Getty Actress Alyssa Milano, left, hugs Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in the hearing room before the start of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's appearance in the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. A professor at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Ford has accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland.
Alyssa Milano, the actress, was spotted at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was scheduled to testify on September 27, 2018.
Milano was there as a guest of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who received a letter from Ford over the summer and who was criticized by Republicans for sitting on the information at first.
Here’s a photo of Alyssa Milano at the hearing, where Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to testify. Andrew Desiderio, a reporter with the Daily Beast, posted the photo of Milano and reported that she was there.
“Alyssa Milano is here today as a guest of Sen. Feinstein. She recalled the 1991 Anita Hill hearing and told me she believes this time will be different. (She also told me she likes my glasses,)” he wrote.
It’s not clear why Feinstein would have invited Milano to the hearing. However, she has been one of the Hollywood actresses active and most vocal in the #metoo movement.
Milano, even before Ford testified, posted a photo from the hearing on Twitter.
I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
A few hours before the hearing, Milano posted a video in support of sexual assault victims. “I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford,” she wrote.
She has posted many times on the issue of sexual assault.
“#IfOnly I could save you. #IfOnly I could help you remove that weight from your tired shoulders and become the joy of an unburdened you. My prayer for all survivors of sexual assault. #MeToo” she wrote.
She also posted that women are watching and vote.
Women are watching. And we vote.
Milano has also posted tweets about other accusations against Kavanaugh, all of which he has denied.
The accusation in the Ford/Kavanaugh case is 36-years-old and dates to when Kavanaugh was 17, a juvenile. Blasey Ford – who was publicly testifying about the allegations before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27, 2018 – has alleged that Kavanaugh groped her while putting his hand over her mouth at a house party in the 1980s. She then escaped. Kavanaugh adamantly denies the accusations, and three other people Ford has said were at the party have denied any recollection of it (which would seem to present a serious evidentiary problem for any prosecutor considering charging). Three friends and Ford’s husband have submitted affidavits to the Senate saying that Ford told them about the alleged attack before President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Blasey Ford has said there are things she can’t remember – such as exactly when and where the alleged attack occurred – which could also present prosecutorial hurdles (and, as of now, no prosecutor has indicated they are considering lodging charges.) Ford’s attorney says she passed a polygraph test and Ford says she told a therapist about the alleged attack several years ago, although the therapist’s notes don’t mention Kavanaugh’s name.
Kavanaugh denies all of the accusations against him.