President Donald Trump again cast doubt on the sexual-assault accusation against his second Supreme Court nominee, federal appellate Judge Brett Kavanaugh, this time during an interview with political ally and Fox News personality Sean Hannity.
"You say, why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago?" the president said to Hannity on Thursday in Las Vegas, where Trump also held a campaign rally. "I mean, you could also say, when did this all happen? What's going on?"
Yet Trump was also quick to say Kavanaugh's accuser, California researcher and professor Christine Blasey Ford, should "have her say, and let's see how it all works out."
Trump had said earlier this week that it was "very hard for me to imagine something happened."
The president's comments came after Ford's attorneys told the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Supreme Court confirmation process, that their client would want to testify about her allegations Thursday, albeit under certain conditions. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley had scheduled a hearing for Monday, but Ford's attorneys said that wouldn't give the woman enough time to prepare.
Meanwhile, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that public opposition to Kavanaugh's nomination has surged following the nominee's confirmation hearings earlier this month and the revelation of the accusations. A plurality of voters now oppose Kavanaugh, according to the survey, which is in line with findings from other recent polls.
Ford, 51, came forward with her accusations in an interview with The Washington Post that was published Sunday. She claims that when she was about 15, Kavanaugh, then about 17, sexually assaulted her during a drunken gathering of high school students. The judge has denied the accusations. Ford also said that Mark Judge, a conservative writer who was a friend of Kavanaugh's at the time of the alleged incident, was also in the room. Judge has said he has no memory of such an occurrence.
Ford wrote a letter detailing her allegation that was received by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, in late July, but it was not publicly reported until mid-September.
Republicans had been on track to confirm Kavanaugh, 53, in time for the Supreme Court's next term, which starts Oct. 1. The GOP has a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, and two defections could sink the judge's nomination.
While GOP senators have been careful to say they want to hear Ford tell her story, they have also been itching to move the process along. Trump echoed that desire Thursday night.
"I don't think you can delay it any longer," Trump told Hannity.
Read the note Ford's attorneys sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained by NBC News:
Dear all –
Thank you for the call this afternoon. I want to be clear about our position. The only issue I said was a deal breaker was that Dr. Ford cannot appear at a hearing on Monday for the reasons I described, and relatedly, that the demand that she submit written testimony by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow is a non-starter. It is simply not possible for her to prepare such testimony while at the same time trying to take appropriate security precautions in the face of the avalanche of threats she has been receiving. She needs sufficient time to settle things with her family in California, travel east, and prepare for her testimony.
During our call I asked for clarification about the following issues, which you said you would need to get back to me about after speaking with Senator Grassley: the procedures for the hearing itself, including how many rounds of questions will be permitted by each member; the scope of the examination; whether the Senate Judiciary Committee will subpoena Mark Judge; whether the Senate Judiciary Committee will agree that the nominee not be present during Dr. Ford's testimony; and what the Senate Judiciary Committee will do to ensure that Dr. Ford will be given appropriate security. I raised questions about what the Committee will do to ensure that the process will be dignified and not turn into a media circus. You agreed to get back to me about that issue as well. And lastly, I registered a strong objection to having the committee bring in outside counsel to question Dr. Ford. Senators should be the questioners as they have been for all other witnesses who have appeared before the Committee in connection with this nomination and with respect to all others of which I am aware.
I do not have email addresses for everyone who was on the call. I would appreciate if you could send this email to others who participated on this call.
Sincerely,
Debra S. Katz
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