Kavanaugh accuser breaks silence over sexual misconduct allegations

The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct has identified herself and is speaking publicly about her allegations against Kavanaugh for the first time, according to a Washington Post investigation published Sunday.

{mosads}Christine Blasey Ford, now a 51-year-old professor at Palo Alto University in California, described an incident between the two in high school, alleging that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed one summer in the 1980s and forced himself on her.

Ford told 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.”

She also said Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth when she attempted to scream for help.

“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Ford said. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”

Kavanaugh last week denied the allegations, which were first reported last week.

“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh said in a statement provided by the White House. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”

The White House reportedly provided the same statement to the Post on Sunday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who had previously learned of Ford’s allegations in July but didn’t disclose her knowledge of them publicly, said Sunday in a statement that she supported Ford’s decision to share her story.

“And now that she has, it is in the hands of the FBI to conduct an investigation,” Feinstein added. “This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee.” 

Senate Democrats said last week that they had referred the incident to the FBI, which confirmed that it received the letter detailing Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh on Wednesday night.

“Upon receipt of the information on the night of September 12, we included it as part of Judge Kavanaugh’s background file, as per the standard process,” an FBI spokesperson told The Hill on Thursday.

Ford told the Post that Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, were both “stumbling drunk” when they took her into a bedroom while they were at a house in suburban Maryland. Judge and Kavanaugh were both students at Georgetown Preparatory School.

Judge and Kavanaugh pushed Ford onto a bed in the room, where rock-and-roll music was playing at a high volume, Ford alleged.

According to her, Kavanaugh “held her down with the weight of his body and fumbled with her clothes, seemingly hindered by his intoxication,” the Post reported. She added that both of the boys were laughing “maniacally.”

Ford was able to escape when Judge jumped on top of her and Kavanaugh and broke them up, she said. She said she then locked herself in a nearby bathroom for five or 10 minutes before leaving the house.

Judge told The Weekly Standard last week that the allegation against Kavanaugh is “just absolutely nuts.”

Ford told the Post that she hasn’t spoken with Kavanaugh since the alleged incident and didn’t tell anyone about it until 2012, when she discussed it in couple’s therapy.

The Post reviewed the therapist’s notes, which reportedly don’t mention Kavanaugh’s name but say that Ford was attacked by students “from an elitist boys’ school” who would become “highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.”

Republicans in the Senate have said they expect Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the Supreme Court before October.

— Updated 3:30 p.m.