please be seated and before you give
your statement I want to say that to
everybody that she has asked for any
time you asked for a break you get a
break anytime there's something that you
need you don't have just ask us and you
can have as much time for your opening
statement as you want and and just
generally let us know if there's any
issues proceed please thank you senator
Grassley I think after I read my opening
statement I anticipate needing some
caffeine if that is available okay
can you pull the microphone just a
little bit closer to you please can the
whole box go a little bit closer I'm
trying senator no okay well then I'll
lean forward
thank you I can't thank you is this good
yeah okay thank you
chairman Grassley and ranking ranking
member Feinstein members of the
committee my name is Christine Blasi
Ford I am a professor of psychology at
Palo Alto University and a research
psychologist at the Stanford University
School of Medicine I won't detail my
educational background since it's
already been summarized I have been
married to Russell Ford since 2002 and
we have two children I am here today not
because I want to be I am terrified I am
here because I believe it is my civic
duty to tell you what happened to me
while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high
school I've described the events
publicly before I summarized them in my
letter to ranking member Feinstein and
again in a letter to chairman Grassley I
understand and appreciate the importance
of you're hearing from me directly about
what happened to me and the impact that
it has had on my life and on my family I
grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC
I attended the Holton Arms School in
Bethesda Maryland from 1978 to 1984
Holton Arms is an all-girls school that
opened in 1901 during my time at the
school girls at Holton Arms frequently
met and became friendly with boys from
all-boys schools in the area including
the land in school Georgetown Prep
Gonzaga High School as well as our
country clubs and other places where
kids and families socialized this is how
I met Brett Kavanaugh the boy who
sexually assaulted me during my freshman
and sophomore school years when I was 14
and 15 years old my group of friends
intersected with Brett and his friends
for a short period of time I had been
friendly with a classmate of Brett's for
a short time during my freshman and
sophomore year and it was through that
connection that I attended a number of
parties that Brett also attended we did
not know each other well but I knew him
and he knew me in the summer of 1982
like most summers I spent most every day
at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy
Chase Maryland swimming and practicing
diving one evening that summer after a
day of diving at the club I attended a
small gathering at a house in the
Bethesda area there were four boys I
remember specifically being at the house
Brett Kavanaugh mark judge a boy named
PJ and one other boy whose name I cannot
recall I also remember my friend Leland
attending I do not remember all of the
details of how that gathering came
together but like many that summer it
was almost surely a spur-of-the-moment
gathering I truly wish I could be more
helpful with more detailed answers to
all of the questions that have and will
be asked about how I got to the party
and where it took place and so forth I
don't have all the answers and I don't
remember as much as I would like to
but the details that about that night
that bring me here today are the ones I
will never forget
they have been seared into my memory and
have haunted me episodically as an adult
when I got to the small gathering people
were drinking beer in a small living
room family room type area on the first
floor of the house I drank one beer
Brett and Mark were visibly drunk early
in the evening I went up a very narrow
set of stairs leading from the living
room to a second floor to use the
restroom when I got to the top of the
stairs I was pushed from behind into a
bedroom across from the bathroom I
couldn't see who pushed me Brett and
Mark came into the bedroom and locked
the door behind them there was music
playing in the bedroom it was turned up
louder by either Brett or mark once we
were in the room I was pushed onto the
bed and Brett got on top of me he began
running his hands over my body and
grinding into me
I yelled hoping that someone downstairs
might hear me and I tried to get away
from him but his weight was heavy
Brett groped me and tried to take off my
clothes he had a hard time because he
was very inebriated and because I was
wearing a one-piece bathing suit
underneath my clothing I believed he was
going to rape me I tried to yell for
help when I did Brett put his hand over
my mouth to stop me from yelling this is
what terrified me the most and this had
the most lasting impact on my life
it was hard for me to breathe and I
thought that Brett was accidentally
going to kill me both Fred and Mark were
drunkenly laughing during the attack
they seemed to be having a very good
time
mark seemed ambivalent at times urging
Brett on
and at times telling him to stop a
couple of times I made eye contact with
Marc and thought he might try to help me
but he did not
during this assault Marc came over and
jumped on the bed twice while Brett was
on top of me
and the last time that he did this we
toppled over and Brett was no longer on
top of me I was able to get up and run
out of the room directly across from the
bedroom was a small bathroom I ran
inside the bathroom and locked the door
I waited until I heard Brett and Marc
leave the bedroom laughing and loudly
walked down the narrow stairway
pinballing off the walls on the way down
I waited and when I did not hear them
come back up the stairs I left the
bathroom went down the same stairwell
through the living room and left the
house I remember being on the street and
feeling this enormous sense of relief
that I escaped that house and that Brett
and Marc were not coming outside after
me Brett's assault on me dropped
drastically altered my life for a very
long time I was too afraid and ashamed
to tell anyone these details I did not
want to tell my parents that I at age 15
was in a house without any parents
present drinking beer with boys I
convinced myself that because Brett did
not rape me I should just move on and
just pretend that it didn't happen over
the years I told very very few friends
that I had this traumatic experience I
told my husband before we were married
that I had experienced a sexual assault
I had never told the details to anyone
the specific details until May 2012
during a couples counseling session
the reason this came up in counseling is
that my husband and I had completed a
very extensive
very long remodel of our home and I
insisted on a second front door an idea
that he and others disagreed with and
could not understand in explaining why I
wanted a second front door I began to
describe the assault in detail I recall
saying that the boy who assaulted me
could someday be on the US Supreme Court
and spoke a bit about his background at
an elitist all-boys School in Bethesda
Maryland my husband recalls that I named
my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh after
that May 2012 therapy session I did my
best to ignore the memories of the
assault because we're counting them
caused me to relive the experience and
caused panic and anxiety occasionally I
would discuss the assault in an
individual therapy session but talking
about it caused more reliving of the
trauma so I tried not to think about it
or discuss it but over the years I went
through periods where I thought about
the attack I confided in some close
friends that I had had an experience
with sexual assault occasionally I
stated that my assailant was a prominent
lawyer or judge but I did not use his
name I do not recall each person I spoke
to about Brett's assault and some
friends have reminded me of these
conversations since the publication of
the Washington Post story on September
16th 2018 but until July 2018
I had never named mr. Kavanagh as my
attacker outside of therapy this changed
in early July 2018
I saw Press report stating that Brett
Kavanaugh was on the short list of a
list of very well qualified Supreme
Court nominees I thought it was my civic
duty to relay the information I had
about mr. Cavanaugh's conduct so that
those considering his nomination would
know about this assault on July 6
I had a sense of urgency to relay the
information to the Senate and the
president as soon as possible before a
nominee was selected I did not know how
specifically to do this I called my
congressional representative and let her
receptionist know that someone on the
president's shortlist had attacked me I
also sent a message to the encrypted
Washington Post confidential tip line I
did not use my name but I provided the
names of Brett Kavanaugh and Mark judge
I stated that mr. Kavanaugh had
assaulted me in the 1980s in Maryland
this was an extremely hard thing for me
to do but I felt that I couldn't not do
it over the next two days I told a
couple of close friends on the beach in
Aptos California that mr. Kavanaugh had
sexually assaulted me I was very
conflicted as to whether to speak out on
July 9th
I received a return phone call from the
office of congresswoman Anna Eshoo after
mr. Kavanaugh had become the nominee I
met with her staff on July 18th and with
her on July 20th describing the assault
and discussing my fears about coming
forward later we discussed the
possibility of sending a letter to
ranking member Feinstein who is one of
my state senators describing what
occurred my understanding is that
representative issues office delivered a
copy of my letter to senator Feinstein's
office on July 30th the letter included
my name but also a request that it be
kept confidential I hope was that
providing the information confidentially
would be sufficient to allow the Senate
to consider mr. Kavanaugh as serious
misconduct without having to make myself
my family or anyone's family vulnerable
to the personal attacks and invasions of
privacy that we have faced since my name
became public
in a letter dated August 31st senator
Feinstein wrote that she would not share
the letter without my explicit consent
and I appreciated this commitment sexual
assault victims should be able to decide
for themselves when and whether their
private experience is made public as the
hearing date got closer I struggled with
a terrible choice do I share the facts
with the Senate and put myself and my
family in the public spotlight or do I
preserve our privacy and allow the
Senate to make its decision without
knowing the full truth of his past
behaviors I agonized daily with this
decision throughout August and September
7 2018 the sense of duty that originally
moated me motivated me to reach out
confidentially to the Washington Post
and to Anna issues office when there was
still a list of extremely qualified
candidates and to senator Feinstein was
always there but my fears of the
consequences of speaking out started to
exponentially increase during August
2018 the Press reported that mr.
Cavanaugh's confirmation was virtually
certain persons painted him as a
champion of women's rights and
empowerment and I believe that if I came
forward my single voice would be drowned
out by a chorus of powerful supporters
by the time of the confirmation hearings
I had resigned myself to remaining quiet
and letting the committee in the Senate
make their decision without knowing what
mr. Kavanagh had done to me once the
press started reporting on the existence
of the letter I had sent to senator
Feinstein I faced mounting pressure
reporters appeared at my home and at my
workplace demanding information about
the letter in the presence of my
graduate students they called my bosses
and co-workers and
to me many messages making it clear that
my name would inevitably be released to
the media I decided to speak out
publicly to a journalist who had
originally responded to the tip I had
sent to the Washington Post and who had
gained my trust it was important for me
to describe the details of the assault
in my own words since September 16th the
date of the Washington Post story I have
experienced an outpouring of support
from people in every state of this
country thousands and thousands of
people who have had their lives
dramatically altered by sexual violence
have reached out to share their
experience and have thanked me for
coming forward we have received Herman
to support from our friends and our
community at the same time my greatest
fears have been realized and the reality
has been far worse than what I expected
my family and I have been the target of
constant harassment and death threats
and I've been called the most vile and
hateful names imaginable these messages
while far fewer than the expressions of
support have been terrifying and have
rocked me to my core people have posted
my personal information and that of my
parents online on the Internet
this has resulted in additional emails
calls and threats my family and I were
forced to move out of our home since
September 16th my family and I have been
visiting in various secure locales at
times separated and at times together
with the help of security guards this
past Tuesday evening my work email was
hacked and messages were sent out trying
to recant Myra scription of the sexual
assault apart from the assault itself
these past couple of weeks have been the
hardest of my life I've had to relive
this trauma in front of the world and
I've seen my life picked apart by people
on television on Twitter
other social media other media and in
badi who have never met me or spoken
with me I have been accused of acting
out of partisan political motives those
who say that do not know me I am an
independent person and I am no one's
pawn my motivation in coming forward was
to be helpful and to provide facts about
how mr. Kavanagh has actions have
damaged my life so that you could take
into a serious consideration as you make
your decision about how to proceed it is
not my responsibility to determine
whether mr. Kavanagh deserves to sit on
the Supreme Court my responsibility is
to tell you the truth I understand that
a professional prosecutor has been hired
to ask me questions and I'm committed to
doing my very best to answer them I have
never been questioned by a prosecutor
and I will do my best at the same time
because the committee members will be
judging my credibility I do hope to be
able to engage directly with
each of you and at this point I will do
my best to answer your questions and
would request some caffeine go for
someplace that sounds great thank you
thank you very much