Kavanaugh accuser goes public on sexual misconduct
The woman accusing US President Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court of sexual misconduct has identified herself.
Now a 51-year-old professor at Palo Alto University in California, Christine Blasey Ford, claimed Sunday that Trump’s nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.
She claimed that he had "groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers.”
She also said Kavanaugh had put his hand over her mouth as she tried to call for help.
“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Ford said. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”
The White House immediately released a statement to reject the allegations after the woman went forward to The Washington Post to speak up.
"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh said in the statement provided by the White House. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now in charge of the case, according to California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who defended Ford’s sharing of her story.
"And now that she has, it is in the hands of the FBI to conduct an investigation," Feinstein said. "This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee."
The incident dates back to the time when Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, were both students at Georgetown Preparatory School.
While “stumbling drunk,” they took her into a bedroom at a house in suburban Maryland.
Kavanaugh then “held her down with the weight of his body and fumbled with her clothes, seemingly hindered by his intoxication,” the Post reported.
Ford could ultimately escape after Kavanaugh got in a competition with Judge, who had jumped on top of her.
Senate Republicans want Kavanaugh to be confirmed to the Supreme Court before October.
The new announcement was made in the backdrop of growing allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful figures in the US.
Campaigners and rights activists stress that many victims of sexual abuse and exploitation decline to report the incident due to fear, shame, and worry about damage to their career.
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