Christine Blasey Ford Is Willing to Testify About Brett Kavanaugh, According to Her Attorney 

Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape when he was 17 and she was 15, is willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to her attorney Debra Katz.

Appearing on the Today show on Monday morning, Katz said that Ford is “willing to do whatever it takes to get her story forth.”

Katz stressed that Ford was not motivated by politics, noting that “she was quite reluctant to come forward.”

On Sunday, a few days after the existence of her allegations against Kavanaugh was revealed to the public, Ford told her story to the Washington Post. Ford, who is 51 and a professor of clinical psychology, told the Post that Kavanaugh pushed her into a bedroom and locked the door before pinning her on a bed and attempting to take off her clothes. When she tried to scream, she said, he covered her mouth with his hand. “I thought,” she continued, “he might inadvertently kill me.” Later that day, CNN posted the text of the letter that Ford sent to Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Her allegations have thrown what appeared to be an inevitable march towards confirmation in turmoil. Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and a man who has a tendency to say one thing and then do the exact opposite), expressed discomfort with moving Kavanaugh’s nomination forward without first allowing Ford to testify. “If they push forward without any attempt with hearing what she’s had to say, I’m not comfortable voting yes,” Flake said to Politico. “We need to hear from her. And I don’t think I’m alone in this.”

Other Republican senators also weighed in over the weekend, including Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski, who has yet to state whether she plans on voting yes to confirm Kavanaugh, told CNN that the Judiciary Committee should consider delaying their vote, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

“This is not something that came up during the hearings. The hearings are now over, and if there is real substance to this, it demands a response,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday morning, appearing to support the idea of allowing Ford to testify. “I have spoken with the president. I have spoken with Senator Graham and others. This woman will be heard,” she said.

Whether or not Ford testifies before the Judiciary Committee remains to be seen, but already, people are expecting the process to be—unsurprisingly—a brutal interrogation, according to Politico:

And four people close to the White House said they expected Republicans to question the accuser’s vague memories and why Feinstein, up for reelection in November with the Democratic base hungry for anti-Trump fodder, sat on the accusation for months.

Three of those people also said they expect the president to go after Kavanaugh’s accuser rather than to turn on the judge. They noted that Trump has done so before, not just denouncing his own accusers but also attacking those of others, notably, failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Anita Hill, whose testimony against Clarence Thomas in 1992 failed to prevent his confirmation, released a statement over the weekend. “I have seen firsthand what happens when such a process is weaponized against an accuser,” she wrote, “and no one should have to endure that again.”