Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward
VOA News
The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct has come forward with her allegation.
Christine Blasey Ford, professor at Palo Alto University in California, told the Washington Post that she feared for her life during the attack.
«I thought he might inadvertently kill me,» Ford the newspaper in an interview published Sunday.
Ford said the incident took place at a party in Maryland in the 1980s when both she and Kavanaugh were in high school.
She said a Kavanaugh and a friend cornered her in a bedroom where Kavanaugh threw her down on a bed and tried to remove her clothes. She said both boys were «stumbling drunk.»
Kavanaugh has denied any wrongdoing.
«I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,» he said in a statement last week. «I did not do this back in high school ore at anytime. »
Ford says she didn’t talk about the incident until a couples therapy session with her husband in 2012.
Democratic lawmakers have voiced doubt the allegation will derail the nomination.
But Senator Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee said Kavanaugh’s nomination process should be put on hold until the FBI completes its investigation of the allegation.
«I support Mrs. Ford’s decision to share her story, and now that she has, it is in the hands of the FBI to conduct an investigation. This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee,» Feinstein said in a statement released Sunday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called for a delay in the confirmation process while Ford’s allegations are investigated.
«To railroad a vote now would be an insult to the women of America and the integrity of the Supreme Court,» he said in a statement.
The Washington Post reports that Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee indicated Sunday that they would move forward with a vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation this week.
Kavanaugh, 53, is a federal appeals judge in Washington. President Donald Trump nominated him in July to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on Thursday.