Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has been calling, but Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser has not be answering.
If she doesn’t or if she refuses to testify, her allegations against the Supreme Court nominee ought to be disregarded.
“We have reached out to her in the last 36 hours, three or four times, by email, and we have not heard from them,” the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee told Hugh Hewitt early Tuesday. “So it kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not?”
Christine Blasey Ford came forward with allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her decades ago when the pair were in high school. It is a serious and potentially disqualifying charge. And come Monday, Kavanaugh will renew his public and categorical denial.
[Trump: Kavanaugh ‘is not a man that deserves this’]
But if Grassley is to be believed, Ford may be a no-show.
If Ford refuses to back up her accusations under oath, the Senate should disregard her allegations altogether. This doesn’t mean that she ought to be paraded in front of cameras. My colleague Tom Rogan has suggested, for instance, a closed circuit hearing in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility. The point is that it is possible to probe the accusations while avoiding more of a painful spectacle. In short, the greatest deliberative body on earth should be able to figure something out.
Because Ford has forever colored the reputation of Kavanaugh, she cannot shy away from telling her story now. Just like the accused has the right to face their accusers, the accuser has an obligation to back up allegations already made. Otherwise, absent proof under oath, the charges are just slander.
The stakes are too high for Ford to sit this one out. It’s not just that Ford and Kavanaugh’s reputations are on the line. Faith in the Supreme Court as an institution is in the balance. If found credible, her accusations ought to send the White House looking for another nominee. If found wanting, the Senate ought to send the next justice to the high court already. Either way, the people have a right to get to the bottom of this.
