Allegations against Kavanaugh 'will be heard,' Conway says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s counselor said that she had spoken with Trump and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and that the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault “will be heard.”

“So, let me make very clear,” Kellyanne Conway, the counselor, said Monday on “Fox & Friends." “I have spoken with the president. I have spoken with Sen. Graham and others. This woman will be heard.” Conway referred to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the judiciary committee, which is considering Kavanaugh’s confirmation this week.

Kavanaugh has been accused by Christine Blasey Ford of sexually assaulting her at a party in the 1980s when they were both teenagers in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Thursday. Democrats say the vote should be delayed so that the committee can hear Ford — a move Republicans have said is a stalling tactic. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings have drawn raucous protests and partisan fights, even before Ford’s allegations became public.

Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, told morning news shows Monday that her client was willing to testify before Congress.

There was no indication Monday morning that the Senate Judiciary Committee planned to postpone the vote. A key Republican on the committee, however, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, told Politico that he was “not comfortable voting yes” on Kavanaugh’s nomination until he learned more about Ford’s account. Flake’s objection could force a delay for the committee, which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Republicans have hoped to confirm Kavanaugh before the midterm elections in November, when their control of the Senate could slip away.

Ford, a research psychologist at Palo Alto University in Northern California, told the The Washington Post that a drunken, teenage Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, groped her and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.

“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”

Ford came forward publicly over the weekend, putting her name behind accusations that had been shared with the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee on the condition that she remain anonymous.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Allegations against Kavanaugh 'will be heard,' Conway says

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s counselor said that she had spoken with Trump and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and that the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault “will be heard.”

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