Kavanaugh accuser agrees to testify before Senate next week

A woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has agreed to testify against him next week.

Dr Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor, claims Mr Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were teenagers at a house party 36 years ago. 

Dr Ford's lawyers said on Saturday that she has agreed to a request by the Senate Judiciary Committee to be questioned on the alleged attack.

However the exact details of how her testimony will take place have not been finalised and it is up to the committee's Republican chairman to decide whether to grant extra time for negotiations to continue.

Testimony from Mr Kavanaugh's accuser could derail a vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court, something Republicans are eager to secure before November's midterm elections. 

Mr Kavanaugh has vehemently denied Dr Ford's allegations and has previously said he is keen to testify as soon as possible to clear his reputation.

Dr Ford's decision came after days of negotiations and following President Donald Trump's turn against her, saying her accusation could not be true.

Dr Ford "accepts the Committee's request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct next week," said a message from her lawyers to the Senate Judiciary Committee, US media reported.

The committee had given Dr Ford until 2:30 pm on Saturday to decide on whether to appear, after she rejected a Friday evening deadline imposed by the committee's Republican leader, Chuck Grassley.

"Although many aspects of the proposal you provided via email, on (Friday) are fundamentally inconsistent with the committee's promise of a fair, impartial investigation into her allegations, and we are disappointed with the leaks and the bullying that have tainted the process, we are hopeful that we can reach agreement on details," the lawyers' letter cited by The Washington Post said.

Dr Ford alleges that Mr Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her at a party when he was 17, she was 15, and they were attending private schools outside Washington in the 1980s.

Mr Kavanaugh denies knowledge of any such assault and wants to give his side of the story to the committee.

Mr Grassley has said the hearing should take place on Wednesday, but Dr Ford said she wanted it on Thursday at the earliest and to be able to call as a witness a man whom she says was present during the assault.

The committee's Republican leadership turned down those demands.

The Republican-controlled Senate judiciary panel has struggled on how to proceed with Kavanaugh's nomination. Democrats have demanded more time for scrutiny, and Republicans want to move ahead quickly with a confirmation vote in an increasingly volatile political climate ahead of the November 6 congressional elections.

Approval of Kavanaugh would cement conservative control of the Supreme Court and advance a White House effort to tilt the American judiciary farther right.

Mr Trump and the White House had been careful not to malign Dr Ford after her allegations surfaced, but he dropped the restraint in his tweets on Friday.

"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents," Mr Trump said. "I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!

"Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay," Mr Trump wrote.

The aggressive stance reflected his fear that time is running out to get his hand-picked conservative judge confirmed - thereby tilting the Supreme Court firmly to the right for years to come - before November elections when Republicans risk losing control of Congress.

Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican and potentially a key vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, said at an event in Portland, Maine, that she was "appalled" by Mr Trump's tweet.

"We know allegations of sexual assault are one of the most unreported crimes that exist," Ms Collins said, according to the Portland Press Herald. "So I thought that the president’s tweet was completely inappropriate and wrong."

If the hearing proceeds, Republicans will be forced to walk a careful line in questioning Ford's account without alienating women voters ahead of the elections. Before the 2016 presidential election, more than a dozen women accused Trump of making unwanted advances.

Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand denounced Trump's comments on Friday as a "vile attack."

"The most powerful man in the world just used his position and platform to attack a sexual assault survivor," she said on Twitter. "This is the same man who has been credibly accused of more than a dozen cases of sexual assault or harassment."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking at a gathering of evangelical voters in Washington, assured them Mr Kavanaugh would be confirmed.

"You watched the fight, you watched the tactics, but here is what I want to tell you - in the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court," McConnell told the Value Voters Summit, drawing a standing ovation.

McConnell's goal has been to confirm Mr Kavanaugh by October 1, the start of the Supreme Court term.

The Senate panel must approve Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation before a vote by the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 51-49 majority. Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation to the lifetime position would be the second of the Trump administration and solidify conservative control of the nation's top court.