A hearing aimed at letting Christine Blasey Ford testify about her claim of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was thrown into doubt on Tuesday, after committee aides said it wasn’t clear she would participate.
The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a public hearing Sept. 24, during which Kavanaugh and Ford were invited to testify, after Ford spoke on-the-record with The Washington Post about the alleged incident involving Kavanaugh that occurred during a party 36 years ago.
Kavanaugh said he was willing to testify, and White House spokesman Raj Shah said Monday evening the Supreme Court hopeful was ready to do so. But as of Tuesday evening, questions mounted about Ford’s participation, and whether the Senate would proceed without her.
[New: In fast-moving events, Kavanaugh accuser refuses Monday hearing; nominee appears confident]
In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Grassley said the committee had reached out to Ford by email three or four times about the hearing, but had not yet received a response.
“We wouldn’t be having this hearing if it wasn’t for the fact that Dr. Ford told The Washington Post and other people publicly that she wanted to testify,” Grassley said. “And we also have Judge Kavanaugh. Even before we requested him to testify, he said he was willing to testify. As of Sunday night, I had that message. So, we still haven’t heard from Dr. Ford. So, do they want to have the hearing or not?”
Taylor Foy, a committee spokesman, said Grassley’s staff also called and emailed Ford’s lawyer to arrange an interview, but had not yet received a response.
“That’s very puzzling to me,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said about the silence from Ford’s side, according to reports. “I’ve said from the beginning that these are very serious allegations, and she deserves to be heard. She is now being given an opportunity to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions, and I really hope that she doesn’t pass up that opportunity.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told CNN that Ford’s absence from the hearing would be an “unfortunate turn of events.”
Senate Republicans have made clear that Ford will have the opportunity to speak out about the alleged sexual assault.
“She can do it privately if she prefers or publicly if she prefers,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters. “Monday is her opportunity.”
It’s unclear how the committee would proceed if Ford decides not to testify, but Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he believes a vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination would likely come soon after Monday’s hearing.
“She can come if she likes, but if she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t have to,” Graham, one of the panel’s 11 Republicans, told Fox News. “Kavanaugh can come, and I think he will. We will vote on Wednesday.”
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the committee wants Ford to appear.
“I don’t know how they can say: I’m just not going to appear. She has the option of a closed session, with cameras or without,” he told Politico. “We want her to appear. And then she has said, before we made the decision, that she wanted to appear. So, that’s what we want.”
Grassley would not speak to the timing of a possible committee vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
While many senators urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to further review Ford’s allegation, the scheduling of Monday’s hearing has not satisfied Senate Democrats. All 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the FBI to re-open its background investigation into Kavanaugh, saying the upcoming hearing heightens the need for the FBI to “perform its due diligence.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee’s top Democrat, also urged Grassley to call more witnesses, beyond Kavanaugh and Ford, to testify.
“What about other witnesses like Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge?” she said in a statement. “What about individuals who were previously told about this incident? What about experts who can speak to the effects of this kind of trauma on a victim? This is another attempt by Republicans to rush this nomination and not fully vet Judge Kavanaugh.”
Ford said Judge was in the room during the alleged sexual assault.
But Judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter that he does not “wish to speak publicly” regarding Ford’s allegation.
“I did not ask to be involved in this matter nor did anyone ask me to be involved. The only reason I am involved is because Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remembers me as the other person in the room during the alleged assault,” he said. “In fact, I have no memory of this alleged incident. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school, but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.”
Despite the allegation involving Kavanaugh, President Trump has continued to stick by his nominee.
“I feel so badly for him that he is going through this, to be honest with you,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland. “This is not a man that deserves this. This should have been brought to the fore; it should have been brought up long ago.”
