Christine Blasey Ford On Life Before And Since Testifying

Fresh Air

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4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

Christine Blasey Ford describes what it was like to come forward and testify that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. Her 2018 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee threatened to derail his confirmation, but Kavanaugh succeeded in being becoming a supreme court justice. Ford still requires security for protection. After mostly avoiding the media, she's written a memoir. It's called One Way Back.

Also, Maureen Corrigan reviews Percival Everett's new book, James, which reimagines The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Finn's enslaved companion.

Finally, we say goodbye to producer Seth Kelley.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR sponsor, Square Space, with powerful blogging tools to share content.
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0:09.6	Use Code NPR to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
0:14.9	This is fresh air.
0:16.0	I'm Terry Gross.
0:17.6	As a heads up to our listeners, the introduction I'm about to give describes a sexual assault. My guest is Christine Blasey Ford. She testified
0:26.2	at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing that he sexually assaulted her.
0:30.2	I am here today not because I want to be I am terrified I am here because I believe
0:37.3	it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I
0:42.2	were in high school. In Blousie Ford's testimony, she
0:46.8	accused him of being drunk at a party when she was 15 and he was 17 and they
0:51.4	each attended separate prep schools in the Washington Beltway.
0:55.0	She said that he'd pushed her into a bedroom, climbed on top of her, pinned her down, and tried
0:59.2	to take off her clothes.
1:01.1	She said she believed he was going to rape her. To keep her quiet he put his hand over her mouth making it so hard to breathe she was afraid he'd accidentally suffocate and kill her.
1:12.0	When she said at the confirmation hearing that testifying terrified her,
1:16.0	she had reason to be terrified,
1:18.0	did death threats against her and her children
1:21.0	forced her and her family to hide out in hotels and other places with 24-hour
1:26.4	security.
1:27.8	She still needs security.
1:29.8	Now she has a new memoir called One Way Back, in which she writes about why she came forward and her
	...

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