Trump says Kavanaugh is 'under assault', blames Christine Blasey Ford for not going to the FBI when she was in high school
- President Donald Trump escalated his defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Friday morning, asserting that his Supreme Court nominee is "under assault by radical left wing politicians."
- He also questioned allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school.
- The president blamed Ford for not notifying local law enforcement or the FBI immediately following her alleged assault at age 15.
- Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is currently negotiating the terms of his and Ford's testimonies.
President Donald Trump escalated his defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Friday morning, asserting that his Supreme Court nominee is "under assault by radical left wing politicians".
He blamed Christine Blasey Ford for not notifying local law enforcement or the FBI immediately after she says Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her when the two were teenagers in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Trump argued that Democrats simply want to "destroy and delay" Kavanaugh's confirmation process and aren't interested in getting to the bottom of the assault allegations, despite the fact that Trump has refused to ask the FBI to open an investigation into the alleged assault, which Ford and Democrats are calling for.
"Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay," the president tweeted. "Facts don't matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C."
Trump went on to suggest that if Ford, who was 15 at the time of the alleged attack, did not notify police immediately after a 17-year-old Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her during a high school party, then she may be lying about her story.
"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents," he said. "I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"
In a third tweet, Trump blamed Ford for not alerting the FBI following the alleged assault in the early 1980s.
"The radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved NOW," he wrote. "Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?"
Ford, now a research psychologist and professor, says an intoxicated Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her while his friend watched in a home in Montgomery County, Maryland. Kavanaugh, she alleges, covered her mouth with his hand and turned up the music to muffle her screams.
"I thought he might inadvertently kill me," Blasey Ford told the Washington Post. "He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing."
Ford said Thursday she is willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week, and is negotiating the terms of her appearance.
Republicans are under pressure to get Trump's pick confirmed before the Supreme Court starts its next term on October 1, and before the midterm elections on November 6.