Dr. Christine Blasey Ford speaks before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo By Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

Claim

Christine Blasey Ford is related to Nicholas Deak, a CIA operative.

Rating


False

Origin

Numerous right-wing media outlets claim that Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has deep ties to the CIA. Among the many arguments to support this claim, the original report states that Ford is related to a well-known deceased CIA operative Nicholas Deak. But how true is this claim? Let’s take a look at the facts.

Are Christine Blasey Ford and Nicholas Deak Related?

Michael Savage, a conservative personality who runs the right-wing media outlet, Savage Nation, published a report on his website and Twitter alleging Christine Blasey Ford’s ties to the CIA.

According to Savage, Ford heads the CIA Undergraduate Internship Program at Stanford University. Savage also says her brother, Ralph Blasey III, worked with a firm that was connected to Fusion GPS, a research firm involved in the Russian collusion investigation. He even says that Ford’s father and brother operate businesses under the CIA.

The report goes on to say that Ford’s father, Ralph Blasey II, is the son of Nicholas Deak. The Hungarian-born American banker was a secret service operative of the OSS, and subsequently, the CIA.

Deak was the chairman of the Deak-Perera Group and had a globally expansive financial operation. Under his company’s umbrella, Deak allegedly had both legitimate businesses and businesses that were fronts for CIA operations. The group was struck by multiple controversies of money laundering and criminal activity.

Since Savage reported this alleged connection, several conservative outlets have picked it up and shared the story. So, is Christine Blasey Ford really the daughter of the well-known CIA operative?

No, she isn’t. Here’s why.

Nicholas Deak was fatally shot in his office on November 18, 1985 at the age of 80. At that time, he was survived by his wife of four decades, Liselotte, and their only child, a son named Robert Leslie Deak.

Ralph Blasey II is certainly not Nicholas Deak’s son. And there’s no known connection established between Robert Deak and the Blasey family either.

No Connection Between Blasey and Deak Families

According to a 2010 report, R. Leslie Deak, as he goes by in professional circles, is a professional with expertise in Middle Eastern foreign policy, real estate, and finance. Born in a Christian family, he became an Orthodox Jew when he married his first wife. But he’s now a practicing Muslim after marrying his current wife.

Christine Blasey Ford’s grandfather, the first Ralph Blasey, was the president of a small loan corporation. Meanwhile, Ralph Blasey II worked in banks in Washington. He currently owns Red Coats, a private commercial cleaning company.

Her mother, Paula Blasey, spends the majority of her time in the church community. Ford’s brothers, Ralph Blasey III and Tom Blasey are lawyers.

Paula and Ralph Blasey are registered Republicans. Her father is the member of the same golf club as Brett Kavanaugh’s father.

Kavanaugh’s mother, Judge Martha Kavanaugh, ruled in favor of the Blaseys in court a long time ago, when their home was about to be foreclosed.

Ford’s parents and brothers haven’t publicly come out in support of Ford during the hearings barring a single vague statement from her father. Ford’s husband, Russell Ford, and their family, have been by her side throughout the ordeal.

Some attribute her family’s connections to the Republican party as one of the reasons for their silence on the matter. However, many believe that the family is laying low because of the death threats and harassment Ford and those close to her have been subjected to.

As for the other allegations made by Michael Savage, there is a lack of evidence to support those claims. For instance, her connection to Stanford’s CIA program originates from a conspiracy-peddling website.

Ford is a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and an affiliate in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Stanford happens to have an undergraduate CIA internship program, however, Ford is not listed among the faculty.

Instead, she’s listed under the Standford School of Medicine faculty. But her contact details on the university’s websites have been removed, most likely due to all the harassment she was subjected to.

The report further claims that her brother, Ralph Blasey III, previously worked for a law firm connected to Fusion GPS.

But according to the LinkedIn profile associated with this claim, Blasey left that law firm in 2004, long before Fusion GPS was founded in 2011.

Ford’s father and brother now manage Red Coats. And there’s no evidence connecting their company to the CIA.

Several conspiracy theories discrediting Christine Blasey Ford’s hearings have been circulating. But the claim that she’s the granddaughter of deceased CIA operative Nicholas Deak is false.