this news is verified, Brett Kavanaugh will have some serious explaining to do: Text messages suggest Kavanaugh wanted to refute accuser’s claim before it became public.

WASHINGTON — In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News.

Kerry Berchem, who was at Yale with both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Deborah Ramirez, has tried to get those messages to the FBI for its newly reopened investigation into the matter but says she has yet to be contacted by the bureau.

Kavanaugh told the Senate committee the first time he heard of this allegation was when he read the original New Yorker article. This may end up being the most consequential lie he told, although definitely not the only one.