If you want to watch the full live stream of the hearing for yourself, I encourage you to do so by clicking here.
On Thursday, September 27, psychology professor and researcher Christine Blasey Ford went before congress and gave her testimony of the summer night in 1982 when she claims U.S. judge Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her.
This hearing holds an extra amount of weight, as Kavanaugh is not only a U.S. circuit judge, but also President Trump’s top pick for replacing supreme court justice Anthony Kennedy. Should the committee side with Ford and her story, Republicans could potentially lose any chance of Kavanaugh gaining the nomination, and subsequently a high court conservative majority.
Christine Blasey Fort met Brett Kavanaugh through socializing with friends of friends in the summer of 1982. One night in particular, Ford attended a “small gathering” at a house in the Bethesda, MD area. Kavanaugh was also in attendance at the party.
Early in the evening, Ford claims that she went upstairs looking for a bathroom, where an inebriated Brett Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, another boy at the party, shoved her from behind into a bedroom. Kavanaugh proceeded to lock the door, climb on top of her and “rub his hands all over [her] body and grind on [her].” When she attempted to scream, he silenced her by putting his hand over her mouth. Throughout the assault, Judge jumped on the bed next to them, until his jumping sent them falling off the bed, and Ford managed to escape to a small bathroom across the hall. She waited until she heard Kavanaugh and Judge leave, laughing as they stumbled down the stairs, before she left the party.
“I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped the house, and that Brett and Mark were not coming outside after me. Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life for a very long time. I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone these details. I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me I should just move on, and pretend that it didn’t happen.”
Ford’s testimony is chilling, and although there’s been a great deal of time passed since the event occurred, she believes that it’s her “civic duty” to share her story.
“Once [Brett] was selected and it seemed like he was popular and that it was a sure vote, I was calculating daily the risk-benefit of me coming forward, and wondering whether I would just be jumping in front of a train that was headed to where it was headed, and if I was setting myself up to be personally annihilated.”
Kavanaugh maintained his innocence throughout his testimony, and cites four different “witnesses” at the party who deny any knowledge of the events Ford alleged happened. He targets the democratic party in his statement, and, with his voice just below a yell, claims that the allegations are a part of a left-wing conspiracy to “blow him up, and take him down.”
“This has destroyed my family, and my good name, a good name built up through decades of hard work and public service at the highest levels of the American government. This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent 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 Clinton’s, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.”
Although he supports the notion that Ford should be allowed to come forward and share her side, he is “100 percent” certain that he did not sexually assault her.
“The vile threats of violence against me and my family will not drive me out. You may defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit. Never.”
The committee, which consisted of eleven republicans and ten democrats, had the opportunity to speak. What ensued was a partisan screaming match. Sen. Lindsey Graham attacked his democratic colleagues, accusing them of using the accusations as a “political game” to prevent Kavanaugh from receiving the nomination. Sen. Diane Feinstein, the democratic committee member that Ford initially contacted about the assault, maintained the notion that she didn’t weaponize Ford’s allegations for political gain.
“I did not hide Dr. Ford’s allegations. I did not leak her story,” Sen. Feinstein said. “She asked me to hold it confidential and I kept it confidential as she asked. She apparently was stalked by the press, felt that what happened, she was forced to come forward, and her greatest fear was realized. She’s been harassed.”
So…what happens now? Ultimately, we have two people who have went under oath and told two conflicting stories. Although there are still many unanswered questions, no official plans have been made for further investigation. On Friday, the senators meet again as a committee to hopefully vote on Kavanaugh.