It seems everybody is wringing hands that this examination by Mitchell is not a Perry Mason moment. But she is getting Ford to be specific about her answers and also locking down lose items in her written statements.
Already she has shown that Ford lived at least 6 miles from any residence that was close to the country club she was swimming at that day. She has elicited testimony that although Ford doesn’t like to fly, she does so regularly for both business and pleasure. That pretty much destroys her excuse to have the hearing postponed.
The Democrats have nothing to say other than to support her and bash the President. They get tiresome after awhile.
Ford has admitted that this incident was just 1 of the reasons she says she suffers mental anguish. I think the attorney is laying the groundwork with the questioning about giving her therapist’s records to the Washington Post a door thru which she can question her further. (No expectation of Dr/patient privilege if the records are shared with a third-party). She already got Ford to admit she took the polygraph on the same day as her grandmother’s funeral which could have a profound effect on the results of the test. She also said “she was asked alot of questions”, yet her attorney only revealed 2.
This isn’t a sprint. I find it interesting that Ford cannot remember things with certainty that occurred within the past 30 days, yet her memory of selected events from 36 years ago are recited with specificity.
I expect the pace will pick up after lunch.
“Ford has admitted that this incident was just 1 of the reasons she says she suffers mental anguish.”
This is the part of her testimony so far where she seemed very evasive. She came across as meek, mild, just wanting to be helpful and truthful—which seems to be how she was coached to act—but she failed at this question.
She got very uncomfortable. She tried to change the subject to generic technical answers from her professional background. However, she swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She did NOT.
I simply do not believe the event she described is the source of her PTSD. If the event occurred, whether with Kavanaugh or someone else, her own description is basically she escaped from a possible (in her mind) rape or murder. She was not murdered. She was not raped. The left wants to make this out as a sexual assault.
Worst case scenario, she should have been relieved that something worse did not happen. She talks about confronting Mark Judge later at his work and saying hello. She describes him as being uncomfortable, not herself. But supposedly this event caused her PTSD. Not buying it. Her body language tells me she knows this is not the real cause either.
Stuff similar to this happens all the time in which teenagers drink, flirt, they’re all fairly inexperienced but want to appear cool to their peers, especially the ones of the opposite sex. There may be dancing and some suggestive behavior, words, or even just looks. The guy suggests going somewhere more private and might offer an excuse like “Want to go look at my album collection” which just happens to be in his bedroom. The girl agrees and might be flirtatious about it. The drinking may exaggerate the effect. The guy interprets it that she wants to have sex. He playfully (in his mind) throws her on the bed. She realizes this is not what she wants. It takes a minute before the half-drunk guy gets the message. He backs off.
This appears to me the most likely explanation of what happened, probably with someone other than Kavanaugh. But whether or not everything in her story is 100% true, I don’t buy that this is the cause of her PTSD. Something else happened to her. She was very evasive and uncomfortable talking about it.
My guess is that she was assaulted later, or had a sexual encounter that she deeply regretted. Perhaps she had an unwanted pregnancy or was so promiscuous she got pregnant and did not know who the father was. Then she had an abortion.
I’ve talked to women who admitted to having abortions. They all become very emotionally and psychologically damaged from this even if they don’t admit it. I know one women who was very mentally unstable due to this. I know another who actually made several suicide attempts and almost succeeded at least once. She never admitted that the abortion she had was in any way related.
I think Ford has PTSD because she had an abortion. She feels a strong need to defend abortion in order to justify her own actions. And she must see herself as a victim in order to cope with the guilt of having killed her own baby.
All these things make Judge Kavanaugh the perfect scapegoat for her problems.