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New Day
Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward; Call to Delay Kavanaugh Vote; Flooding Worsens in North Carolina; Christine Blasey Ford's Lawyer Speaks Out. Aired 7:00-7:30a ET
Aired September 17, 2018 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: NEW DAY continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very serious allegation. You've got to have that tested in order to judge the credibility.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe 100 percent in Judge Kavanaugh. There are a lot more holes in her story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not comfortable moving ahead unless the committee has had a chance to hear directly from this woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be a dereliction of duty for the Republicans to go forward. They need to postpone it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know that community (ph) could have been any more prepared than we were.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing actual rainfall and 30 inches or more in some areas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The water is come up really fast. We're struggling to even keep on it (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bad right now, and we do expect it to get worse over the coming days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: All right, good morning, and welcome to your NEW DAY.
This morning, the Supreme Court confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh might be in jeopardy. A woman has come forward with an on the record accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago when they were in high school. Christine Blasey Ford tells "The Washington Post" she feared for her life during this attack.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Key Republican senators have now joined Democrats in calling for a delay to Thursday's Senate Judiciary Committee Vote on Kavanaugh's nomination. They want to hear more from Kavanaugh's accuser. This challenge to Kavanaugh in some ways echoes the sexual harassment claims made by Anita Hill against Clarence Thomas back in 1991, though these claims of assault go further. And, of course, times have changed.
BERMAN: All right, we want to discuss this now with "Washington Post" investigative reporter Emma Brown, who broke Ford's on-the-record story.
Emma, thanks so much for being us with.
I think it's so important when we have these on-the-record statement from women who claim to have been sexually assaulted that we hear from them in their own words. So let me read to you from your article, just so we have this out there. Emma Brown says, while his friend watched, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, he put his hand over his mouth. I thought he might inadvertently kill me, said Ford. He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.
This was the on-the-record statement from Christine Blasey Ford to you. Why did she come forward and tell you this story?
EMMA BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, she had decided not to come forward after months of thinking about it, you know, by -- she first came to "The Post" in early July when Brett Kavanaugh was on the short list before he had been announced the nominee. And she -- she really wanted to tell somebody her story, but she also didn't want to have her life upended. And she was terrified of what would happen if she came forward. She struggled with that all summer long. She was weighing that into late August when she made a very clear decision, I think, that she was not going to move forward.
And then things started to change here in Washington. She had written this secret letter, or confidential letter, to Dianne Feinstein telling her what had happened 30-odd years ago, and news of the letter started to leak. "The Intercept" wrote about how Dianne Feinstein had a secret letter and Democrats were upset. And then it sort of unspooled -- it started just unspooling. The reporters started showing up at her house, at her workplace, calling her colleagues, and she felt like the -- you know, her calculation shifted because she felt like her privacy was already being invaded and she still had this thing in her that wanted people to know what had happened to her.
BERMAN: All right, I want to clear things -- a few things up on the timeline, which are fascinating.
Number one, she called "The Washington Post" tip line before Kavanaugh was even the nominee. His name was on the short list, but before he was the nominee?
BROWN: That's correct.
BERMAN: So the idea that she is, at the last minute, trying to spike his confirmation, that seems to fly in the face of that, if she came forward with her story, or a version of her story to "The Post" before he was even nominated.
Number two, Dianne Feinstein did not tell anyone about this letter, didn't go to the chairman of the committee, didn't go to other Democrats. Was that at the behest of Ford? Did she want this to remain private just in the senator's hands?
BROWN: She did. She asked very clearly that the letter be kept confidential. And, you know, her lawyer said to me in my story that they felt Feinstein really did right by Dr. Ford and preserved her privacy, and honored her request for confidentiality.
BERMAN: There's not contemporaneous accounts of this, right? Ford did not tell anyone at the time that this happened. But in couple's therapy -- there's notes from couple's therapy in 2012 and also apparently in a conversation with an individual therapist in 2013. Is this information that Ford and Katz together presented to you or is this something you went and got from these two therapists?
[07:05:07] BROWN: No, these are records that Ford got from her therapist and gave to her lawyer, who then showed them to me. So she -- 2012 is the first time Christine Ford says that she told this story in any detail and she did that during couple's therapy with her husband. Her husband very clearly recalls this conversation. He recalls his wife using Kavanaugh's name and even voicing some concern that he might some day rise to the Supreme Court. His name does not appear in the records.
BERMAN: Right.
BROWN: So let's be clear about that.
BERMAN: Right.
BROWN: But there is -- the records do reference an attack by boys from an elitist private -- you know, a boys' school and who went on to become high ranking members of society in Washington.
BERMAN: All right, there are reports this morning that supporters of Kavanaugh and Republicans in Congress are going to try to call for Ford to testify publicly, come forward and public, betting, perhaps, obviously over her reticence over the last several months about going pubic that she will decline. Do you think, based on your conversations with her, that she's be willing to testify publically about this?
BROWN: I have not asked her that and I -- so I don't know the answer to that question. I do think it is, you know, coming forward in our newspaper was a huge and terrifying step for her and I think that coming forward to be questioned publicly would be, you know, yet another huge and terrifying step.
BERMAN: Emma Brown, again, thank you for your reporting on this. You've been working on this story for months and it has changed before your eyes and before our eyes over the last week. So, thank you.
BROWN: Thank you. CAMEROTA: All right, joining us now is CNN chief legal analyst and
former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin and CNN's senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Great to have both of you in studio with us.
Jeffrey, let's start with just the procedure and the legality of where we are.
So, Manu Raju is reporting that Chairman Chuck Grassley of the Judiciary Committee is -- was working last night to try to set up calls with Judge Kavanaugh, as well as the accuser, Christine Ford, so that they could have private phone calls with some members of the committee.
Senator Feinstein says the vote should be delayed and says the staff calls are not the appropriate way to handle this. Procedurally, legally, must this happen in public? Does -- can this happen behind the scenes like this?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is -- this is not a legal proceeding, this is a political proceeding. And it is up to the Senate to decide what's adequate, a majority of the Judiciary Committee, a majority of the Senate.
The question is will Republicans, because there is a narrow Republican majority, think that these phone calls are enough to allow the committee to proceed on Thursday? The vote is currently scheduled for Thursday. Democrats certainly will not say that a handful of phone calls are enough.
The big outstanding question, I think, at this moment, and you asked this is, will Dr. Ford agree to testify publicly? If she says no, I think Kavanaugh is fine. I think Kavanaugh will go through. If she says yes and the committee then declines to hear from her, that's a big problem for the committee and for Kavanaugh.
BERMAN: There is an on-the-record accusation of sexual assault against a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. One hundred members of the Senate, Nia, will vote on this. What pressure does this put them under? I understand you can make the case, we do not believe her.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Right.
BERMAN: But if you do believe her or if you do feel it's a credible allegation, if you're one of these senators, how do you justify your vote?
HENDERSON: Yes, I mean, that's the thing. So far, I mean, you kind of hear inklings of, well, they're questioning the timing. They think maybe it's all political. She has some donations that she's made to liberal groups. Maybe she's part of some larger conspiracy theory.
But, you're right, I mean I think the main focus -- and we talked about this -- at some point is on a handful of senators, right? You think about Collins. You think about Murkowski. Jeff Flake seems to be a pivotal person and this point. He's on that committee. He has called for a delay, say essentially that they need to hear from this woman before they move forward.
But, yes, I mean this is such a high stakes political gamut that everyone is making at this point, does she come forward? And if she does, I mean it shades of Anita Hill all over again. We know what happened in the wake of Anita Hill. It was the year of the women two -- the year of the woman after that. We're already looking at the year of the woman 2.0 this go around. And you imagine if she testifies and the specter of Republicans harshly testifying or harshly questioning her, I imagine it won't sit well with a lot of these women, particularly suburban women.
TOOBIN: And, remember, the supporters of Kavanaugh have a make a decision about what the defense is here. And there are two very different defenses. One defense is, he was 17 years old. He was young. He was stupid, like a lot of teenagers are. You know, give him a pass for that.
[07:10:05] BERMAN: I wouldn't want to campaign on that. I wouldn't want to campaign on it, nor would I want to have that conversation with my 11-year-old boy.
TOOBIN: OK.
BERMAN: I couldn't live with myself.
TOOBIN: But that is -- but that is one way of approaching this story.
BERMAN: All right.
TOOBIN: The other approach is, it never happened.
HENDERSON: Yes, which is the approach he seems to be taking.
TOOBIN: He is taking that approach.
This is why the facts matter. This is why what matters -- you know, corroboration, credibility, you know, the way people look when they testify. I mean these are how we make up our minds about who's telling the truth.
The flat out denial is a politically better alternative -- I think, you know, you're pointing that out. But if she makes a credible showing and has some corroboration, that creates the problem in addition to the underlying event about whether Kavanaugh is simply lying about it.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I think there's so much that's fascinating here to dive into and discuss. And, obviously, so much of it is delicate.
But I think to your point, John, there's a lot that's changed since 1982 when she thinks this happened. But one thing that has not changed is that back then if a drunk guy pinned you down on a bed and tried to rip off your clothes and while you were screaming he covered your mouth and you thought you couldn't breathe, that was scary then and it's scary now.
HENDERSON: Yes, and she --
CAMEROTA: Those details have not changed.
HENDERSON: Yes. And she talks about it in that way, right, this idea that she thought he might kill her when she says this alleged event happened.
CAMEROTA: But not kill her, I mean inadvertently. Let's --
HENDERSON: Right, inadvertently kill her. Right. Exactly.
CAMEROTA: Because she felt -- because she couldn't breath and couldn't scream.
HENDERSON: Because she felt so threatened, right.
TOOBIN: Well, that makes it much better.
HENDERSON: She felt threatened, she was so afraid, right.
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, I want to be clear. She doesn't think that he was out to kill her.
HENDERSON: Right. Right.
TOOBIN: Right.
CAMEROTA: She was so scared, having this person pin her down and cover her mouth while she was screaming.
HENDERSON: But in this (INAUDIBLE). Right, and she says there were two people who were there at some point. I guess both of them piled on top of her, according to her story. And it's something that has affected her to this day. She said it came up in her therapy session in 2012. I think most women who've had things happen like this to them -- and, listen, there are a lot of women who have dealt with issues like this. It does have a lasting impact. And she spoke -- she spoke to that to her therapist.
TOOBIN: And there is a third person involved in this story, Mr. Judge, who is a freelance writer in Washington to this day, who was a --
CAMEROTA: Kavanaugh's friend at the time.
TOOBIN: Kavanaugh's friend who she alleges was involved in the assault. He is a colorful character. He has written a lot about drinking himself. He has more or less defended Kavanaugh so far in his on the record comments to reporters. In part he says it never happened. In part he says, well, I don't -- I have no recollection of it happening. I mean his story will be important as well. And, believe me, we're going to be hearing a lot more about this fellow.
CAMEROTA: But if he says -- if he says it didn't happen or I don't remember it didn't -- it happening, isn't that end of story?
TOOBIN: I don't know. CAMEROTA: What more does he have to say?
TOOBIN: Well, the surrounding circumstances. I mean, you know, the -- if you're going to do an investigation, you have to do a real investigation.
BERMAN: Right.
TOOBIN: And it's not simply, you know, thumbs up, thumbs down. You look at all the surrounding -- who's house was it in?
HENDERSON: Yes.
TOOBIN: I mean like, you know, what --
HENDERSON: Something she can't seem to quite recall. Some details she doesn't remember, right.
BERMAN: She can't answer (ph).
TOOBIN: Well, that's -- you know, I mean, that -- you know, who else was at this party?
HENDERSON: Yes.
TOOBIN: She says, I think, four men, two women were there. What were -- where were they? You know, their -- how do you find these things out?
BERMAN: It is very possible -- it's very possible that even if there is an investigation and these questions are asked, it will come down to his word against hers. Their memories of this incident. And people will have to make a decision. It could very well come to that point.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: The question is, is how much will the Republicans in the Senate allow it to be done out in the open. How much do they want to show this to the American people?
TOOBIN: And how much time will they take? Remember, the Republicans today are saying, this has to be done on Thursday.
HENDERSON: This has got to get done. Yes.
TOOBIN: These are the same Republicans who kept the seat open on the Supreme Court for a year by not having hearings on Merrick Garland.
BERMAN: But they want to rush this because --
HENDERSON: Because they don't want this spectacle. I mean, again, we saw this in 1991. I mean I think either way this is bad for Republicans if they rush it through -- what's the rush -- and if they have a public airing with this woman and possibly Mark Judge and everyone else, it's not ideal for them either. The other question is, how do they go after her? At some point do they start to question her credibility, and is that a smart move politically?
BERMAN: No women among the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, I don't believe. There's not a single female senator on the -- Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee. There are woman among the Democrats.
HENDERSON: Right, Kamala Harris.
BERMAN: Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and others.
Just two points on the timing. Number one, Republicans perhaps want to get this through before the election because maybe Democrats will pick up seats --
TOOBIN: Perhaps.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BERMAN: In the Senate.
TOOBIN: Definitely, yes.
BERMAN: In the Senate, though.
TOOBIN: Yes.
HENDERSON: Right.
BERMAN: We don't know if they'll pick up seats in the Senate.
HENDERSON: A different question.
TOOBIN: Yes.
BERMAN: You know, and number two, and a lot of people had noted this, and I think there's some credibility to this, Democrats have to be careful what they wish for here because the next nominee, if Kavanaugh does drop out, it's very possible it's someone more conservative.
TOOBIN: Well, just going back into history. In 1970, when the Democrats rejected Clement Haynsworth for the Supreme Court, Richard Nixon's appointee, Nixon did that. He said, I'm going to appoint someone even more conservative, and they appointed Carswell, G. Harrold Carswell, who was also rejected and then they wound up with Harry Blackmun, who turned out to be much more moderate than any -- so you never know how things are going to turn out.
[07:15:16] CAMEROTA: Yes, that's right, you roll the dice and you don't know what the by-product of all of this is.
BERMAN: And, of course, this isn't a political question. If you believe the allegation, it doesn't matter.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: It doesn't come down to politics.
HENDERSON: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Nia-Malika, thank you very much.
Jeffrey, thank you.
So, in just moments, we will talk with the attorney for Kavanaugh's accuser, Debra Katz. And in our next hour we will have a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Dick Durbin, with what their plan is.
BERMAN: I've got to say, your interview with Katz coming up is crucial.
CAMEROTA: I am looking forward to hearing --
BERMAN: Maybe she will know whether or not she will publically testify.
BERMAN: She'll be able to fill in some of the blanks. So we look forward to that.
BERMAN: Right.
TOOBIN: I'll be -- I'll be watching.
CAMEROTA: Please do. Stay tuned.
BERMAN: Excellent. We've got one viewer, at least.
TOOBIN: I can't wait.
BERMAN: The catastrophic flooding in the Carolinas is going to worsen in the coming days. What was Hurricane Florence, now a tropical depression, is blamed for the deaths of 18 people. Hundreds have had to be rescued in the rising flood waters. Our Erica Hill is live in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Erica, what are you seeing as the sun comes up this morning?
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it's amazing what a little daylight will do. I just want to show you, we're just a few feet down from where we first joined you in the 6:00 a.m. hour. This is Cross (ph) Creek. So this is one of a number of creeks that are going to connect and feed into the Cape Fear River. There are mandatory evacuations in place for both the Cape Fear and the Little River for a mile on either side. We're only about a mile and a half. And as you can see, this water is very close to coming up over the road. We even saw it bubbling up through some of the pavement. Not just the storm drains here.
This road was not closed off last night. It is now. We just saw a police car turn around. And the reason they're so concerned about this river, let's go back to Hurricane Matthew. At that point, the Cape Fear River crested at 53 feet. This time around, tomorrow morning, it is expected to crest at 62 feet.
So even with this break in the rain, it's areas like Fayetteville, like Lumberton, south of us, which was hit so hard during Matthew, we have some drone video of the flooding there from yesterday, increasing concerns there for the Lumber River because a temporary levee actually gave way in one section yesterday afternoon, only heightening the concerns of flooding. That river as well, well above even where it was for Matthew, which is what they're concerned about.
And keep in mind, while we're seeing a break in the rain here, the issue too is that there was plenty of rain not just in this area, but northwest of us. That's going to continue to come downstream.
And then there are areas like Wilmington, which I know you're familiar with, John. If we look at some of the drone video that we have from Wilmington, it gives you a sense of the water that is absolutely everywhere. And this is a city, as we learned from the mayor, that is essentially cut off. That means supplies can't get in, people can't get out, guys.
CAMEROTA: Erica, thank you very much.
Just very quickly, John, I want to say how many people over the weekend talked to me about your coverage and your reporting when you were in Wilmington as the storm was descending. It was so intense. I mean there were moments, John, this is what I was seeing, OK, when I was on set trying to talk to you, that's what I was seeing? There were moments that you were just completely blotted out by the storm. So what was it like?
BERMAN: I was very wet. It turns out it was raining very hard and it was very windy.
The thing I'll point out in why we were doing this, I could not see my camera because it was raining so hard and there was so much water between us. And the point is, is that this is not the worst of the storm. What you're looking at right there wasn't the worst of it. It was raining three to five inches an hour at that point, but the wind and the rain there wasn't the problem, it's what's happening now.
CAMEROTA: I know.
BERMAN: What's happening now is so much worse than what I was going through Friday morning.
CAMEROTA: You're so right. I mean and that was what the alarm bells that everyone was trying to sound, you included, and things -- we are keeping a close eye on the Carolinas because things could be getting worse there.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: All right, in the meantime, our top story, will Brett Kavanaugh's accuser testify in public? Her lawyer, Debra Katz, is going to join us live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:22:47] CAMEROTA: The Senate Judiciary Committee had planned to vote on Thursday to advance Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, but that timing is now in question. On Sunday afternoon, a woman named Christine Blasey Ford went public alleging that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while both were high school students. Judge Kavanaugh has denied these allegations.
So joining us now is Debra Katz. She is the lawyer representing Christine Blasey Ford.
Ms. Katz, thank you very much for being here.
DEBRA KATZ, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD: Sure.
CAMEROTA: Let's get to a question that is at the top of everybody's mind, which is, will your client, Christine Ford, be willing to testify in public to the Judiciary Committee?
KATZ: The answer is yes.
CAMEROTA: She is willing to do it. Has she been asked by any of the lawmakers to do that?
KATZ: That's interesting. The answer is no.
CAMEROTA: She's not been asked but she is now willing to do so. Is she in conversations with people? Have people -- have the lawmakers reached out and tried to talk to her via phone?
KATZ: We've heard from no one. We've seen various statements made on television. But statements that are being bandied about for political reason. But no one's asked her, no.
CAMEROTA: How did she come around to being willing to testify publicly, because as we know the story, she really did not want to come forward. She wrote a confidential letter. So tell me the trajectory of her willingness now to go into such a public forum.
KATZ: Well, you're right, there was a great deal of ambivalence and -- about whether she wanted to be publicly associated with these allegations. And essentially that choice was made by her to remain confidential. She asked Senator Feinstein to keep her letter and her allegations confidential. And Feinstein agreed to do that. And that decision was essentially taken away from her as those allegations were leaked. And it resulted in a great deal of pressure from members of the media who knew who she was who then started really invading her privacy, showing up at Stanford, where she teaches, and leaving her notes, and e-mailing her and calling her. And she knew that she was going to be -- her allegations were going to be outed, and that, in fact, is what occurred, and as a result she decided to take control of this and tell this in her own voice.
[07:25:07] CAMEROTA: So while we have you, perhaps you can help us fill in the blanks on some of her story.
She says that she was at a party in probably 1982 in Montgomery County, Maryland. She says that there were four guys there. These are high school students, as was she. There were four guys there. Were there any girls there that day?
KATZ: Yes, there was -- there was another girl at this party, yes.
CAMEROTA: And has your client spoken to any of those other guys or that girl who could help corroborate her story?
KATZ: She has not.
CAMEROTA: And why not? Is it time to do that?
KATZ: That's -- that's not her job to do that. If this is going to be investigated, it should be done by investigators.
CAMEROTA: So she also says that this happened while -- I'll just read -- let me just read to you what she says happened because I want to be able to say it in her own words.
She says, Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with, and there was a redacted name, who we now know was Mark Judge, his friend, who periodically jumped on Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh's hand over my mouth, I feared he may inadvertently kill me.
It took her a while to use the term attempted rape. It took her years to use that. But she stands by this account that I've just read?
KATZ: She does. And just to be clear, the reason she felt that he might inadvertently kill her is he had his hand over his -- her mouth and she was having a difficult time breathing. And he is larger and he was pressing his weight against her and so inebriated he was ignoring the fact that she was attempting to scream and having a difficult time breathing. And she believe that but for his inebriation and his inability to take her clothes off, he would have raped her.
CAMEROTA: Here's what Brett Kavanaugh says. He's released a statement.
I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.
So where does that leave your client?
KATZ: That leaves her knowing that she's told the truth. She's done it at great personal risk. She's now going to have to live with the tremendous efforts by people to annihilate her and to try to discredit her. She's telling the truth. She took a polygraph. She mentioned this to her -- in her therapy sessions in 2012. She came forward before this nominee was nominated. This is someone who's told the truth at great personal cost and we all know what she's going to have to withstand as a result of having coming forward.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that polygraph. As we understand it, she did it at your behest. You suggested that she do it knowing that she -- her veracity would be challenged. Would you be willing to release the results of the polygraph?
KATZ: I will to the appropriate authorities who wish to see it, yes.
CAMEROTA: And who would those appropriate authorities be?
KATZ: Well, at this point, it's the Senate Judiciary Committee that has the constitutional obligation to vet this nominee.
CAMEROTA: I think that Senator Feinstein was saying something to the effect of, the FBI should be look into that. Is that happening?
KATZ: I don't know what's happening at this point. That will be discussions that I'm sure we'll be having later today.
CAMEROTA: Once your client saw Brett Kavanaugh be nominated, when she saw him up there with his beautiful family and people recommending him, and the glossy PR campaigns for him and what a stellar record he has and all of these other women who have known him for years who have come forward to recommend his character, did that give her pause? Did that change her calculation?
KATZ: She's somebody who's a very thoughtful person and she, throughout this process was really weighing her civic duty, which is really something that she takes quite seriously, versus the personal cost that she would certainly have to incur if she came forward. And she really struggled with that. And I think as anyone would. And as the hearings got closer, she continued to weigh that and saw that essentially this nominee was being rushed through, documents were being withheld and she really made the calculation that no one would really listen to her. The Republican Party was determined to get this nominee through. And at that point she just felt that coming forward would be hopeless and she would put her family and herself at great personal risk and chose not to.
Unfortunately, that decision was taken from her.
CAMEROTA: So when this letter, this confidential letter, went public and you say that then reporters were on the scent of it, did your client, Christine Ford, ever have a conversation with Senator Feinstein?
KATZ: We were in touch with her office throughout this period, yes.
CAMEROTA: Meaning that there was a direct conversation between your client and the senator?
[07:30:00] KATZ: She spoke to the senator very soon after she -- the letter was sent, which was July 30th. At that point, Dr. Blasey retained counsel and then communications went between staff and Dr. Blasey's counsel.
