Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley again asked Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein to share the unredacted letter Christine Blasey Ford gave to California Democratic lawmakers that contains her allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Judiciary Republicans are preparing for testimony from Kavanaugh and attempting to persuade Ford to give her testimony on Monday. Ford’s attorney Debra Katz initially claimed Ford was willing to testify, but now says her client wants a law enforcement investigation into the matter before she testifies. The bureau has declined to do so.
Ford accused Kavanaugh of an attempted sexual assault more than 35 years ago at a Montgomery County residence she is unable to identify. Kavanaugh has denied this allegation ever took place and is ready to testify in his defense next week.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter Wednesday to the Committee’s Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein asking for a copy.
“I am writing to request that you provide me a copy of the letter dated July 30, 2018, that you received from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford containing allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Grassley wrote in a Wednesday letter to Feinstein. “My staff has made repeated requests for this document — which has become a significant piece of evidence in Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation process — but your staff has so far refused to provide a copy of the letter.”
He added, “You are able to share this unredacted copy with all the members of your caucus and their staff, as well as anyone else you choose. The only version we have of this letter is a redacted version contained in the supplemental FBI background investigation file that only senators and a handful of very select staff are authorized to read.”
“Your staff could have raised these allegations during routine background investigation phone calls in late-August. Questions about these allegations could have been asked of Judge Kavanaugh during his more than 32 hours of testimony before the Committee over the course of three days,” Grassley wrote, later noting she also could have asked him during the closed session of his confirmation hearing.
“I have offered her the opportunity to testify in any of four possible venues: (1) a public hearing; (2) a private hearing; (3) a public staff interview; or ( 4) a private staff interview. I am even willing to have my staff travel to Dr. Ford in California or anywhere else-to obtain her testimony,” he wrote.
Grassley gave both Ford and Kavanaugh a deadline of Friday at 10 a.m. to notify the committee that they will be coming on Monday to testify. The majority staff, according to Grassley, has also sought out to set up interviews with Mark Judge, and two other alleged witnesses.
