Grassley: Committee Stands Ready to Hear from Dr. Ford
WASHINGTON – Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today reiterated the
Judiciary Committee’s invitation to hear from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in
whatever format she deems appropriate. In a letter
today to Dr. Ford’s attorney, Grassley noted that the Committee is
investigating claims Dr. Ford made in a July letter to Ranking Member Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif) and in a Washington Post report over the
weekend.
The
letter described the FBI’s role in collecting and providing background information
for nominations.
“The
FBI does not make a credibility assessment of any information it receives with
respect to a nominee. Nor is it tasked with investigating a matter simply
because the Committee deems it important. The Constitution assigns the Senate,
and only the Senate, with the task of advising the President on his nominee and
consenting to the nomination if the circumstances merit. We have no power to
commandeer an Executive Branch agency into conducting our due diligence. The
job of assessing and investigating a nominee’s qualifications in order to
decide whether to consent to the nomination is ours, and ours alone,” Grassley
said in the letter.
The
committee is following standard procedures to evaluate new information that
comes to light in the course of evaluating a nomination, and speaking with Dr.
Ford is an important step in that process. Grassley has offered to hear
from Dr. Ford in public or private settings as well as in staff-led interviews.
“I
sincerely hope that Dr. Ford will accept my invitation to do so, either
privately or publicly, on Monday. In the meantime, my staff would still welcome
the opportunity to speak with Dr. Ford at a time and place convenient to her,”
Grassley said in the letter.
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