A Senate committee may be forced to postpone its vote this week on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, while members explore fresh allegations of a decades-old sexual assault.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's chairman, was scrambling Sunday to arrange staff telephone calls with Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who says Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s when they were both students in high school.

"Her recollection of these events is crystal clear," Ford's attorney Lisa Banks told Morning Edition. "She will agree to participate in any proceedings that she's asked to participate in."

The accusation, made privately in July, took on new weight over the weekend when Ford went on the record with the Washington Post.

She described a high school party in the early 1980s at which a drunken Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, attempted to pull off her clothes, and covered her mouth as she tried to scream. She said she escaped after Kavanaugh's friend, Mark Judge, jumped on them.

Kavanaugh said Friday, before Ford's name was made public, that the charge is false.

"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation," Kavanaugh said in a statement. "I did not do this back in high school or at any time."

The White House said Monday that the nominee's denial has not changed.

"Judge Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by that statement," said spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who sits on the judiciary committee, joined Democrats in saying the vote on Kavanaugh's nomination may have to be postponed.

"I've made it clear that I'm not comfortable moving ahead with the vote on Thursday if we have not heard her side of the story or explored this further," Flake told the Washington Post. "For me, we can't vote until we hear more."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee's top Democrat, said staff phone calls with Kavanaugh and his accuser are not sufficient.

"I agree with Senator Flake that we should delay this week's vote," Feinstein said. "There's a lot of information we don't know and the FBI should have the time it needs to investigate this new material."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was open to hearing from Ford, while resisting calls to delay the vote.

"If Ms. Ford wishes to provide information to the committee, I would gladly listen to what she has to say and compare that against all other information we have received about Judge Kavanaugh," Graham said in a statement. "If the committee is to hear from Ms. Ford, it should be done immediately so the process can continue as scheduled."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who is not on the committee but is a key undecided vote on Kavanaugh's nomination, told CNN a delay may be necessary.

"If there is real substance to this, it demands a response," Murkowski said.

Republicans, who hold a narrow majority on the committee and in the Senate, are eager to confirm Kavanaugh in time for him to join the high court when it begins its fall term in two weeks. But faced with a growing Me Too movement, they are also sensitive about appearances.

"To railroad a vote now would be an insult to the women of America and the integrity of the Supreme Court," said Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

A spokesman for Grassley complained about the timing of Ford's public accusation, saying it "raises a lot of questions about Democrats' tactics and motives to bring this to the rest of the committee's attention only now rather than during the many steps along the way."

Ford initially contacted both Feinstein and the Washington Post in July, but at the time, she was not willing to make her allegation publicly.

"Victims of sexual assault have the right to decide whether and when to come forward," Banks said about her client. "It was something that she struggled with mightily. She was weighing her desire and her belief that she had a civic duty to provide this information to those making the decision about Brett Kavanaugh with, frankly, her fear about coming forward and there was going to be great personal risk to her and her family in doing so."

Ford decided to go public after reporters began contacting her last week. Her attorney said Ford is "not motivated at all by politics."

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