A woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has identified herself.
Christine Blasey Ford told the Washington Post Mr Kavanaugh had pinned her to a bed and tried to undress her when they were both teenagers.
Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegations when they first surfaced last week.
The top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are now expected to speak to both Mr Kavanaugh and Mrs Ford.
A spokesperson for Senator Chuck Grassley, the committee’s Republican chairman, said he was “actively working” to set up bipartisan calls to both people as a result of “the late addendum to the background file and revelations of Dr Ford’s identity”.
Such calls would routinely include Senator Grassley’s senior Democratic colleague, Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The incident allegedly happened at a gathering of teenagers at a house, when Mr Kavanaugh and a friend allegedly “corralled” her into a bedroom. Mr Kavanaugh and his friend were both drunk, she says.
In the words of the Washington Post, “While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.
“When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.”
Mrs Ford, 51, is further quoted as saying that she managed to break free.
“I thought he [Mr Kavanaugh] might inadvertently kill me,” she told the Post.
Mr Kavanaugh issued his denial last week: “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time”.
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Source: BBC
