Professor accuses Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault

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US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee has been accused of sexual assault, prompting calls by opposition Democrats to postpone the nomination vote.

Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, initially detailed the allegations about Brett Kavanaugh in confidential letters to her local congresswoman and later to California Senator Diane Feinstein, a senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Now Ford has told The Washington Post she had decided to waive her anonymity because she felt her "civic responsibility" was "outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation."

Last week, Kavanaugh, Republican President Donald Trump's second nominee for a lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court, said he "categorically and unequivocally" denies the allegations.

Rape attempt

Ford, who is a registered Democrat herself, told the Post in an interview that in the early 1980s Kavanaugh and a friend, both of whom were "stumbling drunk," cornered her in a bedroom at a teenagers' party in a house, where Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed while his friend watched, then groped her while attempting to remove her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing on top of it.

When she attempted to scream for help, Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth, she said.

"I thought he might inadvertently kill me," said Ford, who is now 51 years old and lives in northern California. "He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing."

She added she did not tell anyone about the attack until 2012 when she brought it up during couples counseling therapy with her husband.

The therapist's notes from the time, seen by the Post, do not mention Kavanaugh by name but otherwise echo the claim, describing an attack by students "from an elitist boys' school" who went on to become "highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington."

Notes from a subsequent therapy session a year later describe the attack as a "rape attempt."

Women protest in black veils outside of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington DC, Sept. 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

An insult to women

Reacting to the story, on Sunday, Senator Feinstein said: "From the outset, I have believed these allegations were extremely serious and bear heavily on Judge Kavanaugh's character."

"I support Mrs Ford's decision to share her story, and now that she has, it is in the hands of the FBI to conduct an investigation," added Feinstein, who had previously forwarded the allegations to federal authorities.

"This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee."

Chuck Schumer, who is the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, also called on the committee's Republican chairman to postpone the vote until "these serious and credible allegations are thoroughly investigated."

"For too long, when woman have made serious allegations of abuse, they have been ignored. That cannot happen in this case," Schumer said in a statement.

"To railroad a vote now would be an insult to the women of America and the integrity of the Supreme Court."

The Judiciary Committee is currently due to vote on the nomination on Sept. 20. A vote of the full Senate would follow if the committee approves his nomination.

Responding to the latest developments in the Kavanaugh nomination, Senate Judiciary Committee spokesman Taylor Foy said, "It's disturbing that these uncorroborated allegations from more than 35 years ago, during high school, would surface on the eve of a committee vote."

Because Trump's fellow Republicans control a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, Democrats cannot stop Kavanaugh's appointment unless some Republicans make a rare decision to break with their party and vote against Trump.

At least one Republican member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Flake, told the Post on Sunday that Ford "must be heard" and urged the panel not to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination until it can hear from her.

(Cover: US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks in front of the US Senate in Washington DC, Sept. 5, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters