Ford spoke of sexual assault allegation years ago: Affidavits
The legal team representing Christine Blasey Ford in her allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sent four sworn and signed affidavits to the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday from Ford’s husband and friends, all of which state that Ford told them about the alleged assault before Kavanaugh was named as President Donald Trump's pick for the life-long appointment.
One affidavit is from Ford’s husband, Russell, who holds master and doctorate degrees in engineering from Stanford and has been married to Ford since 2002. The couple has two children.
In line with Ford’s previous statements, her husband said that Ford “shared the details of the sexual assault during a couple’s therapy session in 2012.”
Ford’s husband recounted that his wife said Kavanaugh's name and described him as a successful lawyer who had grown up her hometown.
“She said that in high school she had been trapped in a room and physically restrained by one boy who was molesting her while another boy watched,” Russell Ford said.
In the last few days, Republicans on Capitol Hill and the president have accused Democrats of playing political games and expressed skepticism about why Ford's allegations came to their attention only recently.
A second sworn affidavit submitted by Ford’s team ahead of Thursday's hearing, at which Ford is scheduled to testify, is from one of Ford’s friends. Keith Koegler, a lawyer in California. Koegler said Ford first talked about her experience with sexual assault with him when the two were discussing the public perception that Stanford University student Brock Turner received a “light” sentence after being convicted of sexual assault of an unconscious woman.
Taken together, the sworn statements paint a picture of Ford sharing her experience from time to time over the last six years with neighbors and friends in informal and personal settings long before Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court.
Last week, President Trump tweeted about his doubts regarding Ford’s allegations, writing, “if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed.” He added, “Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?”
On Tuesday, while talking to reporters at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump again cast all allegations against Kavanaugh as purely political. He called Democrats behavior “horrible” and said, “It is a con game. They are real con artists.”
Another friend, Adela Gildo-Mazzon, said in her declaration that Ford told her about the alleged assault during a meal in Mountain View, California, in June 2013.
“During our meal, Christine was visibly upset, so I asked her what was going on,” Gildo-Mazzon said in her sworn statement. “Christine told me she had been having a hard day because she was thinking about an assault she experienced when she was much younger. She said she had been almost raped by someone who was now a federal judge. She told me she had been trapped in a room with two drunken guys, and that she had escaped, ran away and hid.”
Gildo-Mazzon said she contacted Ford’s attorneys this month when hearing the news to inform them that Ford had mentioned the assault five years prior.
In a fourth affidavit, Rebecca White, who also described herself as a friend, said she met Ford outside Ford's house while walking her dog in 2017. White recounted that Ford said she had read White's social media post she had written about her own sexual assault.
"She told me that when she was a young teen, she had been sexually assaulted by an older teen. I remember her saying that her assailant was now a federal judge," White said.
Kavanaugh has denied all allegations against him and is also scheduled to testify Thursday on Capitol Hill.
