Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault 36 years ago, and her attorneys are asking the Senate Judiciary Committee for one more day to make a decision about testifying.
Debra Katz, a lawyer for Ford, said in a letter to the Judiciary Committee that the 10 p.m. deadline set by Chairman Chuck Grassley’s staff was “arbitrary” and an “aggressive and artificial” deadline.
“Its sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family. She has already been forced out of her home and continues to be subjected to harassment, hate mail, and death threats,” Katz wrote.
“Our modest request is that she be given an additional day to make her decision,” she continued.
Grassley late Friday night in a tweet stated that the committee had already given Ford five extensions to figure out if she wants to testify and urged her to tell them if she had changed her mind about being willing to publicly testify.
“Dr. Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear your testimony. Come to us or we to u,” Grassley tweeted.
“Five times now we have granted extension for Dr. Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one week ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear your testimony. Come to us or we to u,” Grassley’s tweet continued.
According to The Hill, Grassley’s staff had given Ford until 10 p.m. on Friday to reach an agreement on their offer for a public hearing next Wednesday or they would move forward with a committee vote Monday on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“I’m extending the deadline for response yet again to 10 o’clock this evening. I’m providing a notice of a vote to occur Monday in the event that Dr. Ford’s attorneys don’t respond or Dr. Ford decides not to testify,” Grassley said earlier Friday.
He added that if they couldn’t get a deal on “a reasonable resolution as I’ve been seeking all week, then I will postpone the committee vote to accommodate her testimony. We cannot continue to delay.”
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