Judge Brett Kavanaugh has been in a whirlwind of controversy since a few weeks ago.
Ever since an accuser came out and said she was sexually assaulted by him the process
has been in turmoil.
Now, President Trump has made an announcement regarding Judge Kavanaugh and it is going
to nail Kavanaugh's accuser to the wall.
The New York Times reported, "After a tense night of legal brinkmanship,
the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee late Friday told lawyers for the woman who
has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault that they can have until 2:30 p.m.
Saturday to negotiate the terms of their client's testimony before the panel next week.
The chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, made his announcement
on Twitter shortly before midnight, after lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford sent an
angry email accusing his staff of bullying their client.
He directed his tweet to Judge Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee to the Supreme
Court, who has flatly denied the assault and has said he is eager to testify to clear his
name.
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.
I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!
"Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants
to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate," Mr. Grassley
wrote, using Twitter shorthand.
"She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her.
I hope u understand.
It's not my normal approach to b indecisive."
In an email to the lawyers, aides to Mr. Grassley said that they "absolutely must hear by
2:30 p.m." that Dr. Blasey — who also goes by her married name, Ford — has agreed
to their terms for testifying.
It was not clear precisely what those terms were.
The late-night missives were the latest twist in a legal tango that has riveted Washington,
with a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court hanging in the balance.
The back-and-forth has also infuriated Mr. Trump, who lashed out on Friday at Dr. Blasey
on Twitter, saying that if the attack "was as bad as she says," she or her parents
would have reported it to the authorities when it happened more than 30 years ago.
The comment was Mr. Trump's first direct attack on Dr. Blasey, 51, a research psychologist
in Northern California who has accused Judge Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed, grinding
his body against her and muffling her screams at a party when they were teenagers in the
early 1980s.
She has said that she is willing to testify publicly, though not on Monday, the date Mr.
Grassley had scheduled a hearing.
Throughout the day on Friday, Dr. Blasey's lawyers and Senate Judiciary Committee aides
tried to work out details like how many photographers and television cameras would be in the room
(Dr. Blasey, fearful of being mobbed by the news media, wanted one of each); who would
ask the questions (Republicans wanted an outside lawyer, Dr. Blasey favored senators); and
what day the session would take place (Dr. Blasey asked for Thursday, Republicans wanted
Wednesday).
But as the workday drew to a close, Mr. Grassley announced that the judiciary panel would vote
on Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation on Monday morning unless negotiators reached an agreement
by 10 p.m. Friday.
One of Dr. Blasey's lawyers, Debra S. Katz, responded a few hours later with a blistering
email, accusing Mr. Grassley's aides of pressuring her client "to agree to conditions
you find advantageous to the nominee," and of imposing "aggressive and artificial deadlines"
whose "sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford."
Ms. Katz asked for an additional day to negotiate, and in the end, Mr. Grassley acquiesced.
But he did not seem happy about it.
In a follow-up tweet sent after the one directed to Judge Kavanaugh, Mr. Grassley wrote: "With
all the extensions we give Dr Ford to decide if she still wants to testify to the Senate
I feel like I am playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and Schumer is the conductor."
He was referring to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
Dr. Blasey's allegations, which for weeks had been kept secret by the top Democrat on
the Judiciary Committee, have knocked the White House and its conservative allies — who
fear that their
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