Trump challenges Kavanaugh’s accuser by name

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is challenging by name the woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault, saying if the attack she alleges were that “bad” then she would have filed charges.

Trump tweeted today: “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!”

The president previously had avoided naming California college professor Christine Blasey Ford or casting doubt on her account. Ford alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

Trump also tweeted that Kavanaugh is “under assault by radical left wing politicians.”

Saying Kavanaugh has an “impeccable reputation,” Trump tweeted Democrats “don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay.”

He adds, “Facts don’t matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C.”

Negotiations continue over whether Ford will testify next week.

Republicans want to conclude the nomination process quickly. Democrats have seized on the development as justification to delay the high-stakes nomination and say it’s being rushed.