women thought it strange that Ford had thrust Keyser into the spotlight without any warning. Keyser reportedly felt “blindsided.” High school friends were particularly bothered that Ford had brought attention to Keyser’s health problems—neck and back surgeries and their pain management, which had sidelined her impressive career as the Georgetown University golf coach—in front of millions watching the hearings. Family members told the Daily Mail that the pressure to confirm Ford’s allegation and the slight in front of the Senate had upset Keyser.7
These reports were not entirely accurate, and what actually happened was both simpler and more complex. Keyser simply could not remember anything like what Ford described, and saying so was difficult.
Keyser, a registered Democrat, was opposed to Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. In 2018 she was developing a liberal podcast with Bob Beckel, the Democratic political operative who was her first husband and the father of her two children. She was completely taken aback when the Senate Judiciary Committee asked her about Ford’s allegation. She wished she could have corroborated the story but was unable to. She couldn’t recall even meeting Kavanaugh.
Keyser and Ford, who met in seventh grade, were part of a close circle of friends at Holton-Arms who still keep in touch. In their youth, Keyser felt protective of Ford. She drove her around in a wood-paneled station wagon. Ford’s other regular driver was her brother Tom Blasey, who was only a year older but in the same grade.
The summer of 1982 was one that Keyser remembered well. Her grandmother had introduced her to golf only the previous summer, and she immediately fell in love with the game and the life lessons it afforded her. She had gotten her dream job at Congressional Country Club, working for the renowned Bob Benning in the golf pro shop. The schedule was crazy—sometimes as many as sixty hours a week. Her free time was spent on the golf course, playing until dark. She loved the challenge of the sport, which would shape her life, her relationships, and even her career.
That summer, instead of hanging out with her friends, she focused on golf and playing tournaments. Athletics and Holton-Arms were central to her life then. Her immediate family didn’t have much money, so her grandparents were paying for school. She appreciated the opportunity and didn’t want to squander it. After Holton, she attended the University of Virginia and became the first person in her family to graduate from college.
Keyser had attended Ford’s wedding, but apart from a brief exchange at a gathering of high school friends, she had had little interaction with her in the ten years prior to the allegation about Kavanaugh. The past five years in particular had been difficult. Her health challenges included daily chronic pain and addiction, and she had recently had a knee replaced. Her second marriage had ended in divorce, she had moved twice, her mother and father had passed away, and two siblings had died from addiction. Keyser herself had been in recovery for years, and her twelve-step program kept her keenly aware of her daily challenges.
On June 28, 2018, the day after Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, Ford sent Keyser a Facebook Messenger note out of the blue. It read, “Kinda freaking out that Brett K who tried to rape me in high school may be going on to the Supreme Court.” It was the first time Keyser had ever heard about the alleged assault, and she found the message both surprising and alarming.
On Monday, September 17, the day after the Washington Post story about Ford was published, Keyser’s housekeeper came up to her bedroom to tell her that a friend was waiting for her downstairs. She came down to find Emma Brown, the reporter from the Post, sitting at her kitchen table. Brown identified herself and began talking about the night of the alleged assault. When asked, Keyser said she believed her friend Christine. When Brown indicated that Keyser herself had supposedly been at the gathering, however, Keyser quickly texted two friends of hers and Ford’s, letting them know there was a reporter in her kitchen and asking if they knew why. While the friends already knew who the reporter was, they told Keyser to speak to no reporters at all, so she asked Brown to leave.
As interest in Keyser mounted, press vehicles blocked the road to her home, and she was forced to move into a hotel. Keyser had no idea she was going to be named as