MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
As you've probably heard by now, the Senate has voted to confirm D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. As you likely also know, this has been a trying period for all involved. Earlier this hour, we heard from someone who knows and supports Judge Kavanaugh. Now we're going to hear from Lisa Banks. She is one of the lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who told a Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh assaulted her years ago.
When I spoke with Lisa Banks yesterday, I asked whether Ford, a psychology professor, was aware of all of the women who say they have been inspired to share their own stories of sexual assault as a result of her testimony.
LISA BANKS: I think the impact that she has had on this country is tremendous. I'm not certain she has a sense of that yet - the full impact. And I'm not sure we've seen the full impact. But certainly, what she has done has unleashed something that is going to move this country in a better direction. And women across the country - across the world, for that matter - have found their voice to come forward, to have the courage to come forward and say, I am a survivor, too or to tell their story.
MARTIN: What does professor Ford want to happen now? Lisa Banks, you told my colleague Rachel Martin when you spoke with her shortly after her name became public that her goal has been and is now that the information be provided to the people making the decision so that those making this decision can make an informed decision with all the facts. That's happened. So what does she want to happen now?
BANKS: Well, I think she did want the senators casting a vote to be fully informed. And what would - I would say is that they're not fully informed because what we did not get was an FBI investigation as FBI investigations are typically conducted. They did not interview many, many, many witnesses who were identified both by Dr. Ford, by Ms. Ramirez and by others who would have had important critical information and even corroborating information. And so the senators, frankly, are not fully informed in casting their vote.
MARTIN: There is some evidence that this is having a galvanizing effect on both parties. I mean, there is some evidence that Republicans are now much more interested in the midterms than they had been previously. Democrats are showing similar things. There's some evidence that it is kind of energizing both sides. If that's the case, what do you or what does Dr. Ford think about that?
BANKS: I think what she has done is incredibly important in that she has given a voice to hundreds of thousands of women across the country and throughout the world. And so I think that that can't be underestimated. And this is going to be an important moment. We're going to look back on it. And we may be looking back on it in November. It may have an impact in November, and it may not. I don't know. I think it will because it has raised a lot of passions and concerns among the American people, and it's a debate we're going to continue to have beyond this weekend and beyond November.
MARTIN: That was Lisa Banks, one of the attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford. I spoke with her yesterday before the final confirmation vote. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
