Kavanaugh accuser agrees to testify in Senate hearing

Ford agreed that she will testify ahead of Kavanaugh, rather than her preference to appear after him, according to a source familiar with the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to discuss the talks publicly.

Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, said Saturday that she has accepted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s request to testify about her allegation next week.

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh listens during his U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018.

The Republicans are hoping to place Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court before the November elections, when Democrats are threatening to grab congressional control.

The committee had given Ford, a California professor, until 2:30pm (1830 GMT) Saturday to decide on whether to appear, after she rejected a Friday evening deadline imposed by the committee’s Republican leader, Chuck Grassley.

“She was like, ‘I can’t deal with this, ‘” Russell Ford said. “It’s not my normal approach to b indecisive”.

Grassley originally offered Ford four choices to air her testimony-a public hearing, a private hearing, a public testimony with committee staff, or a private testimony with committee staff. This happens a lot in the context of sexual assault.

Tensions have been running on overdrive since Ford went public last week with her allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her when they in high school.

As the talks continued, Grassley countered that he would end the standoff by scheduling a Monday vote on whether to recommend Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate.

Republicans viewed the weeklong back-and-forth negotiations on Ford’s various requests as a way to delay voting on President Donald Trump’s nominee.

Ford, who asked that the FBI investigate the allegations, said there was alcohol at the party and that Kavanaugh and Judge were very drunk at the time.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement that he will support Ford’s “steadfast bravery against the arbitrary, unfair, irrational constraints set by Chairman Grassley”. “So I thought that the president’s tweet was completely inappropriate and wrong”. Moderate female voters will be pivotal in many races in the elections and the #MeToo movement has elevated the political potency of how women alleging abuse are treated. Given all the time that’s passed, I wondered if perhaps Ford had actually been to such a party and suffered an assault, but it was with someone else and her mind was just filling in a blank with Kavanaugh’s name. “This is the same man who has been credibly accused of more than a dozen cases of sexual assault or harassment”.

Committee staff has agreed to several additional requests from Ford and her attorneys. Kavanaugh immediately and unequivocally denied Ford’s charge that, while intoxicated, he pushed her into a bedroom, pinned her to a bed, and attempted to rip off her clothing.

Ford’s lawyers said Thursday night that Ford wouldn’t be able to get to Washington before next Thursday because of all that her family is dealing with, according to a Senate Democratic leadership aide.

McConnell’s goal has been to confirm Kavanaugh by 1 October, the start of the Supreme Court term.

Christine Blasey Ford’s decision followed days of negotiations and came after Trump turned against her and said her accusation could not be true. Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the lifetime position would be the second of the Trump administration and solidify conservative control of the nation’s top court. She has also insisted that adequate security provided, as she faces threats to her safety.