Brett Kavanaugh’s Accuser Says She’s Willing to Testify Before Judiciary Committee
Dr. Blasey’s accusations, coming just days before the Judiciary Committee was initially set to vote on Judge Kavanaugh, have rocked official Washington, evoking memories of the 1991 confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas, who was accused of sexual harassment by the law professor Anita Hill. They have further energized Democrats, and women particularly, in a midterm election in which Republicans are struggling to court the female vote.
Over the past week, Dr. Blasey has become a cultural touchstone for women around the country in the era of the #MeToo movement. A hashtag, #IBelieveChristine, has sprung up on Twitter, and survivors of sexual assault are set to rally in New York on Monday. A Facebook post promoting the rally said that “New York City stands with Dr. Blasey Ford and all sexual assault survivors.”
The intense attention on Dr. Blasey’s accusation continued to reverberate on Capitol Hill on Saturday in unexpected ways. A communications adviser to Mr. Grassley, who had joined the Judiciary Committee temporarily to help shape messaging around Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, stepped down from his position after NBC News raised questions about an accusation that he sexually harassed a co-worker in a previous political job.
The adviser, Garrett Ventry, said the sexual harassment claim against him was false. A spokesman for the committee, Taylor Foy, noted the denial of wrongdoing but said that Mr. Ventry had decided to step aside “to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee.”
Saturday’s letter from Dr. Blasey’s lawyers, Debra S. Katz and Lisa Banks, also indicated that Michael R. Bromwich, a Washington lawyer and former inspector general of the Justice Department, had joined Dr. Blasey’s legal team. Mr. Bromwich is also at the center of another leading story line in Washington: He represents Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director, who was fired this year and witnessed many of the most sensitive episodes of the bureau’s Russia investigation.
The letter was the latest turn in an on-again, off-again negotiation that began cordially with Dr. Blasey voicing an openness to testifying but quickly turned acrimonious. There have been several sticking points, including who would question her at a hearing and how many news media cameras would be present. Democrats stepped up to her defense on Saturday.
“Dr. Blasey Ford really is a profile in courage,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said in an interview. “She has decided to tell her story in the face of an impossible choice.”