Democrats Demand Kavanaugh Delay Amid Woman’s Sexual Assault Allegation

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called Sunday for a delay in the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, after a woman went public with details alleging a sexual attack by Kavanaugh decades ago when they were both in high school. Christine Blasey Ford, a California college professor, told The Washington Post that when she was 15 years old, and Kavanaugh was around 17 and a junior in high school in Bethesda, Md., he pinned her to a bed at a party, groped her over her clothes and attempted to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth, The Post reported. “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,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a news release. “This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee.” Fellow California Democrat Kamala Harris, another Judiciary Committee member, called it a “credible and serious allegation.” “The Senate has a constitutional responsibility to scrutinize SCOTUS nominees,” Harris said on Twitter. “A vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination must be delayed until there is a thorough investigation.” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York also called for a delay until there is an investigation. “For too long, when women have made serious allegations of abuse, they have been ignored. That cannot happen in this case,” Schumer said in a news release. “Judge Kavanaugh’s credibility has already been seriously questioned because of his answers regarding Manny Miranda, Judge Pryor, and other issues during his time in the Bush White House, and now his credibility is even more suspect,” Schumer said. “To railroad a vote now would be an insult to the women of America and the integrity of the Supreme Court.” But a statement from a committee spokesman cast doubt that Chairman Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, would not move forward with a Judiciary Committee vote set for 1:45 p.m. Thursday. “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 after Democrats sat on them since July,” Judiciary spokesman Taylor Foy wrote in a news release. “If Ranking Member Feinstein and other Committee Democrats took this claim seriously, they should have brought it to the full Committee’s attention much earlier.” Foy called on Feinstein to publicly release the letter from Ford that the Democrat received in July. “It raises a lot of questions about Democrats’ tactics and motives to bring this to the rest of the committee’s attention only now rather than during these many steps along the way,” Foy wrote. Kavanaugh does not plan to withdraw and maintains his denial issued Friday, when the allegation first became public but with fewer details, a White House official said. Kavanaugh “categorically and unequivocally” denied the allegation, as he said in Friday’s statement. Watch: Judiciary Democrats Object to Kavanaugh Vote Plan, But Date is Set   Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone or your Android.