Trump defends Kavanaugh as fate of hearing unclear: 'I feel so badly for him'

Donald Trump again rushed to the defense of embattled supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, saying he feels “terribly” for the judge as he faces a public hearing over an allegation of sexual assault from a California professor.

“I feel so badly for him. This is not a man who deserves this,” Trump said of Kavanaugh at a news conference at the White House

He called Kavanaugh a “great gentleman” and said he was sad that his wife and “beautiful young daughters” had to experience a public airing of the accusations.

Kavanaugh’s nomination hangs in the balance as Democrats and Republicans clash over the terms of a public hearing scheduled in the wake of an allegation by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.

The president said Ford should also have the opportunity to “state her case”, though he believes a public hearing will eliminate any doubt about Kavanaugh’s innocence.

Republican leaders, under immense pressure from lawmakers of both parties, have set a public hearing for next Monday at which the judge and the professor are both invited to testify.

In a letter, published on Tuesday evening, to Senate judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley, Ford said the FBI should investigate her claims as a “first step” before she testifies.

Ford’s attorneys argue that “a full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner, and that the Committee is fully informed before conducting any hearing or making any decisions”.

The letter added to growing questions over whether Ford would testify on Monday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Grassley said his office had reached out to Ford multiple times about the Monday hearing and had not yet heard back.

“It kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not?” Grassley said on conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. He added: “I want to hear from Dr Ford. And she deserves to be heard. I would surely hope she’d come Monday.”

Republicans said they offered her a choice to testify in an open or closed hearing.

Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist at Palo Alto University in northern California, alleged in an interview with the Washington Post that Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed, groped her and placed his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming at a house party in the early 1980s when the two were in high school. Ford said she was able to escape only when a friend jumped on top of them.

Kavanaugh, 53, has forcefully denied the allegations and told a senator that he was not present at the party where the alleged assault occurred.

Ford’s lawyer, Debra Katz, said on Monday before the hearing was scheduled that her client would be willing to testify. Attorneys for Ford have not returned multiple requests for comment.

The timing of the hearing is politically perilous for both parties, with the November midterm election less than two months away. It will also play out against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement, a cultural development that has shone a spotlight on sexual harassment and toppled powerful men in government, entertainment, the media and other businesses.

Katz said Ford has been inundated with violent and vulgar emails since she shared her story publicly on Sunday. The New York Times reported that Ford was forced to move out of her house and is hiring private security for herself and her family. She is “effectively in hiding”, the story said, citing a source close to Ford.

Democrats assailed the hearing as a “rush job” and demanded the hearing be delayed until the FBI could investigate the matter. They decried a plan to limit testimony to Kavanaugh and Ford, arguing that the committee should also hear from witnesses and experts to avoid a “he said, she said” scenario.

Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York added that a “sham hearing” would send a message that women “are not valued in this country”.

One possible witness they want to hear from is Mark Judge, Kavanaugh’s classmate whom Ford said was at the party. But in a letter written by his attorney on Tuesday, Judge told the Judiciary Committee that has no recollection of the incident and does “not wish to speak publicly” about the allegations.

The president and Republicans meanwhile have continued to harangue Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein for not disclosing the allegations sooner. The senator, who learned of the accusation in July, said she kept the information private to honor Ford’s request for confidentiality. Ford has said that she only came forward after rumors about the letter began to circulate.

The allegation has drawn comparisons to the painful 1991 public testimony of Anita Hill, who accused then supreme court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

“There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better,” Hill, now a Brandeis University professor, wrote in a New York Times op-ed Tuesday. She advised the committee to “not rush the hearings” and to bring in “a neutral investigative body with experience in sexual misconduct cases.

Meanwhile, Republican senator Susan Collins, seen as a key swing vote that could determine his confirmation, has asked the committee to allocate time during the hearing for Ford’s attorney to question Kavanaugh and for his attorney to question her.