Accuser of Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh agrees to testify to Senate committee

[rooster59]

Accuser of Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh agrees to testify to Senate committee

By Doina Chiacu and Richard Cowan

 

FILE PHOTO: Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh meets with Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) at his office in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, U.S., July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A woman who has accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has agreed to testify before a Senate panel next week but details of her appearance have not been finalised, her lawyers said on Saturday.

 

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had set a Saturday afternoon deadline for Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assaulting her at a high school party 36 years ago, to decide whether and how she will testify.

 

"Dr. Ford accepts the committee's request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct next week," Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, Ford's attorneys, said in a statement. "We are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details."

 

A White House official said it appeared that Ford's lawyers were trying to prolong negotiations.

 

"We look at this statement as a delay tactic," the official said. "The White House sees this as not an acceptance.

 

"Senate Republicans went from looking accommodating and generous to looking like they are getting played unless they see this as stalling and a delay tactic."

 

Senator Orrin Hatch, a member of the Republican-controlled Judiciary committee, also expressed scepticism.

 

"Worth noting that this is exactly where we were on Monday morning," he said on Twitter. "Without agreeing to a date, time, and terms we are no closer to hearing from Dr. Ford then we were when her lawyers said Dr. Ford was willing to testify during their media tour 6 days ago."

 

The committee had delayed a vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation after Ford's allegations emerged last week and her lawyers were negotiating with committee staff the conditions of her testimony.

 

Kavanaugh has denied the allegation and pledged to testify.

 

Confirming Kavanaugh's nomination would cement conservative control of the Supreme Court and advance a White House effort to tilt the American judiciary farther to the right.

 

Grassley had said earlier that the panel would vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation on Monday unless a deal was reached with Ford's lawyers by a Friday night deadline. Katz had said the deadline was "aggressive and artificial."

 

"Your cavalier treatment of a sexual assault survivor who has been doing her best to cooperate with the Committee is completely inappropriate," Katz added.

 

On Friday, President Donald Trump sought to cast doubt on Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 when both were high school students in Maryland.

 

The judiciary committee has struggled with how to proceed with Kavanaugh's nomination. Democrats have demanded more time for scrutiny, and Republicans want to move ahead quickly with a confirmation vote in an increasingly volatile political climate ahead of congressional elections on Nov. 6.

 

TRUMP PRAISES 'FINE MAN'

 

Trump and the White House had been careful not to malign Ford after her allegations surfaced, but Trump dropped the restraint in his tweets on Friday.

 

"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," Trump said. "I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!

 

"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," Trump wrote.

 

Earlier, Trump had said Ford should be heard, even if it meant a delay in the confirmation process.

 

Republicans will be forced to walk a careful line in questioning Ford's account without alienating women voters ahead of the elections. Before the 2016 presidential election, more than a dozen women accused Trump of making unwanted advances.

 

The Senate Judiciary Committee released a letter it sent to Ford's attorneys on Friday in which it accepted some of their demands, including that Kavanaugh not be in the room when she testifies.

 

The panel rejected some of the other demands, including that Kavanaugh testify first, that the committee call additional witnesses that Ford requests, and that only senators be allowed to ask questions.

 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at a gathering of evangelical voters in Washington, assured them Kavanaugh would be confirmed.

 

The Senate panel must approve Kavanaugh's confirmation before a vote by the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-49 majority. Kavanaugh's confirmation to the lifetime position would be the second of the Trump administration and solidify conservative control of the nation's top court.

 

Ford has received death threats while Kavanaugh and his wife also have received threats.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-23

[Boon Mee]

This whole sorry story reeks of nothing but a book deal. Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

2 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

So tell us what really happened during that night. 

[Becker]

11 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

This whole sorry story reeks of nothing but a book deal. Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

The man-child......integrity????

Edited September 23, 2018 by Becker

[scorecard]

13 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

This whole sorry story reeks of nothing but a book deal. Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

 

A fine man - that's a big statement. Are you in a position to make such a categorical statement?

 

 

[welovesundaysatspace]

12 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Are you in a position to make such a categorical statement?

I didn’t notice his profile picture. We can safely assume it’s either an outright lie or an unsubstantiated claim. 

[wombat]

after 34 years she still has the panty she wore?

[wombat]

30 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

A fine man - 

 

 

 

F..**ked up.
I..nsecure
N..uerotic
E..motional.

[RPCVguy]

2 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

This whole sorry story reeks of nothing but a book deal. Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

Such an unambiguous character reference. Wow. You obviously are unconcerned that his friend Mark Judge described their drunken behavior in a book "Wasted," or that while his accuser had voiced issues with him years ago, has asked for an FBI investigation (which they regularly do , regularly reopen background checks too) and has taken a lie detector test, Kavanaugh has been sheltered by the GOP senate majority and by Trump from having the FBI go back and reopen the background check. He has only submitted to judiciary committee (GOP) staffers questioning him about the incident. He'd have been smarter to say he had been a binge drinker in those years and could not affirm or deny the accusation - instead I expect he'll have added another count of lying under oath to the perjury list that will be used to impeach him - if the GOP persists in approving this flawed nomination.
   

[Srikcir]

6 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

You just sullied Trump!

[Srikcir]

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"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,"

Remember Robert Porter who was forced to resign after two ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse?

“He also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent so you have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was at the White House.” - Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/09/trump-defends-rob-porter-accused-of-domestic-abuse

The White House has become one big locker room and Trump is the coach.

[OneMoreFarang]

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at a gathering of evangelical voters in Washington, assured them Kavanaugh would be confirmed.

It's almost ironic that it seems the so called religious people with family values are the people who push forward and who couldn't care less what the new supreme court judge did in his past. I guess they think god will forgive them - or do they just don't care?

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, RPCVguy said:

Such an unambiguous character reference. Wow. You obviously are unconcerned that his friend Mark Judge described their drunken behavior in a book "Wasted," or that while his accuser had voiced issues with him years ago, has asked for an FBI investigation (which they regularly do , regularly reopen background checks too) and has taken a lie detector test, Kavanaugh has been sheltered by the GOP senate majority and by Trump from having the FBI go back and reopen the background check. He has only submitted to judiciary committee (GOP) staffers questioning him about the incident. He'd have been smarter to say he had been a binge drinker in those years and could not affirm or deny the accusation - instead I expect he'll have added another count of lying under oath to the perjury list that will be used to impeach him - if the GOP persists in approving this flawed nomination.
   

Do you have a reliable source for this?

[Jonah Tenner]

7 hours ago, Becker said:

The man-child......integrity????

I think he meant the nominee for the supreme court of the usa

[sirineou]

7 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

A fine man - that's a big statement. Are you in a position to make such a categorical statement?

 

 

Apparently such behaviour is just fine for some people.

These are are the people that want to make America great again  LOL

 

[Nigel Garvie]

13 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Apparently such behaviour is just fine for some people.

These are are the people that want to make America great again  LOL

 

Was that not "Make America Grope again"? 

 

Oh let's grope again, like we did last summer,

Let's grope again like in our Frat year

Jesus will still love us he's no bummer,

With the GOP groping time is here.

 

Or "Grab them by the Fa##y" as the supreme leader said, a man of high integrity and upright Christian values!

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

I didn’t notice his profile picture. We can safely assume it’s either an outright lie or an unsubstantiated claim. 

 How's that again?

[KMartinHandyman]

Fords third named witness, this time a woman and lifelong friend has also denied any knowledge of Kavanaugh and the alleged party incident. In baseball that would be an out or the end of an inning.
——————
A witness, reportedly named by Christine Blasey Ford as one of the people at the high school party where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh allegedly sexually assaulted her, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Saturday she was not there.The attorney for Leland Ingham Keyser told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Keyser does not remember being at the party Ford described as the location of the alleged assault.
"Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford," Keyser said in the statement. CNN reported Keyser is a lifelong friend of Ford's.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/witness-named-by-kavanaugh-accuser-denies-being-at-party

[RPCVguy]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Do you have a reliable source for this?

Fair question, and yes, I did look it up before posting the online meme.

It is easily found in a web search, here are several current articles listing this and more. That particular reference stems from the Yale Daily News:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kavanaugh-fraternity-womens-underwear_us_5ba429aee4b0375f8f9b7ba9

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23336402/brett-kavanaugh-female-clerks-certain-look-yale/

 

https://www.salon.com/2018/09/20/creepy-stories-from-kavanaughs-yale-days-further-taint-scotus-nominees-public-image/

 

https://hillreporter.com/photo-evidence-shows-brett-kavanaughs-fraternity-openly-disrespecting-women-by-flying-flag-of-undergarments-7742

 

https://washingtonpress.com/2018/09/20/yales-campus-newspaper-just-revealed-kavanaugh-belonged-to-a-sickening-secret-society/

[Thakkar]

9 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

This whole sorry story reeks of nothing but a book deal. Attempting to sully the name of a fine man who has more integrity in his little finger than these people who have no ethics in their entire body. 

OMG! Are YOU Mark Judge, and has your memory returned? Congratulations and hallelujah!

[Chomper Higgot]

Oops!

 

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/09/michael-avenatti-tweets-kavanaugh-accuser-not-alone-warns-kavanaughs-accused-accomplice/

 

Illiberals Get your denial glasses on, the truth is about to hit the fan!

[theoldgit]

Offensive post removed.

[newnative]

     Sad to read all these posts doubting Ms. Ford's account and, now, one even ridiculing her looks.  (She looks perfectly normal to me.) Is it any wonder women (and men) keep silent when this is the reaction they get.  Sad that not much has changed.  My best friend was abused by a priest when he was a child.  He told his mother.  Her reaction then?  Oh, Father _______is a man of God and he would never do anything like that.  Even now, after thousands of cases of abuse, people still don't want to believe it.

     Just the other day Nancy Davis, Ronald Reagan's daughter, wrote about her rape of many years ago.  Of why she kept silent then and was now finally able to talk about it.  Very powerfully written and very believable.   She probably would have remained silent, except her experience with the memory of the events was very similar to Ms. Ford's.  Like Ms. Ford, certain things are vivid in her memory and others she can't remember.  She wanted the World to know that this is the way memories can be so it meant going public with her rape.  

      I think it's likely Ms. Ford would have also remained silent but she also had a reason to come forward. She carried important information that speaks of the character of a nominee for a very high, important office, a life position.  The easy path would have been to remain silent; she chose the hard trail.  Nancy Davis called her brave.  They both are.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Kelsall said:

No wonder she doesn't want to testify in public.

 

She is now more than 30 years older than when he was allegedly interested in her. What did you expect?

[Nyezhov]

16 minutes ago, newnative said:

The easy path would have been to remain silent; she chose the hard trail.

It will be paved with gold after her book deal and the accolades that come from being a hero of the resistance.

 

Regardless, read this, I dont expect you to agree, but if it makes you think thats enough

https://spectator.org/resisting-a-lynch-mob/

[RPCVguy]

This will turn up the heat. NBC News is reporting that a second woman has come forward - this time describing an event while she and Kavanaugh were both students at Yale.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/second-woman-alleges-sexual-misconduct-kavanaugh-time-college-n912371

The GROWING LIST OF ISSUES for me are what appear to be:

• lies while under oath as to his involvement in Bush era processes to confirm judges then,
• having access to and sharing email that was the result of spying on opposition senators.
• He has a trove of activities that are still withheld from review as to his opinions and advice as to treatment of prisoners - and still unknown opinions on other matters that he shared while an advisor to George W. Bush.
• He has never tried a case - never had any reason to hear and interact with regular citizens as a lawyer or jurist, instead he was awarded the circuit court nomination for having been such a good ideological servant of the Bush team.
• While a circuit court judge, he has shown a disregard for people and the environment, siding 100% of the time with corporations in cases before him. that tendency includes at times writing blistering dissents that were rebuked at the supreme court level.
• Lastly, note that his name was added to the list of names pre-approved by the Federalist society - AFTER it became apparent that Trump will likely be having cases that will co to the Supreme court - over presidential power and the need to insulate the president from legal battles. In other words, Trump added him to the list and nominated him BECAUSE Trump is seeking immunity from the laws he, his family and his team have already broken. (Start as an example, the emoluments clause that prohibits financial transactions that involve foreign powers.)

[OneMoreFarang]

17 minutes ago, newnative said:

     Sad to read all these posts doubting Ms. Ford's account and, now, one even ridiculing her looks.  (She looks perfectly normal to me.) Is it any wonder women (and men) keep silent when this is the reaction they get.  Sad that not much has changed.  My best friend was abused by a priest when he was a child.  He told his mother.  Her reaction then?  Oh, Father _______is a man of God and he would never do anything like that.  Even now, after thousands of cases of abuse, people still don't want to believe it.

     Just the other day Nancy Davis, Ronald Reagan's daughter, wrote about her rape of many years ago.  Of why she kept silent then and was now finally able to talk about it.  Very powerfully written and very believable.   She probably would have remained silent, except her experience with the memory of the events was very similar to Ms. Ford's.  Like Ms. Ford, certain things are vivid in her memory and others she can't remember.  She wanted the World to know that this is the way memories can be so it meant going public with her rape.  

      I think it's likely Ms. Ford would have also remained silent but she also had a reason to come forward. She carried important information that speaks of the character of a nominee for a very high, important office, a life position.  The easy path would have been to remain silent; she chose the hard trail.  Nancy Davis called her brave.  They both are.

Good comment!

I think often it's easy to understand why women don't come out and don't want this publicity.

 

I think one problem with the MeToo movement is that is mixes things together. I am sure some of the women who come forward were raped and or badly harassed and they have every right to come forward and every right to demand justice.

But it seems other women complain about this and that and they could have just walked out of the door at that time. But they didn't walk away. They participated (more or less) and likely they participated because they thought they would get a good job out of it. I have not problem if they behave like prostitutes, exchange sex for money or job opportunities. But these women should not later complain that they made a bad deal.

 

Stories like this get mixed up in MeToo. I hope men who raped women are prosecuted and go to jail. And I hope the real victims don't let prostitutes who made a bad deal confuse that issue.

 

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, RPCVguy said:

He has never tried a case - never had any reason to hear and interact with regular citizens as a lawyer or jurist, instead he was awarded the circuit court nomination for having been such a good ideological servant of the Bush team.

She has never tried a case - never had any reason to hear and interact with regular citizens as a lawyer or jurist, instead she was awarded the Supreme Court  for having been such a good ideological servant of the Democrats.

 

And her name is?

[RPCVguy]

6 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

She has never tried a case - never had any reason to hear and interact with regular citizens as a lawyer or jurist, instead she was awarded the Supreme Court  for having been such a good ideological servant of the Democrats.

 

And her name is?

I listed 6 issues, and yes that one is less unusual - I've had it over a string of nominees. Care to discuss any of the other 5?

 

[Becker]

3 minutes ago, RPCVguy said:

I listed 6 issues, and yes that one is less unusual - I've had it over a string of nominees. Care to discuss any of the other 5?

 

And here comes the moon cheese!