Brett Kavanaugh hearing: Trump tweets support for nominee as hearing ends after Christine Ford says she is '100%' sure judge assaulted her
Dr Christine Ford tells senate she thought Brett Kavanaugh was 'going to rape and accidentally kill' her as Supreme Court judge says his wife and family have been left 'destroyed' by false allegations
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Christine Ford has told Congress that she believed Brett Kavanaugh was "going to rape her" in dramatic testimony over her sexual assault allegation against Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
Dr Ford said she was "100 per cent" sure it was Mr Kavanaugh who assaulted her.
Later, Mr Kavanaugh appeared in front of the same Senate panel, the judiciary committee, and denied the allegations calling the hearing a "circus". He said he believed Dr Ford had been assaulted at some point, but not by him.
Dr Ford said she was "terrified" of testifying, but that she believes it is her "civic duty". Before she began Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, commended her on coming forward.
The clash pitted her word against his. Members of the Senate, controlled 51-49 by Trump's fellow Republicans, must now decide whether to vote to confirm him after the extraordinary nearly nine-hour-long hearing. Senate Republicans planned to meet on Thursday night to discuss the next steps on the nomination.
“I swear today, under oath, before the Senate and the nation, before my family and God, I am innocent of this charge,” Mr Kavanaugh told the Judiciary Committee later.
Calling himself a victim of “grotesque and obvious character assassination,” Mr Kavanaugh, speaking passionately, said he “unequivocally and categorically” denied Dr Ford's allegation.
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process,” Mr Kavanaugh added.
Writing on Twitter after the hearing, President Donald Trump said of Mr Kavanaugh, “His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!”
"I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who are saying that, don't know me. I am an independent person"
"It is not my responsibility to determine" Mr Kavanaugh's suitability for the US Supreme Court.
"My responsibility is to tell you the truth," she said.
"I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth... it was hard for me to breathe. I thought he was accidentally going to kill me," Dr Ford tells the committee
"The first thing that struck me from your testimony is that you said you're terrified. That's not right and I'm very sorry," Ms Mitchell said, beginning her questioning of Dr Ford.
Dr Ford has been asked to clarify screenshots of texts between she and a Washington Post reported.
She clarified she named a person, "PJ," as a "bystander".
"A bystander is someone who witnessed an assault," Dr Ford said, but she indicated "PJ" was present in the home where she said the assault took place, but not in the alleged bedroom itself.
Andrew Buncombe reports Mr Grassley's rapport with Dr Ford, offering her coffee and banter, is markedly different from the way Anita Hill was treated 27 years ago.
Dr Ford is clarifying points in the initial letter she had written to Ms Feinstein.
She noted there may be more than four people in the home she said the assault took place as well as explaining Mr Kavanaugh may have gotten assistance from Mr Judge to "push me" into the bedroom ahead of the alleged assault.
"Anxiety...PTSD symptoms, and claustrophobia" are some of the symptoms Dr Ford said she has been dealing with since the alleged assault.
"The primary impact of the event was in the first four years" after the it, Dr Ford said, adding she "struggled academically" and "forming friendships" at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she had studied after high school.
Dr Ford said she had worried she would be "personally annihilated" if she came forward.
The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back: a reporter had shown up in her classroom, appearing to be one of her psychology students. She said "enough was enough" after members of the media were camping outside her home as well.
"What you're telling us is that this could not be a case of mistaken identity?" Ms Feinstein asked.
"Correct," Dr Ford said, describing the chemical reactions in the brain after a trauma which can cement certain details in a person's memory.
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