Christine Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in 1982, still hasn’t submitted material evidence supporting her claim, according to Senate Judiciary Committee head Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Ford’s allegation relies heavily on three components: a polygraph exam she took earlier this year, notes from a therapy session in 2012, and eyewitness testimony. She has been unable to obtain the latter as all of her named witnesses and people at the alleged party where the alleged assault happened have denied being at the party and/or witnessing the alleged crime.
That includes her longtime friend Leland Keyser, who definitively stated several days prior to Ford’s public testimony before the committee on Sept. 27 that she had never met Kavanaugh nor attended a party like the one Ford described. Keyser reaffirmed the statement on Sept. 29.
Grassley said in a letter sent to Ford’s attorneys that he wants them to send him the other two material evidence components, or the exam and therapist notes.
“Your continued withholding of material evidence despite multiple requests is unacceptable as the Senate exercises its constitutional responsibility of advice and consent for a judicial nomination. I urge you to comply promptly with my requests,” Grassley wrote in the Oct. 2 letter.
Must read: Last night’s letter from @ChuckGrassley to Dr. Ford’s legal team—>
The Senate still has not received therapist notes or polygraph details, both of which were shared with the Washington Post and pointed to as evidence supporting Ford’s account. pic.twitter.com/cGrFiCmIx5
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) October 3, 2018
Therapist Notes
The only news agency that Ford has spoken to, the left-leaning Washington Post, stated that it was provided some of the therapist’s notes, but Ford said during the testimony that she wasn’t sure if she provided the notes to the Post or summarized them for a reporter.
According to the Post story, which first named Ford as the accuser, the therapist notes state several descriptions about the alleged assault that Ford has later claimed the therapist misunderstood, such as the number of people present.
“Your previous response to this request—that ‘[t]hese records contain private, highly sensitive information that is not necessary for the committee to assess the credibility of [Dr. Ford’s] testimony’—is not justified, based on the fact that this material has been presented as a key component supporting allegations made by your client, including the presentation to The Washington Post,” Grassley wrote to Ford’s lawyers.
Polygraph Exam
He also noted that he has not received any information pertaining to a polygraph exam conducted on Ford, including all audio or video recordings and all polygraph charts and other data.
“Dr. Ford cited the results of this polygraph examination to support her allegations. It’s unfair to rely on the results of a polygraph examination while withholding the materials necessary to assess the accuracy of the results,” Grassley wrote.
Grassley said he also wants any other information that was shared with a reporter or anyone else at a media organization, including a conversation with a Post reporter on WhatsApp.
“On the eve of our hearing, you provided a single screenshot of Dr. Ford’s WhatsApp correspondence with The Washington Post tip line. But Dr. Ford testified the next day that she had continued her conversation, ‘under the encrypted app,’ with a reporter. Your failure to provide the entirety of Dr. Ford’s correspondence with The Post again suggests a lack of candor,” according to Grassley.
In the letter, Grassley also noted that an ex-boyfriend of Ford’s has come forward to claim that Ford flew a number of times with him and never indicated a fear of tight spaces during the six years they were together, from 1992 to 1998.
