Kavanaugh accuser waits on FBI
No Senate testimony until bureau investigates, her lawyers say
WASHINGTON — The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexaul assault three decades ago wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, her lawyers said in a letter to the panel Tuesday.
The lawyers wrote that Christine Blasey Ford, who is now a college professor in California, wants to cooperate with the panel. But in the days since she publicly accused Kavanaugh of the assault when they were teens at a party 35 years ago, she has been the target of “vicious harassment and even death threats.” Her family has relocated, they said.
An FBI investigation “should be the first step in addressing the allegations,” the lawyers wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Democrats also are pushing for an FBI investigation into the allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh, then in high school, pinned Ford to a bed, groped her and tried to remove her clothes before she escaped. The alleged assault took place in a home in the Maryland suburbs of the District of Columbia, where both teens attended separate private schools.
Kavanaugh has unequivocally denied the allegation.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday cast the allegation against Kavanaugh as an 11th-hour political tactic by Democrats to scuttle the appointment.
Republicans hope to save the nomination and agreed to hold a hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford on Monday after lawmakers from both parties urged the Senate to hear from the accuser.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell said Senate process is out of order because Democrats “at the 11th hour” chose to introduce the allegations after the Judiciary Committee held a four-day hearing.
Mcconnell said the chaos of the confirmation lies “at the feet of Senate Democrats who saw political advantage.”
Ford told a therapist of the attack in 2006, after she was married. When Kavanaugh was being considered for the Supreme Court nomination, Ford sent a letter to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-calif., outlining the allegation but also seeking confidentiality.
Feinstein was aware of the allegation in July and did not question Kavanaugh about it during an August hearing, in public or in private.
Ford went public with her allegation Sunday.
“Republicans have prejudged this and dismissed this as political,” Durbin said.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who as a former Nevada attorney general made the rights of victims of domestic violence a priority, said it is important that the Judiciary Committee hear from Ford.
“I think she should be heard. She should not be revictimized. She should not be shamed, and there should be an investigation,” Cortez Masto said. “There should be time for a thorough investigation of what happened here.”
“Someone is not telling the truth,” Schumer said.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.