kavanaugh confirmation Grassley extends deadline on Kavanaugh accuser’s decision to testify Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford appeared to secure more time to respond to Republicans amid Supreme Court confirmation fight.

Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford sought an additional day to respond to Republicans on whether she’ll testify about her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling a GOP-imposed Friday night deadline “arbitrary.”

In response, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley late Friday extended a 10 p.m. cutoff for Ford to respond to a GOP offer earlier in the day for her to appear before the committee on Wednesday. The latest deadline is 2:30 p.m. Saturday, sources familiar with the negotiations said.


Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, called the earlier Friday deadline an attempt to "bully" her client.

“Its sole purpose is to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family,” Katz wrote in an email.

The impasse had raised the prospect that Republicans would attempt to press ahead with a Monday vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation despite not hearing from Ford.

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Earlier Friday, Grassley had set a meeting on Monday that he said would allow the committee to vote on Kavanaugh if Republicans and Ford’s attorneys could not reach a “reasonable resolution” on terms to hear her testimony about an alleged high-school-era sexual assault by the Supreme Court nominee.

Democrats lashed out at Grassley for what their top member on the committee, Dianne Feinstein, also described as “bullying.” And Ford’s attorneys reminded Grassley on Friday night that while the GOP was accelerating the deadline for her to respond, the California-based professor was meeting with the FBI about threats she’d received since coming forward.

“The imposition of aggressive and artificial deadlines regarding the date and conditions of any hearing has created tremendous and unwarranted anxiety and stress on Dr. Ford,” Katz wrote. “Your cavalier treatment of a sexual assault survivor who has been doing her best to cooperate with the Committee is completely inappropriate.”

Grassley’s office did not return a request for comment on the Friday night response from Ford’s attorneys.

However, late Friday, Grassley tweeted: “Five times now we hv granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one wk ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u.”

Minutes later, he added: "Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand. It’s not my normal approach to b indecisive."

Grassley followed with a candid lament that he was being outmaneuvered by Democrats: “With all the extensions we give Dr Ford to decide if she still wants to testify to the Senate I feel like I’m playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer is the conductor.”

Grassley and other Republicans want Ford to appear on Wednesday, though Ford has requested a Thursday appearance. They accepted some of Ford's conditions, such as allowing one camera at the hearing, ensuring Kavanaugh and Ford aren't in the same hearing room at the same time, giving Ford breaks during her testimony and providing security from the U.S. Capitol Police.

The GOP, however, rejected requests to limit questions to senators only, make Kavanaugh testify first and to subpoena Mark Judge, who Ford claims was in the same room with her and Kavanaugh during the alleged incident.

Grassley told Ford's attorneys, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, that the committee may use female staff attorneys to question her. That could help the GOP avoid the optics of their 11 male Judiciary Committee members grilling Kavanaugh’s accuser in an echo of the 1991 Anita Hill hearings.

“We’ll do it on Wednesday, we expect the accuser before the accused, and we do intend to have the counsel do the questioning,” said a Republican senator, summing up the Republicans’ stance.

However, Ford’s camp had made clear that she could not be in Washington to testify before Thursday, according to a senior Democratic aide.

“They’re making this disingenuous counteroffer knowing she won’t be here,” the aide said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the Judiciary panel, immediately rejected the proposal that only outside counsel could question Ford. “I have a constitutional duty to advise and consent,” he said in a statement.

The GOP has been told that Ford does not want to fly from her California home to Washington, according to the Republican senator, which means she may need to drive across the country. Ford has reportedly told friends she is uncomfortable in confined spaces, indicating a physical difficulty in making the trip by plane.

President Donald Trump joined many senior Republicans Friday in launching a heated defense of their Supreme Court nominee.

After a week of holding back, Trump went after Ford on Twitter, asking why she didn't report the incident at the time "if it was as bad as she says." The comments panicked Republicans who had welcomed Trump's restraint about a scandal that threatens to bring down his Supreme Court nominee, even as senior Republicans project bullishness that he'll ultimately be confirmed.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a critical undecided swing vote on the nomination, said she was “appalled” by Trump’s response and urged her fellow Republicans to try to “make this as comfortable a process for [Ford] as possible.”

"We should try to accommodate Professor Ford within the realm of reasonableness,” Collins told reporters in her home state. “My advice to the Senate leaders is she has said she could be there on Thursday and that we should offer her Wednesday or Thursday. I don't think it's critical as long as it happens next week."

Trump's comments came hours after a close Kavanaugh ally, Ed Whelan, sought to implicate another classmate of the nominee and Ford in the attack on her — a Kavanaugh exoneration theory hotly anticipated by the GOP that landed with a deafening thud. The Senate GOP had been in touch with Whelan about his theory, and though they were unaware of the details there was some excitement that Kavanaugh's name could be cleared this week. Whelan's attempt backfired spectacularly and he sought to apologize for it on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sought to calm his party’s nerves.

"You've watched the fight, you've watched the tactics, but here's what I want to tell you: In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court," McConnell told conservatives gathered at the event for social conservative activists in Washington. "Keep the faith, don't get rattled by all of this, we're going to plow right through it and do our job."

Trump also took to his favorite social media platform to torch Feinstein (D-Calif.) for holding onto Ford’s July letter sharing her story “only to release it with a bang after the hearings were OVER — done very purposefully to Obstruct & Resist & Delay. Let her testify, or not, and TAKE THE VOTE!”

Feinstein has defended her decision to keep Ford’s letter from even her fellow Democrats until a media leak forced their hand on a referral to the FBI. She contended that she had no effective avenue to probe the allegation without violating Ford’s request for confidentiality.

Kavanaugh’s defenders continued to rally for the nominee. More than 70 women who have known Kavanaugh at various points in his life crowded a stage at the JW Marriott in Washington on Friday to vouch for his character.

Christopher Cadelago, Ramsen Shamon and Matthew Choi contributed to this report.