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Body language experts weigh in on Ford, Kavanaugh testimony

Posted at 11:37 PM, Sep 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-28 07:20:06-04

Both testimonies from Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh were compelling and emotional but who is telling the truth?

WMAR-2 News spoke to body language experts who gave some insight on how what you don't say can make a difference in whether or not people believe your story.

"Her words and the body language around them were raw.  Her voice was quivering it was not calculated," body language expert, Rebecca Klein Scott, told WMAR-2 News.

"Seeing his body language, his mannerisms, his anger that something occurred in that bedroom and the full truth has not come out," body language expert, Keith Scott said.

WMAR-2 News had them look at the opening statements of Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh.

"She came across as a real person," said Scott.

The Scotts said Kavanaugh’s testimony was more controlled and aggressive.

"When you feel the need to over-prove and overshare as if you have to pull people into your story and make them believe what you’re saying and then let me give you that one more detail and then maybe you'll believe me; it felt very defensive."

Scott said Kavanaugh's physical cues suggested there's more to the story.

"The constant taking the tongue and putting it in the cheek, the constant soothing.  What we have found is that individuals that are continually doing that, any kind of soothing is that they’re very unsure of themselves."

Many have commented on social media about Kavanaugh's open emotion; seen differently by our experts.

"It may have been real crying because who would want to be in a situation where your daughters, your wife, everybody is looking at you this way.  I'm not going to say with 100 percent surety that he did this or didn’t do it because we don’t know but every sign point in the direction to question what he says," Scott said.