The woman whose sexual assault allegation threatens to bring down President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has agreed to testify in the Senate, her lawyers said Saturday according to US media.
Christine Blasey Ford’s decision came after days of negotiations and following President Donald Trump’s turn against her, saying her accusation could not be true.
Ford “accepts the Committee’s request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh’s sexual misconduct next week,” said a message from her lawyers to the Senate Judiciary Committee, US media reported.
The committee had given Ford, a California professor, until 2:30 pm (1830 GMT) Saturday to decide on whether to appear, after she rejected a Friday evening deadline imposed by the committee’s Republican leader, Chuck Grassley.
“Although many aspects of the proposal you provided via email, on (Friday) are fundamentally inconsistent with the committee’s promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations, and we are disappointed with the leaks and the bullying that have tainted the process, we are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details,” the lawyers’ letter cited by The Washington Post said.
Ford alleges that Brett Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her at a party when he was 17, she was 15, and they were attending private schools outside Washington in the 1980s.
Kavanaugh denies knowledge of any such assault and wants to give his side of the story to the committee.
