The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman on Friday rejected key concessions sought by Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser if she is testify about her claim Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, and threatened a Monday vote by his panel on Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination without a quick agreement.
Minutes before a 10 p.m. deadline set by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, an attorney for Christine Blasey Ford asked for another day to decide. Lawyer Debra Katz said the time limit’s “sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family.”
Grassley issued no immediate statement as his deadline expired, and the late-night brinkmanship left in question whether Ford would appear before the GOP-run committee and tell lawmakers and a captivated nation about her allegation. Now a 53-year-old California psychology professor, Ford says an inebriated Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, muffled her cries and tried removing her clothes when both were teenagers in the 1980s.
Grassley turned down Ford’s request that only senators, not attorneys, be allowed to ask questions. The committee’s 11 Republicans — all men — have been seeking an outside female attorney to interrogate Ford, mindful of the election-season impression that could be left by men trying to pick apart a woman’s assertion of a sexual attack.
He also rejected her proposal that she testify after Kavanaugh, a position lawyers consider advantageous because it gives them a chance to rebut accusations. AP
