Hirono: Collins’ doubts of Kavanaugh accuser Ford’s claims ‘insulting’

Sen. Mazie Hirono, left, said Sen. Susan Collins' reasoning for supporting Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination was 'insulting.' (AP, File)

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, criticized fellow senator Susan Collins' vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Sunday, saying that Collins' rationale was "insulting" to accuser Christine Blasey Ford.

"[Collins] said that Dr. Ford thinks that she was assaulted, which is even more insulting than saying that she gave a very credible account," Hirono told CNN's "State of the Union."

Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh denied her claims and was confirmed by the Senate in a narrow vote Saturday.

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In a dramatic speech Friday announcing her support for Kavanaugh's confirmation, Collins said she believed Ford had been sexually assaulted but could find no corroborating evidence that Kavanaugh had done anything wrong. The Maine Republican also said she found Ford's testimony to be "sincere, painful and compelling."

"To say that she thinks that Dr. Ford thinks that she was assaulted, what is that?" said Hirono, who sits on the judiciary committee and voted against Kavanaugh. "Is she mistaken?"

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Hirono also insisted Ford's claim that Kavanaugh had assaulted her was corroborated, while Kavanaugh's claim that he was innocent was not.

"The people the FBI interviewed ... all said that they have no recollection," Hirono said. "That is hardly what I would call exoneration. But on [Ford's] side, there was corroboration because she had talked about this assault to her husband, to others before Brett Kavanaugh was ever nominated to the Supreme Court. She took a lie detector test. Corroboration was there."