Donald Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court, angrily denied sexual assault allegations on Thursday and condemned his bitter Senate confirmation process as a “national disgrace.”
Kavanaugh’s passionate defense came after a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.
The allegations against the 53-year-old conservative judge have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movement’s harsh glare, and threaten to derail its bid to tilt the nation’s highest court to the right for years to come.
“I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr. Ford,” said Kavanaugh, whose voice shook with anger during an opening statement that saw him repeatedly shed tears. “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever.”
I am innocent of this charge,” Kavanaugh thundered.
Earlier, during four hours of emotionally-charged testimony, Blasey Ford, 51, said she was “100 percent” certain Kavanaugh was her assailant and it was “absolutely not” a case of mistaken identify.
