Grassley says there's 'no reason for any further delay' on Kavanaugh hearing

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) responded Tuesday night to a letter sent earlier in the day from lawyers representing Christine Blasey Ford, the professor who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers.

On Monday, the committee invited Ford to testify next Monday in front of the panel regarding the alleged assault. The letter from Ford's lawyers demanded an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh before Ford will talk to the committee, and revealed that she has received death threats and had to leave her house. "Nobody should be subject to threats and intimidation, and Dr. Ford is no exception," Grassley said. "These are serious allegations and Dr. Ford deserves to be heard."

Grassley said as soon as Ford revealed her identity in The Washington Post on Sunday, "committee staff started working to gather facts related to her claims." She has been invited to attend a public or private hearing Monday with the committee "as well as staff-led interviews, whichever makes her most comfortable," he said, and the offer "still stands." Ford's testimony would only reflect her "personal knowledge and memory of events," Grassley said. "Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay."

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Grassley also stated that the committee never planned on having Ford and Kavanaugh on a panel together, and that they gave "Dr. Ford multiple dates" for a hearing. Grassley did not explain why, if Ford was given several dates and her lawyers did not respond to the invitation until Tuesday, he announced on Monday that the hearing would take place next Monday.