Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford has gone public with allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her down and sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers in the 1980s.
She reached out to Senator Diane Feinstein via the letter posted below, initially asking for confidentiality, fearing retaliation and public attacks. News of the contact broke late last week when media reports indicated the Califonia Senator had forwarded serious allegations to the FBI.
Ford ultimately came forward out of concerns that reporters would soon identify her and a sense of public duty. She has provided medical records and the results of a polygraph test to back up her claim.
“These are all the ills that I was trying to avoid,” Ford told the Washington Post. “Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and my terror about retaliation.
White House sources have told reporters that the administration intends to push back by challenging the character of the accuser and vigorously defending the nominee.
Not long after her name became public knowledge, Ford’s address and other personal data were published online by anonymous persons and threats against her and her family are now being reported.
Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations and refused to comment any further when the Post contacted the White House on Sunday.
It seems to me that when Brett Kavanaugh attempted to deny a 17-year-old immigrant an abortion, he believed that the decisions you make as a minor ought to have lifelong consequences. Let’s treat him the same way.
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) September 17, 2018
The transcript of this letter comes via CNN.
July 30 2018
CONFIDENTIAL
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dear Senator Feinstein;
I am writing with information relevant in evaluating the current nominee to the Supreme Court.
As a constituent, I expect that you will maintain this as confidential until we have further opportunity to speak.
Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s. He conducted these acts with the assistance of REDACTED.
Both were one to two years older than me and students at a local private school.
The assault occurred in a suburban Maryland area home at a gathering that included me and four others.
Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stair well from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help.
Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with REDACTED, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me.
From across the room a very drunken REDACTED said mixed words to Kavanaugh ranging from “go for it” to “stop.”
At one point when REDACTED jumped onto the bed the weight on me was substantial. The pile toppled, and the two scrapped with each other. After a few attempts to get away, I was able to take this opportune moment to get up and run across to a hallway bathroom. I locked the bathroom door behind me. Both loudly stumbled down the stairwell at which point other persons at the house were talking with them. I exited the bathroom, ran outside of the house and went home.
I have not knowingly seen Kavanaugh since the assault. I did see REDACTED once at the REDACTED where he was extremely uncomfortable seeing me.
I have received medical treatment regarding the assault. On July 6 I notified my local government representative to ask them how to proceed with sharing this information. It is upsetting to discuss sexual assault and its repercussions, yet I felt guilty and compelled as a citizen about the idea of not saying anything.
I am available to speak further should you wish to discuss. I am currently REDACTED and will be in REDACTED.
In confidence, REDACTED.
.@AndrewRestuccia and I called many of Kavanaugh’s 65 female HS acquittances who signed a letter supporting him. After his accuser came out on Sunday, only TWO said they still stood by him. More than two dozen didn’t respond, and two declined to comment. https://t.co/Q7ux6pmzrf
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) September 17, 2018
Spend 5 minutes looking at Twitter replies tonight and you’ll quickly see why women agonize about coming forward to report sexual assault. The shaming begins immediately, led by white men. The paradigm is as old as time: question everything about the woman, shame her.
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) September 17, 2018
Doug Porter
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I’m not a Feinstein fan, but kudos to Diane for keeping Ford’s identity confidential until she was willing to come forward.
It was well established before this incident that Kavanaugh was a liar and a pig, but I hope this keeps the pig off of the SCOTUS.
What do you call keeping/getting this pig out of our government? A tip-of-the-iceberg start!
Today’s Democracy Now! has the details of who “REDACTED” is, as well as a discussion about the climate of misogyny that permeates that circle of men. They should not be on any court, much less a SUPREME court!
https://www.democracynow.org/