Trump court nominee's accuser has not agreed to testify: senator
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican U.S. Senate committee chairman said on Tuesday the woman who has accused President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago has not yet agreed to appear at a public hearing planned for Monday.
FILE PHOTO: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh looks on during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie
Senator Chuck Grassley said Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor in California whose allegations have put Kavanaugh’s once-safe nomination in serious jeopardy, has not responded to attempts by the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the confirmation process, to contact her.
The hearing represents a potential make-or-break moment for the conservative federal appeals court judge’s confirmation chances for the lifetime post on the top U.S. court, as Trump seeks to continue his goal of moving the federal judiciary to the right. Kavanaugh, who has denied the assault allegation, met with officials at the White House on Tuesday for a second straight day.
“We have reached out to her in the last 36 hours, three or four times by email, and we’ve not heard from them. So it kind of raises the question ... do they want to come to (the) public hearing or not?” Grassley said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“I want to hear from Dr. Ford,” Grassley said. “And she deserves to be heard because these are serious accusations. And I would surely hope she’d come Monday. I mean, after all, read all the details she put in the Washington Post. She’s surely prepared. She hired a lawyer, I understand, back in August.”
Ford detailed her allegation in a letter sent in July to Senator Dianne Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat. The letter’s contents leaked last week and Ford identified herself in an interview with the Washington Post published on Sunday that included details about the alleged assault.
The committee announced on Monday it would postpone its planned vote on Thursday on Kavanaugh’s nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, and scheduled the high-stakes hearing on Monday with the nominee and his accuser to testify.
Ford has accused Kavanaugh of trying to attack her and remove her clothing while he was drunk 36 years ago in a Maryland suburb outside Washington when they were students at different high schools.
Debra Katz, a lawyer representing Ford, said in television interviews on Monday that the professor would be willing to testify and called the alleged incident “attempted rape.” Katz did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Grassley said the hearing would be televised and would include just two witnesses, Ford and Kavanaugh. He questioned whether the hearing would take place if Ford declined to appear.
“What would be the purpose of the hearing if Dr. Ford doesn’t want to respond?” Grassley asked.
Democrats have so far also refused to cooperate with the committee’s Republican leadership. They have asked that the FBI conduct an investigation, a request that Republicans have rebuffed. Grassley said on Tuesday that “the FBI is not doing any further investigation.”
Feinstein said on Tuesday there should be more than just two witnesses, possibly to include people who Ford previously confided in. “This is another attempt by Republicans to rush this nomination and not fully vet Judge Kavanaugh,” Feinstein said in a statement.
The confirmation fight comes just weeks before the Nov. 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are seeking to take control of Congress from Trump’s party, which could be a major blow to the president’s agenda.
‘BASIC STEPS’
The showdown has echoes of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ contentious confirmation hearings in 1991 involving sexual harassment allegations lodged against him by a law professor named Anita Hill. Thomas was ultimately confirmed, but only after a nasty televised hearing in which Hill faced pointed questions from Republican senators and the nominee said he was the victim of “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks.”
Feinstein said late on Monday that with Hill’s allegations the FBI had carried out an investigation.
Grassley offered his assurance that Ford would be treated respectfully and not badgered during the hearing. All 11 Republicans on the committee are men. Four of the 10 Democrats are women.
Grassley said details about how the hearing would be conducted had not been worked out, including parameters for panel members posing questions or the possibility that committee Republicans could choose a single questioner.
Inside the White House, plans are not currently being made in case Kavanaugh’s confirmation unravels, including identifying a potential replacement nominee, according to a source familiar with the nomination process who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“It would be unjust and foolhardy to think of any Plan B until this matter is completely resolved,” the source said.
Republicans control the Senate by only a narrow margin, meaning any defections could sink the nomination and deal a major setback to Trump. Trump picked Kavanaugh to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who sometimes sided with the court’s liberal wing.
Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham
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