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Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers release 4 sworn statements to support her story

Sworn statements show Christine Blasey Ford has told a consistent story for years about her assault and Brett Kavanaugh.

Protesters rally in front of the Supreme Court demonstrating against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the high court.
Protesters rally in front of the Supreme Court demonstrating against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the high court.
Protesters rally in front of the Supreme Court demonstrating against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the high court.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Dylan Scott
Dylan Scott covers health for Vox, guiding readers through the emerging opportunities and challenges in improving our health. He has reported on health policy for more than 10 years, writing for Governing magazine, Talking Points Memo, and STAT before joining Vox in 2017.

Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were both in high school, have released sworn statements from four people supporting Ford’s story about the alleged assault. Kavanaugh has denied the claims.

The affidavits, given under penalty of perjury for any false statements, were provided by Ford’s husband Russell and several people who have known her in her adult life. They reveal that Ford had told people close to her that she had been sexually assaulted as a teenager by someone who had since become a federal judge as far back as 2012 and 2013, well before Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court.

Republicans and Kavanaugh defenders have clung to the line that there has been no corroboration of the accusations made against the Supreme Court nominee by Ford and Deborah Ramirez. The sworn affidavits certainly undermine that argument, and they’ve been released the day before Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ford’s husband, Russell, said he learned Ford had been sexually assaulted around the time they got married in 2002 but she didn’t reveal more details until 2012, when the couple was in therapy together. At that time, Russell says Ford named Brett Kavanaugh as her attacker and she shared a story similar to what has been reported over the last week, of being held down by a boy at a high school party.

Keith Koegler, who said he has known the Fords for more than five years and considers them close friends, said Ford told him in the summer of 2016 that she had been sexually assaulted in her youth. She told Koegler her attacker was now a federal judge. Then in 2018, shortly after Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, Ford named Kavanaugh in an email to Koegler and said he was considered a favorite for the Supreme Court.

Adela Gildo-Mazzon, who said she has known Ford for 10 years and considers her a good friend, said Ford was upset while they were out for a meal at a restaurant in 2013 and told Gildo-Mazzon she was thinking about an assault she suffered in high school. She said that her attacker was now a federal judge. She mentioned being trapped in a room by two boys.

Rebecca White, who said she is Ford’s neighbor and has been friends with her for six years, said Ford told her in 2017 she had been assaulted as a teenager and said that her assailant was now a federal judge.

You can read the affidavits in full below or on Document Cloud.

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