x
Breaking News
More () »

Frustrated Republicans offer extension to Kavanaugh accuser in standoff over testimony

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, agreed late Friday to give Ford another extension to consider the terms of her testimony.
Credit: Win McNamee
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (L) (R-IA) leads Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh (R) to the witness table at the beginning of Kavanaugh's second day of his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill September 5, 2018

WASHINGTON — After a week of contentious discussions and negotiations, the nation is still no closer to knowing whether Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify before Congress about allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, agreed late Friday to give Ford another extension to consider the terms of her testimony before the committee but expressed frustration about the delays.

"Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed [sic] w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate," Grassley posted to Tweet. "She [sic] shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her."

Lawyers for Ford requested an extension to a 10 p.m. deadline Friday evening, asking Republicans give her one more day to consider the terms of her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But as the deadline passed, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, stalled for hours in accepting or denying Ford's plea, leaving it unclear whether it would be granted.

"Five times now we hv [sic] granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w [sic] her desire stated one wk [sic] ago that she wants to tell senate her story," Grassley wrote on Twitter late Friday. He added a plea: If you've changed your mind on testifying, "say so, so we can move on."

The extension capped off a week of dizzying debates over Ford and whether she would share her story before Kavanaugh's confirmation was voted on.

Grassley gave Ford and her attorneys the Friday deadline to respond to the terms of her testimony and threatened to call for a vote Monday on Kavanaugh's confirmation if an agreement wasn't made.

Grassley even went as far as adding the vote to Monday's agenda.


An attorney for Ford said Friday evening in a letter obtained by USA TODAY that Republicans have created "tremendous and unwarranted anxiety and stress" on her by rushing the decision on whether she will testify and requested more time to examine the terms.

Ford and her attorneys say the rush has put an added burden on her. On Friday, Ford spent part of her day with the FBI reporting the threats she's received after coming forward with accusations that Kavanaugh held her down and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were both in high school.

Kavanaugh has denied the accusation.

"The 10:00 p.m. deadline is arbitrary. Its sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family," Katz wrote. "She has already been forced out of her home and continues to be subjected to harassment, hate mail, and death threats. Our modest request is that she be given an additional day to make her decision."

Even with the extension granted, it appears the contentious back-and-forth could continue even spilling into next week, delaying Kavanaugh's confirmation vote further.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and attorneys for Ford have for days discussed the terms of Ford's testimony.

Ford offered a list of 10 demands, Grassley said, and the committee was willing to meet "halfway," calling some of her demands "unreasonable." Grassley later directed his ire at Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer in an early Saturday tweet.

"With all the extensions we give Dr Ford to decide if she still wants to testify to the Senate I feel like I’m playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and Schumer is the conductor," Grassley said on Twitter.

Republicans have offered Ford time to testify in front of the panel Wednesday, a day earlier than she requested, but a delay from Monday's scheduled hearing. They insist that she speak first, against her wishes, so that Kavanaugh can defend himself after her allegation is aired. But they agreed to her requests for security measures and that Kavanaugh be out of the room when she testifies.

Still unresolved is who will conduct the questioning. Grassley said Friday evening that the committee will "reserve the option to have female staff attorneys" also question Ford. The committee, though, has not officially announced whether it will elect that option, which would save the panel's 11 Republican men from the optics of questioning a woman claiming sexual assault.

The committee also declined to subpoena Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh who Ford says witnesses the assault, and others. "The Committee does not take subpoena requests from witnesses as a condition of their testimony," a letter from the committee to Ford's attorneys states.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Committee, fired back at Grassley's threat of a Monday vote and the strict deadline, calling it "bullying" of a sexual assault survivor.

"Bullying a survivor of attempted rape in order to confirm a nominee—particularly at a time when she’s receiving death threats—is an extreme abuse of power," she said. "I’m shocked and appalled by the Republicans’ refusal to wait 24 hours for a hearing and instead rush forward with a vote on Monday."

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, a member of the Judiciary Committee, criticized the “counteroffer” and emphasized that senators, rather than committee counsel, must be able to question both witnesses.

"I will not forfeit my ability to question Judge Kavanaugh and anyone else who comes before the committee with testimony, no matter how uncomfortable it may make the 11 men across the dais," he said, referring to the panel's Republican members.

All 10 Democrats on the Committee wrote a letter to Grassley saying "the Committee majority’s treatment of Dr. Ford has unquestionably been worse than the disgraceful treatment that Anita Hill received 27 years ago." Hill accused now-Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991 and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were criticized for their handling of the situation.

The Democrats called for more witnesses than just Ford and Kavanaugh, including the FBI, Kavanaugh's friend who Ford alleges was in the room, character witnesses and outside experts.

Before You Leave, Check This Out