Christine Blasey Ford faced the Senate Judiciary Committee and the American public Thursday to share her story about an alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Most people got their first direct look at Ford, and the overwhelming consensus, from right, left, and center alike, was that she was a credible and compelling witness. She asserted time and again that she was “100 percent” certain that Kavanaugh was the boy who pinned her down and tried to force himself on her at a high school gathering in the 1980s. She used her training as a psychology professor to describe, in scientific terms, the trauma that she then felt and has continued to experience for the rest of her life. “How are you so sure that it was he?” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the committee, asked near the beginning of the hearing. “The same way that I’m sure that I’m talking to you right now. Just basic memory functions,” Ford said. Various neurotransmitters, she continued, “code memories into the hippocampus, and so the trauma-related experience is locked there, whereas other details kind of drift.” “So what you are telling us, this could not be a case of mistaken identity?” Feinstein said. “Absolutely not,” Ford said. She also outlined how her life has changed since going public, even describing reporters outside her home talking through the window to her dog to try to calm it down. Ford’s four hours of testimony were alternately moving, bizarre, and infuriating. These are the seven most important moments that summarize the most riveting and consequential congressional hearing in years. 1) Ford’s moving, emotional opening statement The contents of Ford’s testimony were already known, as her written statement had been posted the night before, but reading it in writing and seeing Ford recall the alleged assault in real life were two wholly different experiences. Ford’s voice cracked, she seemed clearly nervous, and she often looked on the edge of tears. But she powered through a gripping retelling of the day she says Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge trapped her in a room at a high school gathering, and Kavanaugh forced himself on top of her and, she believes, was attempting to rape her. (Kavanaugh and Judge deny the accusation.) “I believe it is my civic duty,” she told the senators in her opening statement of her decision to come forward with the allegations. “I felt like I couldn’t not do it.” She repeated, both in her opening statement and throughout her questioning by Democratic senators and the Republican outside counsel, that she was “100 percent” certain Kavanaugh was the person who had tried to force himself on her. “I don’t have all the answers,” she said. “The details that bring me here today are the ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and haunted me.” 2) “The laughter” Ford noted in her opening statement that she remembers Kavanaugh and Judge laughing during the alleged assault. But she came back to that point again when Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked her what her strongest memory of the attack was. “The laughter,” Ford said. “The uproarious laughter between the two and their having fun at my expense.” “You have never forgotten that laughter, forgotten them laughing at you?” Leahy asked. “They were laughing with each other,” Ford said. “And you were the object of the laughter?” Leahy continued. “I was underneath one of them while the two laughed,” Ford replied. “Two friends having a really good time with one another.” 3) “I’m used to being collegial” Throughout the hearing, Ford’s personality shined. She routinely resorted to technical psychological terms and science, even to describe her own trauma. (She is, after all, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University.) She politely asked at the beginning of the hearing if she could have caffeine after her opening statement — and she did get a cup of coffee. But one exchange she had with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chair of the Judiciary Committee, epitomizes the polite demeanor Ford displayed at the hearing. It came about an hour after the hearing started, when Grassley suggested they were coming up on an agreed-upon time for a break in the questioning. “It is my understanding that that is where you would like to take a break?” Grassley said. “Does that work for you? Does that work for you as well?” Ford asked in reply. “We’re here to accommodate you, not to accommodate us,” Grassley said, a little sheepishly. “Thank you,” Ford said. “I’m used to be collegial.” 4) Chuck Grassley interrupts prosecutor Rachel Mitchell Republicans intentionally asked Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor with experience in sex crimes, to conduct their questioning. They wanted to avoid the visual of old and white Republican senators interrogating a woman who says she was sexually assaulted. But the format of the hearing was five minutes of questions for Republicans, then five minutes of questions for Democrats. So Mitchell was regularly forced to stop and cede time to Democrats, which gave her line of questioning a disjointed and dizzying feel. The first moment that Grassley was forced to interrupt Mitchell because the Republican time had expired typified the strange dynamic. Ford was right in the middle of explaining a couple of things in a letter she wrote to Sen. Feinstein. Ford had said explicitly she had three issues to clear up and had only gone through two of them. “Oh, okay. The next sentence begins with, ‘Kavanaugh physically pushed me into the bedroom,’ I would say I can’t promise that Mark Judge didn’t assist with that,” Ford was saying. “I don’t know. It was from behind so I don’t want to put that solely on him.” “Miss Mitchell, I don’t know whether this is fair to interrupt, I want to keep people within five minutes. Is that a major problem for you in the middle of a question?” Grassley said. “I’ve got to treat everybody the same.” So Mitchell paused, and Feinstein asked Ford questions for five minutes.<doc-sep>There were several noticeable differences between the Senate testimony of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford. The most obvious was the tone each took. Ford was polite and quiet in recounting her accusation against Kavanaugh; he was angry and loud in his denials of the allegations against him. Beyond the style of their testimonies, there was a striking difference in the content of their words. Both Ford and Kavanaugh fielded questions from senators and the prosecutor hired by Republicans, Rachel Mitchell. But only Ford made an effort to answer every single question. Kavanaugh actively dodged questions. He often repeated the same non-answer over and over. Other times, he insisted on answering a question with “context” — which inevitably was a long story about his childhood — but never actually answered the question. We went through the transcript of the hearing and noted every single time a question was asked of Ford and Kavanaugh. (We didn’t include the times a questioner didn’t ask an explicit question.) Then we noted every instance in which answered the question or said they didn’t know the answer — and we also noted every time they either refused to answer or gave an answer that didn’t address the question. Here are the results:<doc-sep>As for Dr. Blasey’s reluctance to come forward until the confirmation process was nearly over, Professor Hill said she totally understood. “She came when she needed to come,” she said. “She came when the country needed her to come.” Professor Hill focused her remarks on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and how young women can advance and prosper in companies where they still struggle for equality. But the subject of the Kavanaugh hearing came up again and again in questions, captivating an apparently adoring audience. “Many of us are going to feel betrayed,” Professor Hill said of her expectation that the Senate would ultimately confirm the nomination. She spoke as the Judiciary Committee met Friday to advance Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor. There is much that is similar in the stories and experiences of Dr. Blasey and Professor Hill, although they came from very different social backgrounds. Both are university professors, neither wanted at first to reveal their names to the Senate, and both had vivid memories of their alleged encounters with the two judges. Both women faced angry rebuttals from the judicial nominees and were broadly accused of telling untruths. Professor Hill accused Justice Thomas of repeatedly making unwanted overtures years earlier in the workplace, when she worked for him first at the Education Department and later at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Three senators who heard her testimony before the Judiciary Committee remain on the panel, and two of them are strong supporters of Judge Kavanaugh, as they were of Justice Thomas. But Professor Hill pointed out differences between her time in the spotlight and now. A generation of women have taken gender studies since then, she said. There are more women in journalism now, many even serving on editorial boards where they can shape opinion. More women are coming forward with their stories of abuse, she said, and powerful men are being held to account. “We are not alone, she is not alone,” Professor Hill said. “There is a community of us that has grown up in the last 10 to 15 years,” especially as the #MeToo movement crests, she said.<doc-sep>One name kept coming up over and over during yesterday’s (Sept. 27) polarizing Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: Mark Judge. Judge, who has been hiding out (paywall) at a friend’s beach house in Delaware, was not present at the hearing. But Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when the two were in high school, stated multiple times that he was key to helping reconstruct the timeline of events that allegedly took place more than 30 years ago. Described as Kavanaugh’s wingman in high school, Judge has become a central character in the ongoing Supreme Court saga in light of Ford’s claims and recent sexual-misconduct allegations from two other women. His 1997 memoir titled Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk has been scrutinized since these allegations have come to light, in part because it includes a character named Bart O’Kavanaugh and also appears to depict a pattern of excessive drinking in high school. After Ford’s and Kavanaugh’s testimonies yesterday, Judge sent a letter to the committee (pdf)—his second, after one was sent on his behalf by his lawyer on Sept. 18—reiterating he doesn’t recall the alleged assault. Read the full letter bellow: Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Feinstein: As I stated in my attorney [sic], Barbara Ven Gelder’s September 18, 2018, letter, I did not ask to be involved in this matter nor did anyone ask me to be involved. We have told the Committee that I do not want to comment about these events publicly. As a recovering alcoholic and a cancer survivor, I have struggled with depression and anxiety. As a result, I avoid public speaking. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school, but we have not spoken directly in several years. I do not recall the events described by Dr. Ford in her testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee today. I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes. I am knowingly submitting this letter under penalty of felony. Sincerely yours, Mark Judge Witnessed By: Barbara Ven Gelder, counsel for Mark Judge<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 14: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) speaks at a tax reform hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill September 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump has indicated that tax reform should be a major legislative goal this fall. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images) Brett Kavanaugh speaks at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on September 27, 2018. (Photo by MICHAEL REYNOLDS / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read MICHAEL REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images) Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh arrives to testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 27, 2018. - Kavanaugh was to testify in front of the panel next on Thursday afternoon, having stridently rejected the allegations of sexual abuse by Blasey Ford and two other women in prepared remarks. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 27, 2018. - Kavanaugh was to testify in front of the panel next on Thursday afternoon, having stridently rejected the allegations of sexual abuse by Blasey Ford and two other women in prepared remarks. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images) Christine Blasey Ford swears in at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for her to testify about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 27, 2018. - University professor Christine Blasey Ford, 51, told a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that could make or break Kavanaugh's nomination she was "100 percent" certain he was the assailant and it was "absolutely not" a case of mistaken identify. (Photo by Gabriella Demczuk / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read GABRIELLA DEMCZUK/AFP/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) shouts while questioning Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was called back to testify about claims by Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) (CNN) — Leland Ingham Keyser, a friend of the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were at a party in high school, does not refute the veracity of the allegation, although she does not remember the alleged incident, her lawyer said in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, claims that during a party in the early 1980s at which Keyser and several others were present, Kavanaugh drunkenly pushed her into a bedroom, pinned her down and attempted to remove her clothes before she was able to escape. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegation. “Ms. Keyser does not refute Dr. Ford’s account, and she has already told the press that she believes Dr. Ford’s account,” Keyser’s attorney, Howard Walsh, wrote in the letter, which was sent to the committee overnight Friday. “However, the simple and unchangeable truth is that she is unable to corroborate it because she has no recollection of the incident in question.” Walsh also said in the letter that Keyser will “cooperate fully” with an FBI investigation into the allegation. The letter comes after emotional testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh about the allegation at a committee hearing Thursday. Keyser felt the need for the letter, Walsh wrote, to clarify a previous statement about the allegation, which came up at the hearing and which she believed made it sound as if she did not believe the party had occurred.