FIERY, EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY
Kavanaugh denies sex allegations
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was angry, tearful and unequivocal — he was “100 per cent” certain he did not sexually assault Christine Blasey Ford.
Ford was “terrified”, calm and equally unequivocal — she was “100 per cent” certain Kavanaugh had tried to rape her during a high school party 36 years ago.
Kavanaugh and Ford faced off Thursday at a riveting Senate hearing with both giving emotional and dramatic testimony that could not be reconciled with each other.
Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist at Stanford University, was first to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
She described how as a 15-year-old she was shoved into a bedroom at the party and found herself confronted by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge.
“(Kavanaugh) began running his hands over my body and grinding into me,” she recounted, describing in detail how her allegedly drunken assailant struggled to undress her.
“I believed he was going to rape me,” she said.
“I tried to yell for help; when I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is 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 Brett was accidentally going to kill me.”
During the morning session, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin asked Ford how certain she was that Kavanaugh was her attacker. Without hesitation, she replied: “100 per cent.”
Then, when asked about the incident’s most indelible moment: the laughter, she said, her voice clear but close to breaking.
“The uproarious laughter between the two, and their having fun at my expense.”
Ford said the incident had “haunted me episodically as an adult.” She said she was “terrified” to testify before the committee and that she “agonized daily” about whether to come forward with her claim.
And she denied being part of any political conspiracy: “I am an independent person and I am no one’s pawn.”
Later, Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, was himself defiant, at times visibly enraged, and at other times struggling to hold back tears.
“My family has been destroyed by this,” said Kavanaugh, insisting he was not at the gathering at a suburban Maryland home in the summer of 1982 where Ford has alleged she was attacked.
“I was not at the party described by Dr. Ford,” Kavanaugh said.
He said, “I intend no ill will to Dr. Ford and her family.” And he choked back tears while describing how his 10-year-old daughter, in saying her evening prayers recently, told Kavanaugh’s wife Ashley, “we should pray for the woman.”
The nominee expressed gratitude to his friends, saying he had no sexual intercourse until well after high school, and saying he drank beer in high school.
“But I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out and I did not sexually assault anyone,” he said.
And he was adamant to the committee about staying on as nominee.
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. I have been through hell and then some,” he said. “You may defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit. Never.”
He excoriated Democratic committee members as being complicit in what he called a “national disgrace.”
“This is a circus,” he declared, gesticulating at the Democratic side as he all but accused them of masterminding a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
“I’m going to talk about my high school record if you’re going to sit here and mock me,” Kavanaugh told Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont as the two interrupted each other during a discussion of his yearbook.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois challenged Kavanaugh to ask the White House to order the FBI to question other witnesses about Ford’s allegations against him, a suggestion rejected by Trump and Senate Republicans.
“You know that’s a phoney question because the FBI doesn’t reach conclusions,” Kavanaugh responded.
He added if an unproven allegation “is enough to destroy a person’s life and career we will have abandoned the basic principles of fairness and due process that define our legal system and our country.”
GOP Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina erupted in anger during the hearing. “What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020,” he said, pointing angrily at his Democratic colleagues. “You’ve said that, not me.”
“When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey said hello because I voted for them,” Graham said, referring to Democraticappointed justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. “I would never do to them what you’ve done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.”
Minutes after the hearing finished, Trump demanded a Senate vote on confirmation and praised Kavanaugh’s performance.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Friday, and the full Senate could act as early as next week.