The condition that Christine Blasey Ford now insists upon to testify about her explosive allegation against Brett Kavanaugh is “out of line,” according to law professor Jonathan Turley. And he’s right.
On Tuesday night, Ford indicated she would testify about her accusation of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh only if the FBI opened a “full investigation” into the alleged incident first. She had previously agreed to testify without any such conditions. Up to that point, she had expressed a willingness to testify.
Writing in The Hill, Turley responded on Wednesday:
Ford, he argued, simply “has no right to set conditions” for the testimony.
If she’s telling the truth, her position is unenviable, and the task of reliving such a painful incident is obviously a difficult one. But it’s a task she said she would do. If Ford does not want to testify, she does not have to. That may have implications for Kavanaugh’s testimony, and weighing the cost of testifying against the benefit of providing the information to the Senate and the public is a calculation she will have to make. But Ford doesn’t get to demand an FBI investigation just because she’s willing to share information about something that allegedly happened more than three decades ago.
“It’s totally inappropriate for someone to demand we use law enforcement resources to investigate a 35-year-old allegation when she won’t go under oath and can’t remember key details including when or where it happened,” someone identified as a “federal law enforcement official” told Fox News. That’s perfectly reasonable.
For the sake of basic fairness, it’s a necessary part of the process. It’s essential to avoiding creation of an environment where unsubstantiated or false accusations are taken as seriously as credible ones. We need to be able to ask tough questions in order to make informed determinations. The argument that Ford’s lawyers have made that an FBI investigation is necessary in order to do so is dubious, given that Ford’s allegation is 36 years old, and there is (understandably) little substantiating evidence other than her word, which has not yet been given under oath.
Judging by the reactions from crucial senators like Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the attempted imposition of this major condition already looks like an overreach. Hopefully, Ford will recognize that and go through with her testimony so the Senate can hear more of her story.
