Learn more about Christine Ford's family and parents.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is a wife, the mother of two, sister of lawyers, and the daughter of a former golf club president and his wife.
Ford, a Palo Alto University professor, revealed that she is Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s high school-era accuser. She is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the allegations, which Brett Kavanaugh denies.
Christine Blasey Ford and Russell Biddle Ford, a California engineer, have been married since 2002, according to their wedding announcement from the time.
Christine Ford voluntarily came forward by name to The Washington Post in a September 16, 2018 interview. In it, she accused Brett Kavanaugh of pinning her down and groping her but says she escaped. Both were in high school at the time. A Kavanaugh high school friend Ford alleges was also present – D.C. writer Mark Judge – previously told the Weekly Standard that the accusation was false. Kavanaugh has strenuously denied the accusation. Two other people whom Ford said were at the party have denied any recollection of it; she has submitted affidavits from her husband and three friends attesting that she told them about the alleged assault before Kavanaugh was nomined by President Donald Trump for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh has said: “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”
Kavanaugh’s mom, Judge Martha Kavanaugh, handled some hearings in a home foreclosure case filed against Ford’s parents, Ralph G. and Paula Blasey. You can read the details of that case below.
Here’s what you need to know about Christine Ford’s family:
1. Russell Ford Submitted an Affidavit Before His Wife’s Hearing & Says He’s Proud of Her Courage
GettyU.S. President Donald Trump introduces U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh with his family.
Christine Ford alleged to the Post that Brett Kavanaugh, while he was in high school, “pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.”
Her husband first came forward in a story in the Washington Post to back her up. The article alleges that Ford first revealed the incident in couples’ therapy with her husband in 2012, and it quotes therapist notes that describe what she said, although they don’t mention Kavanaugh by name.
Russ Ford also told The Post that he thinks the allegation is relevant to Kavanaugh’s quest for the Supreme Court even though it dated to high school. “I think you look to judges to be the arbiters of right and wrong,” Russell Ford said to The Post. “If they don’t have a moral code of their own to determine right from wrong, then that’s a problem. So I think it’s relevant. Supreme Court nominees should be held to a higher standard.”
In the affidavit submitted to the Judiciary Committee, Russell Ford again stated that his wife previously told her that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her.
Russell Ford has submitted an affidavit in advance of the hearing to back up his wife. It says, “The first time I learned that Christine had any experience with sexual assault was around the time we got married, although she did not provide any details.”
He said that “Christine shared the details of the sexual assault during a couple’s therapy session in 2012. She said that in high school she had been trapped in a room and physically restrained by one boy who was molesting her while another boy watched. She said she was eventually able to escape before she was raped but that the experience was very traumatic because she felt like she had no control and was physically dominated.”
Ford’s affidavit further contends, “I remember her saying that the attacker’s name was Brett Kavanaugh, that he was a successful lawyer who had grown up in Christine’s home town, ,and that he was well-known in the Washington D.C. community.”
Ford stated that in the years following the therapy sessions he and his wife “spoke a number of times about how the assault affected her.”
He said that Christine Ford mentioned Kavanaugh “was the person who sexually assaulted her” when President Donlad Trump was in the process of selecting his first nominee for the Supreme Court, a nomination that went to Judge Neil Gorsuch. “I remember Cchristine saying she was afraid the President might nominate Mr. Kavanaugh,” Russell Ford said.
He said the conversations began again when Anthony Kennedy retired and Kavanaugh emerged on Trump’s short list.
“Crhstine was very conflicted about whether she should speak publicly about what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to her, as she knew it would be emotionally trying for her to relive this traumatic experience in her life and hard on our family to deal with the inevitable public reacton. However, in the end she believed her civic duty required her to speak out.”
He concluded that she was a “truthful person of great integrity” and lauded her. “ I am proud of her for her ravery and courage” he wrote.
2. Ford’s Republican Parents’ Home Once Faced Foreclosure & Kavanaugh’s Mother Appeared in the Case
GettyMartha Kavanaugh, Brett Kavanaugh’s mom, is on the right.
The wedding announcement for Russell and Christine Ford was published at Gazette.net.
It gives additional information about Christine Blasey Ford’s family, saying she is the daughter of “Mr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Blasey Jr. of Potomac” and giving her full name as Christine Margaret.
According to the announcement, the groom was Russell Biddle Ford, “son of John Bailey Ford of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Mrs. Ruth Guthery of Wyckoff, N.J.”
“The prospective bride is a graduate of the Holton Arms School, the University of North Carolina, Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California. She is a research psychologist and bio-statistician at Stanford University School of Medicine,” the announcement reads. “Mr. Ford is an alumnus of the University of Rochester and Stanford University School of Engineering. He is employed with Cygnus Corporation in Redwood City, Calif. A June wedding in Half Moon Bay, Calif., is planned.”
Montgomery County court records show that Brett Kavanaugh’s mother, Martha Kavanaugh, who was a judge, presided over a couple hearings involving a foreclosure action against Ralph G. Blasey of Potomac Maryland and Paula Blasey. However, the role Kavanaugh’s mom played was distorted by some on social media.
Kavanaugh’s mom granted a voluntary plaintiff’s motion for dismissal in the case. According to Snopes, “Kavanaugh actually ruled favorably toward the Blaseys, who ended up keeping their home.” Some sites have falsely reported that Martha Kavanaugh ruled against Blasey Ford’s parents. The company that had filed the foreclosure action sought its dismissal when the Blaseys were able to refinance their mortgage, according to Snopes, adding that the Blaseys kept their home.
.@CBSNews went to Montgomery Co Court today to look into Blasey’s parents’ 1996 foreclosure.
The Blaseys settled w/their lender. The bank asked Judge Martha Kavanaugh to dismiss the case. She did. The Blaseys kept the house.
There’s no record they appeared in her courtroom.
You can read more about Brett Kavanaugh’s mom Martha here. A friend told The Mercury News that Christine Ford’s parents were “Bush-conservative” parents. “She didn’t always get along with her parents because of differing political views,” Russell said. “It was a very male-dominated environment,” Russell Ford told The Post.
The Washington Post reports that Ford’s parents are registered Republicans.
According to The Post, Ford’s grandfather was “president of a small-loan corporation,” and her father worked in banks in Washington, serving as vice president for “a private commercial cleaning company based in Bethesda.” The newspaper added that the father belongs to the Burning Tree golf club (and used to be its president), which is an all-male club, and her mother volunteers for an Episcopal Church.
3. Russell Ford Has Worked for Medical & Pharmaceutical Companies & the Couple Has Two Children
Getty/Palo Alto UniversityChristine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh
Russell Ford and Christine Blasey Ford have two teenage sons, according to the San Jose Mercury News, which reports that the family members are all avid surfers. A friend described the couple as “modest,” and said they eat organic food and “drive hybrids that they plug into a charging station in their driveway.”
Russell Ford’s LinkedIn page hasn’t been updated since 2016. However, at that time, it described a lengthy career in medical research. The most recent entry says that, from 2004 to 2006, Russ Ford worked for a company called Zosano Pharma. He gave his title as “Sr Director, System Design and Development.”
Ford described his duties as: “Individual contributor and manager of engineering group responsible for all mechanical product design and development activities including technical scale-up for components and applicator device; i.e. non-drug, non-excipient product design – dynamic mechanical applicator, microneedle array, adhesive patch, and packaging. Budgeting for functional group and for individual projects. Presenter and interface for device design during 6+ technical audits by prospective pharma business partners. Attendee at FDA EOP2 meeting.”
Before that, he worked as director of Advanced Engineering for Abbott Medical Optics in Milpitas, California, a position he held from 2011 to 2014. “Division of Abbott Laboratories, #1 in laser vision correction products, #2 in cataract products – surgical equipment and implants (IOL’s). Milpitas is portion of R&D and MFG site for all surgical capital equipment – phaco-emulsification and LASiK (aberrometers for diagnostic, femto-second lasers for flap cut, and excimer laser for shaping the cornea),” he wrote in part with the entry.
Ford has also held similar positions at Boston Scientific and, as noted in his wedding announcement, at Cygnus, where he describes himself as the “developer of first FDA-approved non-invasive continuous glucose monitor for people with Diabetes.”
4. Ford’s Sister-in-Law Spoke Out in Her Defense & Labeled Her the Family’s ‘Glue’
Christine Ford’s sister-in-law, Deborah Ford Peters, has appeared on television to defend Ford since the accusations were made. She told ABC News that Ford “is down to earth, hardworking and honest,” the network reported.
Deborah Ford Peters is the sister of Ford’s husband, Russell Ford. “I think she doesn’t want her story misrepresented, in the way that it was leaked,” Peters added to ABC News, “but I think she also strongly believes that story needs to be heard by that American public, that they need to know what this man did in his youth so that he is held responsible.”
Ford Peters called Christine Blasey Ford the “family glue.”
The Washington Post reported that the Blasey side of Christine’s family hasn’t released a statement in support of her, but did quote her father Ralph Blasey as saying, “I think all of the Blasey family would support her. I think her record stands for itself. Her schooling, her jobs and so on…I think any father would have love for his daughter.”
5. Christine Ford’s Brother Ralph Is a Lawyer
Ford’s 1983 yearbook photo
Christine Ford has a brother who, like her father, is named Ralph G. Blasey. Ralph G. Blasey III has been the subject of misleading Internet rumors that he has ties to Fusion GPS, the research firm involved in commissioning the infamous Trump dossier. That rumor stems from Blasey’s past work at a prominent law firm.
However, according to Politifact, “Ralph Blasey indeed worked at BakerHostetler. But he left nine years before the law firm hired Fusion GPS, a consulting firm, to assist with a Russian money-laundering investigation.”
Ralph Blasey’s LinkedIn page says he spent 15 years at that law firm, leaving in 2004. “Substantial trial practice, including 15 cases to verdict in federal and state courts. Represented clients in disputes involving corporate, commercial, contracts, insurance, media, healthcare and employment matters. Member of DC office hiring committee and assistant coordinator for litigation group practice See less,” the page says. According to LinkedIn, he is currently a corporation counsel and executive vice president for a major company.
Christine Ford has a second brother named Tom, who is also a lawyer in the Washington D.C. area.
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