Lawyer: Kavanaugh accuser is willing to testify publicly to Senate Judiciary Committee

The attorney representing the woman who is accusing President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual misconduct said Monday that her client is willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

“She is. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get her story forth, yes,” Debra Katz, who is representing Christine Blasey Ford, said on NBC’s “Today” show on Monday. 

“Is your client willing to testify before the Judiciary Committee publicly and tell this story?” –@savannahguthrie

“She is. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get her story forth.” -Debra Katz, attorney for Kavanaugh accuser pic.twitter.com/V3BRF43nGK

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) September 17, 2018

Katz said during a separate interview on CNN that she has not been approached about testifying.

“We’ve heard from no one,” she said on “New Day.”

Katz’s appearances come just a day after Ford, a California psychology professor, came forward publicly to The Washington Post and detailed her allegations against Kavanaugh for the first time. 

Ford, now 51, has claimed that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed one summer while they were in high school in the 1980s. She said to the Post that Kavanaugh “groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.”

{mosads}Kavanaugh has fiercely denied this accusation. But the charges have led many senators to voice concerns about his confirmation vote moving forward before his accuser is heard from. 

Katz added on CNN that it is not Ford’s “job” to corroborate her allegations.

“If this is going to be investigated, it should be done by investigators,” she said.

She also aggressively pushed back against the charge that Ford’s accusation against Kavanaugh was politically motivated.

“No one in their right mind, regardless of their motive, would want to inject themselves into this process and face the kind of annihilation that she will be subjected to by those who want this nominee to go through,” Katz said told NBC. “This is not a politically motivated action. In fact, she was quite reluctant to come forward.”

Katz also noted that Ford believes that she would’ve been raped if Kavanaugh were not heavily intoxicated.

“She clearly considers this an attempted rape,” Katz said. “She believes that if it were not for the severe intoxication of Brett Kavanaugh, she would’ve been raped.”

Bloomberg News reported on Sunday that Trump has no intention of dropping Kavanaugh’s nomination. The White House is also planning on trying to discredit Ford, according to the news outlet.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that he is trying to set up separate phone calls with Kavanaugh and Ford before a scheduled confirmation vote.

Meanwhile, several senators, including Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), have called for the vote to be postponed until Ford’s accusations are heard by the Judiciary Committee. Both GOP senators have been critical of Trump and are not seeking reelection.

The White House wants to avoid a public hearing, but is open to a confidential inquiry, according to Bloomberg.

–Updated at 10:07 a.m.