White House scrambles as Kavanaugh denies sexual assault accusation
WASHINGTON — The White House scrambled Monday to come up with a response to the accusation that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, sexually assaulted a female student while he was in high school.
In an interview published Sunday by the Washington Post, college professor Christine Blakey Ford said that a “stumbling drunk” Kavanaugh, who was 17 at the time, groped her, tried to remove her clothes and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream at a party in the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh has “categorically” denied the allegations. The White House released a new statement Monday from the nominee in which he called the claim “completely false” and said he “had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself.”
Kavanaugh added that he is “willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”
Ford’s attorney Debra Katz told CNN Monday morning that Ford also is willing to testify to the committee.
The committee had been scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on Thursday and he was considered almost certain to win confirmation before Ford went public with her accusation.
All 10 committee Democrats are urging the panel’s Republican chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to postpone the vote to allow the FBI to investigate. Grassley has not yet responded to the request.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.