Politics

Accuser’s Friends Reveal She’s Discussed Encounter With Kavanaugh In The Past

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Kevin Daley Supreme Court correspondent
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Two friends of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the California researcher who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of attempted assault, revealed Tuesday that Ford discussed her alleged encounter with Kavanaugh well before President Donald Trump tapped him to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The assertions of Ford’s friends, Rebecca White and Kirsten Leimroth, come as she seeks to rebut insinuations that she is fabricating her claim, and substantiate her telling of events which took place 35 years ago.

White told The San Jose Mercery News that Ford talked with her privately about the matter, after White posted details of her own #MeToo experience in social media.

“She reached out to me afterward, supporting me and my story and that she had something happen to her when she was really young and that the guy was a federal judge,” White said. “She said she had been assaulted. She said hers had been violent as well, physically scary, fighting for her life.”

The other Ford confidant, Leimroth, similarly told the Mercury News that Ford has alluded in the past to an attempted sexual assault in high school, but could not recall when exactly they had discussed the matter. (RELATED: Kavanaugh Addresses His Encounter With Parkland Dad In Written Supplement To Testimony)

A third individual, Jim Gensheimer, confirmed that he was with Ford and Leimroth at a beachside restaurant this summer, where the trio discussed Ford’s letter to Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo of California that conveyed details of the alleged encounter with Kavanaugh. By Gensheimer’s telling, Ford was apprehensive about her name appearing in the press.

Ford has produced several pieces of evidence substantiating her claim of attempted sexual assault. The Washington Post reviewed notes a therapist took during a 2012 session in which the alleged encounter was discussed, though the notes contain discrepancies Ford attributed to her therapist. Ford’s husband, Russell Ford, told WaPo that she has discussed her accusation with him before, with specific reference to Kavanaugh.

However, Ford has not yet identified precisely when and where the incident supposedly took place. Both Kavanaugh and a second male allegedly involved in the encounter, Mark Judge, have emphatically denied the accusations.

Ford also told WaPo that she did not discuss the confrontation with anyone prior to 2012.

Two longstanding female friends of Kavanaugh, whom he dated around the time of the events alleged, appeared on Fox News Monday night, saying Ford’s charges are not in keeping with the judge’s character or behavior in the early 1980s.

Kavanaugh will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday to discuss the allegations. As of this writing, Ford’s attorneys have not confirmed that she will participate.

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