« I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone. »
REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Supreme Court hopeful Judge Brett Kavanaugh has hired an attorney to defend himself against accusations of sexually assaulting a woman while in high school.
The allegations surfaced after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) released a letter stating that she had been notified of the alleged attack, but the senator provided almost no details about what may have happened.
After Sen. Feinstein announced the allegations, the alleged victim, Christine Blasey Ford, spoke with the Washington Post to explain her side of the story.
Reactions to the story were mixed, to say the least. A few Republicans quickly tossed aside the allegations for a variety of reasons. The two most prominent reasons were that the accusations occurred more than three decades ago and that they may be politically charged because of Ford’s support for Democrats.
“What is puzzling to me is the Democrats, by not bringing this out earlier, after having had this information for more than six weeks, have managed to cast a cloud of doubt on both the professor and the judge.” Couldn’t agree more https://t.co/j38WmXV7eX
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) September 17,2018
Most Democrats quickly believed Ford’s story, calling for a complete FBI Investigation into Kavanaugh, jeopardizing his nomination and approval to the Supreme Court.
Christine Blasey Ford is brave, deserves to be heard, and treated with respect as she raises new questions about Brett Kavanaugh. No votes until that happens.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 17,2018
I agree with Senator Flake that we should delay this week’s vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. There’s a lot of information we don’t know and the FBI should have the time it needs to review this new material. Staff calls aren’t the appropriate way to handle this.
— Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) September 17,2018
Senate Republicans ran a transparently partisan confirmation process and then immediately insinuated Prof Ford is being untruthful. They cannot impartially investigate these disturbing allegations. That must be done by the FBI, and the vote must be postponed until it is complete.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) September 17,2018
Some Republicans, including Kellyanne Conway and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), do not want the allegations to be “ignored” and would like to hear from both Kavanaugh and Ford as soon as possible.
“She should not be ignored or insulted, she should be heard”- @KellyannePolls reacts to claims made by #Kavanaugh accuser pic.twitter.com/GpF5NVGy6z
— Ainsley Earhardt (@ainsleyearhardt) September 17,2018
With his Supreme Court seat up in the air, Kavanaugh has hired an attorney and stated that he is ready to defend himself against these allegations.
In a statement about the allegations, Kavanaugh said:
« This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making the accusation until she identified herself yesterday. 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.”
Ford has also stated that she would be willing to testify before Congress about the allegations.
While it is not yet clear what will happen with Kavanaugh and these allegations, the decision will lie in the hands of those Republican senators who have not already sided with Kavanaugh.
Ultimately, additional hearings will only take place if Republicans don’t believe they have the votes to approve the nominee to the Supreme Court.
Either way, a decision will have to be made quickly. The vote to approve Kavanaugh is scheduled for Thursday.
