WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman on Friday rejected key conditions that Brett Kavanaugh's accuser wants if she is to testify about her claim of sexual assault, and said his panel would vote Monday on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination without an agreement.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump for the first time cast doubt on Christine Blasey Ford's credibility, saying she should have filed charges decades ago if the alleged attack was "as bad as she says."
Minutes before a 9 p.m. deadline set by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, an attorney for Ford asked for another day to decide. Lawyer Debra Katz said the time limit's "sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family."
In a tweet just before 11 p.m. aimed at Ford, Grassley wrote that if she doesn't wish to testify, "say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony."
He later clarified in a tweet directed at Kavanaugh that he was granting the extension.
"Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed' with testimony.
'She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand," the chairman wrote, saying that he normally isn't indecisive.
The late-night brinkmanship left in question whether Ford would appear before the GOP-run committee and tell lawmakers and a captivated nation about her allegation. Now a 51-year-old California psychology professor, Ford says an inebriated Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, muffled her cries and tried removing her clothes when both were teenagers in the 1980s.
Grassley turned down Ford's request that only senators, not attorneys, be allowed to ask questions. The committee's 11 Republicans -- all men -- have been seeking an outside female attorney to interrogate Ford, mindful of the election-season impression that could be left by men trying to pick apart a woman's assertion of a sexual attack.
He also rejected her proposal that she testify after Kavanaugh, a position lawyers consider advantageous because it gives them a chance to rebut accusations.
"We are unwilling to accommodate your unreasonable demands," Grassley wrote.
Kavanaugh, a 53-year-old District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals judge, has repeatedly denied the accusation.
Grassley sent Ford's attorneys a proposal earlier Friday offering a Wednesday hearing -- Ford preferred Thursday -- and said, "It is not fair to him or to his family to allow this situation to continue without a resolution and without an opportunity for him to clear his name."
Grassley said he refused to call additional witnesses. Ford wants an appearance by Mark Judge, a Kavanaugh friend who Ford asserts was at the high school party and in the bedroom where Kavanaugh's assault occurred. Ford eventually escaped.
Grassley said he'd consented to several other Ford demands, including that she be provided security and that Kavanaugh not be in the hearing room when she testifies.
After days of restraint in which the president backed his nominee while also saying the accuser needed to be heard, Trump lashed out Friday at Ford.
"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents," Trump tweeted. "I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"
The president added in another tweet, 'Why didn't someone call the FBI 36 years ago?' About two hours later, he wrote on Twitter, 'Let her testify, or not, and TAKE THE VOTE!'
Many women are reluctant to come forward and report sexual assaults to authorities, in part because they fear they will not be believed.
In suggesting that Ford's version of events from a high school party in the early 1980s lacked credibility, Trump ended his dayslong restraint from commenting on the accusations -- a move that aides have feared could further complicate the confirmation process just weeks before the midterm elections.
Questioning the credibility of a woman who says she was sexually assaulted could jeopardize the support of key Republican senators for Kavanaugh's nomination. It could also further energize female voters in the midterms who are opposed to Trump.
Moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, whose vote is critical to Kavanaugh's confirmation, said Friday she was 'appalled' by Trump's tweet, the Portland Press Herald reported.
'We know allegations of sexual assault are one of the most unreported crimes that exist,' Collins said at an event in Portland, the newspaper said. She also said she would be willing to let Ford testify later next week than the Judiciary Committee originally planned.
Ford, a California college professor, has said she didn't tell anyone about the alleged attack at the time.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York torched Trump in a tweet that said, 'The most powerful man in the world just used his position and platform to attack a sexual assault survivor. This is the same man who has been credibly accused of more than a dozen cases of sexual assault or harassment -- who has bragged about committing sexual assault on tape!'
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York called Trump's statement a 'highly offensive misunderstanding of surviving trauma.'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told a gathering of conservatives in Washington that Kavanaugh's nomination won't be derailed by the accusations.
"In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the Supreme Court," he said at the Value Voters conference Friday. "Keep the faith, don't get rattled by any of this."
For days, Trump had shown uncharacteristic restraint and even acknowledged in a Twitter post how important this vote was for his party.
"The Supreme Court is one of the main reasons I got elected president," Trump said Tuesday.
Democrats were quick to criticize Trump for questioning Ford.
"This is EXACTLY why Dr. Ford didn't want to come forward," Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a tweet.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., called Trump's comments "unacceptable and beneath the presidency of the United States."
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said the president should call for the FBI to investigate if he wants to "get to the bottom" of Ford's account.
The president and his aides have criticized the Democrats for waiting so long to raise the issue of Ford's accusation. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, learned of Ford's allegations in July, but said she did not raise the issue sooner because she was respecting Ford's wish to remain anonymous.
"I hope this woman is not being used by the Democrats," Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said in an interview with CNN on Friday.
Ford was meeting with FBI officials in San Francisco on Friday to discuss death threats that her lawyers said she has received since her allegation became public, two people familiar with the matter said. Investigating those threats doesn't give the FBI the authority to look into her underlying accusation against Kavanaugh, one of those people said, although the FBI could do so if Trump requested it.The Senate is "not going to slow down, we're going to keep going ahead" on confirming judges at all levels of the federal judiciary, the majority leader said.
Trump said in another tweet that 'facts don't matter' to some Democrats leading the opposition to Kavanaugh. The nominee is under siege from 'radical left wing politicians' who are using the sexual assault claim against him to 'destroy and delay' his confirmation to the high court, the president said.
A group of about 75 women who have been friends and colleagues of Kavanaugh held a news conference in Washington Friday to support him.
"The allegation against Brett is inconsistent with everything I have known about Brett as a person," said ex-college girlfriend Maura Fitzgerald. "He has always been kind and concerned with the well-being of others."
Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday night that while he thought Ford should be able to tell her story, the confirmation should move ahead.
"I don't think you can delay it any longer," the president said.
There is no deadline to confirm a Supreme Court nominee. Senate Republicans held the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia's seat open for more than a year, refusing to give a hearing to then-President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland. Trump eventually appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch to the seat.
McConnell, speaking to the conservatives' group, touted the success he and Senate Republicans have had in transforming the federal judiciary, including the confirmation of 26 appellate court judges since January 2017. He made clear he can threaten to hold Democrats hostage before the election to get Kavanaugh and other judges confirmed. They want to leave town and are under pressure to campaign, he said.
"It won't surprise you that I'm making my list and checking it twice," McConnell said.
Information for this article was contributed by by Alan Fram and Catherine Lucey of The Associated Press; by Laura Litvan, Terrence Dopp, Erik Wasson, Sahil Kapur, Chris Strohm and Arit John of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 09/22/2018