Supreme Court nominee accuser agrees to testify before US Senate
Trump says Ford's claim of sexual assault against Supreme Court pick is bogus
WASHINGTON, DC She was terrified of retaliation if she went ahead with her sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh
Ms Christine Blasey Ford told the Washington Post she went public with her claims because she felt her "civic responsibility" was "outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation" after the basic outlines of the story emerged in the media.
She has now agreed to go one step further - testify in the Senate.
Her husband, Mr Russell Ford, was quoted by the Post as saying the thought that Mr Brett Kavanaugh could be considered for the Supreme Court after Mr Trump took office troubled his wife so much that she considered moving as far away as New Zealand.
He said: "She was like, 'I can't deal with this. I cannot live in this country if he's in the Supreme Court'."
Her decision followed days of negotiations and came after Mr Trump turned against her and said her accusation could not be true.
Ms Ford "accepts the committee's request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Mr Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct next week," said a message from her lawyers to the Senate Judiciary Committee, US media reported.
Hours later, multiple outlets including Politico and The Daily Beast reported the hearing would take place on Thursday, citing sources familiar with a phone call between the committee and Ms Ford's lawyers.
The tentative deal capped a day of frenetic developments, with time running out for Trump 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.
Ms 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.
After several days of maintaining a relatively neutral posture, Mr Trump on Friday declared that Ms Ford was lying.
Mr Trump tweeted, blaming "radical left wing politicians" for the controversy.
Hesaid the fact that Ms Ford remained silent until now shows the incident probably never happened - even if this runs counter to what experts say is the typical reaction of sexual assault victims afraid or too embarrassed to report.
APPALLED
"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr Ford was as bad as she says," Mr Trump tweeted, "charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents."
Republican senator Susan Collins said she was "appalled by the president's tweet" .
Mr Trump's outburst saw a new #MeToo era hashtag storm the Internet, with people - mostly women - sharing why they did not report being assaulted under the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. - AFP
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