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Senator Wants State Police to Investigate Kavanaugh Assault Charge

A Montgomery County senator wants the Maryland State Police to investigate allegations made by California professor Christine Blasey Ford that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when the two were students at private high schools in Montgomery County.

Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan (D-Montgomery) will send a letter to Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) on Friday, asking him to initiate an investigation through the Maryland State Police.

“We are blocked from having a thorough investigation on this because [President Donald J. Trump] will not call on the FBI to investigate a very credible complaint,” Kagan said in an interview with Maryland Matters. “… I am hoping that the governor will stand up for Maryland women.”

Hogan was asked about the issue during a news conference on an unrelated matter Friday morning.

“No. I’ve never heard anything about that,” Hogan said. “… But no, the Maryland State Police will not be getting involved in this.”

Kagan said after the governor’s comments that she would still send him a letter seeking the investigation. The alleged assault occurred in the early 1980s when Ford was a 15-year-old student at Holton-Arms School and Kavanaugh was a 17-year-old student at Georgetown Preparatory School.

The Montgomery County Police told the news website Bethesda Beat earlier this week that they would investigate the allegations only if a criminal complaint is reported to them, which had not been done.

Ford first revealed the assault in a confidential letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) after Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

He has denied the claims, which are likely to be the topic of a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

Through an attorney, Ford originally said she would testify only if an investigation were undertaken by the FBI. Now, her attorney is negotiating the terms of her testimony.

Kagan said she has been closely watching news about the allegations, including that Ford has been harassed and threatened since coming forward.

“I am mortified by the personal attacks against a professor with unquestionable credentials. Many of us have stories from our teen or college years that we haven’t shared publicly. That does not in any way undermine or negate the impact that they have had on our lives,” Kagan said in the phone interview. “A woman may not remember what she was wearing or the precise date and time of an assault. But I assure you the key details of the event are burned into her memory for all time.”

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Senator Wants State Police to Investigate Kavanaugh Assault Charge