In a courtroom a defense attorney worth a warm pitcher of piss would have torn her apart on the stand if he wanted too. Actually I believe any decent attorney could have got her to Valley Girl speak herself into oblivion on the stand. The lie when told has to be defended by others and she clearly showed she was forgetting them quick enough in a short period of time.
Mitchell did what she needed to do without appearing to attack her. If she had been interviewed in private, Ford would have been torn apart. This is why her attorneys did not want a private interview.