It's "puzzling" why Democrats waited for weeks to come forward with an sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday.
“What is puzzling to me is the Democrats, by not bringing this out earlier, after having had this information for more than six weeks, have managed to cast a cloud of doubt on both the professor and the judge,” the Maine Republican told The New York Times.
Collins argued that delaying the news about the allegation is not "fair" to either Kavanaugh or his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, 51, who alleges the federal judge sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s when they were both teenagers at a party.
Ford, 51, who is a California research psychologist, said she had written a confidential letter to her local congresswoman in July, but decided in early August not to come forward, as she believed doing so would upend her life and while not affecting the Kavanaugh confirmation.
But if Democrats believed Ford, Collins told The New York Times, "why did they decide at the 11th hour to release it? It is really not fair to either of them the way it is was handled.”
Collins has not said whether she will vote for Kavanaugh and she is considered a key swing vote in his confirmation.
She also told CNN, during an interview while walking through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Sunday that she is "surprised" about the accusation, but she doesn't know enough to make a judgment about whether she believes Ford.
Collins said she has read Ford's letter, and asked Kavanaugh during a telephone conversation about it on Friday.
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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