Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday that Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has not yet accepted an invitation to testify before the panel.
Grassley told radio host Hugh Hewitt during an interview that the Senate Judiciary Committee contacted Ford three to four times via email over the last 36 hours regarding the upcoming public hearing, scheduled for Sept. 24. The committee, however, has not yet heard back from Ford, Grassley said.
“It kind of raises the question: Do they want to come to the public hearing or not?” Grassley told Hewitt.
Grassley scheduled a public hearing, which is expected to include testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh, after Ford spoke on the record with the Washington Post about her allegation of sexual assault.
Ford said the incident occurred at a party in the early 1980s, when they were in high school. Kavanaugh, she claimed, pinned her down on a bed, groped her, and attempted to take off her clothing.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation and offered to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss it further. Grassley said he heard Sunday that Kavanaugh was willing to testify before the panel.
Ford’s lawyer, too, said Monday morning that she would testify.
“She wants to talk to us. She told us she wanted to talk to us, and you would think the sooner the better,” Grassley said.
The Iowa Republican said Ford “deserves to be heard, because these are serious accusations.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee was initially scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court on Thursday, but the vote was postponed.
Grassley said he does not yet know when the full committee will vote and told Hewitt he first needs to know what will come out of the upcoming public hearing.
During the interview, Hewitt raised the suggestion that an independent counsel, such as former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., be named to question Ford, given that all Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are white men.
Grassley said “all those things are being taken into consideration,” and indicated that he recognizes the optics of the hearing.
“You are raising legitimate questions that are still on our minds, and those details are being worked out,” Grassley said.
