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Christine Blasey Ford, left, the woman accusing Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh of having sexually assaulted her at a party 36 years ago, answers questions from Rachel Mitchell, on the right, an Arizona attorney. (Saul Loeb / Pool via AFP)
Philip Bump
A national correspondent is largely focused on the numbers behind the policy
When Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that she was assaulted by Supreme Court candidate Brett M. Kavanaugh, while both were in high school, appeared earlier this month, his response was straightforward.
"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation," he said in a statement. "I did not do it in high school or anytime."
In an interview on Fox News this week, Kavanaugh went further, suggesting that his familiarity with Ford was almost nonexistent.
"I may have met her, we did not travel in the same social circle, she was not a friend, I did not know her," he said. He rejected Ford's allegation that "it was a party in the summer of 1982 in a house near Connecticut Avenue and East West Highway in the presence of five people."
"I have never attended such a party," he said.
This assertion is somewhat clouded when Kavanaugh published a copy of his calendar dating from the summer of 1982, during which time the assault would have occurred. This document shows a number of overlapping events with the comments from Kavanaugh's 1983 third-year yearbook in which he apparently alludes to excessive drinking. He also notes several parties Kavanaugh was to attend.
Many of these entries identify parties and outings with friends. "Judge", his friend Mark Judge, who, according to Ford, was at the party where the incident allegedly took place. "PJ", Patrick Smyth, that Ford also says to be there. And others – Tom, Mark, Timmy.
On 13 occasions, Kavanaugh refers to a person named "Squi" on his calendar. It's the name that comes back the most. Kavanaugh and Squi, who played with him on the Georgetown Prep football team, went to a Washington Bullets game at Squi's home in Rehoboth to watch movies at the beach. On July 1, Kavanaugh, Judge, PJ, Squi and two others go to "Timmy's for skis" – an apparent reference to visiting a friend's house for beers ("brewskis").
Squi is mentioned on July 1, 2, and 30 (Provided by Brett Kavanaugh to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate)
Squi was apparently so close to Ford.
The Republican majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee asked a prosecutor by the name of Rachel Mitchell to put questions to Ford at Thursday's hearing, recognizing the difficulty of having exclusively male committee members to try to undermine Ford's testimony. At one point, Mitchell asked about his connection with Kavanaugh.
"I want to ask you about somebody else.You say that there was a classmate who was really the link between you and Brett Kavanaugh," Mitchell asked. "Who was this person?"
Ford began talking about the mistaken identity theory of the alleged attack by conservative lawyer Ed Whelan on Twitter earlier this month. Whelan presented a seemingly unfounded theory that the attack was allegedly made by someone who Ford would have confused with Kavanaugh.
Mitchell looked confused, returning to his question: who was this person?
Ford explained. The shared connection with Kavanaugh was the person who, according to Whelan, could be the real culprit.
"How long have you known this person?" Asked Mitchell.
"Maybe for – a few months we socialized," replied Ford. "But he was also a member of the same national club and I also knew his younger brother." It was a few months before the alleged attack, Mitchell said.
Mitchell then asked Ford to explain the nature of his relationship with this person.
"That's someone with whom, I'm going to use the phrase" I went out with, "said Ford, using aerial citations." I would not say "date", I would say "out with" during some months. This is what we called it at the time. "
"After that, we were distant friends," she continued, "and they meet periodically at the Columbia Country Club, but I do not see him often."
As you probably guessed, this person was Squi. We know this because Ford has described it as the target of Whelan speculation and a photo of Kavanaugh's phone book has identified this person as being dubbed "Squee".
In other words, Ford claims that she had been dating Squi for several months before the alleged incident of the summer of 1982. This year's Kavanaugh calendar shows that he spent a lot of time with Squi. And Kavanaugh further alleges that he "may" have met Ford but that he "did not travel in the same social circle" and that she "was not a friend, not a person I knew ".
Mitchell's apparent role was to undermine Ford's story. By linking Ford to Squi, she might have helped to reduce Kavanaugh's performance.
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