Sen. Orrin Hatch said he believed that Judge Brett Kavanaugh did not sexually assault her accuser, who he also suggested may be “mixed up” about the alleged incident, Raw Story reports.
The Utah Republican told reporters Monday that he spoke with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, who denied committing sexual assault against Christine Blasey Ford at a 1982 high school party. Ford claims that a drunk Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her, and tried to rip away her clothing.
Hatch said he had found him “honest” and “straightforward” in his denials about Ford’s more than three-decade-old accusations. “The judge who I know very, very well, is an honest man, said this didn’t happen,” Hatch said.
Hatch, who is not seeking re-election in November, also said of Kavanaugh’s accuser that “there’s some question whether she’s mixed up” in her account of the alleged assault.
NEWS: @OrrinHatch just spoke to Kavanaugh and Kavanaugh denies being at the party in question per a Hatch aide.
Hatch told me Kavanaugh is “honest” and “straightforward” and said after talking to Kavanaugh the woman might be “mixed up“
— Leigh Ann Caldwell
According to Utah’s Deseret News, Hatch also said that “there’s no question in my mind” that Ford was coached by special interest groups. “Her story’s too contrived. It’s so slick it doesn’t compute,” he told the newspaper. “that Ford was coached by special interest groups. “Her story’s too contrived. It’s so slick it doesn’t compute,” he told the newspaper.
The senator was then asked what he thinks about Kavanaugh’s nomination if the allegations against him turned out to be true, to which Hatch replied: “If that were true, I think it would be hard for senators not to consider who he is today.”
Senator Orrin Hatch was asked how he thought senators would react if it turns out that what Kavanaugh’s accuser has alleged is true. “If that were true, I think it would be hard for senators not to consider who he is today,” he said.
— Leigh Ann Caldwell
