Backing it up
Ford’s lawyers submit 4 affidavits backing up assault story
Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers said Wednesday they have given the Senate sworn affidavits from four people who say she told them well before Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination that she had been sexually assaulted when she was much younger. And according to all four, she either named Kavanaugh as the assailant or described the attacker as a “federal judge.” At the U.N., meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on the eve of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford that Republicans “could not be nicer, could not be more respectful” in their treatment of Ford. He described his nominee as “an absolute gem” and said he probably would have pushed for faster confirmation rather than waiting for Ford’s testimony. In one of the affidavits, family friend Keith Koegler said he wrote to Ford in a June 29 email, “I remember you telling me about him, but I don’t remember his name. Do you mind telling me so I can read about him?” “Brett Kavanaugh,” Ford responded by email, according to Koegler, her son’s baseball team coach. Trump nominated Kavanaugh, 53, to the high court on July 9. Kavanaugh staunchly denies ever sexually assaulting anyone, and his allies have questioned the credibility of Ford and a second accuser based in part on what they say is a lack of corroboration. Trump has dismissed both accusations as a “Democratic con job.” The affidavits signed Monday and Tuesday of this week could give more weight to Ford’s story on the eve of her testimony - and Kavanaugh’s expected denial - before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Republicans are concerned that, win or lose, the battle over Kavanaugh’s nomination is further animating women already inclined to vote against Trump’s party in November’s elections in which control of the next Congress is at stake. Hanging in the balance is Trump’s chance to swing the high court more firmly to the right for a generation. Despite Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s forecast that Republicans will win, Kavanaugh’s fate remains uncertain in a chamber where Republicans have a scant 51-49 majority.