Senate Republicans playing hardball with accuser in push to swiftly confirm Kavanaugh

By James Hohmann
September 19 at 9:18 AM

THE BIG IDEA: Senate Republicans say they plan to forge ahead with a hearing next Monday whether Christine Blasey Ford is there or not, a take-it-or-leave-it gambit to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court before the end of the month that risks backfiring politically.

Lawyers for Ford, the California professor who accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, said Tuesday night that their client wants an FBI investigation before she testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee’s GOP chairman, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), scheduled Ford’s testimony before confirming that this day worked for her. He did, however, make sure it worked for President Trump’s nominee, who categorically denies any wrongdoing and has been holed up at the White House preparing for his second round in front of the Senate.

“The invitation for Monday still stands,” Grassley said in a statement. “Dr. Ford's testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay.”

Contrary to some semi-misleading coverage that’s out there this morning, Ford still wants to testify in a public setting. Moreover, the two-page letter from her lawyers does not explicitly say she will not come next Monday if there’s no FBI probe. “She will talk with the committee,” Lisa Banks, one of her lawyers, told Anderson Cooper on CNN. “She is not prepared to talk with them at a hearing on Monday. No legitimate investigation is going to happen between now and Monday. This is going to take some time. There shouldn't be a rush to a hearing here.”

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