Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford testify in US Senate showdown
High drama as Supreme Court nominee and woman who claims he sexually assaulted her in the 1980s are questioned by senators
University professor Christine Blasey Ford detailed her allegations that Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, sexually assaulted her 36 years ago during a momentous Senate hearing on Thursday that could determine whether he will be confirmed to the lifetime job after a pitched political battle.
The hearing, which riveted Americans and intensified the political polarisation in the United States, occurred against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
Ford’s account, delivered in a soft and sometimes halting voice, came as the Senate Judiciary Committee held an extraordinary session that Republicans hoped would salvage Kavanaugh’s chances of joining the high court. She showed no hesitancy in affirming the crucial question about the alleged incident, telling senators her certainty that Kavanaugh was her attacker was “100 percent”.
Ford’s tone was polite but firm in three hours of testimony during which repeated her accusations but offered no major new revelations. Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona who asked questions of Ford on behalf of the committee’s Republican senators, all of whom are men, seemed to elicit no significant inconsistencies in Ford’s testimony.
When Ford finished, several women in the audience stood said loudly, “Thank you, Doctor Ford!” She appeared relieved and blew kisses to some of them. Democratic senators gathered around her for handshakes.