California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday that she frequently travels by plane, including for vacation, even though her fear of flying was cited as a reason to delay her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Ford acknowledged flying to Washington to testify about an alleged sexual assault committed by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, despite her reported plans for a multi-day drive.
Ford suffers from claustrophobia, friends attested to journalists, and does not like to fly. Her legal team reportedly cited her plans to drive across the country to delay the earliest possible date for a hearing.
Under questioning, Ford acknowledged she traveled “in a plane” and that she does so for vacation, and “once a year during the summer” to visit family in Delaware.
Maricopa County, Ariz., sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who represented Republicans in questioning Ford, inquired about her interest in Pacific destinations.
“I also saw on your CV that you list the following interests of travel, and you, in parentheses put ‘Hawaii, Costa Rica, South Pacific islands, and French Polynesia,'” Mitchell said. “Have you been to all this places?”
“Yes,” Ford said, acknowledging she traveled by plane and adding later, “It’s easier for me to travel going that direction when it’s a vacation.”
Ford said she had hoped to avoid traveling to Washington to testify. “I was hoping they would come to me, but I realized that was an unrealistic request,” she said, referring to Senate investigators.
When told later by Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that his staff would have flown out to her to get her testimony, Ford thanked him and said she wasn’t aware that was an option.
Ford claims that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and attempted to remove her clothes in the early ’80s, when she was 15 and he 17. Republicans have questioned her credibility.
