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John Wagner
National Journalist Leading the Post's New Politics Team
A lawyer for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accuses Supreme Court candidate Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her as a teenager, said Thursday she was not appearing at a hearing Monday to testify later in the week.
Debra Katz, Ford's lawyer, relayed the response to senior officials of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, calling for an appeal with them to "discuss the conditions under which [Ford] would be ready to testify next week. "
"As you know, she received death threats that were reported to the FBI and she and her family were forced to leave their homes," Katz wrote to the committee. "She wants to testify, as long as we can agree on fair conditions and guarantee her safety. A hearing on Monday is not possible and the committee insists that this should happen anyway. "
Katz continued, "Dr. Ford has asked me to let you know that she appreciates the different options you have offered. She continues to prefer that the Senate Judiciary Committee authorize a full investigation prior to her testimony. "
The statement to the Senate was made after the Republicans committed Thursday morning to vote Kavanaugh if Ford refused to testify Monday. The way the Republicans would respond to Ford's request to testify later in the week was unclear.
"If she does not want to participate and tell her story, there is no reason to delay," CNN Senator John Cornyn (Tex.), The Republican's No. 2 chambermate, told CNN. "I think everything depends on what she decides to do. We all pointed out that it was his chance.
The calendar sparked protests from Democrats, who called on the FBI to investigate the allegations of Ford, a California professor, and to increase the number of witnesses who would be called beyond Ford and Kavanaugh.
[Republicans push to confirm Kavanaugh amid fears it will come at a political cost]
"What's going on with the Judiciary Committee, really, I would say it's a railroad job," said Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). "They absolutely want to bring Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. . . You must ask yourself why.
Hirono spoke at a Capitol Hill event to mark a letter of support that was signed by more than 1,000 alumni of Maryland's Ford High School.
Speaking at the same event, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) Said that she considered the Republican ultimatum of a Monday hearing as a "harassment."
Gillibrand also argued that Ford's call for an FBI investigation strengthened its credibility.
"Someone who is lying does not ask the FBI to investigate their claims," she said. "Who does not ask the FBI to investigate these allegations? The White House. Judge Kavanaugh did not request that the FBI investigate these allegations. Is it the reaction of an innocent person? That's not it. "
Ford claimed that Kavanaugh and Kavanaugh were at a party in the house in the early 1980s, while both were in high school, Kavanaugh drugged her in a bed, fumbled and put her hand to smother her. shouts take off his clothes. Kavanaugh repeatedly denied the allegations.
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), had asked Ford's lawyers to answer before 10 am Friday whether she planned to appear before his panel at a hearing scheduled for Monday.
Ford, through its lawyers, asked the FBI to conduct an investigation into the alleged incident before she spoke to the committee, and Senate Democrats lined up behind it. But the Republicans have not moved away from their view that the FBI does not need to intervene or intend to hear Kavanaugh's and Ford's testimony on Monday.
Cornyn said on Thursday that he saw no reason to call additional witnesses, noting that the committee had already held a full hearing on President Trump's candidate.
"We already had an audition," said Cornyn. "That's what I call diverting the regular committee process to consider political interests."
On Thursday, a group of eight Democrats wrote to Trump, asking him to ask the FBI to reopen his background on Kavanaugh, a US Court of Appeals judge for the D.C. circuit.
The Democrats, all of whom served as prosecutors or attorneys general, noted that President George HW Bush asked the FBI to investigate after law professor Anita Hill made allegations of sexual harassment against Judge Clarence Thomas in 1991. .
"Senate Republicans are trying to have Dr. Blasey Ford testify on a few days notice – without the FBI responding to his allegations and forwarding a report first," said the letter, led by Sens. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.) And Amy Klobuchar (Minn.). "It seems like a simple exercise of control in a rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
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