Impasse over Kavanaugh accuser’s testimony
Trump goes on attack against her for first time
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman on Friday rejected key concessions sought by Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser if she is testify about her claim Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, and threatened a Monday vote by his panel on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination without a quick agreement.
Nearly two hours after a deadline set by Chairman Chuck Grassley expired Friday night, the Iowa Republican tweeted that he’d “just granted another extension” for Christine Blasey Ford to agree to terms for telling his panel and a captivated nation about her allegation. He provided no details of the extension, and participants from both sides didn’t immediately return messages requesting clarification.
The late-night brinkmanship left in question whether Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor, would appear
before the GOP-run committee and tell lawmakers and a captivated nation about her allegation that an inebriated Kavanaugh trapped her on a bed, muffled her cries and tried removing her clothes when both were teenagers in the 1980s.
Grassley turned down Blasey Ford’s request that only senators, not attorneys, be allowed to ask questions. The committee’s 11 Republicans — all men — have been seeking an outside female attorney to interrogate Blasey Ford, mindful of the election season impression that could be left by men trying to pick apart a woman’s assertion of a sexual attack.
He also rejected her proposal that she testify after Kavanaugh, a position lawyers consider advantageous because it gives them a chance to rebut accusations.
“We are unwilling to accommodate your unreasonable demands,” Grassley said in a written statement.
Grassley’s stance underscored a desire by President Donald Trump and GOP leaders to usher the 53-year-old Kavanaugh onto the high court by the Oct. 1 start of its new session and before the November elections, when Democrats are mounting a robust drive to grab congressional control.
Friday was the latest in a string of tumultuous days for Kavanaugh, whose ascension to the Supreme Court seemed a sure bet until Blasey Ford emerged last weekend and provided details of the alleged assault. Kavanaugh, a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals judge, has repeatedly denied the accusation.
Earlier, Trump ended a week of constraint and sarcastically assailed Blasey Ford, tweeting that if the episode was “as bad as she says,” she or “her loving parents” surely would have reported it to law enforcement.
Trump’s searing reproach of the California psychology professor defied the Senate Republican strategy, and the advice of White House aides, of not disparaging her while firmly defending his nominee and the tight timetable for confirming him.
The president’s tweet brought blistering rejoinders from Democrats and a mix of silence and sighs of regret from his own party. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who hasn’t declared support for Kavanaugh, called the remark “appalling.” It was also the latest provocation — from a man who’s faced a litany of sexual misconduct allegations himself — of moderate female voters whose support Republicans will need to fend off a robust Democratic drive to capture congressional control in November’s elections.
At a campaign rally in Missouri later Friday, Trump didn’t mention Blasey Ford but said Kavanaugh was born to be on the Supreme Court, and “it’s going to happen.”
The Judiciary panel’s top Democrat expressed fury at Grassley’s negotiating position with Blasey Ford and maintained Democrats’ effort to build the battle into a larger election-year question about the treatment of women.
“Bullying a survivor of attempted rape in order to confirm a nominee — particularly at a time when she’s receiving death threats — is an extreme abuse of power,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Female interrogators “are sensitive to the particulars of Dr. Ford’s allegations” and would “generate the most insightful testimony and will help de-politicize the hearing,” said a letter Grassley’s staff sent Blasey Ford’s lawyers. Kavanaugh, a District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals judge, has repeatedly denied the accusation.
Grassley said he’d schedule a hearing for Wednesday, not Thursday, as Blasey Ford prefers.
“It is not fair to him or to his family to allow this situation to continue without a resolution and without an opportunity for him to clear his name,” he said about Kavanaugh.
Grassley rebuffed other requests, including calling additional witnesses. Blasey Ford wants an appearance by Mark Judge, a Kavanaugh friend who she asserts was at the high school party and in the bedroom where Kavanaugh’s assault occurred. Blasey Ford eventually escaped.
Grassley consented to other of her demands, including that she be provided security and that Kavanaugh not be in the hearing room when she testifies.
Blasey Ford’s request for security comes after her lawyers said she has relocated her family due to death threats. She planned to meet with FBI agents in the San Francisco area to discuss those threats, said a person close to her who would describe her plans only anonymously.
The GOP letter to Blasey Ford’s lawyers said Kavanaugh and his family have received death threats too, “And they’re getting worse each day.”
Kavanaugh had seemed to gain momentum among Republican senators this week, with growing numbers saying it was approaching time to vote. But with the slender 51-49 GOP majority and the unpredictability of the new testimony have changed that.