Despite the GOP's continued refusal to heed her request for a full FBI investigation into her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that she is prepared to testify next week as long as senators "agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety."
"Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is not on trial. She stepped forward and has now been forced into hiding by death threats and violent harassment. She deserves the opportunity to testify in a way that is safe and fair."
--NARAL
"As you are aware, she has been receiving death threats, which have been reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and she and her family have been forced out of their home," Debra Katz--Ford's attorney--wrote in an email to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
"She wishes to testify," Katz noted, but added that the Monday hearing Republicans have scheduled "is not possible and the committee's insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event."
As the New York Timesreported on Thursday, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have "decided to hire an outside counsel to lead their questioning" of Ford in an apparent effort to "avoid the image of 11 male senators questioning" her account.
In a tweet reacting to Ford's expressed willingness to testify before the Senate next week, Ilyse Hogue--president of NARAL--noted in a tweet on Thursday that Ford "deserves to tell her story on her own terms" and that the onus is on the Republican majority to ensure that she is given a fair platform to do so.
Ford's email agreeing to testify before the Senate next week came as Democrats accused the GOP of attempting to "railroad" Ford by rushing ahead with a hearing without a full FBI investigation.
"You have the entire force of the presidency and all of the supporters of Judge Kavanaugh in the Senate arrayed on one side and on this other side you have Dr. Ford who doesn't even have the benefit of an FBI investigation, as we all have called for," Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told reporters on Thursday. "How unfair is that?"
