Kavanaugh Vote Faces Potential Delay As GOP Plans Investigation Of Assault Claims
- by Kelli Lowe
- in Global Media
- — Sep 20, 2018
Her announcement came six days after Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing concluded.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, one of the key swing votes on the nomination, said she wanted both Kavanaugh and Ford to testify under oath before the Judiciary Committee.
Ford has accused Kavanaugh, a conservative appeals court judge chosen by Trump for a lifetime job on the top USA court, of trying to attack her and remove her clothing while drunk in 1982 in a Maryland suburb outside Washington when they were students in different high schools.
"Judge Kavanaugh spent quite a bit of time with Senator Feinstein and it wasn't even brought up at that meeting and she had this information", Trump said.
Stressing that Kavanaugh had already testified and undergone Federal Bureau of Investigation background checks, Conway said: "I think you have to weigh this testimonial evidence from Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh along with the considerable body of evidence that is already there about the judge's temperament and qualifications and character".
"This is a completely false allegation". Ford told The Washington Post that she thought it happened in the summer of 1982, when she would have been 15 and the newspaper said Kavanaugh would have been 17. Last week he told the Weekly Standard he does not recall the incident. Ford has said she made a decision to come forward only when her name began leaking out. Grassley said he will continue working on a way to hear from Ford "in an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner". The Post said it had reviewed notes from therapy sessions that included mention of a "rape attempt" by students from an "elitist boys school" who would become "highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington".
President Donald Trump's eldest son on Monday appeared to mock the sexual assault allegations against his father's nominee for the Supreme Court.
Ford chose to go public after reporters began contacting her last week. Dianne Feinstein via a letter through Eshoo's office.
Ford had originally wished to remain anonymous but came forward after Feinstein disclosed the existence of the letter, and details of the allegation were leaked to the media. Her attorney, Debra Katz, told CNN that Ford would be willing to testify before Congress and stood by her story in the face of expected push-back. "Because once you go public you are subjected to a great deal".
Republicans hold a slim 11-10 advantage on the Judiciary Committee and a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Amid the uproar, Republicans continued to express anger Monday that Ford's allegations did not surface until after Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. Senator Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the committee, says that's not sufficient.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said in an email to *The Daily Iowan* she is confident in the investigation process led by Grassley. September 14: The New Yorker reported on the substance of the allegations without naming Ford.
California Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Monday that she met with Ford in July for "at least an hour and a half" about the allegations.
"If it takes a little delay, it will take a little delay", said Trump, who dismissed as a "ridiculous question" a reporter's query about whether Kavanaugh, who earlier in the day issued a fresh denial of the allegation against him, had offered to withdraw his name from consideration. He is again denying this, though, releasing this statement. It's initially - it's scheduled to happen on Thursday. "I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity".
HORSLEY: No. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the committee, was scrambling yesterday to arrange staff telephone calls with both Kavanaugh and Ford.
