The woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school agreed Saturday to testify in advance of a scheduled vote to advance his nomination to the Supreme Court.
“Dr. Ford accepts the Committee’s request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct next week,” Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, informed the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has been negotiating with Ford’s attorneys about the conditions under which she might testify to the committee. In the email to the committee, her attorneys referred to a Friday proposal as “fundamentally inconsistent with the Committee’s promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations,” and said they “are disappointed with the leaks and the bullying that have tainted the process.”
But, they said, “we are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details” and asked for time later Saturday afternoon to continue negotiations.
No details were immediately available on when Ford might appear, a previous point of contention between the two sides, which fed into Republican reactions that the Saturday statement is a ploy.
“A senior White House official deemed it a stalling tactic and an effort to ‘push off’ the confirmation vote,” the Associated Press reported. “The official claimed it was a ‘clever way’ to continue negotiations ‘without committing to anything.'”
Ford’s team had previously missed a series of deadlines to come to an agreement, leading Grassley to call for a final answer by 2:30 on Saturday; if she wouldn’t accept an invitation to appear on Wednesday, he would proceed with a plan to vote Kavanaugh out of committee on Monday.
“Five times now we [have] granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed [with] her desire stated one [week] ago that she wants to tell senate her story,” Grassley tweeted Friday. “Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u.”
Ford has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her on a bed and trying to remove her swimsuit at a party “in the summer of 1982,” according to the Washington Post. Kavanaugh denies the allegation. Another partygoer she identified as an eyewitness likewise “categorically denied ever witnessing an attempted assault by Kavanaugh” in an interview with the Weekly Standard. But Ford discussed the incident with a psychologist in 2012; she named Kavanaugh as the attacker in the meeting, according to her husband, but his name is not mentioned in the therapist’s notes from the meeting.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, has known of Ford’s allegation since July, but it surfaced only after Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing concluded, to the frustration of Republican lawmakers.
“That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision,” Feinstein said in a Sept. 12 statement. “I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities.”
Grassley blamed Democrats for the leaks that exposed Ford’s identity. He wanted to convene a hearing on Monday, but he agreed to delay as far as Wednesday if Ford would appear to testify. He also offered to allow her to testify in public or in a closed session.
“I certainly can understand that Dr. Ford might be distrustful of the committee’s ability to keep matters confidential based on the Democratic members’ recent conduct, but I sincerely hope that, if she chooses to testify in a closed setting, that my colleagues can see their way to plugging the leaks which have plagued this nomination and gain her trust,” Grassley wrote in a Wednesday letter.
The conditions Ford’s attorneys had requested included a demand that Kavanaugh testify first. Grassley blamed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the difficulty in coming to an agreement sooner. “I feel like I’m playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and Schumer is the conductor,” he tweeted late Friday.
Ford’s appearance could still be derailed by the negotiations.
