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In N.H. Collins OK With Most of Ford's Testimony Requests

Zach Gibson / Getty Images

 

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, says she agrees with many, but not all of the requests, made by attorneys for the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a long-ago sexual assault.

Collins, a swing vote on the nomination, spoke to reporters in New Hampshire on Friday night after a lecture at St. Anselm College, after the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said his panel will vote Monday on the nomination if there's no agreement with attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford by 10 p.m.

Colllins says Ford's attorneys should respond quickly, but did not directly answer whether she disagreed with scheduling a vote for Monday if the deadline isn't met.

Collins says she agrees that Ford should be allowed to testify later in the week without Kavanaugh present, and said she has recommended that lawyers for the two sides be allowed to do the questioning. She said she disagrees with the request that Ford testify after Kavanaugh.

 

Earlier on Friday, Collins said she is "appalled" by President Donald Trump's tweet criticizing his Supreme Court nominee's accuser. She said it's reasonable for Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation vote to delayed to allow Ford to testify Wednesday or Thursday. She also said it's important for the Judiciary Committee to "make it as comfortable as possible."

 

On Friday, Trump tweeted that if the incident was a "bad" as Ford says, then she or her parents should've brought criminal charges.

Collins said the California college professor needs to testify so senators can assess her credibility. As a swing vote on the nomination, Collins said earlier this year that Kavanaugh called Roe v. Wade "settled law."

 

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