President Donald Trump is challenging by name the woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault, saying if the attack she alleges were that "bad" then she would have filed charges.
Trump tweeted 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. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!"
The president previously had avoided naming California college professor Christine Blasey Ford or casting doubt on her account. Ford alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, Trump says Kavanaugh is "under assault by radical left wing politicians."
Trump tweeted Friday that Kavanaugh has an "impeccable reputation" and that Democrats "don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay."
He adds, "Facts don't matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C."
Negotiations continue over whether Ford will testify next week.
Republicans want to conclude the nomination process quickly. Democrats have seized on the development as justification to delay the high-stakes nomination and say it's being rushed.
Ford is willing to tell her story to the Judiciary Committee, whose senators will vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation - but only if agreement can be reached on what her attorney called "terms that are fair and which ensure her safety." No decisions have been reached.
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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. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
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. Facts don’t matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2018
