A former schoolmate of the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her roughly 36 years ago says she has ‘no idea’ whether or not the scandalous moment ever happened, days after insisting that it did.
Cristina King Miranda wrote this week in a since-deleted Facebook post that what Christine Blasey Ford remembers ‘DID happen.’ But she told NPR on Thursday: ‘That it happened or not, I have no idea. I can’t say that it did or didn’t.’
Miranda’s seeming corroboration added momentum on Thursday to Democrats’ case against confirming Judge Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment on America’s highest court.
Ford, now 51, claims a 17-year-old Kavanaugh pinned her down on a bed at a party when she was 15, covered her mouth, groped her and tried to remove her clothing.
She also says Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge cranked up music in the locked room so her cries of protest couldn’t be heard.
Both men have denied being in any such situation.
NPR reported that Miranda said she believes Ford. But her quoted about-face could tilt the scales of public opinion back in Kavanaugh’s favor.
Cristina King Miranda, a 1980s schoolmate of Judge Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Ford, on Thursday walked back her confident earlier corroboration of Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers
Kavanaugh, pictured leaving his Maryland home on Thursday morning, is President Donald Trump’s nominee for a Supreme Court seat vacated by the now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy
Ford (left) has accused Brett Kavanaugh of pinning her down to a bed during a party more than 35 years ago, covering her mouth, and groping her over a one-piece bathing suit while he tried to disrobe her. Kavanaugh flatly denies that it ever happened
Writing of her mini-essay on Facebook, she said Thursday: ‘In my post I was, you know, empowered. And I was sure it probably did [happen].’
She said that days ago, ‘I had no idea that I would have to now, you know, go to the specifics and defend it before 50 cable channels, and have my face spread all over MSNBC news and Twitter.’
Miranda had written on Facebook that she didn’t know Ford personally when they were teens at the same private high school, ‘but I remember her. This incident did happen.’
‘Many of us heard a buzz about it indirectly with few specific details. However Christine’s vivid recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true.’
‘The incident was spoken about for days afterwards in school,’ she wrote. ‘Kavanaugh should stop lying, own up to it and apologize.’
Some details about Ford’s claims remain inexact, including what time of year it happened. Her lawyer Lisa Banks told NPR this week that it was ‘in the early summer’ before her junior year in high school.
Banks said that ‘as with many victims of sexual assault, some parts of a story, particularly the timing, might become fuzzy or vague. But her recollection of these events is crystal clear – the actual attack.’
Miranda made her original claim, that what Ford describes ‘did happen,’ on her Facebook page, which also contains photos like this one from a 2009 trip to the Burning Man festival
Christine Blasey (now Ford) and Brett Kavanaugh are pictured in their high school yearbooks
Cristina King (left) is pictured at Holton-Arms school in Bethesda, Maryland, with an nuidentified classmate
A New York Times feature published Wednesday adds a new dimension to the saga, with other former Ford schoolmates hinting that slivered elements of their memories jive with hers.
A male friend recalled that at the time she isolated herself and ‘fell off the face of the earth socially
‘All I remember is after my junior year thinking, “Where’s Chrissy Blasey?” … I was like, “Where did she go?”‘ he told the Times.
And Cheryl Amitay, who graduated from Holton-Arms a year behind Ford told the newspaper that she, too, was sexually assaulted at a beer-soaked high school party during her sophomore year.
Two drunk teen boys, Amitay said, pushed her up against a car and groped her. One of them put his hand up her skirt and tore off her underwear.
‘I will never forget that,’ she added. ‘When my mom picked me up she knew something was wrong, but I didn’t say anything. You never say a thing. You feel like a jerk.’
Ford’s lawyers have not said whether she will accept Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans’ invitation for her to testify Monday about her recollections. Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa has given her a deadline of noon on Friday to decide.
Protesters placed a sign supporting Ford in front of the White House on Wednesday and spelled out the word ‘AMORAL’ near the Pennsylvania Avenue curb
Miranda made her first claim on Twitter that she had knowledge of Kavanaugh allegedly attacking Ford in high school, saying it was ‘spoken about’ at school after it happened
Miranda deleted her post hours later, saying she had been beseiged with unwanted media interview requests
Two hours later she clarified that she had no ‘first hand knowledge’ of what Ford claims
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that her performance in such a hearing could determine whether he stands by his embattled nominee.
‘Look, if she shows up and makes a credible showing that’ll be very interesting,’ Trump told reporters at the White House, ‘and we’ll have to make a decision.’
‘But I can only say this: he is such an outstanding man. Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.’
An attorney speaking for Ford said Wednesday that she wouldn’t cooperate with Judiciary Committee hearings until after the FBI had conducted an investigation of her claims. Senate Democrats have joined her in that demand.
Grassley wrote to them late Wednesday, saying that while the FBI conducts background checks of judicial nominees for national security purposes, it ‘does not make a credibility assessment of any information it receives.’
And while the FBI’s process is meant to be confidential, he added, Ford ‘has already made her allegations public. … Because Dr. Ford’s allegations are in the public arena, there is no longer a need for a confidential FBI investigation.’