Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and her testimony against then-Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh in September dominated the news cycle, with her every word scrutinized by both sides of the political aisle and the media. Since the hearings, Ford has been mostly silent.
Ford released a statement on a GoFundMe page collecting donations for her last week. The page was created on Sept. 18 with an initial goal of $150,00. It has raised nearly $650,000 on her behalf.
“Words are not adequate to thank all of you who supported me since I came forward to tell the Senate that I had been sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh,” Ford wrote. “Because of your support, I feel hopeful that our lives will return to normal.”
After thanking her supporters, Ford wrote that the “generous contributions” that have allowed her and her family to protect themselves from “frightening threats” and increase security on their home.
According to Ford, the funds were partly used to pay for a security service since Sept. 19, which “has recently begun to taper off,” as well as “housing and security costs incurred in Washington DC, and local housing for part of the time we have been displaced.”
She received death threats and her family was forced out of their home, said her lawyer Debra Katz in September, even prior to publicly alleging Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh first became public on Sept. 16, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked to delay the vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation due to allegations from a then-anonymous woman. Feinstein had known of the allegations since July.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Ford alleged Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a house party in 1982, when they were both were teenagers.
Ford testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 27, delivering a testimony stating she was “100 percent “sure Kavanaugh had assaulted her.
Kavanaugh also provided testimony that day. After a heated debate in the Senate, he was confirmed in a 50-48 vote on Oct. 8.