Photo Credit: Tom Williams/Pool Image via AP
Rachel Mitchell, the Maricopa County (AZ) deputy county attorney, hired by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley to question witnesses at Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, released her independent assessment of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The Washington Post obtained a five-page memo from Mitchell to Republican Senators.
She said, in a legal context, Ford has a very week case.
“A ‘he said, she said’ case is incredibly difficult to prove.
“I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee. Nor do I believe this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard,” she added.
She gave several reasons:
- Dr. Ford has not offered a consistent account of when the alleged assault happened.
- Dr. Ford has struggled to identify Judge Kavanaugh as the assailant by name.
- When speaking with her husband, Dr. Ford changed her description of the incident to become less specific.
- Dr. Ford has no memory of key details of the night in question – details that could help corroborate her account.
- Dr. Ford’s account of the alleged assault has not been corroborated by anyone she identified as having attended – including her lifelong friend.
- Dr. Ford has not offered a consistent account of the alleged assault.
- Dr. Ford has struggled to recall important recent events relating to her allegations, and her testimony regarding recent events raises further questions about her memory.
- Dr. Ford’s description of the psychological impact of the event raises questions.
- The activities of congressional Democrats and Dr. Ford’s attorneys likely affected Dr. Ford’s account.
Read the entire memo. (Note: the timeline she refers to in her last point about the activities of congressional Democrats was not included in the memo obtained by The Washington Post.)
