Christine Blasey Ford seemed “terrified” when she first shared her allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh with the California congresswoman who represents her home district, days before she ever detailed her accusations to Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
According to Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who met with Blasey Ford on July 20 for an hour and a half, it was “obvious” the psychology professor at Palo Alto University was telling the truth.
“I believed her,” Eshoo told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “It was more than obvious to me that she bore the scars of what she had been subjected to. She doesn’t have a political bone in her body. And she obviously was really terrified about what could become of her and her family.”
Blasey Ford and Eshoo eventually mutually agreed that, while Blasey Ford wanted to remain anonymous, they should take the matter to Feinstein. Precautions were taken to ensure that Blasey Ford’s identity would remain confidential: Only Eshoo herself and one senior aide in her office were fully aware of the details of the matter. Blasey Ford’s letter that detailed her allegations was hand-delivered to one of Feinstein’s aides in Washington, D.C.
Eshoo was quick to defend Feinstein for sitting on the allegations to respect the accuser’s wishes for confidentiality.
”I don’t think it’s up to me to question and comment and whatever, because I don’t know what took place in the intervening weeks,” she told the Post. “But I can say that I think that once there was a leak, that my constituent’s fears were being confirmed. And it is an enormous act of courage understanding the risks that would come her way, she decided to tell her story and not have others mischaracterize it.”
