US Senate to vote on Kavanaugh Monday unless deal with accuser reached

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The US Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a vote on confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Monday if no deal was reached by 10 p.m. EDT Friday (0200 GMT Saturday) on how Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, would testify, the panel's chairman said.

"I'm extending the deadline for response yet again to 10 o'clock this evening. I'm providing a notice of a vote to occur Monday in the event that Dr. Ford's attorneys don't respond or Dr. Ford decides not to testify," Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said in a statement.

Screenshot of Trump's tweet

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Friday sought to cast doubt on the woman who has accused his Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saying if the attack was "as bad as she says" it would have been immediately reported to police.

"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 said. "I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"

Screenshot of Trump's tweet

"Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay," Trump wrote.

Ford has said Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 when both were high school students in Maryland. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation and pledged to testify at Monday's hearing.

Source(s): Reuters