A woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct is refusing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyer, Lisa Banks, says her client wants the FBI to investigate her allegations.
“Any talk of a hearing on Monday frankly is premature because she just came forward with these allegations 48 hours ago,” said Banks, who added that Ford has been chased out of her home by death threats and hate mail.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has twice said it will not investigate Ford’s claims.
Ford accused a drunken Kavanaugh and another male of holding her down and covering her mouth at a house party in the 1980s while they were high school students.
Ford said she managed to escape, but she believes Kavanaugh would have “inadvertently” killed her if she hadn’t fled the home.
Three people named by Ford have all denied attending the party or witnessing the incident that she described. Ford says she can’t recall the date of the party or where the party was held.
Kavanaugh has vigorously denied the “false allegation” and 65 women who are former classmates came forward to testify to his good character.
The 1980s incident first came to light last week when Senator Dianne Feinstein announced she received a letter from Banks detailing the assault.
Feinstein held onto the letter over the summer and she did not question Kavanaugh about the incident in private meetings with him or during the recent confirmation hearings.
While speaking to reporters outside the White House before heading to North Carolina on Wednesday, President Trump questioned Feinstein’s timing.
He asked why the Democrats waited until a week before Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote to bring up the accusation.
“Why did [Democrats] wait until everything was finished and then bring it up? That doesn’t look good,” Trump said.
On Tuesday, he accused the Democrats of delaying and stalling Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote which was scheduled for Thursday.
Feinstein was slammed by her own Party for telling Fox News she “can’t say everything’s truthful” about Ford’s allegations.
George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, stood by Kavanaugh in a statement to Politico.com.
“Laura and I have known and respected Brett Kavanaugh for decades, and we stand by our comments the night Judge Kavanaugh was nominated,” Bush said.
The former president described Kavanaugh as “a fine husband, father, and friend — and a man of the highest integrity. He will make a superb Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
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