BRETT KAVANAUGH ‘I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.’
In a defiant and emotional defense, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday denied allegations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when both were high school students and told Congress that Democrats were engaged in “a calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
“I’m here today to tell the truth. I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“You have replaced ‘advice and consent’ with ‘search and destroy,’ ” he said, referring to the Constitution’s charge to senators’ duties in confirming high officials.
He vowed to continue his effort 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.
Within moments of the eight-hour proceedings concluding, Trump tweeted his approval of Kavanaugh’s performance and called on the Senate to move swiftly to a vote.
“His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting,” Trump said. “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!”
During a break, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he expects the Judiciary panel to vote on Kavanaugh today and expects him to be voted out favorably.
Behind him in the audience, his wife, Ashley, sat looking stricken at times. He himself was close to tears when he mentioned his mother and daughter and, later, his father.
Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation had seemed assured until Ford came forward and then other women emerged with additional allegations of sexual misconduct. The conservative jurist, now 53, emphatically denied them repeatedly Thursday.
“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparently pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside, left-wing opposition groups,” Kavanaugh told the committee. “This is a circus.”
“I intend no ill will to Dr. Ford and her family,” Kavanaugh said. He choked back tears while saying that his 10-year-old daughter, in saying her evening prayers recently, told Kavanaugh’s wife that “we should pray for the woman.”
The nominee was tearful through portions of his opening statement: while expressing 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.
Kavanaugh said Ford’s allegation is “refuted by the very people she says were there,” including a female friend of Ford’s who says she doesn’t remember the party. He said his calendar for the summer of 1982 “shows all but definitely that I was not there.”
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,” Kavanaugh said.
At times, Kavanaugh interrupted Democratic senators’ questions, including on whether he’d support their bid for testimony by Mark Judge, the friend who Ford has claimed participated in Kavanaugh’s attack on her.
When Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., pressed him to request an FBI probe, Kavanaugh said he’d do whatever the committee wished and repeatedly refused to change that position. Trump and Republicans have refused to bring the FBI into the matter.
“I want to know what you want to do,” Durbin said.
“I’m telling the truth,” said Kavanaugh.
“I want to know what you want to do, judge!” Durbin repeated.
“I’m innocent. I’m innocent of this charge,” Kavanaugh said.
The emotional tone continued as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of Kavanaugh’s strongest backers, lashed out at Democrats.
“Boy, you all want power,” he said, rising in his seat. “God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham that you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford. None. She’s as much of a victim as you.”
Graham accused Democrats of trying to paint Kavanaugh as “Bill Cosby when you’re a junior and senior in high school.”
He said they were executing a cynical political ploy to deny Trump a Supreme Court seat — “the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.”
And he said if they really wanted to get to the truth, Democrats would have come forward with Ford’s account weeks before.
“What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020,” he said.
Republicans are looking for Kavanaugh to cement a conservative majority on the court, while Democrats say he could provide the fifth vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., noted that two other accusers came forward in the last several days. They aren’t scheduled to testify before the committee.
Several GOP lawmakers who remain publicly undecided — most notably Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Maine’s Susan Collins and Arizona’s Jeff Flake — said they wanted to hear what Ford and Kavanaugh have to say before making up their minds.