Grassley: Longtime Friend of Ford’s “Felt Pressured” to Change Statement

SENATOR CALLS OUT “THE RESISTANCE”

by Sharon Rondeau

(Oct. 5, 2018) — On Friday just before 7:30 AM EDT, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told Fox & Friends that one of the witnesses Dr. Christine Ford identified as allegedly having been at a gathering in 1982 where Ford said she was sexually assaulted by Judge Brett Kavanaugh “felt pressured” to alter her original statement that she does not recall the gathering and is not acquainted with Kavanaugh.

A 12-year member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh was nominated by President Trump on July 9 to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat being vacated by Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.

The normally soft-spoken Midwesterner and longtime member of the U.S. Senate said that rather than promoting civility in government and public policy, “the Resistance” is responsible for the pressure Leland Ingham Keyser experienced which Grassley said is “in the FBI report” recently completed as a supplemental background check on Kavanaugh following Ford’s and others’ allegations.

Grassley added that “the Resistance” resides “on Capitol Hill,” in an apparent reference to congressional Democrats and their supporters.

Keyser provided a sworn statement through her attorney that she did not recall the gathering at which Ford alleged Kavanaugh and his longtime friend, Mark Judge, participated in Ford’s assault from which she said she was able to escape after the two young men allegedly stumbled down a stairway while inebriated.  Keyser reportedly reiterated her statement to FBI agents as they conducted the additional background investigation at the committee and president’s request.

During testimony on September 27 to the committee, Ford said she had spoken to Keyser recently, that she was glad to hear that Keyser was attending to some health concerns and that Keyser apologized to her for the statement she provided through her attorney.

Debra Katz, one of Ford’s attorneys, is a declared member of “the Resistance” and has donated to Democrats for many years.

Although classified, the Judiciary Committee released a “summary” of the supplemental report on Thursday night.

The full Senate will be convening at 9:30 on Friday, with a procedural vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination scheduled for 10:30 AM Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is hopeful that following that vote, an official vote will take place on Saturday, four days after he filed for cloture on the nomination.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Grassley was uncharacteristically vehement, particularly toward the press, which he said he was told refused to conduct interviews of Kavanaugh supporters since protesters, both for and against his confirmation, have flooded Grassley’s office for the past “two weeks.”

Judiciary Committee Republicans say that the FBI supplemental report is adequate for them to conclude that there is no corroboration of the sexual-assault or misconduct claims made by Ford and another woman, Deborah Ramirez, who attended Yale College with Kavanaugh in the mid-80s.  Democrats disagree, and, even though having agreed to a one-week probe, now say it is insufficient to show whether or not Kavanaugh committed assault or sexual misconduct.

In an emotional response to Ford’s public allegations, Kavanaugh denied all of the accusations and decried the damage to not only his professional and personal reputation, but also to his wife and daughters via threats and vitriol directed at them since Ford went public with her story through The Washington Post on September 16.

Grassley reiterated the need for civility, rather than division, in the American body politic.

Keyser’s perception of “pressure” was reported by The Wall Street Journal, Fox & Friends reported just after 8:00 a.m.