Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Friday afternoon criticizing the way in which Republicans have handled Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegations.
The Democrats asked Grassley to invite FBI officials to testify at a hearing with Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, as well as the official who issued the polygraph test to Blasey Ford. They also pushed to hear publicly from any other identified witnesses and character witnesses for both Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh.
Committee Democrats also asked Grassley to share with them any transcripts from interviews with anyone regarding Blasey Ford’s accusations.
In the blistering letter, Democrats accused Republicans of handling Blasey Ford’s accusations worse than lawmakers did with Anita Hill’s allegations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas back in 1991.
“We fear that rather than learning from the past, Senate Republicans and the Trump Administration are repeating this Committee’s previous mistakes and making new ones. Up to this point, the Committee majority’s treatment of Dr. Ford has unquestionably been worse than the disgraceful treatment that Anita Hill received 27 years ago,” the Democrats wrote.
They specifically criticized Republicans for rushing the process and accused some GOP senators of making up their minds before hearing Blasey Ford out.
“Some have gone so far as to state, ‘She’s mixed up’; ‘She’s mistaken’; ‘She’s not in really a position to make conditions’; and, ‘I’ll listen to the lady, but we’re going to bring this to a close.’ These shameful attacks show why it is so difficult for survivors of sexual assault to come forward,” the Democrats wrote in their letter.
Read the letter:
