How Kavanaugh could put his accuser on the spot to muscle through his confirmation
- President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had his confirmation proceedings rocked by a decades-old allegation of sexual assault.
- But Kavanaugh's accuser sought anonymity, and said she finds it difficult to discuss sexual assault.
- Kavanaugh may call on Republican senators to ask his accuser to testify publically, banking on her declining the invitation, Axios reported.
President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had his confirmation proceedings rocked by a decades-old allegation of sexual assault, but Kavanaugh may be able to shut them down with a shrewd strategic move.
Over the weekend Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, put her name to previously anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct from Kavanaugh at a high school party.
Kavanaugh "categorically" denied the allegation, and a classmate present at the party also dismissed the claim.
But for Kavanaugh, whose confirmation had already met stiff resistance from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, protestors who swarmed the hearings, and high-profile Democrats like Hillary Clinton misleadingly quoting him to paint him as anti-abortion, the allegation could tap the final nail in his bid's coffin.
As Republican Senators on the committee balk at hurrying towards the confirmation vote in the light of the fresh allegation, strategists advising Kavanaugh may try to push Ford to publically testify about the assault, Axios reports.
This move banks on Ford, who first requested anonymity, and is on the record as having discussed the event with a therapist, backing down. This would allow Republican senators to claim they tried to investigate the claims, but couldn't, according to Axios.
Ford, in a letter to Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein, to whom she is a constituent, accused Kavanaugh of physically restraining her and attempting to disrobe her with another person whose name has been redacted.
"It is upsetting to discuss sexual assault and its repercussions, yet I felt guilty and compelled as a citizen about the idea of not saying anything," wrote Ford.