In a Monday conversation with Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh denied having attended the house party where he is alleged to have assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, leading Hatch to suggest that Ford must be “mixed up,” NBC News reported.
NEWS: @OrrinHatch just spoke to Kavanaugh and Kavaaugh denies being at the party in question per a Hatch aide.
Hatch told me kavanaugh is “honest” and “straightforward” and said after talkng to Kavanaugh the woman might be “mixed up”
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) September 17, 2018
Ford, a California psychology professor, sent a letter through her congresswoman’s office to Senator Dianne Feinstein of California in July accusing Kavanaugh of holding her down and attempting to remove her clothes at a suburban house party when the two were high-school students.
Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, described the letter’s contents to reporters late last week but said she could not reveal the accuser’s identity. Believing that her identity would eventually leak, Ford then came forward as the letter’s author in a Sunday Washington Post article.
Kavanaugh spoke with Hatch after issuing a statement Monday morning unequivocally denying the allegations and indicating that he would be willing to deny them before the Judiciary Committee or in any other setting lawmakers deemed appropriate.
“I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone,” Kavanaugh said in the statement. “Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday. 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.”
Following his phone call with Kavanaugh, Hatch told CNN that he believes Kavanaugh’s denials and, when asked if he believed the accuser, suggested she may have mistaken him for someone else.
WATCH: Orrin Hatch tells CNN that he thinks Dr Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is "mistaken."
"I think she's mistaking something, but I don't know, I mean, I don't know her."
Hatch adds that he believes Kavanaugh's denials. pic.twitter.com/uQ3qwUtLKt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2018
Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) has said Ford “deserves to be heard” and committed to speaking with her over the phone, but has not indicated that Kavanaugh’s Thursday confirmation vote will be delayed.
Ford has also said, through her attorney, that she would be willing to testify under oath before the Judiciary Committee. A number of senators, including Maine Republican Susan Collins, have called for her to do so.