Sen. Susan Collins addressed Christine Blasey Ford's allegations of sexual assault, calling her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee "sincere, painful, and compelling."
"I believe that she is a survivor of a sexual assault and that this trauma has upended her life," Collins said. However, she then stressed that Ford's allegations could not be corroborated.
"The four witnesses she (Ford) named could not corroborate any of the events of that evening gathering where she says the assault occurred. None of the individuals professor Ford says were at the party has any recollection at all of the night," Collins said, pointing out that Ford could not remember how she got home and questioning why Ford's friends had not called the next day.
She also called allegations against Kavanaugh of gang rape "outlandish," and said they "illustrate why the presumption of innocence is so important."
In the same breath, however, she expressed support for survivors of sexual assault. "The #MeToo movement is real," she declared. "It matters. It is needed and it is long overdue."
"We must listen to survivors, and every day we must seek to stop the criminal behavior that has hurt so many. We owe this to ourselves, our children and generations to come."