Kavanaugh accuser to testify Thursday in front of committee

Published 1:30 am Sunday, September 23, 2018

By Karoun Demirjian / The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee will let Christine Blasey Ford testify Thursday about her charge that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, but several senators from both parties said Sunday there was little chance either person could say to change their vote on his confirmation.

Republicans have agreed to delay a committee vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation until after the hearing takes place, but many members of the GOP have said they are eager to move on with the process — and are almost certain to continue to support Kavanaugh when Ford’s testimony is over.

“What am I supposed to do, go and ruin this guy’s life based on an accusation?” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on “Fox News Sunday.” Ford’s allegations that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s would be too thin to hold up in court, Graham said. “I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know where it happened, and everybody named in regard to being there said it didn’t happen. I’m just being honest: Unless there’s something more, no, I’m not going to ruin Judge Kavanaugh’s life over this.”

Yet Democrats insisted Sunday that Kavanaugh’s denials were not believable, and a public appearance would do little to sway their support for Ford.

“There are so many indications of his own lack of credibility,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said of Kavanaugh on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Her concerns about Kavanaugh’s “very ideological agenda” and “inability to be fair,” she said, predate Ford’s allegations.

Ford’s attorneys said Sunday that they agreed to the hearing despite the committee’s refusal to let her speak after Kavanaugh’s testimony, interview other people she identified as present at the party where the alleged assault took place, or ask the FBI to look into her allegations in advance of her appearance. Senate Democratic leaders sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Sunday urging him to direct the FBI to conduct an investigation into Ford’s claims, arguing it would only take a few days.

Ford’s lawyers also said they had not been told whether the Republican senators on the committee would themselves ask Ford questions or defer to staff or an independent lawyer to question her. It is customary that senators ask their own questions during public hearings. But there is a potential political risk if the all-male, all-white roster of Republicans on the panel — few of whom have any experience questioning sexual assault victims — grill Ford in a way that reminds viewers of 1991, when Anita Hill told the panel that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her. Thomas was confirmed.

“The Anita Hill hearing was a disaster, but they did have an FBI investigation; they did have other witnesses,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” charging that Republican senators had “predetermined the outcome” and set up a “he said, she said” showdown around Ford’s allegations.

“The Senate, Congress, failed the test in 1991,” Murray continued. “How the Senate handles this, and the Senate Republicans handle this, will be a test of this time, in 2018, in the ‘Me Too’ movement, can we do better? And I feel we are failing that if we don’t do it correctly.”

Ford claims that Kavanaugh forced her onto a bed, drunkenly groped her, tried to take off her clothes and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. Ford said a friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, was in the room — but neither he nor others who she said were at the party have claimed any knowledge or memory of the incident, although at least one said she believes Ford’s allegations.

Ford told The Post one person at the party was a boy named “PJ.” Patrick J. Smyth, a friend of Kavanaugh who signed a letter of support for his nomination, has told the Judiciary Committee that he has no knowledge of the party and has never witnessed Kavanaugh behave improperly toward women, according to a letter from Smyth’s attorney that the committee made public Sunday. Through his lawyer, Smyth declined to comment Sunday.

Ford said her friend Leland Keyser also was at the party. In an email to the committee, an attorney for Keyser wrote that she “does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present.” In a brief interview with The Washington Post, Keyser said she did not recall the party but believed Ford’s account.

Last week, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said that if Democrats gain control of Congress in the midterm elections, they will continue to investigate Ford’s allegations. When asked Sunday if she agreed with the idea, Hirono noted that Maryland — the state in which Ford alleges the assault took place — has lifted the statute of limitations on criminal prosecutions of most forms of sexual abuse, adding that “there may be an investigation along those lines.”

“This is a situation that is not going to go away,” she said.

But Republicans have argued that more FBI scrutiny would be superfluous.

“Their role in this case is not to determine who is telling the truth,” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” “I hope that we will get to the truth” during the Judiciary Committee hearing, he added.

Trump also has backed the hearing, but he has questioned Ford’s credibility, suggesting in a tweet last week that if the alleged assault was “as bad as she says,” she would have filed charges at the time.

That tweet rankled at least one key swing vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who said last week that she was “appalled” by Trump’s tweet.

The fate of Kavanaugh’s nomination is likely to hinge on Democratic and Republican senators such as Collins whose votes are uncertain.

“If one Republican senator should decide that Dr. Ford’s allegations, assertions, are true and that they are serious, it could make a big difference,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on ABC News’ “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”

Meanwhile, Republicans said they hoped that Trump would not weigh in with any more tweets.

“I would advise the president to let us handle this,” Graham said Sunday.