Grassley: Kavanaugh accuser has not yet responded to requests to testify

On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault that she alleges happened 36 years ago, has not yet responded to several requests to testify before the Committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, Sept. 24, to give Ford a chance to give sworn testimony about her accusations and give Kavanaugh a chance to respond. But in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt Tuesday, Grassley revealed that the committee has not heard back from Ford or her attorney about testifying.

"We have reached out to her in the last 36 hours three or four times by email, and we've not heard from them, so it kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not?" Grassley told Hewitt.

Senate Democrats and some Republicans have called for delaying the vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court until his accuser has testified before Congress. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it was "important that there be a very thorough interview," with both Kavanaugh and Ford answering questions from the Senate.

"There are an awful lot of questions, inconsistencies, gaps, and that's why to be fair to both we need to know what happened," Collins told reporters Monday.

"Obviously if Judge Kavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualifying," Collins added.

However, Democrats are slow-walking the process. Grassley released a statement Monday accusing Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office of refusing to cooperate for follow-up phone interviews with both Kavanaugh and Ford.

Grassley stressed that the committee has only scheduled the hearing with the expectation that Ford will testify.

"We wouldn't be having this hearing if it wasn't for the fact that Dr. Ford told the Washington Post and other people publicly that she wanted to testify," Grassley said.

The chairman added that Kavanaugh expressed a willingness to testify even before he was asked to.

"We're delaying the vote strictly to get all the facts out on the table," Grassley said.

"What would be the purpose of the hearing if Dr. Ford doesn't want to respond?"

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