Over the weekend, a name and face were added to the previously anonymous sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, which is now threatening to derail his nomination. The identity of the accuser was revealed as Christine Blasey Ford, who has agreed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford reportedly made the allegations back in July in a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Feinstein waited until it was close to the vote to confirm Kavanaugh before making the accusations public.
That’s led many to believe that the accusations are simply an attempt to stall, and ultimately prevent, the confirmation of Kavanaugh. Given that prior criticisms of Kavanaugh seemed to center around completely normal details, such as the fact that he’s carried a credit card balance if Ford’s accusations are in fact true, Democrats did save their only argument for last. If they knew of these accusations since July, why wouldn’t they lead with them to derail Kavanaugh from the beginning?
While every accuser deserves to be heard, Ford is giving mixed signals on if she indeed does.
Sen. Chuck Grassley heads the Senate Judiciary Committee and says that Feinstein isn’t answering any of his calls to set up a time for Ford to testify.
https://twitter.com/esaagar/status/1041725321123385344
After Grassley attempted to set up a private call with Kavanaugh, Democrats as a whole on the Committee refused to participate:
New statement from Judiciary Commkttee Democrats: pic.twitter.com/kPwvJSuKZZ
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) September 17, 2018
And Feinstein and other Democrats aren’t the only ones ignoring anything that has to do with Ford or Kavanaugh testifying. While Kavanaugh too has volunteered to testify regarding the allegations, Ford is now ignoring the opportunity.
Will there only be two witnesses on Monday? @ChuckGrassley to @hughhewitt: "Yes."
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) September 18, 2018
Grassley says they've reached out to Christine Blasey Ford "three or four times" via email about the hearing and haven't heard back yet.
"We still haven't heard from Dr. Ford."— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) September 18, 2018
Fox is told that the majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee last night reached out to counsel for Christine Ford to invite her to Monday’s additonal hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But she has not responded as yet.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 18, 2018
According to Politico:
The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her decades ago has not yet confirmed her appearance at a public hearing the GOP is planning next week, Although Ford’s lawyer said that her client would be open to “a fair proceeding,” it remains unclear whether she would agree to a planned hearing on Sept. 24 that Republicans have set up to help save Kavanaugh’s nomination. The lack of response so far “kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not,” Grassley told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday.
How many attempts at obstruction have we seen so far? Democrats have threatened Susan Collins with extortion to vote in their favor, compared themselves to Spartacus, and claimed to file perjury charges against Kavanaugh, which only Jeff Sessions would have the ability to file.
If Ford’s claims are legitimate, we need to hear her testify immediately. Additionally, given that there’s no statute of limitations in Maryland (where the crime is alleged to have occurred), she can still file charges against Kavanaugh if the alleged assault did happen.
Ford has already said she’s willing to testify – so what’s the hold up now?
