Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser to give Senate evidence on Thursday
The woman whose sexual assault allegation threatens to bring down US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee agreed to testify in the Senate this week.
Christine Blasey Ford’s decision was made after days of negotiations and came after Mr Trump said her accusation could not be true.
After the Senate judiciary committee received a message from Dr Blasey Ford’s lawyers, several members confirmed that she had she accepted their request to testify.
“Dr Blasey Ford will testify next week,” Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator, tweeted on Saturday. “She has shown tremendous courage in the face of death threats and harassment and deserves respect as final details for the hearing are worked out.”
The hearing will reportedly take place on Thursday.
The committee’s Republican leader, Chuck Grassley, wanted it for Wednesday, but Dr Blasey Ford asked for Thursday at the earliest and to be able to call as a witness a man she says was present during the alleged assault.
Time is running out for Mr Trump to have his conservative judge confirmed, tilting the Supreme Court to the right for years to come, before November midterm elections when the Republicans risk losing control of Congress.
“Although many aspects of the proposal you provided on email on Friday are fundamentally inconsistent with the committee’s promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations, and we are disappointed with the leaks and the bullying that have tainted the process, we are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details,” lawyers for Dr Blasey Ford wrote in a letter quoted by The Washington Post.
The White House criticised her for delays.
“Brett Kavanaugh remains ready, willing and eager to testify as soon as possible,” officials said.
Dr Blasey Ford alleges that Mr Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her at a party when he was 17, she was 15 and they were attending private schools outside Washington in the 1980s.
He denies knowledge of any such assault and says he wants to give his side of the story to the committee.