Trump questions about the credibility of Christine Blasey Ford and her attack on Democrats

FIFTH: In a statement released on Friday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told lawyers that Accused Christine Blasey Ford was extremely accommodating to his client and wanted to hear Ford's testimony. .

President Trump questioned on Friday the credibility of the woman who accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault as a teenager, claiming that she or her parents reported the assault to police forces. order at the time if she said.

Trump's tweet marks an abrupt break with the days that followed the charge, in which he refrained from attacking California professor Christine Blasey Ford and said she deserved to be heard by the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.

"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been filed immediately with local police authorities by her loving parents," Trump said. the tweet, which was his first to mention the accuser of his Supreme Court nominee by name.

Trump's comments provoked a violent reaction from legislators – including some prominent Republican senators – and advocates for victims of sexual assault. Friday afternoon, the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport was fashionable on Twitter, thousands of people coming to explain their hesitation to contact the authorities.

Negotiations between the Republicans of the committee and Ford's lawyers remained open Friday on whether Ford would testify and under what conditions.

The Senate Judiciary Committee sent its counter-proposal to its lawyers Friday afternoon, asking them to respond before 5 pm This period was extended thereafter until 22 hours. negotiations continue, according to two people familiar with the application.

The Republicans, who held a conference call Friday morning, have regrouped behind two main demands: the hearing would be held on Wednesday instead of Thursday, as Ford has proposed, and Ford must testify first, according to several GOP officials. Ford had asked that Kavanaugh speak first, a major non-star with the Republicans.

Some Republican Senators are also convinced that an outside lawyer should handle the interrogation, said a GOP official – even though the use of outside lawyers is something Ford does not want, according to his lawyers . During a 30-minute call on Thursday night to negotiate the terms of the hearing, Ford's lawyers pointed out that relying on outside counsel would create a test atmosphere for it.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (California), the Democratic's highest-ranking Judicial Committee, complained on Friday that Republicans were rushing to the hearing.

"I would remind my fellow Republicans that they have blocked President Obama's candidate for a year and that the court has survived," Feinstein said in a statement. "Watch of the heart. Wait until Dr. Ford feels he can come to the committee. "

Ford, meanwhile, planned to meet with the FBI on Friday afternoon as part of her investigation into the death threats she's received since she agreed to submit her allegations, said her lawyer. .

Katz said the FBI had contacted Ford with information about the death threats. She agreed to confirm the upcoming meeting after someone knowing the interests of the FBI contacted the post office.

Katz said she was not expecting FBI agents to discuss details with Ford about Kavanaugh's alleged attack in the early 1980s.

"It's strictly about the death threats that she has received," Katz said.

Ford told the Washington Post in an interview published online Sunday that Kavanaugh drugged him to a bed on his back, fumbled and put his hand on his mouth to quell his screaming when he started. ;a party. The alleged incident occurred while both were students in Maryland separate schools.

Ford said that she told no one at the time what had happened to her. She was terrified, she said, that she would have problems if her parents realized that she had gone to a party where teens were drinking, and she was worried about how she could do it even if she did not tell them.

[[[[Kavanaugh's accuser will not testify Monday but is ready to do so later next week]

In the middle of the storm on Trump's tweet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Predicted Friday that Kavanaugh would be confirmed soon, calling him "incredibly successful person."

"You watched the fight. You watched the tactics, "McConnell said in a speech at the Values ​​Voters Summit, an annual gathering of social conservatives in Washington. "This is what I want to say to you: In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be in the US Supreme Court. . . . Keep the faith. Do not be shaken by all this. We will cross it and do our work. "

In three hours, Trump tweeted several times about Ford and Kavanaugh of Las Vegas, where he staged a political rally on Thursday night and had two events on Friday.

In a tweet, he claimed that Kavanaugh is being assaulted by "radical left politicians" who are not interested in finding the truth about the allegation but "just want to destroy and delay".

"The facts do not matter. I go through this with them everyday in DC, "said Trump, calling Kavanaugh" an elegant man, with an irreproachable reputation "as he expressed his growing frustration with the confirmation process.

The president has also targeted "radical left lawyers" who are seeking to get the FBI to investigate Ford's allegations, saying, "Why was not the FBI called 36 years ago?

Democrats have called on the FBI to reopen its Kavanaugh background check rather than a criminal investigation.

The FBI said it did not plan to do it unless the White House asks for such an investigation. And a spokesman for the Justice Department said earlier this week that Ford's claim "does not involve any potential federal crime."

Katz said Friday that the FBI had not given the reasons for its refusal so far to investigate the allegation that Kavanaugh was endangered.

"We have not received any explanation from the FBI," she said.

In another tweet on Friday, Trump urged senators to "TAKE THE VOTE," whether Ford agrees to testify or not. And he criticized Feinstein for failing to disclose a letter she had received from Ford in July until Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings before the committee.

The timing, said Trump, was "done with a lot of determination for Obstruct & Resist & Delay".

Feinstein said that she honored Ford's request to remain anonymous.

Trump's claim that Ford should have manifested himself at the time was widely criticized by some Democratic senators as well as by some Republicans whose votes are essential to Kavanaugh's confirmation prospects.

"I was dismayed by the president's tweet," said Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). "First of all, we know the allegations of sexual assault – I'm not saying that's what happened in this case – but we know that allegations of sexual assault are one of the crimes the least reported. So, I thought the president's tweet was completely inappropriate and wrong.

Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Meanwhile, called Trump's tweet "incredibly insensitive."

Democrats have been tougher in their assessments.

"These comments reflect exactly why it is so difficult for sexual assault survivors to come forward – society has questioned, diminished and attacked survivors," said Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) On Twitter. "President Trump is part of the problem, making the same painful attacks, trying to shame and marginalize Dr. Ford."

[Trump asks why Christine Blasey Ford didn’t report her allegation sooner. Survivors answer with #WhyIDidntReport.]

Although he did not mention Ford by name, Trump asked questions Thursday about the timing of Ford's allegation in a television interview with Fox News before his appearance at a political rally in Las Vegas.

"Why did not anyone call the FBI 36 years ago?

Samantha Guerry, a friend and former Ford classmate, expressed her exasperation at Trump's question during a Friday morning interview with CNN.

"The idea that someone said to the FBI 36 years ago is ridiculous," she said, noting that many abused women "are extremely unlikely to tell anyone."

"It's a deeply personal and traumatic experience that has a lot of psychological complexity," she said. "Anyone who looks at this in a thoughtful way will see that women who make these claims are often depreciated, mistaken, intimidated, and intimidated."

A survey conducted in 2015 by the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington with current and recent students found that 88% of women who had unwanted sexual contact had not informed law enforcement or police. academic incidents.

This result was the same for women who reported sexual assault by force or threat, as well as those who were unable and unable to give consent.

About six dozen women attended a press conference in Washington on Friday morning to show their support for Kavanaugh. Standing under a banner with the hashtag #IStandWithBrett in pink letters, many of them have talked about their interactions with him over the years and have confirmed his character.

One of the women, Meghan McCaleb, said she knew Ford when she was younger, but "not good. She was friends with friends. McCaleb said she never remembered having attended a party with her.

"She hung with a crew different from the one we hung on," McCaleb said.

McCaleb said that she had known Kavanaugh for 38 years and that she was very close to him in high school. The charges he faces "represent a radical departure from the behavior my friends and I have witnessed for more than four decades," said McCaleb.

Sara Fagen, who led the press conference and worked with Kavanaugh in the George W. Bush administration, called the allegation "false". She did not provide any specific evidence of her claim. .

"The reason we know this claim is wrong is because we know Brett Kavanaugh," said Fagen. She declined to comment on Trump's Friday tweet about Ford.

Emma Brown, Carol Leonnig, David Weigel and Scott Clement contributed to this report.