Trump says it’s ‘very hard for me to imagine’ alleged assault by Brett Kavanaugh

Reporting from Washington —  President Trump said Wednesday that it is “very hard for me to imagine anything happened” between Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused him of sexual assault when both were teenagers.

Trump praised his Supreme Court nominee as “an extraordinary man” with “an unblemished record” and said what he is experiencing is “unfair.” But the president also said that Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, deserves to be heard at a Senate hearing scheduled for Monday.

“If she shows up and makes a credible showing, that will be very interesting, and we’ll have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for North Carolina to survey hurricane damage.

Lawyers for Ford alerted the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that she wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies, a request Republicans are resisting.

Trump told reporters that Kavanaugh has been investigated by the FBI six times and suggested it is unnecessary to do so again.

Ford has alleged that while she and Kavanaugh were at a house party in the early 1980s, when the two were in high school, Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed, groped her and put his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams as he attempted to take her clothes off.

Christine Blasey Ford’s colleagues describe her as honest and rigorous »

It is unclear whether the Senate committee would hold a hearing on Monday if Ford declines to participate.

“If she shows up, that would be wonderful. If she doesn’t show up, that would be unfortunate,” Trump said.