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Kavanaugh accuser won’t testify Monday but open to doing so later next week How will Kavanaugh affect President Trump's legacy?

'Leadership: In Turbulent Times' author Doris Kearns Goodwin says changes need to be made to the U.S. political structure.Christine Ford, the California professor accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that she “would be prepared to testify next week" -- apparently backing off her bid for the FBI to first launch a new inquiry. According to an email sent by her attorney Debra Katz and first obtained by The New York Times , Ford would appear as long as senators provide “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety." Fox News has also obtained the email. “As you are aware, she has been receiving death threats, which have been reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and she and her family have been forced out of their home,” the email continued. “She wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety.” Senate Republicans had invited Ford to testify at a hearing on Monday, and gave her a Friday deadline to indicate whether she would attend. A Monday hearing still appears unlikely, though. In the letter Thursday, Ford's attorney wrote that it “is not possible" for Ford to testify on Monday. She added that "the Committee’s insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event.” Ford's openness to testifying threatened to once again upend Kavanaugh's confirmation process. Senate Republicans had said that if Ford stuck to her apparent refusal to testifiy, they would have moved forward with a vote on Kavanaugh on Wednesday. That vote is now in doubt. However, the attorneys concluded: "Her strong preference continues to be for the Senate Judiciary Committee to allow for a full investigation prior to her testimony. " Late Tuesday, Ford's lawyers strongly suggested she would testify only if the FBI first conducted a "full investigation."WASHINGTON — An attorney for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who is accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, said Thursday that her appearing at a hearing on Monday to detail her claims is "not possible" but she could testify later in the week. Debra Katz, Ford's lawyer, relayed the response to top staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, requesting to set up a call with them to "discuss the conditions under which [Ford] would be prepared to testify next week." "As you are aware, she's been receiving death threats which have been reported to the FBI and she and her family have been forced out of their home," Katz wrote to the committee. "She wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety. A hearing on Monday is not possible and the committee's insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event." Katz continued: "Dr. Ford has asked me to let you know that she appreciates the various options you have suggested. Her strong preference continues to be for the Senate Judiciary Committee to allow for a full investigation prior to her testimony." Story continues below  The statement to the Senate came after Republicans vowed Thursday morning to press forward with a vote on Kavanaugh if Ford declined to testify on Monday. It was not immediately clear how Republicans would respond to Ford's request to testify later in the week. Senate Republicans vowed Thursday to press forward with a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh if the woman who has accused him of sexual assault declines to testify at a hearing planned for Monday. "If she doesn't want to participate and tell her story, there's no reason for us to delay," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, told CNN. "I think it all depends on what she decides to do. We've all made clear this is her chance." The timetable brought cries of protest from Democrats, who have called on the FBI to investigate the allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford, a professor from California, and to expand the number of witnesses who would be called beyond Ford and Kavanaugh. "What is happening with the Judiciary Committee, really, I would call it a railroad job," Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said. "They are totally intent on getting Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court come hell or high water ... You have to ask yourself why." Hirono spoke at an event on Capitol Hill to highlight a letter of support that was said to have been signed by more than 1,000 alumni of Ford's high school in Maryland. Story continues below  Speaking at the same event, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N. Y., said she considered the Republican ultimatum of a Monday hearing to be "bullying." Gillibrand also argued that Ford's call for an FBI investigation bolstered her credibility. "Someone who is lying does not ask the FBI to investigate their claims," she said. "Who is not asking the FBI to investigate these claims? The White House. Judge Kavanaugh has not asked to have the FBI investigate these claims. Is that the reaction of an innocent person? It is not." Ford has alleged that while she and Kavanaugh were at a house party in the early 1980s, when the two were in high school, Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed, groped her and put his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams as he tried to take off her clothes. Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has asked Ford's attorneys to respond by 10 a.m. Friday on whether she plans to appear before his panel at a hearing planned for Monday. Ford, through her attorneys, has requested that the FBI conduct an investigation into the alleged incident before she speaks to the committee, and Senate Democrats have lined up behind her. But Republicans have not budged from their view that the FBI does not need to intervene, or from their plan to hear testimony from Kavanaugh and Ford on Monday. Cornyn said Thursday that he sees no reason to call additional witnesses, noting that the committee already held a full hearing on President Donald Trump's nominee. "We already had a hearing," Cornyn said. "That's what I call hijacking the regular committee process to accommodate political interests." On Thursday, a group of eight Democrats wrote to Trump, asking him to direct the FBI to reopen its background check on Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Democrats, all of whom served as prosecutors or state attorneys general, noted that President George H.W. Bush asked the FBI to investigate after law professor Anita Hill raised allegations of sexual harassment against Judge Clarence Thomas in 1991. "Senate Republicans are attempting to make Dr. Blasey Ford testify on just a few days' notice — without having the FBI follow up on her allegations and provide a report first," said the letter, which was spearheaded by Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. "This strikes us as simply a check-the-box exercise in a rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."