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Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testify at historic Senate hearing – live updates
Christine Blasey Ford testifies about Brett Kavanaugh allegations – live updates
(35 minutes later)
Dr Ford ends her composed, powerful opening statement with the following:
My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed. It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.
Dr Ford is now talking about the recent weeks leading up to today’s hearing. She describes the anxiety she went through and how she changed her mind a number of times about whether to take her allegations public:
As the hearing date [Kavanaugh’s] got closer, I struggled with a terrible choice: Do I share the facts with the Senate and put myself and my family in the public spotlight? Or do I preserve our privacy and allow the Senate to make its decision on Mr. Kavanaugh’s nomination without knowing the full truth about his past behavior? I agonized daily with this decision throughout August and early September 2018.
The sense of duty that motivated me to reach out confidentially to The Washington Post, Representative Eshoo’s office, and Senator Feinstein’s office was always there, but my fears of the consequences of speaking out started to increase. During August 2018, the press reported that Mr. Kavanaugh’s confirmation was virtually certain.
His allies painted him as a champion of women’s rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to me.
She continues:
During August 2018, the press reported that Mr. Kavanaugh’s confirmation was virtually certain. His allies painted him as a champion of women’s rights and empowerment. I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters. By the time of the confirmation hearings, I had resigned myself to remaining quiet and letting the Committee and the Senate make their decision without knowing what Mr. Kavanaugh had done to me.
This is what Christine Blasey Ford is looking at as she describes her sexual assault. pic.twitter.com/GGxmuHnNpZ
Dr Ford now describes how and why she decided to tell the senate about the allegations after his nomination to the supreme court was announced:
I was conflicted about whether to speak out.
On July 9, I received a call from the office of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo after Mr Kavanaugh had become the nominee. I met with her staff on July 11 and with her on July 13, describing the assault and discussing my fear about coming forward. Later, we discussed the possibility of sending a letter to Ranking Member Feinstein, who is one of my state’s senators, describing what occurred.
My understanding is that Representative Eshoo’s office delivered a copy of my letter to Senator Feinstein’s office on July 30, 2018. The letter included my name, but requested that the letter be kept confidential.
Dr Ford moves on to describing how memories of the the alleged assault plagued her into adulthood. She talks about who she shared details of it with following a 2012 therapy session where she first spoke it again:
I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the US supreme court and spoke a bit about his background. My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh. After that May 2012 therapy session, I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety.
Occasionally I would discuss the assault in an individual therapy, but talking about it caused more reliving of the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Brett’s attack. I confided in some close friends that I had an experience with sexual assault.
Occasionally I stated that my assailant was a prominent lawyer or judge but I did not use his name.
Dr Ford continues:
Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life. For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys. I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened. Over the years, I told very, very few friends that I had this traumatic experience. I told my husband before we were married that I had experienced a sexual assault. I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counseling session.
Ford continues, giving details of the evening she says she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh. She takes her time, her voice cracking on occasion:
Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was 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 that Brett was accidentally going to kill me.
Christine Blasey Ford is now reading her opening her remarks. Before she begins, she tells Grassley: “I anticipate needing some caffeine if that’s available” after reading her opening remarks.
“I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school,” she says.
Feinstein continues: “The entire country is watching how we handle these allegations.”
“We are here for one reason to determine whether Judge Kavanaugh should be elevated to one of the powerful positions in this country.”
Feinstein has also moved towards partisan criticism, pointing to the historic parallels between Republican’s treatment of Dr Ford and that of Professor Anita Hill in 1991.
“In 1991 Republicans belittled Anita Hill’s experience... the burden of proof was on Prof Hill. Today our Republican colleagues are declaring, ‘This is is a hiccup’,” she says.
She adds that some Republicans have already indicated they will vote to confirm Kavanaugh without hearing a word from Dr Ford.
“[Some have said] the Senate will plough right through and ensure Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed,” she says.
Ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein is now making opening remarks. She moves to rebut some of the partisan criticism leveled at her by Grassley, who argued she delayed sending details of Ford’s allegations to the committee.
She says she handled Ford’s letter with extreme care due to the sensitivity of the allegations.
She says: “How women are treated in the United States with this kind of concern is really wanting a lot of reform.”
She then thanks Dr Ford for “coming forward and being willing to share your story with us”. She introduces Ford to the committee, as Grassley forgot to do so in his opening remarks. “When I saw your CV I was extremely impressed,” she says of Ford’s academic credentials.
Feinstein heralds her “strength and bravery in coming forward.” She adds: “I know it’s hard.”
Grassley defends his decision not to refer Ford’s allegations to the FBI to investigate. He says: “Now it’s up to the senate to assess their credibility.”
Grassley defends his decision not to refer Ford’s allegations to the FBI to investigate. He says: “Now it’s up to the senate to assess their credibility.”
He adds: “I look forward to a fair and respectful hearing.”
He adds: “I look forward to a fair and respectful hearing.”
Once again, Grassley moves to lambast his Democrats on the committee, defending his decision to introduce an expert counsel to question Ford.
Once again, Grassley moves to lambast his Democrats on the committee, defending his decision to introduce an expert counsel to question Ford.
“This will be a stark contrast to the grandstanding chaos we saw from the other side,” he says of Mitchell’s appointment.
“This will be a stark contrast to the grandstanding chaos we saw from the other side,” he says of Mitchell’s appointment.
After striking a conciliatory tone towards Kavanaugh and Ford, Grassley moves almost instantly to attacking his Democratic colleagues on the committee. He accuses Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat who initially received Ford’s letter, of bringing the allegations to the attention of the committee at “the eleventh hour”. He then lambasts Democrats for allegedly making Ford’s allegations public.
“This is a shameful way to treat our witness who insisted on confidentiality,” he says. He then accuses Democrats of blocking the committees own investigation: “Every step of the way the Democratic side refused to take part in what should have been a bipartisan investigation.”
Senate judiciary committee chair Chuck Grassley brings the session to order. He thanks Kavanaugh and Ford for appearing before the committee.
He says that both “they and their families have received vile threats” which are “unacceptable and a poor reflection on the state of civility in our democracy.”
“I want to apologize to both of you for the treatment you’ve received,” he says.
Christine Blasey Ford has entered the room, flanked by her legal team, taking her seat at the witness table she appears calm and composed as the sound of clicking cameras fills the room.
A lawyer for Deborah Ramirez, another woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct after Ford’s allegations went public, sent this powerful message from his client:
From Debbie Ramirez: "Thinking of you today, Christine. They want us to feel alone and isolated but I’m there wrapping my arms around you and I hope you feel the people of this nation wrapping their arms around all of us. Holding you up in spirit."
We’re about 10 minutes away from the start of proceedings. Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor appointed by Republicans to lead the questioning, has arrived in the room.
Meanwhile there’s still a large queue outside for seating in the public viewing area:
This is the current line for the PUBLIC. People who want to sit in & listen to the hearing. It is room 538 in the Dirksen Building. #BrettKavanaugh #DrChristineBlaseyFord pic.twitter.com/RMCJjVJcsd
Last night, both Ford and Kavanaugh released their opening statements to the committee. While there’s no time limit placed on either of their appearances before the committee, we know that Ford will testify first.
During negotiations with the committee, Ford’s lawyers had asked for their client to testify second to enable her to rebut Kavanaugh. It appears that request was blocked by committee chairman Chuck Grassley.
Here are few extracts from both opening statements:
Ford:
On the reasons she is testifying:
I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. I have described the events publicly before.
On the night she accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her:
I truly wish I could provide detailed answers to all of the questions that have been and will be asked about how I got to the party, where it took place, and so forth. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult.
On the trauma she still experiences:
...I did my best to suppress memories of the assault because recounting the details caused me to relive the experience, and caused panic attacks and anxiety. Occasionally I would discuss the assault in individual therapy, but talking about it caused me to relive the trauma, so I tried not to think about it or discuss it. But over the years, I went through periods where I thought about Brett’s attack
Her full statement is available to read here.
Kavanaugh:
His denial:
Eleven days ago, Dr. Ford publicly accused me of committing a serious wrong more than 36 years ago when we were both in high school. I denied the allegation immediately, unequivocally, and categorically. The next day, I told this Committee that I wanted to testify as soon as possible, under oath, to clear my name.
On his behaviour as a teenager:
...I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now. But that’s not why we are here today. What I’ve been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes.
His full statement is available to read here.
As Lauren has mentioned, a key dynamic in this hearing is going to the performance of the Republican appointed counsel, Rachel Mitchell. All 11 Republicans on the judiciary committee are men. Four out of the 10 Democrats on the committee, including ranking member Dianne Feinstein, are women.
A number of the Republicans were also present on the committee in 1991 when law professor Anita Hill’s testified over sexual harassment allegations against conservative Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Thomas was eventually confirmed to the court - in a 52-48 vote - but Republicans will be keen to avoid the optics of Hill’s testimony from decades ago, where she faced a hostile interrogation for hours before an all male panel.
The Associated Press have a little more background on Mitchell here:
Look for a new face in Washington to take a high profile at the proceedings at the behest of Senate Republicans. She is Rachel Mitchell, a Republican from Arizona with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes.
Mitchell works in the Maricopa County attorney’s office in Phoenix as the chief of the special victims division. She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children in Arizona’s most populous county.
My colleague Lauren Gambino has filed this report on the unique format of today’s hearing and what’s at stake for both sides:
Each senator will have five minutes to question each witness. There are only two witnesses: Ford and Kavanaugh. Ford will testify first followed by Kavanaugh.
The all-male panel of Republicans have hired Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex crimes prosecutor and are expected to defer their allotted time to her to question both witnesses. Democrats are expected to ask questions of both Ford and Kavanaugh, though they could request that their time be shared with another senator or the prosecutor.
Republicans have tried to make this into a trial. Kavanaugh, they say, should be afforded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. But in this approach, it’s unclear who is “on trial”. Is it Ford or Kavanaugh — both?
Hiring a prosecutor helps them make the case that this is trial. Mitchell, very much a wildcard in this hearing, has spent her career going after sex criminals and would be the one person capable of getting to the bottom of this. As Ford cannot remember key details such as exactly where and when the alleged incident took place it makes “proving” anything nearly impossible and in the legal sense really leaves only one outcome: Kavanaugh is “acquitted.”
Democrats instead want this to be a “job interview”. Ford is definitely not on trial, they’ve stressed and Kavanaugh is very much in the hot seat to prove that he is fit for a life time appointment to the Supreme Court. In the sense, all they have to do is raise enough doubt about his fitness.
How this plays out depends a lot on how Ford and Kavanaugh appear — whether they seem credible and believable. It will also depend on how they are questioned. If Mitchell is viewed as fair and even-handed, Republicans will avoid the specter of the Anita Hill hearing. There’s risk for Democrats too if they overstep or grandstand.
In the days leading up to this hearing president Donald Trump has stood behind his nominee, describing him on Twitter as a “fine man, with an impeccable reputation”. Trump had repeatedly called into question the trustworthiness of Ford and the other women accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct but, on Wednesday, appeared to slightly soften his support.
During a rambling press conference at the United Nations acknowledged that accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against him affect his views on charges against other men.
“It’s happened to me many times,” the president said, claiming he’d been falsely accused by “four or five women.” (Trump was in fact accused of sexual misconduct by over a dozen women before the presidential election in 2016.)
But he also said Ford’s testimony, and the accounts of other accusers could prompt him to change course. “It’s possible that I’ll hear that and I’ll say I’m changing my mind,” Trump said.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the crucial Senate judiciary committee hearing in Washington DC.
Dr Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, is due to testify before the committee at 10am ET. Ford has accused Donald Trump’s supreme court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the early 1980s.
The outcome of this hearing is likely to determine whether Kavanaugh’s promotion to the highest court in America is successful. If the judge, a staunch conservative, is placed on the nine-person body, it will probably swing the ideological makeup of the court to the right, potentially for years to come.
Dr Ford is set to talk in public for the first time after days of negotiations between her lawyers and the Republican-controlled committee, over the setting, timing and format of her testimony.
Since Ford’s allegations were made public, two other women – Julie Swetnick and Deborah Ramirez – have come forward to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during the early 1980s as well.
Neither of these women is scheduled to appear today, but Kavanaugh will testify after Ford. He has denied all the allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
We’ll bring you all the background we can before things get under way in just over an hour.
