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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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