Page 3 - ARUBA TODAY

A3
U.S. NEWS Monday 24 SepteMber 2018

KAVANAUGH wrangled with Ford's law- committee. Democratic
Continued from Front yers for the last week over senators were expected to
The magazine reported the exact terms of her ask their own questions.
that Ramirez was reluc- appearance. She made "We were told no decision
tant at first to speak pub- several requests, some of has been made on this im-
licly "partly because her which were accommo- portant issue, even though
memories contained gaps dated — a Thursday hear- various senators have been
because she had been ing, three days later than dismissive of her account
drinking at the time of the originally scheduled, and a and should have to shoul-
alleged incident." She also smaller hearing room with der their responsibility to
acknowledged reluctance less press access to avoid a ask her questions," the at-
"to characterize Kavana- media circus, for example. torneys for Ford said in a
ugh's role in the alleged in- Grassley's staff also agreed statement.
cident with certainty." to let Ford testify without As he builds a case for his Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley,
The magazine reports that Kavanaugh in the room, for innocence, Kavanaugh R-Iowa, walks through a tunnel towards the Dirksen Senate
Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 19,
after "six days of carefully there to be only one cam- plans to turn over to the 2018.
assessing her memories era in the room, "adequate" committee calendars from Associated Press
and consulting with her at- breaks and a high security the summer of 1982 that
torney, Ramirez said that presence. The committee don't show a party consis- ported Sunday. The news- football workouts, college
she felt confident enough said it would not negotiate tent with Ford's description paper reported that it had interviews, and a few par-
of her recollections" to re- on other points, though, of the gathering in which examined the calendars ties with names of friends
call the incident. including Ford's desire for she says he attacked her, and noted they list basket- other than those identified
The new information came additional witnesses and a The New York Times re- ball games, movie outings, by Ford.q
hours after the Senate request to testify after, not
committee agreed to a before, Kavanaugh.
date and time for a hear- "As with any witness who
ing after nearly a week of comes before the Senate,
uncertainty over whether the Senate Judiciary Com-
Ford would appear to tell mittee cannot hand over
her story. its constitutional duties to
The agreement and the attorneys for outside wit-
latest accusation set the nesses," Mike Davis, Grass-
stage for a dramatic show- ley's top nominations coun-
down as Kavanaugh and sel, wrote in an email ex-
Ford each tell their side change with Ford's lawyers
of the story. The develop- obtained by The Associ-
ments could also deter- ated Press. "The committee
mine the fate of Kavana- determines which witnesses
ugh's confirmation, which to call, how many witnesses
hangs on the votes of a to call, in what order to call
handful of senators. them, and who will ques-
It had seemed assured tion them. These are non-
before Ford, a 51-year-old negotiable."
California college profes- Ford's lawyers said it was still
sor, went public a week unclear who will ask ques-
ago with her allegation tions, as Republicans were
that Kavanaugh assaulted trying to hire an outside fe-
her at a party when they male counsel who could
were in high school. take over the questioning.
Kavanaugh, 53, an appel- The 11 senators on the GOP
late court judge, has de- side of the dais are all men,
nied Ford's allegation and which could send an un-
said he wanted to testify wanted message on live
as soon as possible to clear television against the back-
his name. Senate Judicia- drop of the #MeToo era.
ry Committee Chairman They could also use Repub-
Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lican staff attorneys on the