Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who alleges he assaulted her in 1980s have agreed to testify at a public hearing on Thursday
Christine Blasey Ford struck a deal with the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday, the culmination of a week-long negotiation with Republicans on the committee.
A tentative agreement was reached on Saturday, yet the sides were still hammering out the details. For example, Senate Republicans would like Kavanaugh's attorney, Beth Wilkinson, to conduct most of the questioning on Ford. Because all of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are male, they fear the optics will be bad if the members aggressively attack Ford's testimony. Another procedural issue Ford and the committee have been debating is who will testify and in what order. Ford would like Kavanaugh's friend, Mark Judge, to appear before the committee, as she claims he was at the party the night she was allegedly assault.
Debra S. Katz, Ford's attorney, issued a press release on Sunday announcing the public hearing.
"We made important progress on our call this morning with Senate Judiciary Committee staff members," she said in a statement. "Despite actually threats to her safety and her life, Dr. Ford believes it is important for Senators to hear directly from her about the sexual assault committed against her."
"She has agreed to move forward with a hearing even though the Committee has refused to subpoena Mark Judge," the statement added. "They have also refused to invite other witnesses who are essential for a fair hearing that arrives at the truth about the sexual assault."
In anticipation of the agreement regarding the hearing, the White House released a statement to Bloomberg News saying that all four people Ford claimed to have been in attendance at the party deny any knowledge of the assault happening.
“One week ago, Dr. Christine Ford claimed she was assaulted at a house party attended by 4 others. Since then all 4 of these individuals have provided statements to the Senate Judiciary Cmte denying any knowledge of the incident or even having attended such a party.”
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