US high court nominee Kavanaugh’s accuser willing to testify, lawyer says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s US Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct decades ago is willing to publicly testify before a Senate panel set to vote this week on his nomination, her lawyer said on Monday.
Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of trying to attack her and remove her clothing in the early 1980s when they were both high school students in a Maryland suburb outside Washington. Kavanaugh, the Republican president’s second nominee for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, has denied the allegations.
The accusation has threatened to complicate his nomination, which must be approved first by the Senate Judiciary Committee and then by the full chamber, which is narrowly controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans. A committee vote is scheduled for Thursday, just weeks before November 6 congressional elections.
Some Republicans on the committee have said Ford should have a chance to tell her story, a view also expressed on Monday by White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway.
In television interviews on Monday, Ford’s Washington-based lawyer, Debra Katz, said her client would be willing to speak out publicly. Asked if that included testimony under oath at a public hearing before senators, Katz told CBS’s “This Morning” program: “She’s willing to do what she needs to do.”
Katz’s comments suggested any public hearing could be explosive. Blasey Ford, now a professor in California, believes Kavanaugh’s alleged actions were “attempted rape” and “that if it were not for the severe intoxication of Brett Kavanaugh, she would have been raped,” Katz told NBC’s “Today” program.
Katz told CBS that Blasey Ford had consumed a beer but was not drunk.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley plans to speak with Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford before the committee’s scheduled vote, according to a spokesman for the senator.
Fellow Republican panel member Jeff Flake has urged the committee to delay its vote until it hears from Blasey Ford. Another committee Republican, Lindsey Graham, welcomed hearing from Blasey Ford but said it should “be done immediately so the process can continue as scheduled.”
Republicans hold a slim 11-10 advantage on the Judiciary Committee and a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Even before the allegation emerged, Kavanaugh’s fate appeared to rest on two moderate Republican women senators who support abortion rights.
One of them, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, told CNN late on Sunday that Republicans “might have to consider” discussing a possible delay. The other, Sen. Susan Collins, told The New York Times that the allegations are serious and that Blasey Ford should be interviewed. But Collins also questioned why Democrats had not raised them earlier.
Blasey Ford detailed her story in a letter sent to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in July. The contents of the letter leaked last week and Blasey Ford identified herself in an interview with The Washington Post published on Sunday.
Blasey Ford did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Conway said sworn testimony from both Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford on the specific allegation should be considered as part of the record in the judge’s hearings. “This woman should not be insulted and she should not be ignored,” Conway said in an interview with Fox News.
White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, in a statement, said Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by the judge’s denial of the allegation.
If Kavanaugh’s nomination fails, Trump would get to select a replacement, but that nominee likely would not be confirmed by the Senate before the election. Even if Republicans lose control of the Senate in the midterm elections, they likely would be able to vote on a second nominee before the new Congress is seated in January.