Christine Blasey Ford has finished testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Ford started the hearing by reading her prepared testimony in which she detailed how Kavanaugh held her down and tried to remove her clothing during a party while the two were in high school. She fought back tears as she described how Kavanaugh covered her mouth when she tried to scream for help.
“This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life,” she said. “I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me."
When asked by Senator Diane Feinstein if she could have mistaken Kavanaugh for somebody else, Ford replied, "Absolutely not."
Republican senators hired Rachel Mitchell to question Dr. Ford. Mitchell is a veteran sexual assault prosecutor who has worked for the sex-crimes bureau of the Special Victims Unit in Maricopa County, Arizona for the last 12 years.
Mitchell was forced to break up her questioning into five-minute increments due to the committee rules, sometimes having to come back to questions after Dr. Ford faced a different line of inquiry from Democratic members of the committee.
During her questioning, Mitchell tried to fill in some of the gaps in Dr. Ford's story. She asked Ford how she was able to "narrow down the time frame" of when the party occurred. Ford originally stated the party happened in the mid-80's, but then she realized that it happened in 1982.
"I’m just using memories of when I got my driver’s license," Ford said. "I was 15 at the time. I did not drive home from that party or to that party. Once I got my driver’s license, I liked to drive myself."
Mitchell also asked Ford whether she handed over notes from her therapist, in which she identified Kavanaugh as the man who sexually assaulted her.
"I don’t remember, I remember summarizing for her what they said," Ford said. "I’m not sure if I actually gave her the record."
Brett Kavanaugh will testify in front of the committee in the afternoon following a break.
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