A Grassley aide tells me the majority Republican staff learned about Ramirez’s allegations from Sunday evening’s New Yorker story. Neither Ramirez nor her attorney have contacted the chairman’s office, the aide said, adding Dems never informed the GOP staff of these allegations.
And whether McConnell's office was aware of Ramirez's allegation before tonight, a spokesman says: "No, Senate Dems did not share this information with us."
I think that the point is not to actually have these investigated, since they would be easily discredited. The point is to smear him and use it to both delay and discredit without actually bringing anything to the comittee. This will be nothing but evil gossip to punish him and to dissuade the next good candidate.