The “best friend” of Christine Blasey Ford, Leland Keyser, told FBI investigators that in the past week an associate of Ford, Monica McLean had pressured her to change her denial of the alleged assault, which had hurt Ford’s credibility.
A report from The Wall Street Journal Friday said that Leland Keyser “told investigators that Monica McLean, a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and a friend of Christine Blasey Ford’s, had urged her to clarify her statement.” McLean’s lawyer denied the claim.
In addition to Kavanaugh himself, Leland Keyser was one of three witnesses, who denied Christine Blasey Ford’s claim that Brett and his friend Mark Judge had assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s.
Her lawyer wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month: “Simply put, Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”
When Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who was appointed by the committee’s GOP majority to lead questioning in last week’s public hearing, asked Cristine Blasey Ford about Leland Keyser’s denial, Ford claimed that her friend had “significant health challenges” and that Keyser had texted her to apologize for her contrary testimony and offer support. (One of Leland Keyser’s relatives later told the UK Daily Mail angrily that Ford had thrown her lifelong friend “under the bus.”)
During the week-long supplemental background investigation by the FBI requested by the Senate, Keyser reiterated that she did not know Brett Kavanaugh and did not know anything about the alleged high school party
The Wall Street Journal noted that despite McLean’s alleged effort to influence Keyser, “There is no indication Dr. Ford and her legal team were involved in
Monica McLean is a former FBI agent who is said to have worked as a spokesperson for Prett Bharara, a former staffer for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who went on to become the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York until he was fired by President Donald Trump shortly after the latter took office in 2017. Bharara has since emerged as one of the most vociferous opponents of President Trump in the media.
Leland Keyser’s communications with the Senate Judiciary Committee, and her FBI
