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Sex claim against top court pick should be heard: Trump aide
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US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh speaks on the second day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate in Washington DC. Kavanaugh on September 14, 2018, denied involvement in an alleged sexual assault on a woman while they were in high school in the 1980s. In a statement released to US media, Kavanaugh rejected the woman's claim. The allegation came just one week before the Senate Judiciary Committee is to vote on his nomination.
SAUL LOEB / AFP (AFP/Soul Loeb)
T
he woman accusing US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick of sexual assault should be allowed to testify before a Senate committee, Trump's top female aide said on Monday.
Kellyanne Conway's comment came as the lawyer for the accuser, college professor Christine Blasey Ford, said Ford is willing to testify publicly about the decades-old incident which she already described to The Washington Post.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is due to vote on the nomination of conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh on September 20, but in light of Ford's comments a number of committee members have urged holding off on a vote.
"She should be heard," Conway said on "Fox and Friends."
"This woman should not be insulted and she should not be ignored," said Conway, who added that Kavanaugh should also have an opportunity under oath to address Ford's allegations.
He is "a man of character and integrity" who has been widely lauded by other women, she said.
The testimonies "would be added to the very considerable mountain of evidence and considerations that folks will have when they weigh whether or not to vote for Judge Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court."
But Conway said such testimony "should not unduly delay the vote."
Asked on CNN whether Ford would be willing to testify publicly before the Judiciary Committee, her lawyer Debra Katz said: "The answer's yes."
Lawmakers have not, however, made any such request for her testimony, the lawyer said.
After initially guarding her anonymity, Ford "decided to take control of this and tell this in her own voice" after the allegations were leaked, Katz said.
Ford told the Post that Kavanaugh "was trying to attack me and remove my clothing" at a teenagers' party one summer in the early 1980s.
Kavanaugh has flatly denied the allegation, saying he did not do this "at any time."
