Christine Blasey Ford shuts down unproven claim that she blamed the wrong guy for an alleged sexual assault that threatens to derail Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh waits to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the third day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 6, 2018.

• Christine Blasey Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, has denied a viral rumor that suggested she could have "mistakenly" identified Kavanaugh for another high school classmate.
• The unproven theory was touted by Ed Whelan, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and the former principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department. Whelan claimed that because Kavanaugh and the other classmate look alike, Ford may have confused the two.
• Ford rejected that, saying she "knew them both, and socialized with" them, according to a Washington Post report. Ford added that she once visited the other classmate in a hospital.
• "There is zero chance that I would confuse them," she said in a statement to The Post.
• Journalists have denounced Whelan's theory and described it as a baseless, with some deleting their own tweets that referenced the original Twitter thread.

Christine Blasey Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist and professor who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s, has denied a viral rumor that suggested she could have "mistakenly" identified Kavanaugh for another high school classmate.

The unproven theory was touted by Ed Whelan, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia and the former principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department.

Whelan claimed that because Kavanaugh and the other classmate look alike, Ford may have confused the two.

Whelan, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, also included maps and floor plans of a house that he believed described the scene of Ford's alleged assault. He went on to reiterate claims that another classmate in the high school "resembled" Kavanaugh "in appearance," and compared images of the classmate next to Kavanaugh.

Ford said she "knew them both, and socialized with" them, according to a Washington Post report published Thursday. Ford added that she visited the other classmate in a hospital.

"There is zero chance that I would confuse them," she said in a statement to The Post.

Whelan, who is a close friend of Kavanaugh's, spent days putting together the theory, two of Whelan's friends told The Post.

Journalists have denounced Whelan's theory and described it as a baseless, with some deleting their own tweets that referenced the original Twitter thread.

"A prominent DC conservative, trying to promote an alternate theory that someone else (and not Kavanaugh) may have sexually assaulted Professor Ford, named that person, showed photographs suggesting Ford confused the two and more," CNN anchor Jake Tapper said on Twitter. "This is stunningly irresponsible."

"Bad wrong nope this is a monstrously misguided idea that will destroy another life needlessly," columnist Bethany Mandel added in a tweet.

Ford alleged that Kavanaugh was "stumbling drunk" during a small party when he sexually assaulted her. She claimed he pinned her to a bed, groped her over her clothes, and covered her mouth with his hand when she started to scream.

Kavanaugh has categorically denied the claim and said he is willing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. Ford's attorneys say she is willing to testify, but not by Monday.

"She wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety," attorney Debra Katz said in a statement to the Judiciary Committee. "A hearing on Monday is not possible and the committee's insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event."