Eager to avoid the optics—and the reality—of 11 male Republican senators questioning Christine Blasey Ford about her sexual assault allegation, the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee Republicans have hired Phoenix-based prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to lead the high-stakes questioning Thursday. Mitchell is a registered Republican who has worked for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for 26 years, and currently serves as the sex crimes bureau chief for county attorney’s office.
Here’s more on Mitchell from the Washington Post:
In a 2011 interview, Mitchell said she was drawn to sex crimes work after she was paired with a senior lawyer prosecuting a youth choir director after joining the office as a law clerk awaiting the results of her bar exam. “It was different than anything that I would have ever imagined it being,” she said. “It struck me how innocent and vulnerable the victims of these cases really were.”
She is now a supervisor, where her duties include analyzing legislative changes and managing other attorneys. In an interview earlier this year on a local NPR radio station, she talked about the nuts-and-bolts of the office’s adoption of a new sex crimes protocol, the first in office history, intended to improve the investigation and prosecution of cases. She said the new manual would ensure prosecutors “have something to look at to say, okay, these are the best practices, so that we can do the best we can for victims.”
“I’m very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said in a statement Tuesday.
“Ms. Mitchell has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity.”
