Trump pushes Kavanaugh accuser to testify

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump piled pressure on the woman accusing his Supreme Court pick of sexual assault by insisting that she testify next week if she wants to be heard.

Trump echoed Republican leaders in suggesting that time is running out for Christine Blasey Ford, the California psychology professor whose allegation that she was assaulted as a teenager threatens to derail confirmation of conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to America’s highest court.

Ford has backtracked from earlier statements that she is ready to face a grilling in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Instead, she is calling for an FBI probe into her allegation that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and tried to pull off her clothes when she was 15 and he was 17.

Kavanaugh, now 53, denies any such incident took place and no other witnesses have come forward.

Trump said he retained full faith in the judge.

He urged Ford to take her chance at the hearing set for Monday, where Kavanaugh is likewise invited to explain his side of the story.

Trump indicated that his patience is wearing thin, even telling political website The Hill that the scandal resembles what he called “the witch hunt” by a special prosecutor into allegations his campaign colluded with Russia to bring about his surprise 2016 election.