Who is Rachel Mitchell, the prosecutor chosen to question Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser?

On Thursday, Republicans will question Christine Blasey Ford on her allegations that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, and will do so with the choice of directing their questions through a prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell.

But who is Rachel Mitchell?

Mitchell is a career sex abuse prosecutor chosen to present Republican senators’ questions to Ford, a move that appears to be done to avoid the bad optics of the 11 male Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning Ford about sexual assault.

In 1991, when Clarence Thomas had his hearings to confirm his nomination to the Supreme Court, a similar situation arose, when a woman, in this case, Anita Hill, came forward accusing him of sexual harassment. In that case, Hill testified before men who were criticized as being dismissive, so the hiring of Mitchell is one way to avoid a similar situation.

Mitchell is a career prosecutor and registered Republican from Arizona who specializes in sex abuse cases. She comes from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix — the same county that is home to Sheriff Joe Arpaio — and is chief of the Special Victims Division. She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children.

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Mitchell was awarded prosecutor of the year by her office in 2006, and has been praised for her caring attitude towards sexual abuse victims.

She was a part of a team of prosecutors who pressed cases against Catholic priests in a sex abuse scandal about 15 years ago in Phoenix, and she examined some of the hundreds of sex-crime cases botched by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office between 2004-2007 to see if they could be salvaged and taken to court.

Mitchell’s compassion for sexual assault victims makes her an ironic choice to present questions from the GOP.

Nevertheless, Mitchell was chosen by Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley to “depoliticize the process and get to the truth,” as said in a statement.

Ford and Kavanaugh’s testimony will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday. It is centred on Ford alleging that Kavanaugh pinned her down and covered her mouth while trying to remove her clothes when they were both in high school.