'I Am Terrified': Christine Blasey Ford's Emotional Opening Statement in Kavanaugh Hearing
*By Carlo Versano*
Prof. Christine Blasey Ford ー emotional and at times defiant ー read an opening statement during Thursday's hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in which she said, in no uncertain terms, that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s at a house party when they were both teenagers in Maryland.
For the first time since the allegations were made public earlier this month, the country both saw and heard Dr. Ford, who opened her testimony by stating, "I am terrified."
She continued, "I am here, because I believe it is my civic duty."
Ford's opening statement turned more resolute when she described death threats she has received since coming forward in an article in The Washington Post.
"Apart from the assault itself, these past couple of weeks have been the hardest of my life. I have had to relive this trauma in front of the world," she said.
She also pushed back forcefully on critics who said she couldn't possibly remember an attack from so long ago ー and referenced pundits and operatives who have proposed the idea that she was acting as part of a Democratic hit job on Kavanaugh's nomination.
"I am an independent person, and I am no one's pawn," Ford said.
Mexico's largest railroad company said it was suspending operations of its cargo trains due to the massive number of migrants that are illegally hitching rides on trains moving toward the U.S. border.
California regulators on Tuesday ordered one of the country’s oldest bottled water brands to stop using some of the natural springs it has relied on for more than 100 years to market its products throughout the western U.S.
The U.S. Census Bureau asked the Biden administration Tuesday for permission to test questions about sexual orientation and gender identity for people age 15 and above on its most comprehensive annual survey of life in the country.
President Joe Biden made a robust case before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.
