Christine Blasey Ford was 'devastated' by investigations finding no evidence to support Kavanaugh accusations

Christine Blasey Ford said in a new interview she was "devastated" in 2018 when federal investigations found no evidence to support sexual assault charges against Brett Kavanaugh.

A memo released by then-Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., in November 2018 said the Senate and FBI's investigations found "no evidence" to substantiate any sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, including the one made by Ford. They also included a claim by a woman represented by Michael Avenatti that Kavanaugh regularly participated in "gang rape" parties, a charge so brazen that many Democrats disavowed it.

"I was devastated when that report came out," Ford told "CBS Sunday Morning." "I was really, really upset. That was a really difficult period that I think was the beginning of the darkest times for me."

CBS correspondent Tracy Smith said Ford's moment in the national spotlight was "deeply traumatizing," bringing up death threats Ford says poured in after her accusation against Kavanaugh became public. She says they included people threatening to harm her children.

Ford told CBS the threatening letters seemed like a coordinated effort by just a few people, adding they would "have such similarity to them."

"Do these people know each other?" she wondered. "Because how could the wording be that similar?… It's still scary."

Ford has been on a media tour to promote her memoir "One Way Back," which discusses her experiences around coming forward with her bombshell accusation of sexual assault against Kavanaugh in 2018. She's also sat down with NPR and ABC's "The View" this week for sympathetic interviews.

Kavanaugh at the time had been nominated for the Supreme Court by President Trump and appeared to be heading toward a relatively smooth, if typically partisan, confirmation.... (Read more)

Latest News