Christine Blasey Ford Makes Rare Appearance to Accept ACLU Award

In a rare public appearance since her brave testimony before Congress last year, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford received the Rodger Baldwin Courage Award at the ACLU of Southern California's annual Bill of Rights dinner Sunday night.

Ford, whose presence at the event was not previously disclosed, got a long standing ovation and cheers from the crowd when she appeared on stage to accept the award. Last year, Ford — who is a professor and research psychologist — testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about being sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

"When I came forward last September, I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen," Ford said. "I had a responsibility to my country, to my fellow citizens, to my students, to my children."

Right-wing media incessantly attacked her, and President Trump unleashed a barrage of tweets. Kavanaugh's nomination was later approved by the Republican-controlled Senate.

But the attacks on Ford continued. "I was not prepared for the venom, the persistent attacks," she told the crowd on Sunday. "I was not prepared to be physically threatened and forced out of my home."

Ford told the crowd that public support gives strength to those who are attacked.

"My voice was just one voice," she said. "You are many. We are many."

Ford was introduced by Judd Apatow, who called her "A true American hero." <Source>

Christine Blasey Ford has a credibility problem

The only details Ford seems to remember are ones that are damaging to Kavanaugh. She remembers what he allegedly did and that he was drunk, and says she had the good judgment to only have one drink. But Ford seemingly does not remember how she got to the party in question, how she got home, where it was or when it was.

[OCS: Most individuals are able to recall details of previous events as they relive them. The fact she could not provide a date, time, location, or basic details about that day are highly suspicious. And, repressed memories are extremely questionable.]

Most damaging to her story is the fact that every witness she has named has denied being at the party, under penalty of felony — even her best friend, Leland Keyser. Keyser’s attorney put out a statement saying, “Simply put, Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”

Ford has struggled to keep her story straight. She refuses to turn over her therapy notes, which she has cited as evidence of the attack even though she says Kavanaugh’s name is not mentioned in them. Ford has given different accounts of when the decades-old party took place. In a text message to The Washington Post she said it happened in the “mid 1980s.” A July 30 letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), ranking member of the committee, stated “early '80s.” However, she somehow narrowed it down to the summer of 1982 in a Sept. 16 Washington Post article. As Mitchell notes in her memo, Ford has not explained how she was able to do that.

The Washington Post also reported that her notes from a 2013 individual therapy session state the event happened in her late teens, but now she is saying she was 15. Ford’s story about how many people were at the party also has shifted greatly. Her therapist’s notes from 2012 reportedly say there were four attackers, but the Post reported four boys at the party and two attackers. In her polygraph letter alone she gives two different accounts, originally writing four people and then crossing that off to write four boys and two girls.

[OCS: We never learned why Ford was in therapy and the extent to which she might be a troubled personality easily manipulated by persons in authority such as hyper-partisan attorneys.]

Even if you want to give Ford the benefit of the doubt that her memory is just cloudy after 36 years, her failure to recall recent events is very troubling. Ford testified that she does not remember whether she showed The Washington Post her therapy notes or if she summarized them. The Washington Post reported that Ford provided portions of the notes to them.

[OCS: Not only is her account of events long ago sketchy, she does not seem to be able to remember current events – but we are supposed to take her word for events and destroy a man’s career?]

Oddly, Ford could not remember if she took the polygraph test on the same day as her grandmother’s funeral or after. She couldn’t remember who paid for it or if it was audio- or video-recorded.

[OCS: It appears that Ford’s attorney arranged the polygraph test, the results of which are inadmissible in court, and it was basically a joke. Ford was told to write out a statement and then asked two yes or no questions. “Is any part of your statement false?” and “Did you make up any part of your statement?” According to the report Ford answered “no: to both questions. But, it appears that no questions were asked about specific details. <Source>]

In a sworn affidavit, a longtime ex-boyfriend contradicted a number of the claims that Ford has made. Under penalty of felony, he testified that he witnessed her coach a friend on how to pass a polygraph examination. When asked under oath if she had ever prepared for a polygraph, she replied: “Never.” He also wrote that she never mentioned Kavanaugh or indicated that she was afraid of flying.

Ford also testified that her memories surfaced during a fight with her husband over installing a second door during home renovations; she said she needed another exit because of the trauma she experienced. However, it has been reported that the door was installed years before as a separate entrance for a room they rented out to people and a marriage-counseling business.

Ford and her attorneys have cited her fear of flying to the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay the originally scheduled hearing. Yet she admitted under oath that she flies to the East Coast yearly and has been to Hawaii, Costa Rica and French Polynesia. That delay bought enough time for two other accusers to step forward with their alleged stories against Kavanaugh. And even though it was widely reported that Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley(R-Iowa) offered to send staff to her home state of California, she said she was unaware of his offer.

In this politically toxic environment, it is important to note that Ford is a registered Democrat. Her attorneys, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, were recommended to her by Feinstein and collectively have donated to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Tammy BaldwinTammy (D-Wis.). Katz attended an anti-Trump rally where she said, “We are going to resist. We will not be silenced.” Ford also has hired attorney Michael Bromwich, a former Obama official who now represents fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

[OCS: Feinstein apparently held on to the letter and failed to present it promptly thus raising questions of deliberately withholding the letter to do maximum damage to Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.]

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