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KAVANAUGH HEARING | Hearing concludes
WASHINGTON (AP)
In a defiant and emotional bid to rescue his Supreme Court nomination, Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday denied allegations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when both were high school students and angrily told Congress that Democrats were engaged in “a calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
In her own testimony, Ford told the same Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “100 percent” certain a drunken young Kavanaugh had pinned her to a bed, tried to remove her clothes and clapped a hand over her mouth as she tried to yell for help. She described “uproarious laughter” by Kavanaugh and his friend whom she said also was involved in the alleged incident in a locked bedroom at a gathering of high school friends.
The Judiciary panel’s daylong hearing, an extraordinary Senate airing of long-ago and painfully personal memories, came as GOP support for Kavanaugh’s ascension to Supreme Court lay in the balance. It colcluded in the early evening.
Kavanaugh vowed to continue his bid to join the high court, to which President Donald Trump nominated him in July. Now a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, Kavanaugh seemed assured of confirmation until Ford and several other accusers emerged in recent weeks. He has denied all the accusations.
“You may defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit, never,” he said in an irate voice.
Both Kavanaugh and Ford testified under sworn oath, leaving senators who will decide his fate and millions of Americans watching on television to parse whose version to believe.
5:05 p.m.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Democrats’ treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the “most despicable thing” he has seen in politics.
Graham said Thursday that Democrats sat on allegations against Kavanaugh and then sprung them on the nominee at the last minute in a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation.
The South Carolina senator says Democrats want to “destroy” Kavanaugh’s life and hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020.
Graham says a vote against Kavanaugh would “legitimize the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics.” He also called the Democrats’ tactics “the most unethical sham.”
Graham supported Republicans’ ultimately successful efforts to block action on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
4:35 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is calling certain allegations against him a “joke” and a “farce.”
Kavanaugh made the statements while testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee following allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her in high school. Allegations by other women followed those by Ford.
Kavanaugh was referring specifically to allegations by Julie Swetnick, whose name and allegations became public Wednesday, a day before the hearings. Swetnick said in a sworn statement that she witnessed Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s.”
Kavanaugh was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein when he said: “The Swetnick thing is a joke, that’s a farce.”
Feinstein asked Kavanaugh if he wanted to say more about Swetnick’s allegations. Kavanaugh responded: “No.”
4:15 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is apologizing to a high school acquaintance whose name was in a yearbook entry written by him and others with the word “alumnus” after.
Kavanaugh called Renate Schroeder Dolphin “a good female friend” whom people in his social circle “would admire and went to dances with.” He said the yearbook reference “was clumsily intended to show affection and that she was one of us.”
He says the media has falsely interpreted the term “alumnus” as being related to sex. He said it was not, adding that he and Dolphin “never had any sexual interaction at all.”
He says, “So sorry to her for that yearbook reference.”
According to reports, Dolphin had initially been one of 65 women to endorse Kavanaugh after the sexual assault allegations came to light from Christine Blasey Ford. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusation.
Dolphin withdrew her endorsement after Ford’s accusation came to light.
3:45 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says the sexual allegations against him are a "calculated and orchestrated political hit."
California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a gathering while they were in high school. She says she's 100 percent certain it was him. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Both are testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He says part of the reason for the allegations is anger by some about President Donald Trump and the 2016 election, and out of revenge on "behalf of the Clintons." In the 1990s, Kavanaugh was part of the team that investigated President Bill Clinton as part of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation. The report led to Clinton's impeachment, though he was not removed from office.
Kavanaugh said Thursday that the allegations are also the result of money from left-wing opposition groups.
3:40 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is choking up before the Senate Judiciary Committee as he fights back against allegations of sexual assault.
The judge sounded angry and tried to hold back tears Thursday as he told senators he was "innocent of this charge." Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford testified earlier that he groped her and held her down during a party when they were teens.
Kavanaugh "categorically denied" all aspects of her testimony, saying he never did those things years ago.
The father of two daughters says one of his girls said they should "pray for the woman" making the allegations.
Kavanaugh says, "That's a lot of wisdom from a 10 year old." He says, "We mean no ill will."
Kavanaugh continued his testimony, his voice rising and choking up, throughout.
3:35 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he "never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind" with Christine Blasey Ford.
Kavanaugh is testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford testified earlier, telling senators that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a gathering in high school.
She says he and a friend barricaded her in a room and Kavanaugh got on top of her and covered her mouth so she could not cry out for help. She says she is "100 percent" certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
Kavanaugh said that he isn't questioning whether Ford was sexually assaulted — but he says he did not do that to her or anyone. He says he's "innocent of this charge."
3:30 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is telling a Senate panel that he "will not be intimidated" into withdrawing his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh told lawmakers Thursday in his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee: "You may defeat me in the final vote, but you'll never get me to quit. Never."
Kavanaugh was speaking following testimony by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford. She says that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens and that she is "100 percent" certain it was him.
Kavanaugh told lawmakers he is "innocent of this charge."
3:25 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is giving a defiant opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee to clear his name of allegations of sexual assault.
Kavanaugh told senators on Thursday the allegations have left his family and his name "totally and permanently destroyed."
The appellate court judge sounded angry, his voice rising. He says, "This confirmation process has become a national disgrace."
He lashed out at the committee over the time it has taken to convene the hearing after Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford's allegation first emerged. He says, "This is a circus."
He urged senators to listen to the people who know him and not those making grotesque allegations against him.
3:15 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has told a Senate panel that his family and his name "have been totally and permanently destroyed."
Kavanaugh spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday after Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were in high school. She said she was terrified to come forward but did so because she felt it was her civic duty.
He says his confirmation process has become "a national disgrace" and a "character assassination."
Ford says the attack is seared in her memory and she is "100 percent" certain that it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
3:10 p.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is resuming with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh set to testify on allegations he sexually assaulted a girl when both were in high school.
Kavanaugh says the allegations are false. California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified for nearly four hours on Thursday.
She told senators that Kavanaugh attacked her at a gathering while they were in high school. She says he held his hand over her mouth so no one could hear her scream.
She says the attack is seared in her memory and she is "100 percent" certain that it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
3:05 p.m.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he's now more convinced than ever that Democrats' goal is to delay the vote on President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee to after the midterms.
Graham spoke Thursday afternoon after Christine Blasey Ford finished testifying at a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. She says he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denies.
Graham called Ford "a nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story," but he called her account "uncorroborated." He complained that she couldn't remember the house, the city or the month in which she says the attack occurred.
2:55 p.m.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is blasting Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee for failing to call additional witnesses to testify about allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.
The New York senator said Thursday that it is "an outrage" that Republicans did not force Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge to testify under oath. Ford says Judge was present when Kavanaugh attacked her.
Both Judge and Kavanaugh have denied her allegations.
Gillibrand says the hearing "has been unfair" to Ford, noting that Republicans assigned a female prosecutor to question her on their behalf, even though Ford "is not on trial."
Gillibrand said the message Republicans are sending to sexual assault survivors is, "We don't believe you, your voice doesn't matter and we don't value you."
2:45 p.m.
Several women in the audience stood up when Christine Blasey Ford finished testifying and said loudly, "Thank you, Dr. Ford!"
On Thursday afternoon, Ford finished her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. She says he pinned her onto a bed, groped her and tried to take her clothes off while laughing with a friend, who was also in the room.
She said Thursday that she was "terrified" to be speaking at the hearing but felt that it was her civic duty to come forward.
Ford blew kisses to a couple of people in the audience after her testimony ended.
Kavanaugh is set to testify next. He has denied Ford's allegation.
2:35 p.m.
The memoir of Brett Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge appears to support one aspect of Christine Blasey Ford's account of the summer of 1982.
Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that she ran into Judge at the Potomac Village Safeway where he worked six to eight weeks after she says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while Judge watched. Ford said Judge was arranging shopping carts and seemed "nervous" to see her.
Judge wrote in his book "Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk" that he worked at the local supermarket the summer before his senior year, which would have been 1982. Judge says he worked there to raise money for football camp.
Ford has been criticized for saying she could not remember the precise date of her alleged assault.
Kavanaugh and Judge have denied Ford's allegation.
2:20 p.m.
Two attorneys representing Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford at her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing say they're working for her pro bono.
Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich said Thursday they're not being paid to represent Ford over her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
Ford was pressed by attorney Rachel Mitchell if anyone was helping with her legal fees.
Ford said she understood a GoFundMe campaign was started to help her cover the costs of telling her story. She says friends were also helping pay for security for her and her family.
Bromwich said he had "no expectation of being paid." Katz said similar.
Ford said Katz was recommended by the office of the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
2:15 p.m.
The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers has finished her testimony before a Senate panel.
California psychology professor Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford finished her testimony Thursday afternoon, about four hours after the hearing began. Ford alleges that one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, groped her and tried to take off her clothes. She said she was ultimately able to escape.
Ford showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged attack, telling senators her certainty that Kavanaugh was responsible was "100 percent."
Lawmakers are expected to next hear from Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations.
2 p.m.
Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford says she doesn't have any political motivation for coming forward with accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were teenagers.
Ford is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the accusations.
When Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii asked Ford about her motive for appearing, Ford said she'd been trying to get the information on the alleged assault to the committee while there was still a list of potential high court nominees.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation, and he's set to address the committee later Thursday.
1:55 p.m.
Two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee say allegations made by Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh haven't been substantiated.
For South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, "It's not about, 'Do I believe her?'" but whether the sexual assault allegation from when Ford and Kavanaugh were teenagers is corroborated.
He says, "Is his denial any less believable than her allegation?"
Texas Sen. John Cornyn says "you need more than an accusation for evidence. You need corroboration. That's what's missing here."
Cornyn said Ford is repeating accusations already made in a sworn statement.
Graham says Democrats are trying to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation until after the midterm elections.
1:50 p.m.
Some of the more talkative members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are suddenly quiet after hearing Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford testify.
She's answering questions about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. He denies the allegation.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tells reporters he's "just listening" to the testimont. Another typically talkative Republican, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, says he has not comment.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is shrugging off Ford's testimony as "nothing new."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — who's not on the committee — is ignoring reporters' questions about how the hearing has been going.
And South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said he hasn't been watching the proceedings.
1:30 p.m.
A long-serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault when they were teenagers is "attractive" and "pleasing."
Utah's Orrin Hatch made the comments as the committee broke for lunch after hearing several hours of testimony from Christine Blasey Ford.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and when Hatch was asked whether he found Ford to be believable, he said: "It's too early to say. I don't think she's uncredible. But it's way early."
And when a reporter asked the 84-year-old Hatch what he meant by saying the 51-year-old was "attractive," he said: "In other words, she's pleasing."
He said: "I'll say this. She's attractive, and she's a nice person and I wish her well."
Hatch is a senior member of the committee who was also at the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings.
1:15 p.m.
Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace says Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford's testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is "a disaster" for Republicans.
Wallace and some others on Fox have used breaks in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to say Ford has performed strongly her early testimony. And they're expressing frustration about the line of questioning by the prosecutor hired by Republicans to question Ford about her sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh.
The commentators' assessment is important because the White House says President Donald Trump, who was flying from New York to Washington as the hearing started, was watching Fox's coverage.
Fox's Brit Hume put it this way about Ford: "The more hesitant, the more fragile she has seemed, the more credible and powerful she seems to the audience."
1:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump's eldest son is taking issue with Christine Blasey (BLAH'-zee) Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as she shares her recollections of an alleged sexual assault years ago by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Donald Trump Jr. is a fierce defender of his father and he frequently sounds off on Twitter. He's citing Ford's description of her fear of flying and her saying that she finds it easier when she's going on vacation.
Trump Jr. tweets that he's "no psychology professor," but he says it seems "weird" him "that someone could have a selective fear of flying."
12:51 p.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says no one helped write the letter she sent privately to Sen. Dianne Feinstein outlining her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Asked Thursday by attorney Rachel Mitchell at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing if Ford had any help, Ford answered flatly, "No."
Ford explained how she was weighing whether to come forward about the incident from 35 years ago. Kavanaugh denies assaulting her when they were teens.
Ford first brought her concerns privately in July to her congresswoman, Anna Eshoo. The California Democrat suggested she write the letter to Feinstein.
Ford described a "fairly brief" phone call with Feinstein once the senator had received the letter.
For says she started interviewing lawyers because the few other people she had told said she would need one.
12:23 p.m.
The prosecutor at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing questioning Christine Blasey Ford about her allegation of sexual assault has asked about her fear of flying.
Attorney Rachel Mitchell asked Ford about her anxieties. Ford acknowledged Thursday a discomfort with airplanes but said she was "able to get up the gumption" and fly from California to Washington for the hearing. She said she's also taken planes for vacations.
Asked if other factors in her life could be causing anxiety, Ford said there was "nothing as striking" as the event with Kavanaugh.
Ford alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were teens. He denies the allegation.
Mitchell is a Phoenix prosecutor hired by Republicans to handle questioning for the all-male GOP side of the dais.
12:01 p.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she is "100 percent" certain that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high-school teenagers.
Ford answered in response to Sen. Dick Durbin's question asking what degree of certainty Ford had that it was Kavanaugh.
It was the second time in the televised hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that Ford asserted that her claim against Kavanaugh was not a case of mistaken identity.
Both instances were in response to questions from Democratic senators who were trying to reinforce Ford's credibility as Kavanaugh's accuser.
11:58 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has left his suburban Maryland home ahead of his expected testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations he sexually assaulted a teen at a party.
Kavanaugh left through the side door of his Chevy Chase, Maryland, home where an American flag was hung outside the front door and a basketball hoop stood out front.
Kavanaugh stepped into a waiting black SUV as a reporter shouted questions. He did not comment.
While he got into his car, his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford was being questioned by senators. She told the panel that she was barricaded in a bedroom by Kavanaugh and a friend, and Kavanaugh held her down, covered her mouth and sexually assaulted her. He denies the allegations.
11:52 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford has testified that she saw Brett Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge a few weeks after she says Kavanaugh assaulted her.
Ford says Judge was in the room when Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a gathering when they were teens. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, denies assaulting Ford. Judge in a statement said he has "no memory" of the alleged incident.
Ford told the senators she ran into Judge at a Safeway store roughly "six to eight weeks" after the assault. She recalled that after she said hello, "his face was white." She said Judge was "nervous," didn't want to speak with her and "looked a little bit ill."
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee want to subpoena Judge for his testimony. Republicans have rejected that request. Judge, through his lawyer, has said he does not wish to speak publicly.
11:38 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says her strongest memory of the time she alleges Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens is the laughter.
Ford, a research psychologist and professor, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that "indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter."
She was describing Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, the other teen she says was present as they locked her in a room at a party.
The 51-year-old mom from Palo Alto, California, was asked by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont of her strongest memory of the incident.
Ford testified that Kavanaugh and Judge "were laughing with each other."
Asked if she has ever forgotten that laughter, she shook her head no.
She described being "underneath one of them" as the two laughed.
11:33 a.m.
President Donald Trump is watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Air Force One on a slight delay.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump is watching it a bit "delayed" because he was in transit when the proceedings started.
Sanders had no additional reaction to the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school students in the 1980s.
Trump did not speak to Kavanaugh on Thursday.
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