The legal team for Christine Ford has said that their client would be willing to testify next Thursday, but only if the Senate Judiciary Committee agrees to several demands, including allowing her to testify after Brett Kavanaugh. Another condition: only members of the committee — no lawyers can question her. (Earlier in the week, Sen. Mazie Hirono noted that there were no GOP women on the Judiciary Committee, so Republicans announced their intention to include female attorneys during the interview of Ford.)
Among the terms: Only members of the committee — no lawyers — can question her; Kavanaugh cannot be in the room at the time; and Kavanaugh should be questioned first, before he has the opportunity to hear Ford’s testimony.
The requests, some of which appeared to be negotiable, capped a whirlwind day of back-and-forth statements. Ford’s lawyers told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was open to testifying next week, apparently backing off her bid for the FBI to first launch a new inquiry into her allegations.
But the attorneys said it was “not possible” for Ford to testify at a hearing scheduled for Monday by Senate Republicans, without explaining why, and they reiterated that she had a “strong preference” for an FBI probe beforehand.