Former Vice President Joe Biden offered his insight on what to do when a sexual assault allegation is made, an adage given as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh deals with a related controversy.
Speaking to reporters during a reception at Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall’s residence Monday evening, Biden said that in general, if a woman goes public with an accusation, the initial presumption should be that they are telling the truth.
“For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time,” Biden said, according to the Washington Post. “But nobody fails to understand that this is like jumping into a cauldron.”
Christine Blasey Ford, a 51-year-old professor at Palo Alto University, accused Kavanaugh of forcing himself upon her in the 1980s while they were both in high school. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Ford took a polygraph test, which indicated she was being honest detailing the alleged incident.
Biden also defended Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who knew about the allegations for weeks but only referred a letter from Ford to the FBI last week as details of her allegation became public.
“Dianne’s getting beat up now for why didn’t she go forward,” Biden said. “The one thing that’s not said is, of all the progress we’ve made in the country, #metoo, you still have the fundamental question of, what is the individual’s right to come forward or not to come forward?”
Biden, who was Senate Judiciary chairman in 1991 during the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearings, also shared his single regret with how he handled the hearings after Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill.
“The one regret I have is I wish there had been a way I could’ve controlled the questions. But you can’t in a committee. Remember, when they went after the last victim [Hill], I kept trying to gavel, but there was no way to say, ‘You can’t ask that question.’”
The Senate is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday to hear from both Ford and Kavanaugh, who vehemently denies the allegations. Although the hearing will postpone a Thursday vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward, the White House said that Kavanaugh “looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation.”
