But Durbin left little doubt that the Democrats will go after Kavanaugh’s drinking history to help shed light on the matter. He acknowledged that lawmakers will “probably not” be able to know the truth of Ford’s decades-old accusation that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a house party when they were teenagers. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat on the committee, said Sunday he believed Ford’s requests have been “reasonable” and that she deserves a fair hearing to determine whether her allegations are “serious” enough to vote down Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. Meanwhile, the committee’s Republicans - all men - have been seeking an outside female attorney to interrogate Ford, mindful of the election-season impression that could be left by men trying to pick apart a woman’s assertion of a sexual attack. Ford wants an appearance by Judge, a Kavanaugh friend who Ford asserts was in the room when the incident occurred. Lawyers for Ford and bipartisan representatives of the committee came to a tentative agreement for a Thursday hearing after a short but productive phone call late Saturday, said a person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.īut unresolved is who would question the 51-year-old California college professor and other potential witnesses. One issue that appears to have been resolved is the committee’s refusal to subpoena Mark Judge, the other person Ford alleges was in the room when the assault occurred when they were high school age. … What am I supposed to do? Go ahead and ruin this guy’s life based on an accusation?” Graham asked, explaining his dilemma over an allegation of a 1980s incident that is past the statute of limitations for criminal charges. “I want to listen to her, but I’m being honest with you and everybody else. Graham, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” promised a fair hearing in which both Ford and Kavanaugh “will be challenged,” but said “unless there’s something more” to back up her accusation, then he’s “not going to ruin Judge Kavanaugh’s life over this.”
“We’re not going to let her determine how many people we call” and on outside counsel. “If they continue to contest those two things, there won’t be a hearing,” Graham said. Thursday hearing - that Ford and Kavanaugh will be the only witnesses and that an independent counsel will ask the questions.
Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said lawyers for Ford are contesting two GOP conditions of the proposed 10 a.m. The attorneys said they did not know when they would have answers to the unresolved issues.Ī final accord could bring to a close days of brinkmanship that have roiled Washington ahead of the midterm elections and threatened to jeopardize Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the court, even as some Republicans say the additional hearings may do little to change their support for him.Įarlier Sunday, Sen. Terms of her appearance, as well as Kavanaugh’s, are still being negotiated, but several details have been resolved.įord agreed that she will testify after Kavanaugh, rather than going first, as she had preferred, according to a source familiar with the talks but who was unauthorized to discuss them publicly and was granted anonymity. Ford believes it is important for senators to hear directly from her about the sexual assault committed against her. “We’ve made important progress,” said Ford’s attorneys Debra S. Grassley (R-Iowa), confirmed the meeting would be set at 10 a.m.
A spokesman for the committee’s chairman, Sen. Attorneys for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, and the Senate Judiciary Committee have reached agreement for a public hearing Thursday, as talks continued Sunday to resolve potentially make-or-break details, such as potential witnesses who could corroborate her decades-old sexual assault claim.įord committed to an “open” hearing after negotiators convened a call on Sunday, her attorneys said in a statement.