*By Carlo Versano*
When asked by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) what she most remembers from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault, Prof. Christine Blasey Ford drew on her training as a psychologist.
"Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two ー and them having fun at my expense," Ford said, alluding to both Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge, the other boy who she said was in the room at the time of the alleged assault. "I was underneath one of them while the two laughed."
Ford said she first spoke about the alleged assault to a therapist as part of a couple's therapy session with her husband. It was triggered, she said, by a discussion she and her husband had about adding a second front door to their home. Ford said later that she had wanted the second door because of claustrophobia she believes was caused by Kavanaugh's attack.
“For me personally, anxiety, phobia and PTSD-like symptoms are the types of things I’ve been coping with," she said.
With a government shutdown five days away, Congress is moving into crisis mode as Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces an insurgency from hard-right Republicans eager to slash spending even if it means curtailing federal services for millions of Americans.
Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey announced on Saturday that he will run against Sen. Robert Menendez in the state’s Democratic primary for Senate next year, saying he feels compelled to run against the three-term senator after he and his wife were indicted on sweeping corruption charges.
