Henry Rodgers on September 18, 2018
Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker said Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of high school-era sexual assault, needs to respond to Senate inquiries, and that the Judiciary Committee should “move on” if she declines.
“I would hope that if someone has been given the opportunity to voice a concern that they have that they would do so,” Corker told The Daily Caller News Foundation in the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon. “So that would be quite something, if she decided she did not want to testify. I would assume the committee would then move on, as they should.”
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who has been on the fence about Kavanaugh, said earlier Tuesday that she finds it “very puzzling” that Ford will not respond to inquiries from the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying “she’s now being given an opportunity to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee and to answer questions and I really hope that she doesn’t pass up that opportunity.”
Corker told Politico on Sunday he believed it “would be best for all involved, including the nominee” if they were able to tell their sides of the story in front of the committee. However, according to Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, she has so far ignored repeated inquiries from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats for bringing forward a 36-year-old accusation of misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh on the Senate floor Monday.
