Someone should tell Trump to start looking for a new Supreme Court nominee. His recent pick, Brett Kavanaugh, who was just being questioned for his confirmation earlier this week, has been accused of sexual assault by Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford.
In an interview with The Washington Post that was released on Sunday, Ford disclosed that when she was around 15 years old and Kavanaugh was around 17, he and a friend of his pinned her onto a bed and tried to remove her clothing during a party. Both boys were allegedly drunk, and Ford claims that Kavanaugh was covering her mouth with his hand so that no one else at the party would hear her.
I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” said Ford to The Post. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”
After the assault, Ford swore she would never tell anybody about her experience. But once Trump put Kavanaugh on the short list for possible Supreme Court nominees, she sent a private letter to her California representative who then sent it along to Senator Feinstein.
“Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stairwell from the living room,” read the letter. “They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help. Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with REDACTED, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me.”
The letter was meant to remain confidential, but the Intercept and The New Yorker both published stories about letter’s contents. Ford said she wanted to reclaim the narrative in her interview with The Post.
Ford told The Post that the assault shaped her interactions with men for years to come, and that she decided to come forward with her story because she “[felt] like [her] civic responsibility is outweighing [her] anguish and terror about retaliation.”
Anna Eshoo, Ford’s representative who originally received the letter, said in a statement that she was proud of Ford “for the courage she has displayed to come forward to tell her full story to the American people.”
“In weighing her privacy and the consequences to herself and her family, she has demonstrated her willingness to risk these factors to present the truth,” Eshoo said. “I am grateful to her for weighing these equities and choosing to speak out on one of the most consequential decisions in our country, an appointment to the highest Court in the land.”
Kavanaugh has “categorically and unequivocally” denied the allegations. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” he said.
A source close to Kavanaugh told CNN that the judge “remains steadfast in his denial and is determined not to let a single, unverified allegation overshadow his long judicial record and his lifetime of public service. He is buoyed by the immediate outpouring of support from lifelong friends, including 65 women who knew him in high school and signed a letter on Thursday attesting to his character after initial news reports of the allegation.”
Kavanaugh’s confirmation has been postponed until further investigations have been conducted. But I say we should all be siding with Ford; it’s time to believe the victim from the onset.
