Although Mark Judge was not physically present whileChristine Blasey FordandBrett Kavanaughtestified on Thursday, his name was frequently mentioned throughout the public hearing.
Judge and Kavanaugh both attended the same Catholic high school, Georgetown Preparatory School, and Ford claims thatJudge was present while the Supreme Court nominee sexually assaulted her.
Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist and professor at Palo Alto University, claims that Judge was in the same room when Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s, where the Supreme Court nominee allegedly pinned her down to a bed, groped her and tried to remove her clothes. Kavanaugh and Judge have denied the allegations.
Who is Mark Judge?
Since graduating from Georgetown Preparatory, Judge went on to write several memoirs, includingWasted: Tales of a Genx Drunk. The memoir chronicles Judge’s years as an alcoholic, including the years he spent at Catholic school where he drank heavily on a regular basis.
One of the characters mentioned in the story, named Bart O’Kavanaugh, is rumored to be based on Kavanaugh.
Judge also wrote a blog post in 2016 praising “the idea thatmale passionis good and beautiful,” reportedThe Cut.
In the post, he noted that “it’s a good thing that feminism is teaching young men that no means no and yes means yes.”
He also wrote that, “there’s also that ambiguous middle ground, where the woman seems interested and indicates, whether verbally or not, that the man needs to prove himself to her.”
“And if that man is any kind of man, he’ll allow himself to feel the awesome power, the wonderful beauty, of uncontrollable male passion,” he continued.
Gabriel Pogrund/The Washington Post/Getty Images
How is Judge related to the Kavanaugh hearing?
In heremotional testimony, Ford went into great detail about her alleged sexual assault, including the role Judge played in what happened that night.
Describing what happened at the party, Ford claimed that while she only “drake one beer…Brett and Mark were visibly drunk.”
“Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn’t see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them,” she continued, before adding that one of the two boys went on to turn up the music that was already playing inside the room.
“Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not,” she remarked.
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During her testimony, Ford went on to claim that “during this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me.”
“I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairs, pin-balling off the walls on the way down,” she continued.
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Judge’s name was also brought up duringKavanaugh’s testimonylater in the day.
The Supreme court nominee went on to claim he had never been alone in a room with Judge and Ford.
An attorney for Judge said that he “categorically denies” his ex-girlfriend’s account.
What has Judge publicly said about Ford’s allegations?
Last week, Judge issued a statement through his lawyer claiming he had “no memory of this alleged incident,” according to theWashington Post.
“Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes,” he wrote. “I have no more information to offer the Committee and I do not wish to speak publicly regarding the incidents described in Dr. Ford’s letter.”
The outlet also reported that Judge is currently avoiding the spotlight at aDelaware beach house.
Will he be called to testify?
During her testimony on Thursday, Ford answered in the affirmative when asked whether she would like Judge to “be interviewed.”
“That would be a preference,” she said, before adding, “I’m not sure it’s really up to me.”
Later during his own testimony, Kavanaugh was also asked whether Judge had based a character off of him in his memoir.
“You’d have to ask him,” Kavanaugh remarked, according toBusiness Insider.
source: people.com
