Negotiations Continue as Christine Ford’s Lawyers Say She Accepts Committee Request to Speak
The legal team for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has sent an email to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying that she accepts their request to testify, though negotiations are still underway and nothing has been finalized yet.
The email from Ford’s lawyers says she agrees to “provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh‘s sexual misconduct next week.”
The email continues:
“Although many aspects of the proposal you provided via email, on September 21, 2018, at 2:33 pm, are fundamentally inconsistent with the Committee’s promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations, and we are disappointed with the leaks and the bullying that have tainted the process, we are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details. Can we set up a time for later this afternoon to continue our negotiations?”
BREAKING. Dr Ford accepts invitation to testify with more specifics to be negotiated and more concerns about the process. pic.twitter.com/NFW6dgFi2c
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) September 22, 2018
Committee chair Chuck Grassley last night tweeted he granted Ford another extension:
Five times now we hv granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one wk ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 22, 2018
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 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
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 22, 2018
With all the extensions we give Dr Ford to decide if she still wants to testify to the Senate I feel like I’m playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and Schumer is the conductor
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 22, 2018
One White House official has responded, per the Washington Post, calling it another delay tactic:
Senior WH official on this latest letter: “This is not a yes. It's another delay after Judge Kavanaugh has agreed to testify for a week now.” https://t.co/0Us8HlO8pU
— Robert Costa (@costareports) September 22, 2018
UPDATE –– 4:52 pm ET: Senator Orrin Hatch said in tweets this afternoon that “this is exactly where we were on Monday morning”:
Worth noting that this is exactly where we were on Monday morning— without agreeing to a date, time, and terms we are no closer to hearing from Dr Ford then we were when her lawyers said Dr. Ford was willing to testify during their media tour
6 days agohttps://t.co/KUEKdeRegR
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) September 22, 2018
Tuesday night letter: Dr. Ford’s lawyer’s describe Dr. Ford’s fear of being subjected to “Interrogation” “In front of two dozen U.S. Senators on national television”
Senators: Ok, outside counsel can question.
Today: “Actually it must be Senators.” https://t.co/AoSdiSNRC6
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) September 22, 2018
And CNN’s Sarah Westwood reports that Kavanaugh’s team does not see the response as a yes yet:
A senior White House official tells me Kavanaugh's team isn't viewing this response from Christine Blasey Ford as a "yes" because it asks for more time to negotiate
— Sarah Westwood (@sarahcwestwood) September 22, 2018
Editor’s note: this post and headline initially stated that Ford had accepted the request to testify. Both have been updated to reflect that the negotiations are still ongoing.
[image via screengrab]
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
