Accuser of Trump's Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh willing to testify

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17  - The sexual assault accuser against Brett Kavanaugh, US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, is willing to testify before Congress, her lawyer said Monday.

Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist at Palo Alto University in California, has accused the judge of sexually assaulting her at a party in the 1980s when they were teenagers in high school. She came forward publicly over the weekend.

"We hope that this hearing is fair and not another weaponized attack on a woman who has come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against a powerful man," Debra Katz, Ford's lawyer, told The New York Times on Monday.

Katz told NBC on the same day that Ford believes what she said Kavanaugh did to her was attempted rape.

In quick response, Kavanaugh issued a statement reiterating his denial of the misconduct, saying he is also willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was scheduled to vote on his nomination on Thursday.

"This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes-to her or to anyone." Kavanaugh said in a statement issued Monday.

"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." said the 53-year-old conservative federal appeals court judge.

"On Friday, Judge Kavanaugh 'categorically and unequivocally' denied this allegation," White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement, "This has not changed. Judge Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by that statement."

However, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday told Fox & Friends that the Senate Judiciary Committee would decide when and how Ford's testimony would be heard.

Conway said: "I have spoken with the president. I have spoken with Senator Graham and others. This woman will be heard."

Ford told The Washington Post over weekend that a drunken, teenage Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, groped her and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. She shared the accusations in July in a letter to Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein of California on the condition that she remain anonymous.

The Senate Judiciary Committee currently has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh before the Nov. 6 midterm elections, while Democrats say the vote should be delayed so that Ford can be heard.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh in July to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement in June. It was the second time in two years that Trump has made a Supreme Court pick.

Liberal advocacy groups and others were concerned that Trump's pick could move the already conservative-leaning court more solidly to the right and revisit landmark rulings on abortion access, same-sex marriage and other hot-button issues.

The US Senate is now narrowly divided, 51-49, in favor of Republicans.