A lawyer for California professor Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in the 1980s, said Monday her client believes his actions were "attempted rape," and insisted she is not coming forward for political reasons.
"She believes that if it were not for the severe intoxication of Brett Kavanaugh, she would have been raped," Washington D.C. attorney Debra Katz, who specializes in sexual harassment cases, told NBC's "Today."
She added that Ford, a California research psychologist, is "willing to do whatever it takes," including testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee to tell her story.
Ford identified herself in a report in Sunday's Washington Post, claiming that Kavanaugh, while at a party with her in suburban Maryland in the 1980s, and a friend had gotten her into a bedroom.
She said that while the friend watched, Kavanaugh held his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream, and that he'd groped her and tried to pull off her clothing. Ford said she was able to escape only because the friend jumped on them, and that she feared Kavanaugh might "inadvertently" kill her.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote last week to advance Kavanaugh's nomination, but delayed the vote to this Thursday. Republicans say they still want to vote on time, but Democrats have called for a further delay and an investigation into Ford's claims.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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