Kavanaugh's accuser says she's ready to publicly testify - and it could kill his nomination
- President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had his confirmation proceedings rocked by a decades-old allegation of sexual assault.
- Now his accuser, Professor Christine Balsey Ford, has said she would testify publicly.
- Earlier she had sought anonymity, and says she finds it difficult to talk about sexual assault.
- Republican senators seem open to the idea of delaying the vote on Kavanaugh and allowing his accuser to testify, which could sink his already-teetering nomination.
President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had his confirmation proceedings rocked by a decades-old allegation of sexual assault.
And now his accuser has stepped into the public eye, and says she's ready to testify against him.
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.
On Monday, Ford said she'd testify publicly to the Senate Judiciary Committee and "do whatever it takes to get her story forth," her lawyer said, according to CNN.
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 swarming 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.
Republican senators Bob Corker and Jeff Flake have already said they'd like to hear more from Ford and possibly delay the confirmation vote.
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.
Ford has a documented history of making these claims about Kavanaugh, so her accusation at least seems credible in that it did not suddenly appear during Kavanaugh's nomination.
"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.