Speaking on the Today show on Monday morning her attorney, Debra Katz, said her client had already been subjected to "many very vicious, sexually violent emails from total strangers" since coming forward.

Ford accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed when they were both teenagers in high school, groping her, and trying to force himself on her. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation. Ford initially declined to come forward and asked for confidentiality, according to a statement released by Feinstein's office when news of the letter first broke. But she told the Post that once the information was out, she felt "like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation."

Christine Blasey Ford, a 51-year-old professor from California, revealed her identity in an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday, after media reports confirmed the existence of a confidential letter containing the allegations, which she sent to California Rep. Anna Eshoo, who forwarded it to Sen. Dianne Feinstein in July.

The woman who accused President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her at a house party 36 years ago is motivated only by the desire for her story to be heard and is prepared to testify before Congress, her attorney said Monday.

“She has taken a polygraph. She is a credible person. These are serious allegations, and these should be addressed.” Watch @savannahguthrie’s full interview with Debra Katz, attorney for Kavanaugh accuser https://t.co/AIplgPpgqi

"No one in their right mind, regardless of their motive, would want to inject themselves into this process and face the kind of annihilation that she will be subjected to by those who want this nominee to go through," Katz said in an interview with Savannah Guthrie.



"This is not a politically motivated action. In fact, she was quite reluctant to come forward and she was in fact outed after she had made the decision not to come forward."

Asked whether Ford considers Kavanaugh's actions attempted rape, Katz said: "She does. She clearly considers this an attempted rape; she believes that if it were not for the extreme intoxication of Kavanaugh, she would have been raped."

Ford declined to comment on the incident to BuzzFeed News earlier this month, before the allegation was made public.



White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec said in a statement on Monday: "On Friday, Judge Kavanaugh ‘categorically and unequivocally’ denied this allegation. This has not changed. Judge Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by that statement."



Kavanaugh himself said in a subsequent statement, released via the White House on Monday: "This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday.

"I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity."

Kavanaugh was spotted arriving at the White House on Monday morning by a CNN reporter; a source familiar with the process told BuzzFeed News that he was there to prepare for potential questions from senators, and that he routinely did nomination preparation there.

Speaking with reporters Monday afternoon, President Donald Trump said he had not spoken with Kavanaugh. Trump said he wished Democrats had brought the allegations to light sooner, "but with all that being said we want to go through the process." Asked if Kavanaugh had offered to withdraw, Trump replied, "What a ridiculous question."

"If it takes a little delay it'll take a little delay," Trump said. "I'm sure it will work out very well."

Someone who witnessed the alleged assault, Mark Judge, a former classmate of Kavanaugh's at Georgetown Preparatory School, had questioned earlier reports of the allegations, before Ford came foward. Katz claimed that Judge had previously said, in tweets, articles, and books that are no longer public, that he "routinely engaged in tremendous drinking and really inappropriate behavior" and would at times "black out" as a teenager.

Katz added that Ford would be prepared to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee, in the context of Kavanaugh's fitness to serve: "She's willing to do whatever it takes to get her story forth," she said.

"She believes these allegations obviously bear on his character and his fitness and the denials also bear on his character and fitness.

"She's taken a polygraph, she's a credible person, these are serious allegations and they should be addressed. Yesterday the White House would not even have the nominee acknowledge whether he knew her, and he's not being forthcoming."

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Monday, "This woman should not be insulted and she should not be ignored."

She added that several senators were now of the opinion that both Ford and Kavanaugh should give evidence to the committee: "I've spoken with the president, I've spoken with Sen. [Lindsey] Graham and others, and this woman will be heard."

Conway also pointed out, however, that Kavanaugh was "a man of character and integrity, who's been through six FBI vettings."