Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has addressed the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary as part of an investigation into sexual assault accusations, which you can watch live here.
His accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, told senators earlier Thursday that Donald Trump's pick for the US Supreme Court drunkenly tried to remove her clothing, pinned her to a bed and groped her at a party in the summer of 1982, when she was 15 and he was 17. "I am here today not because I want to be," She said. "I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school."
“I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me,” Dr Ford continued. “ I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.”
By Thursday afternoon, Mr Kavanaugh approached the Judiciary Committee and vehemently denied any wrongdoing, while acknowledging his appreciation for beer and admitting he may have drank excessively on several occasions throughout his life.
He said he could not recall the incident, while some members of the Republican Party have dismissed them as part of a smear campaign and a Democratic plot to sink Judge Kavanaugh's nomination. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from North Carolina, repeatedly lambasted Democrats on Thursday afternoon, saying, "I’m really upset that they knew about this in August and never told anybody. … All I can say is that we’re 40 days away from the election, and their goal — not Ms. Ford’s goal — is to lay this past the midterms so they can win the Senate and never allow Trump to fill this seat…I don’t know who paid for her polygraph but somebody did. … I feel ambushed".
"When it comes to where it happened, I still don’t know. I don’t know when it happened. She said she’s 100 percent certain it did happen," he continued. "I bet you Judge Kavanaugh will say 'I’m 100 percent sure I didn't do it.' … She can’t tell us how she got home and how she got there. That’s the facts I’m left with. A nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story … if this is enough, God help anybody else that gets nominated."
Mr Trump, who nominated judge Kavanaugh and fiercely defends him, said he was “open to changing my mind" in a press conference last night.
The Senate Judiciary Committee - 11 Republicans, all men, and 10 Democrats - will consider all sides over the hearing, which could go on into next week.
