Dershowitz: Kavanaugh accuser must be asked tough questions

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Tuesday implored the counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask tough questions of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

“A good cross-examining lawyer has to be gender-free, has to raise the same kinds of tough questions about repressed memory and how to reconstruct memory,” Dershowitz, who is also an opinion contributor for The Hill, said on “Fox & Friends.”

{mosads}”Any woman or man who is afraid to be tough in examining her, or cross-examining him, should not have that job,” Dershowitz added.

Dershowitz, who regularly appears on Fox News and often defends President Trump, appeared to confuse Ford, who is scheduled to testify Thursday, with Deborah Ramirez, who came forward with separate sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh that were published in The New Yorker on Sunday.

Dershowitz argued that Ford should not be allowed to say she was able to remember the incident after consulting with her lawyer for six days. While Ramirez spoke with her attorney before agreeing to speak with The New Yorker, Ford is not reported to have done the same.

Dershowitz suggested that Kavanaugh would be on a fast-track for confirmation if he is “as persuasive as he was on television” and if both Kavanaugh and Ford are questioned effectively. Both will testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans on the committee are expected to use a counsel to question Ford.

Ford has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed and groping her during a high school party in the 1980s. She also has alleged that Kavanaugh covered her mouth when she attempted to scream for help. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

Ramirez on Sunday alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a college party when they were both students at Yale University in the 1980s, and thrust his genitals in her face. He has adamantly denied Ramirez’s allegations as well, calling them a “smear.”

Attorney Michael Avenatti, who is representing adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her suit against President Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen, has said a third woman will come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh this week, though he has not provided specifics.

Dershowitz chastised Avenatti on Tuesday, saying he’s bad for the legal profession.

“He may help himself in the sense of getting more clients, but he has acted less than completely responsibly not only in this instance but in other instances as well,” Dershowitz said.