You can’t make this stuff up:

A communications adviser to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) during the Supreme Court confirmation fight has abruptly resigned after an accusation of sexual harassment — an allegation he denies. 

Garrett Ventry submitted his resignation Friday night, he said in a brief phone interview Saturday morning. He said he denies the allegation but stepped down “in order to not be a distraction” as Senate Republicans continue to work to get Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh confirmed.

“Garrett was one of several temporary staff brought on to assist in the committee’s consideration of the Supreme Court nomination, a team that has done outstanding work,” a committee spokesman said Saturday morning. “While he strongly denies allegations of wrongdoing, he decided to resign to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee.

The resignation is another development in the chaos that has engulfed Kavanaugh’s confirmation fight. Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor in California, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers in an interview with The Washington Post published this week.

Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation and says he wants to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the matter. The committee and Ford’s lawyers are still embroiled in a standoff over the conditions of her testimony, and Grassley has asked her attorneys to respond by 2:30 p.m. Saturday to his proposal for a Wednesday hearing.

Ventry was on leave from CRC Public Relations, a prominent public relations firm for conservative causes based in Alexandria, Va., that represents influential legal groups on the right such as the Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network.  And The CRC has connections to Ed Whelan, who self-immolated a few days ago when he claimed the Ford assault was a case of mistaken identity. (By the way, Whelan was checking out Professor Ford’s LinkedIn page half an hour BEFORE her name went public.  How did he know about the accusations?)