Trump accuses Feinstein of leaking Blasey Ford letter at Iowa rally

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - OCTOBER 09: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign rally at the Mid-America Center on October 9, 2018 in Council Bluffs. Iowa The rally is one of several Trump has scheduled recently in support of Republican candidates running in the upcoming midterm election. less COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA - OCTOBER 09: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a campaign rally at the Mid-America Center on October 9, 2018 in Council Bluffs. Iowa The rally is one of several Trump has ... more Photo: (Photo By Scott Olson/Getty Images) Photo: (Photo By Scott Olson/Getty Images) Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Trump accuses Feinstein of leaking Blasey Ford letter at Iowa rally 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

At a political rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump accused Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) of leaking a letter written by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford ahead of Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Blasey Ford's letter accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were both teenagers. Despite Blasey Ford's request, the letter's contents were leaked to the public ahead of Kavanaugh's confirmation. Feinstein has denied that she or her staff was responsible.

But on Tuesday, Trump disregarded the claim, mocking Feinstein's denial and telling a crowd of supporters that she was behind the leak.

"How about Senator Feinstein? That's another beauty," he said. "Did you leak the documents?"

"'What? What?'" he said, imitating Feinstein at the hearing on Sept. 27. "Did we leak? 'No,' she goes. 'No.'"

When the crowd began to shout, "Lock her up," Trump continued.

"I think they're talking about Feinstein, can you believe it? Now was that the worst body language, honestly? In other words, did she leak it? A hundred percent. No, I don't want to get sued, so 99 percent, see ... Now I can't get sued. You don't hand matches to an arsonist, and you don't give power to an angry left-wing mob, and that's what the Democrats have become."

Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Saturday.

After the confirmation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Politico that the Judiciary Committee "ought to take a look at" the news report detailing Ford's letter, calling it a "despicable thing to do to Dr. Ford."

At the time, Feinstein again reiterated that neither she nor her staff leaked the letter or its contents, adding, "This has been confirmed by the reporter who broke the story. If there is an investigation, I'm confident this will be reaffirmed."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

