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!”
Senator Amy Klobuchar interrupts Mr Grassley during his stream of thoughts on Democrats accusing Republicans and the president for not ordering an FBI investigation of Dr Ford's allegations.
She reminded the committee President George HW Bush had, at the time, ordered the investigation open and Justice Clarence Thomas' hearing be re-opened to hear Ms Hill's testimony.
Ms Mitchell now asks Dr Ford if her "anxiety and PTSD" could have been caused by anything other than the alleged assault.
Dr Ford said there are certain "biological" factors may have been present but she was certain it was the incident.
A Republican governor from Massachusetts has called for an investigation on Twitter amid the Kavanaugh-Ford hearings.
“The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation,” Charlie Baker wrote. “There should be no vote in the Senate.”
Donald Trump watched Dr Christine Blasey Ford’s opening testimony aboard Air Force One, per the pool of reporters travelling with the president.
From CNN’s Kevin Liptak:
“Sarah Huckabee Sanders came back to the press cabin during the flight to say that the president was watching Ford’s testimony on AF1 on a bit of a delay.
All of the TV’s on the flight your pooler could see were tuned to Fox News’s live coverage of the hearing.
POTUS has not spoken to Kavanaugh or Rosenstein today, Sanders said. WH will keep us updated on status of Rosenstein meeting.”
Dr Ford described how she decided to contact the Washington Post, saying “My preference was to talk with my congressperson.”
She said she had not contacted the New York Times and instead sent an encrypted text to the Washington Post tip line, when she met reporter Emma Brown.
She also says she met with her representative, Congresswoman Eshoo, saying "I described the night of the incident" and expressed her fears of coming forward.
Chris Coons, a Democratic Senator from Delaware has begun questioning Dr Ford.
He discussed the rate of sexual assault survivors who do not come forward and asked Dr Ford how the alleged assault has impacted her life.
She said the first two years of her college career were tough, before adding she's experienced longer-term impacts on her mental state. Dr Ford has previously said during her testimony that she suffers from elements of PTSD and claustrophobia.
"I was definitely experiencing the fight or flight mode," Dr Ford told Sen Chris Coons, describing other "lucky events" and the "adrenaline" that allowed her to escape from the alleged assault.
Richard Blumenthal described Dr Ford’s testimony as “powerful,” saying “You have given America an incredible teaching moment.”
The senator told Dr Ford she provided “a profound public service” to the country in coming forward.
“Someone who is honest … is also candid about what he or she cannot remember,” he added, defending her lack of memory over several specific details from the alleged assault that took place over 36 years ago.
“If we agree on nothing else today I hope we can agree on a bipartisan basis how much courage it has taken you to come forward and I think you have earned Americas gratitude,” Richard Blumenthal told Dr Ford.
He then asked whether she would like Mark Judge to be interviewed.
“That would be my preference, I’m not sure it’s up to me," she responded.
“It’s not up to you, it’s up to the president of the United States,” the senator concluded.
“I didn’t see any reason not to do it,” Dr Ford replied when asked why she decided to take a polygraph exam about the alleged sexual assault she experienced.
“Based on the advice of counsel,” Dr Ford said she underwent the polygraph exam. “I found it extremely stressful … I told my entire life story, I endured it. It was fine.”
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