In an memo, an outside prosecutor explains why she would not file a criminal complaint against Kavanaugh

"He said," she said, "that the case is incredibly difficult to prove. But this case is even weaker than that, "Mitchell wrote in the memo sent Sunday night to all Senate Republicans. "Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event and they either refuted his allegations or failed to corroborate them. "

Mitchell continued: "For the reasons set out below, I do not think that a reasonable attorney would take this case based on the evidence before the Tribunal. [Senate Judiciary] Committee. Nor do I believe that this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance of the test.

The memorandum is likely to result in significant backsliding by Democratic senators, who argued that Ford was not on trial and that Kavanaugh was only interviewing for a job. But the memorandum is clearly intended to dispel the concerns of some GOP senators who are wondering whether to vote to confirm Kavanaugh and who care to know whose story, that of Ford or Kavanaugh, to give faith.

The FBI is currently investigating Ford's charges, as well as those of a second woman, Deborah Ramirez.

In the memo, Mitchell argued that Ford did not provide a consistent account of the alleged assault, including exactly when it occurred. Mitchell also noted that Ford did not identify Kavanaugh as his attacker in key evidence, including notes of sessions with his therapist – records that Ford's lawyers refused to provide to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ford said Thursday before the panel that she was "100%" sure Kavanaugh was her attacker.

"I thought he was going to rape me," she told the panel. "I tried to scream for help. When I did, Brett put his hand on my mouth to stop me from screaming. That's what made me the most terrified.

But in the note, Mitchell also argued that Ford "has no recollection of the key details of the night in question – details that could help corroborate his account," nor did Ford report on alleged aggression. Noting that Ford did not remember in which house the incident would have occurred, or how she had left the rally and returned home, Mitchell said that "his inability to remember this detail raises important issues."

Mitchell also pointed out that no one that Ford identified as having attended the meeting – including Mark Judge, Patrick Smyth and Leland (Ingham) Keyser – was able to directly corroborate Ford's allegations. Keyser, however, told the Judicial Committee that she believed in Ford's account.

Mitchell, whom GOP senators chose to answer questions during Ford and Kavanaugh's hearing at last week's hearing, is a registered Republican who heads the Special Victims Division of the Attorney General's Office. Maricopa County in Phoenix. Although she asked Ford all the questions asked by the Republican senators, she only asked two sets of questions to Kavanaugh, until the GOP senators spoke again.

Mitchell pointed out that she had "no pressure to write this memorandum or to write words with which I do not quite agree". The memo obtained by The Post does not include any analysis of his questions to Kavanaugh.

"There is no clear standard of proof for allegations made during the confirmation process by the Senate," Mitchell wrote in the memo. "But the world I work in is the legal world, not the political world. Therefore, I can only give my assessment of Dr. Ford's allegations in this legal context. "

The prosecutor joined a private meeting with all Republican senators Thursday after the hearing, where she told senators that after the eight hour testimony she had heard she He is reported to have not sued Kavanaugh for assault, according to two officials close to his remarks.

The committee also sends a detailed chronology of the main events concerning Ford's accusation to all Senators of the Senate, particularly when it addressed its representative, the representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.), For her allegations and the investigative work of the committee.