The Latest: Ford says she’s certain about who attacked her
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
5:05 p.m.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says the Democrats’ treatment of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is the “most despicable thing” he has seen in politics.
Graham said Thursday that Democrats sat on allegations against Kavanaugh and then sprung them on the nominee at the last minute in a desperate attempt to prevent his confirmation.
The South Carolina senator says Democrats want to “destroy” Kavanaugh’s life and hold the seat open in the hope of winning the White House in 2020.
Graham says a vote against Kavanaugh would “legitimize the most despicable thing I have ever seen in politics.” He also called the Democrats’ tactics “the most unethical sham.”
Graham supported Republicans’ ultimately successful efforts to block action on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
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5 p.m.
In a heated exchange with a Democratic senator, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh dismissed the scrutiny of his high school yearbook as an “absurdity.”
Democratic senators have been bringing up Kavanaugh’s yearbook as they question him about Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford’s allegation of sexual assault when they were teens. Kavanaugh denies the allegation.
Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont asked Kavanaugh about his yearbook and the “drinking” and “sexual exploits” it mentions. As Kavanaugh started to respond, Leahy tried to cut him off.
Kavanaugh retorted, “I’m going to talk about my high school record if you’re going to sit here and mock me.”
After Kavanaugh talked about how he “busted his butt” on academics and played sports in high school, Leahy said: “We got a filibuster but not a single answer.”
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4:35 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is calling certain allegations against him a “joke” and a “farce.”
Kavanaugh made the statements while testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee following allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her in high school. Allegations by other women followed those by Ford.
Kavanaugh was referring specifically to allegations by Julie Swetnick, whose name and allegations became public Wednesday, a day before the hearings. Swetnick said in a sworn statement that she witnessed Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s.”
Kavanaugh was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein when he said: “The Swetnick thing is a joke, that’s a farce.”
Feinstein asked Kavanaugh if he wanted to say more about Swetnick’s allegations. Kavanaugh responded: “No.”
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4:15 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is apologizing to a high school acquaintance whose name was in a yearbook entry written by him and others with the word “alumnus” after.
Kavanaugh called Renate (reh-NAH’-tah) Schroeder Dolphin “a good female friend” whom people in his social circle “would admire and went to dances with.” He said the yearbook reference “was clumsily intended to show affection and that she was one of us.”
He says the media has falsely interpreted the term “alumnus” as being related to sex. He said it was not, adding that he and Dolphin “never had any sexual interaction at all.”
He says, “So sorry to her for that yearbook reference.”
According to reports, Dolphin had initially been one of 65 women to endorse Kavanaugh after the sexual assault allegations came to light from Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford. Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusation.
Dolphin withdrew her endorsement after Ford’s accusation came to light.
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4:05 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says Democrats’ actions in the past couple of weeks may mean he will never again get to do two things he loves, teach law and coach basketball.
Kavanaugh’s comments Thursday came in an extraordinary, 45-minute opening statement in which he repeatedly expressed rancor toward Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh is blaming Democrats for the fraught environment stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct made by Christine Blasey Ford and two other women. He denied sexually assaulting anyone, including Ford when they were teenagers in high school.
The 53-year-old nominee gestured toward the Democrats seated to his right when he said that “thanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed, I may never be able to teach again.” He repeated that formulation when talking about coaching his daughters in basketball.
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4 p.m.
Brett Kavanaugh says he never imagined the topic of sex would come up in a confirmation hearing, but he wants lawmakers to know he never had sexual intercourse or anything close to it during high school or for many years after that.
He said Thursday that for him and the girls he was friends with, the lack of major rampant sexual activity in high school “was a matter of faith and respect and caution.”
He says the committee has a letter from 65 women who knew him in high school and they said he always treated them with dignity and respect.
He says that letter came together in one night 35 years after graduation. He says they knew they would be vilified if they defended him.
Kavanaugh tells senators “think about that. They put themselves on the line for me. Those are some awesome women.”
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3:45 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says the sexual allegations against him are a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified Thursday that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a gathering while they were in high school. She says she’s 100 percent certain it was him. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Both are testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He says part of the reason for the allegations is anger by some about President Donald Trump and the 2016 election, and out of revenge on “behalf of the Clintons.” In the 1990s, Kavanaugh was on the team that investigated President Bill Clinton as part of special prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s investigation. The report led to Clinton’s impeachment, though he was not removed from office.
Kavanaugh said Thursday that the allegations are also the result of money from left-wing opposition groups.
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3:40 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is choking up before the Senate Judiciary Committee as he fights back against allegations of sexual assault.
The judge sounded angry and tried to hold back tears Thursday as he told senators he was “innocent of this charge.” Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford testified earlier that he groped her and held her down during a party when they were teens.
Kavanaugh “categorically denied” all aspects of her testimony, saying he never did those things years ago.
The father of two daughters says one of his girls said they should “pray for the woman” making the allegations.
Kavanaugh says, “That’s a lot of wisdom from a 10 year old.” He says, “We mean no ill will.”
Kavanaugh continued his testimony, his voice rising and choking up, throughout.
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3:35 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he “never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind” with Christine Blasey Ford.
Kavanaugh is testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford testified earlier, telling senators that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a gathering in high school.
She says he and a friend barricaded her in a room and Kavanaugh got on top of her and covered her mouth so she could not cry out for help. She says she is “100 percent” certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
Kavanaugh said that he isn’t questioning whether Ford was sexually assaulted — but he says he did not do that to her or anyone. He says he’s “innocent of this charge.”
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3:30 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is telling a Senate panel that he “will not be intimidated” into withdrawing his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh told lawmakers Thursday in his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee: “You may defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit. Never.”
Kavanaugh was speaking following testimony by California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford. She says that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens and that she is “100 percent” certain it was him.
Kavanaugh told lawmakers he is “innocent of this charge.”
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3:25 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is giving a defiant opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee to clear his name of allegations of sexual assault.
Kavanaugh told senators on Thursday the allegations have left his family and his name “totally and permanently destroyed.”
The appellate court judge sounded angry, his voice rising. He says, “This confirmation process has become a national disgrace.”
He lashed out at the committee over the time it has taken to convene the hearing after Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford’s allegation first emerged. He says, “This is a circus.”
He urged senators to listen to the people who know him and not those making grotesque allegations against him.
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3:15 p.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has told a Senate panel that his family and his name “have been totally and permanently destroyed.”
Kavanaugh spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday after Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were in high school. She said she was terrified to come forward but did so because she felt it was her civic duty.
He says his confirmation process has become “a national disgrace” and a “character assassination.”
Ford says the attack is seared in her memory and she is “100 percent” certain that it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
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3:10 p.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is resuming with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh set to testify on allegations he sexually assaulted a girl when both were in high school.
Kavanaugh says the allegations are false. California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford testified for nearly four hours on Thursday.
She told senators that Kavanaugh attacked her at a gathering while they were in high school. She says he held his hand over her mouth so no one could hear her scream.
She says the attack is seared in her memory and she is “100 percent” certain that it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.
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3:05 p.m.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says he’s now more convinced than ever that Democrats’ goal is to delay the vote on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to after the midterms.
Graham spoke Thursday afternoon after Christine Blasey Ford finished testifying at a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. She says he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, which Kavanaugh denies.
Graham called Ford “a nice lady who has come forward to tell a hard story,” but he called her account “uncorroborated.” He complained that she couldn’t remember the house, the city or the month in which she says the attack occurred.
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2:55 p.m.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is blasting Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee for failing to call additional witnesses to testify about allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.
The New York senator said Thursday that it is “an outrage” that Republicans did not force Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge to testify under oath. Ford says Judge was present when Kavanaugh attacked her.
Both Judge and Kavanaugh have denied her allegations.
Gillibrand says the hearing “has been unfair” to Ford, noting that Republicans assigned a female prosecutor to question her on their behalf, even though Ford “is not on trial.”
Gillibrand said the message Republicans are sending to sexual assault survivors is, “We don’t believe you, your voice doesn’t matter and we don’t value you.”
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2:45 p.m.
Several women in the audience stood up when Christine Blasey Ford finished testifying and said loudly, “Thank you, Dr. Ford!”
On Thursday afternoon, Ford finished her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. She says he pinned her onto a bed, groped her and tried to take her clothes off while laughing with a friend, who was also in the room.
She said Thursday that she was “terrified” to be speaking at the hearing but felt that it was her civic duty to come forward.
Ford blew kisses to a couple of people in the audience after her testimony ended.
Kavanaugh is set to testify next. He has denied Ford’s allegation.
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2:35 p.m.
The memoir of Brett Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge appears to support one aspect of Christine Blasey Ford’s account of the summer of 1982.
Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that she ran into Judge at the Potomac Village Safeway where he worked six to eight weeks after she says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while Judge watched. Ford said Judge was arranging shopping carts and seemed “nervous” to see her.
Judge wrote in his book “Wasted: Tales of a Gen X Drunk” that he worked at the local supermarket the summer before his senior year, which would have been 1982. Judge says he worked there to raise money for football camp.
Ford has been criticized for saying she could not remember the precise date of her alleged assault.
Kavanaugh and Judge have denied Ford’s allegation.
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2:20 p.m.
Two attorneys representing Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford at her Senate Judiciary Committee hearing say they’re working for her pro bono.
Debra Katz and Michael Bromwich said Thursday they’re not being paid to represent Ford over her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
Ford was pressed by attorney Rachel Mitchell if anyone was helping with her legal fees.
Ford said she understood a GoFundMe campaign was started to help her cover the costs of telling her story. She says friends were also helping pay for security for her and her family.
Bromwich said he had “no expectation of being paid.” Katz said similar.
Ford said Katz was recommended by the office of the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
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2:15 p.m.
The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers has finished her testimony before a Senate panel.
California psychology professor Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford finished her testimony Thursday afternoon, about four hours after the hearing began. Ford alleges that one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, groped her and tried to take off her clothes. She said she was ultimately able to escape.
Ford showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged attack, telling senators her certainty that Kavanaugh was responsible was “100 percent.”
Lawmakers are expected to next hear from Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations.
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2 p.m.
Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford says she doesn’t have any political motivation for coming forward with accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when they were teenagers.
Ford is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about the accusations.
When Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii asked Ford about her motive for appearing, Ford said she’d been trying to get the information on the alleged assault to the committee while there was still a list of potential high court nominees.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation, and he’s set to address the committee later Thursday.
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1:55 p.m.
Two Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee say allegations made by Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh haven’t been substantiated.
For South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, “It’s not about, ‘Do I believe her?'” but whether the sexual assault allegation from when Ford and Kavanaugh were teenagers is corroborated.
He says, “Is his denial any less believable than her allegation?”
Texas Sen. John Cornyn says “you need more than an accusation for evidence. You need corroboration. That’s what’s missing here.”
Cornyn said Ford is repeating accusations already made in a sworn statement.
Graham says Democrats are trying to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation until after the midterm elections.
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1:50 p.m.
Some of the more talkative members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are suddenly quiet after hearing Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford testify.
She’s answering questions about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. He denies the allegation.
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas tells reporters he’s “just listening” to the testimont. Another typically talkative Republican, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, says he has not comment.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is shrugging off Ford’s testimony as “nothing new.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — who’s not on the committee — is ignoring reporters’ questions about how the hearing has been going.
And South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said he hasn’t been watching the proceedings.
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1:30 p.m.
A long-serving Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee says the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault when they were teenagers is “attractive” and “pleasing.”
Utah’s Orrin Hatch made the comments as the committee broke for lunch after hearing several hours of testimony from Christine Blasey Ford.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, and when Hatch was asked whether he found Ford to be believable, he said: “It’s too early to say. I don’t think she’s uncredible. But it’s way early.”
And when a reporter asked the 84-year-old Hatch what he meant by saying the 51-year-old was “attractive,” he said: “In other words, she’s pleasing.”
He said: “I’ll say this. She’s attractive, and she’s a nice person and I wish her well.”
Hatch is a senior member of the committee who was also at the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings.
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1:15 p.m.
Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace says Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford’s testimony against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is “a disaster” for Republicans.
Wallace and some others on Fox have used breaks in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to say Ford has performed strongly her early testimony. And they’re expressing frustration about the line of questioning by the prosecutor hired by Republicans to question Ford about her sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh.
The commentators’ assessment is important because the White House says President Donald Trump, who was flying from New York to Washington as the hearing started, was watching Fox’s coverage.
Fox’s Brit Hume put it this way about Ford: “The more hesitant, the more fragile she has seemed, the more credible and powerful she seems to the audience.”
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1:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s eldest son is taking issue with Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee as she shares her recollections of an alleged sexual assault years ago by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Donald Trump Jr. is a fierce defender of his father and he frequently sounds off on Twitter. He’s citing Ford’s description of her fear of flying and her saying that she finds it easier when she’s going on vacation.
Trump Jr. tweets that he’s “no psychology professor,” but he says it seems “weird” him “that someone could have a selective fear of flying.”
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12:51 p.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says no one helped write the letter she sent privately to Sen. Dianne Feinstein outlining her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Asked Thursday by attorney Rachel Mitchell at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing if Ford had any help, Ford answered flatly, “No.”
Ford explained how she was weighing whether to come forward about the incident from 35 years ago. Kavanaugh denies assaulting her when they were teens.
Ford first brought her concerns privately in July to her congresswoman, Anna Eshoo. The California Democrat suggested she write the letter to Feinstein.
Ford described a “fairly brief” phone call with Feinstein once the senator had received the letter.
For says she started interviewing lawyers because the few other people she had told said she would need one.
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12:23 p.m.
The prosecutor at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing questioning Christine Blasey Ford about her allegation of sexual assault has asked about her fear of flying.
Attorney Rachel Mitchell asked Ford about her anxieties. Ford acknowledged Thursday a discomfort with airplanes but said she was “able to get up the gumption” and fly from California to Washington for the hearing. She said she’s also taken planes for vacations.
Asked if other factors in her life could be causing anxiety, Ford said there was “nothing as striking” as the event with Kavanaugh.
Ford alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were teens. He denies the allegation.
Mitchell is a Phoenix prosecutor hired by Republicans to handle questioning for the all-male GOP side of the dais.
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12:01 p.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she is “100 percent” certain that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high-school teenagers.
Ford answered in response to Sen. Dick Durbin’s question asking what degree of certainty Ford had that it was Kavanaugh.
It was the second time in the televised hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that Ford asserted that her claim against Kavanaugh was not a case of mistaken identity.
Both instances were in response to questions from Democratic senators who were trying to reinforce Ford’s credibility as Kavanaugh’s accuser.
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11:58 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has left his suburban Maryland home ahead of his expected testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on allegations he sexually assaulted a teen at a party.
Kavanaugh left through the side door of his Chevy Chase, Maryland, home where an American flag was hung outside the front door and a basketball hoop stood out front.
Kavanaugh stepped into a waiting black SUV as a reporter shouted questions. He did not comment.
While he got into his car, his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford was being questioned by senators. She told the panel that she was barricaded in a bedroom by Kavanaugh and a friend, and Kavanaugh held her down, covered her mouth and sexually assaulted her. He denies the allegations.
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11:52 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford has testified that she saw Brett Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge a few weeks after she says Kavanaugh assaulted her.
Ford says Judge was in the room when Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a gathering when they were teens. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, denies assaulting Ford. Judge in a statement said he has “no memory” of the alleged incident.
Ford told the senators she ran into Judge at a Safeway store roughly “six to eight weeks” after the assault. She recalled that after she said hello, “his face was white.” She said Judge was “nervous,” didn’t want to speak with her and “looked a little bit ill.”
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee want to subpoena Judge for his testimony. Republicans have rejected that request. Judge, through his lawyer, has said he does not wish to speak publicly.
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11:38 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says her strongest memory of the time she alleges Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens is the laughter.
Ford, a research psychologist and professor, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that “indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter.”
She was describing Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, the other teen she says was present as they locked her in a room at a party.
The 51-year-old mom from Palo Alto, California, was asked by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont of her strongest memory of the incident.
Ford testified that Kavanaugh and Judge “were laughing with each other.”
Asked if she has ever forgotten that laughter, she shook her head no.
She described being “underneath one of them” as the two laughed.
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11:33 a.m.
President Donald Trump is watching the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Air Force One on a slight delay.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump is watching it a bit “delayed” because he was in transit when the proceedings started.
Sanders had no additional reaction to the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school students in the 1980s.
Trump did not speak to Kavanaugh on Thursday.
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11:27 a.m.
Miranda Greear of Roanoke, Virginia, is among the hundreds of people who have gathered on Capitol Hill to make their voices heard during Thursday’s historic Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Greear says she wants to show support for survivors of sexual assault.
She says that for years, women have been told they shouldn’t share their stories and that what happened was their fault. She says, “I’m done living in a world where women are not believed.”
Supporters of Brett Kavanaugh are also in the crowd. A Maryland woman, Karen, is wearing a shirt that says “Women for Kavanaugh.” She declined to give her last name because “anybody who gives their last name in this environment is risking harm to themselves.”
Karen says “I think if these allegations were true, it would not have taken 35 years for them to be known.”
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11:17 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she is certain she did not mistakenly identify Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as her attacker at a party when they were both in high school more than 30 years ago.
Ford was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein about how she could be sure it was Kavanaugh and not someone else who assaulted her in the bedroom of a home in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C.
Ford said, “The same way I am sure I am talking to you right now.”
Feinstein said: “So what you are telling us is this could not be a case of mistaken identity.”
Ford’s response: “Absolutely not.”
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11:10 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says the alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “drastically altered her life for a very long time.”
Ford is testifying Thursday at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kavanaugh has denied the accusations. He is expected to testify later.
She says she was assaulted by Kavanaugh during a small gathering in high school.
Ford says she suffered anxiety, phobia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-like symptoms.
She says the primary impact on her life was the four years after it happened. She struggled in college both academically and socially, and had an especially difficult time forming friendships with boys.
She says it also manifested more recently. She asked her husband to make two front doors in their California home as a result of the attack, so she could have a way out if necessary.
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11:08 a.m.
The Phoenix prosecutor Republicans have hired to handle much of their questioning at a hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has begun her questioning of Kavanaugh’s accuser.
Rachel Mitchell began her questioning of Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday. The California psychology professor accuses Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when they were teens.
Mitchell told Ford that the first thing that struck her about Ford’s opening statement is “that you’re terrified.”
Mitchell said: “I just wanted to let you know I’m very sorry. That’s not right.”
Republicans’ hiring of Mitchell will avoid having their all-male contingent interrogating Ford about the details of what she describes as a harrowing assault.
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11:05 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she wanted just one thing as she began testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee: some caffeine.
Ford, the 51-year-old mom of two from California, offered a light moment Thursday after being sworn in for testimony. She is alleging Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. Kavanaugh denies assaulting her.
Told by GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley that he intended to provide a respectful and comfortable setting, she informed him she anticipated “needing some caffeine.”
Ford provided her opening statement in a soft-spoken voice that was cracking at times.
When she finished, Grassley asked if she needed a short break.
Ford told the chairman she was “ok.” She held up a cup and said she “got the coffee.”
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10:55 a.m.
Senators sat riveted on the dais as Christine Blasey Ford gave her testimony about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who she says sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s.
Most of the 21 senators on the panel leaned forward. None appeared to take notes. Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota appeared to wipe away a tear.
The room was totally quiet as Ford described the night she said she was assaulted. People stayed in their seats in the small Judiciary committee room where Ford had asked to testify.
It was a far cry from Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing earlier this month, in which screaming protesters were hauled away at regular intervals. Most attending Thursday’s hearing appear to be ticketed guests of senators, with few if any members of the general public let in.
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10:53 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she “agonized daily” over the decision on whether to come forward to speak about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Ford is testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is telling the committee that Kavanaugh barricaded her in a bedroom at a house party during high school and got on top of her and assaulted her.
She says that over the years, she convinced herself that because she was not raped, she should just pretend that it didn’t happen. But when it became clear Kavanaugh would likely be named to the court, she said she faced a difficult choice.
She says that she sent a letter detailing the allegations to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California but had planned not to come forward. But the letter was leaked to the press. She then decided that she should speak out to tell her story in her own words.
She says her goal is to be helpful.
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10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump was traveling from New York City back to Washington as a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault began her testimony.
Trump flew aboard a helicopter from New York City to John F. Kennedy International Airport Thursday morning, before boarding Air Force One. He spent several days in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly.
The president boarded Air Force One in the late morning. Trump and staff planned to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Air Force One as they traveled back to Washington.
The hearing began with testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the charges.
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10:42 a.m.
Christine Blasey Ford says she came before the Senate Judiciary Committee not because she wanted to, but because she believed it’s her civic duty.
Ford spoke Thursday at a hearing on her allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Her voice cracked as she spoke to the committee, calling Kavanaugh: “the boy who sexually assaulted me.”
She says that the assault has been seared into her memory and has haunted her.
She says Kavanaugh held her down on a bed during a party with a few other high school kids and assaulted her, and put his hand over her mouth so she could not scream. She says she thought he would try to rape her.
Kavanaugh has denied any allegations. He will speak to the committee later Thursday.
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10:41 a.m.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the committee’s Democratic leader got into a terse exchange over sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
As the hearing began Thursday morning, chairman Chuck Grassley accused Sen. Dianne Feinstein of keeping allegations against Kavanaugh secret and releasing them at the last minute.
Feinstein said she initially kept the allegations confidential at the request of Kavanaugh’s accuser — Christine Blasey Ford until Ford was willing to come forward. The California psychology professor accuses Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when they were teens.
Grassley and Feinstein also got into an exchange over introducing Ford. Feinstein suggested Grassley hadn’t done a proper job introducing her. Grassley said he hadn’t gotten to it yet.
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10:37 a.m.
The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee says the accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh raise “real questions of character.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California says three women have made allegations of sexual assault and other inappropriate actions against Kavanaugh that are at odds with Kavanaugh’s recollections of his youth.
Feinstein was speaking at the start of a hearing to explore Christine Blasey Ford’s claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.
Feinstein says the FBI should have investigated allegations made by Ford and two other women, just as it did in 1991 when Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexually harassing her.
The California Democrat says Republicans already have indicated they intend to proceed with a vote on Kavanaugh.
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10:25 a.m.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says the committee has tried to investigate two other allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but it has not received cooperation from the accusers.
Grassley made the comments Thursday at a hearing where the first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, is going to testify on her accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were teens.
Since Ford’s allegations, two other women have said they were assaulted by Kavanaugh. Grassley says the committee made several requests for evidence. He says neither attorney has made their clients available.
Both attorneys have said they have tried to get their clients heard, but the committee won’t listen.
Kavanaugh has denied all of the allegations.
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10:20 a.m.
A woman who came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he doesn’t belong on the nation’s highest court.
Julie Swetnick said in an interview with Showtime’s “The Circus” that she didn’t want to come forward a day before Kavanaugh was set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but that “circumstances brought it out that way.” An excerpt of her interview was released Thursday.
In a sworn statement, Swetnick accused Kavanaugh and his high school friend Mark Judge of excessive drinking and inappropriate treatment of women, among other accusations.
The Associated Press hasn’t been able to corroborate the claims, and continues to investigate. Both Kavanaugh and Judge have denied misconduct.
Swetnick says she wants the American public to have the facts and “judge for themselves.”
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10:15 a.m.
The attorney for a second woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault tweeted a note of support from the woman to Christine Blasey Ford ahead of Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Deborah Ramirez says she is thinking of Ford. She says: “They want us to feel alone and isolated but I’m there wrapping my arms around you.” That’s according to a tweet sent by Ramirez’ lawyer John Clune.
Ramirez says she is holding Ford up in spirit. Ford is testifying Thursday before the committee on her allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh.
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10:13 a.m.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is opening a hearing on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with an apology to both Kavanaugh and his accuser for the way they’ve been treated, saying they and their families have received “vile threats.”
The Iowa Republican promised a “safe, comfortable and dignified” atmosphere Thursday as his committee hears from both.
Grassley also said it had been a “terrible couple of weeks” for both Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford, the California psychology professor who accuses Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when they were teens.
The committee is expected to hear hours of testimony Thursday. Ford will testify first. Kavanaugh is scheduled to testify later in the day.
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10:12 a.m.
The atrium of the Hart Senate Office building is full of demonstrators protesting the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.
At least 200 men and women are standing silently with their fists raised on the ground floor and lining the first floor balconies.
Many of the protesters are wearing black tape over their mouths with the message “believe survivors” or have similar messages written on their upraised palms.
All protests on Capitol grounds are prohibited, but Capitol Police appear to be giving the protesters some leeway.
An officer with the Capitol Police told The Associated Press that the protests would be allowed as long as nobody chanted, marched or held a sign up at head level.
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10:10 a.m.
With the high-stakes hearing for his Supreme Court nominee underway, President Donald Trump is meeting with diplomats at the United Nations.
Trump was scheduled to meet with staff as he concludes his trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
Trump plans to return to Washington later Thursday morning. He has said he will be watching the hearing and has said he could be convinced to change his mind on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, though he has continued to strongly defend him.
Kavanaugh faces accusations of sexual misconduct, which he has strongly denied. He and his chief accuser will both appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday.
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10:05 a.m.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has gaveled into session Thursday’s dramatic hearing with Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Ford, in prepared remarks submitted to the committee, alleges that Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes when they were teens. Kavanaugh, in his prepared testimony, says he’s never done anything “remotely resembling” what Ford describes.
Grassley and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, will deliver opening statements at the start of the hearing. Then Ford will be sworn in as a witness and deliver her opening statement. Kavanaugh will testify later, after her session is over.
The 11 Republican and 10 Democratic members of the panel will have five minutes each to question Ford and Kavanaugh in alternating turns.
Republicans have hired an outside attorney, Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to handle much of their questioning.
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9:25 a.m.
With a dramatic day of testimony looming, protesters are gathering around the U.S. Capitol building.
Organizers behind the Women’s March plan a “direct action” Thursday morning in the Hart Senate Office Building in support of Christine Blasey Ford, who will testify that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her during a drunken high school party.
Elsewhere, a coalition of conservative women’s groups is planning an “I stand with Brett” rally near the Russell Senate Office Building.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing earlier this month was marred by dozens of protesters interrupting the hearing even before Ford’s allegation became public.
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12:35 a.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is raising the curtain on what promises to be high drama – a hearing in which senators will listen to a woman accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, then weigh his denial.
At stake is President Donald Trump’s second nomination to the high court.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation seemed assured until a California college professor, Christine Blasey Ford, accused the appeals court judge of attempting to rape her when they were high school teenagers. Kavanaugh has denied any sexual misconduct then or in college at Yale, though more women alleging sexual misconduct have come forward.
Kavanaugh defended himself this week in a TV interview. The hearing set to begin Thursday morning will be the first time the country sees and hears from Ford.
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For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination
WASHINGTON (AP) — With high drama in the making, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh emphatically fended off new accusations of sexual misconduct ahead of a charged public Senate hearing that could determine whether Republicans can salvage his nomination and enshrine a high court conservative majority.
The Senate Judiciary Committee — 11 Republicans, all men, and 10 Democrats — was to hear from just two witnesses on Thursday: Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge who has long been eyed for the Supreme Court, and Christine Blasey Ford, a California psychology professor who accuses him of attempting to rape her when they were teens.
Early Thursday, all was eerily quiet outside the hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, across the street from the Capitol. Photographers and a contingent of Capitol Hill Police officers waited in the hallway, and access to corridors near the room was restricted. There were no signs of the modest number of public spectators who will be allowed inside.
Republicans have derided Ford’s allegation as part of a smear campaign and a Democratic plot to sink Kavanaugh’s nomination. But after more allegations have emerged, some GOP senators have allowed that much is riding on Kavanaugh’s performance. Even President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh and fiercely defends him, said he was “open to changing my mind.”
“I want to watch, I want to see,” he said at a news conference in New York.
Kavanaugh himself has repeatedly denied all the allegations, saying he’d never even heard of the latest accuser and calling her accusations “ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone.”
The hearing will be the first time the country sees and hears from the 51-year-old Ford beyond the grainy photo that has been flashed on television in the 10 days since she came forward with her contention. In testimony released in advance of the hearing, she said she was appearing only because she felt it was her duty, was frankly “terrified” and has been the target of vile harassment and even death threats.
“It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court,” she was to tell the senators. “My responsibility is to tell the truth.”
The stakes for both political parties — and the country — are high. Republicans are pushing to seat Kavanaugh before the November midterms, when Senate control could fall to the Democrats and a replacement Trump nominee could have even greater difficulty. Kavanaugh’s ascendance to the high court could help lock in a conservative majority for a generation, shaping dozens of rulings on abortion, regulation, the environment and more.
But Republicans also risk rejection by female voters in November if they are seen as not fully respecting women and their allegations.
In the hours before the hearing, Republicans were rocked by the new accusation from a third woman, Julie Swetnick. In a sworn statement, she said she witnessed Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s.” Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, who also represents a porn actress who is suing Trump, provided her sworn declaration to the Judiciary Committee.
Meanwhile, the lawyer for Deborah Ramirez, who says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when they attended Yale University, raised her profile in a round of television interviews.
Republicans largely expressed confidence in Kavanaugh ahead of the hearing, emerging from a closed-door lunch with Vice President Mike Pence to say the nominee remains on track for confirmation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all week has said Republicans will turn to a committee vote on Kavanaugh after the hearing. They hope for a roll call by the full Senate — where they have a scant 51-49 majority — early next week with the aim of getting him on the court as its new term begins.
But at least a hint of doubt has crept in. Asked whether there were signs of Republicans wavering in their support of Kavanaugh in their lunch, Sen. John Thune, the third-ranking Republican, paused briefly before saying “no.”
In the hearing, Democrats plan to ask Kavanaugh if he’d be willing to undergo FBI questioning about the various claims — a request Republicans oppose— and press him about his drinking and behavior as a teenager.
One goal is to emphasize inconsistencies in his statements so far and make him appear nervous, said a Democratic aide who described the plan on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly.
Questions for Ford will be aimed at giving her a chance to explain herself. That includes describing why it took her so long to publicly discuss the alleged incident and how it’s affected her life, the aide said
Ford will testify first at the hearing, which starts at 10 a.m. and at her request is being held in a small, wood-paneled hearing room that seats only a few dozen spectators.
Republicans have hired an outside attorney, Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to handle much of their questioning. Thus, they will avoid having their all-male contingent interrogating Ford about the details of what she describes as a harrowing assault.
Democratic questioners will include two senators widely seen as potential presidential candidates in 2020: Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, who aggressively challenged Kavanaugh during the judge’s earlier confirmation hearing.
Ford plans to tell the committee that, one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, “groped me and tried to take off my clothes,” then clamped his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream before she was able to escape.
“I believed he was going to rape me,” she will say, according to her prepared testimony.
Kavanaugh is being challenged on multiple fronts by his accusers, former classmates and college friends. They say the good-guy image he projects in public bears little relation to the hard-partying behavior they witnessed when he was young.
In his prepared testimony, the 53-year-old appellate judge acknowledges drinking in high school with his friends, but says he’s never done anything “remotely resembling” what Ford describes. He said he has never had a “sexual or physical encounter of any kind” with her.
He also provided the committee with detailed calendar pages listing in green-and-white squares the activities that filled his summer of 1982 when he was 17 years old — exams, movies, sports and plenty of parties. That’s the year when Ford says she believes the assault occurred.
Nothing on the calendar appears to refer to her.
Ford released sworn statements from people who said she had told them about the assault in later years.
Late Wednesday, the committee released a flurry of other documents of unclear significance.
Transcripts of private interviews with committee investigators show they asked Kavanaugh about two previously undisclosed accusations received by Senate offices. One came in an anonymous letter sent to the office of Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., describing an incident in a bar in 1998, when Kavanaugh was working for the independent counsel investigating President Bill Clinton. The other accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in college. Kavanaugh denied them both.
The committee also released a summary of its work that noted its staff had spoken to two different men who believe they “had the encounter” with Ford, rather than Kavanaugh. The committee notes do not detail what came of those conversations.
Activity on Capitol Hill is likely to grind to a halt during the proceedings, with lawmakers glued to their televisions during what is widely seen as a sequel to the politically explosive hearings of 1991 with Anita Hill, who accused now-Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Thomas denied Hill’s accusation.
“I’ve cleared the calendar and I’m going to watch every word of the hearing,” said Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who added that he has a positive view of Kavanaugh but has yet to decide how he’ll vote.
Other Republicans also stressed that they are coming into the hearing with open minds.
John Kennedy of Louisiana, a member of the Judiciary panel, said he needs to hear from Ford before deciding whether her story is credible. Asked how he’ll do that, he replied: “That’s like asking me to explain the holy spirit. We all make credibility determinations, every minute of our day.”
Sen. Jeff Flake, a Republican member of the Judiciary panel who could be a key vote, had his own take.
“We have lit a match,” he said from the Senate floor. “Do we appreciate how close the powder keg is?”
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