President Donald Trump urged senators to hear from both Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of sexual assault before the Senate Judiciary Committee votes whether to recommend the nominee for confirmation to a seat on the Supreme Court.
The president made the comments on the afternoon of Sept. 17, after both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, agreed to speak with lawmakers. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he was working to set up calls with both parties.
Ford, a 51-year-old psychology professor, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her 36 years ago in the 1980s, when they were both teenagers in high school. Ford detailed the accusation in a letter sent in July to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Feinstein didn’t disclose the letter until after the confirmation hearings.
Kavanaugh said he would be willing to talk to the committee to refute the allegations, according to a statement released by the White House on Sept. 17.
“This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone,“ Kavanaugh said. ”I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”
Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, told multiple media outlets on Sept. 17 that her client would be willing to testify.
Trump told reporters that Kavanaugh is “respected by everybody” and “never even had a little blemish on his record.” The president highlighted that his nominee for the Supreme Court had been vetted by the FBI on six different occasions as he ascended to higher posts in Washington.
“At the same time, we want to go through a process,” Trump said. “We want to make sure everything is perfect, everything is just right. I wish the Democrats could have done this a lot sooner, because they’ve had this information for many months.”
Ford had originally wished to remain anonymous but came forward after Feinstein disclosed the existence of the letter, and details of the allegation were leaked to the media.
“Unfortunately, committee Republicans have only known this person’s identity from news reports for less than 24 hours and known about her allegations for less than a week,“ Grassley said. ”Senator Feinstein, on the other hand, has had this information for many weeks and deprived her colleagues of the information necessary to do our jobs.”
“The Minority withheld even the anonymous allegations for six weeks, only to later decide that they were serious enough to investigate on the eve of the committee vote, after the vetting process had been completed,” he added. “It’s deeply disturbing that the existence of these allegations were leaked in a way that seemed to preclude Dr. Ford’s confidentiality.”
Two Republican senators known for bucking the president—Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee—have called for a delay in the confirmation vote so the committee can hear from Ford.
While Ford’s accusations were still anonymous, 65 women who have known Kavanaugh since high school sent a letter to the committee in support of the judge.
“Through the more than 35 years we have known him, Brett has stood out for his friendship, character, and integrity. In particular, he has always treated women with decency and respect. That was true when he was in high school, and it has remained true to this day.”
Trump told reporters that his nominee is still on track for confirmation, pending due process by the Senate.
“I think he’s very much on track. If they delay a little bit just to make sure everybody’s happy—they want to be happy. I can tell you the Republican senators want to be 100 percent happy themselves. They’re doing it very, very professionally,” Trump said.
Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Kavanaugh sailed through four days of hearings and his confirmation was all but certain before the allegations were raised. Trump noted the political timing of Feinstein’s move.
“Judge Kavanaugh spent quite a bit of time with Senator Feinstein and it wasn’t even brought up at that meeting and she had this information,” Trump said. “So, you would have thought certainly that she would have brought it up at the meeting—not wait till everything’s finished and then have to start a process all over again.”
“They’ll go through a process and hear everybody out,” Trump added. “I think it’s important. I believe they think it’s important. But again, he is one of the great intellects and one of the finest people that anybody has known. You look at his references—I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
