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Elise Viebeck
A business reporter and policy-oriented surveys
The presidential candidate for President Trump's Supreme Court is facing a large-scale hearing on Thursday as senators prepare to hear a woman who claims to have sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh will testify after Christine Blasey Ford before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate. He strongly denies his assertions, as well as those of other women who have accused him of having committed sexual misconduct as a teenager and young adult.
The charges shook Kavanaugh's confirmation process. Democrats have called for an independent investigation into the charges. Republicans have vowed to investigate them, but have not approved an outside investigation.
The hearing must begin at 10 o'clock. Ford, a professor who has been out of the public since his arrival at the Washington Post this month, will testify first, after opening statements from the committee's leaders. Each member of the committee will then have five minutes to question him.
The male side of the GOP hired a female surgeon, Arizona Attorney General Rachel Mitchell, to ask her questions.
Highlights of the hearing:
• Ford, Kavanaugh shares his written testimony
9:49 am: Inside the audience hall
The place where Ford and Kavanaugh will testify is the hearing room of Dirksen's Senate Judiciary Committee – a much smaller space than where Kavanaugh appeared during his early marathon confirmation hearings. of the month.
Senate staff made up about four dozen members of the press, about twice as much as is generally available in the room. Behind the main table of witnesses, there are 47 chairs – about 16 reserved for Prosecution witnesses, Kavanaugh and Ford; four for members of Congress; and the rest for the other guests. Security is tight and members of the public are not allowed without a ticket.
There is also a small table in front of the Republican side of the designated platform for Mitchell, the Arizona attorney hired by the GOP for today 's hearing in order to manage their interrogation.
9:37: Senate: GOP hints at late hour to other Ford strikers
On the eve of a high-stakes hearing for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Republicans of the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday night that they had interrogated two men who claimed that, not Kavanaugh, they had had a sexual encounter with Christine Blasey Ford. allegations of aggression, but has not provided any evidence to support one or the other of the claims.
The late release of the committee's investigative documents, about 12 hours before the hearing, ignited tensions between Republicans and Democrats, who said they felt ambushed.
Disclosure of potentially exculpatory material was included in a longer timeline of the investigative work of committee staff released by the President of the Judiciary, Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).
No man claiming responsibility is identified by his name, and there is no indication that he intends to come forward publicly.
The committee declined to comment further than what was stated in the press release when asked why Grassley's staff had questioned the two men who said separately that they had had the alleged meeting with Ford, how they found the men
Read more here.
9:33 AM Grassley enters the courtroom as police seek to control the chaos of the corridors
Senate Speaker Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) entered the courtroom approximately 30 minutes prior to the start of the event. Asked what he hoped for before Ford's testimony, he told reporters: "A fair trial."
Meanwhile, dozens of Capitol police officers have doubled the second-floor hallway of Dirksen's Senate office building, where the hearing will take place. More than 10 guards were stationed in front of each elevator, with makeshift barriers to prevent protesters from entering. The security was so tight that White House lawyer Donald McGahn was delayed by several minutes before he could be heard.
"Right now, I have an open mind and a shut mouth," said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) To the press when asked what he was counting on ask Ford. He told reporters on Wednesday that he would probably give his time to Mitchell.
9:32 pm: 1991 hearing testimony of Anita Hill
The scene at Capitol Hill was not that different 27 years ago, with Anita Hill ready to testify against Clarence Thomas.
Hill's testimony galvanized a movement that tripled the number of women in Congress and turned women's representation into a rallying cry in political races across the country.
Ford will testify today as a record number of women will compete for mid-term elections.
In his 1997 book, Hill describes the experience of entering the courtroom for the first time. She did not know, she wrote, that she would testify for eight hours.
The chaotic scene "surprised me momentarily," she wrote in "Speaking Truth to Power."
"The central point of the great hall was a long table draped in bright green cloth. . . . Immediately to my right and to my left were crowds of photographers; behind me were my advisers, more journalists, employees, and other unnamed observers. In front of me, in front of me and the bank of journalists, was the Judiciary Committee of the Senate – fourteen white men dressed in dark gray suits.
Read more here.
9:07 AM Ford and Kavanaugh share written testimony
Ford and Kavanaugh will present opening statements and answer questions from senators on Thursday. Both have already shared their prepared remarks with the press.
In his statement, Ford describes in detail his alleged aggression.
"I was pushed on the bed and Brett arrived on me. He started putting his hands on my body and biting his hips inside me. … Brett smiled and tried to undress me. He was having trouble because he was drunk and I was wearing a one-piece swimsuit under my clothes. I thought he was going to rape me. I tried to scream for help. When I did, Brett put his hand on my mouth to stop me from screaming. It's what has made me the most terrified and has had the most lasting impact on my life, "his statement said.
In his statement, Kavanaugh firmly denies the allegations.
"I categorically and unequivocally deny Dr. Ford's allegation against me. I have never had any sexual or physical encounters with Dr. Ford. I have no doubt that Dr. Ford was sexually assaulted by someone at some point. But I never did that to him or anyone. I am innocent of this accusation, "said his statement.
20h54: A look at Ford's past
Thursday's hearing will be the first opportunity for the public to see and hear Ford talk about his allegations. Earlier this week, The Post looked at her personal story, including her education in the suburbs of California, and spoke with her husband about their experience in the national spotlight:
The day Ford publicly identified herself as Kavanaugh's accuser in an interview with the Washington Post, her husband was driving his 15-year-old son and his friends to a football tournament in Lake Tahoe. He could not answer the calls that were detonating his phone. by the time they arrived home, a crowd of journalists was waiting.
Russell has struggled to explain to his children. "I said that Mom had a story about a Supreme Court candidate, and now there has been news in the press, and we can not stay at home anymore," she said. he recalled. The family was separated for days and the boys stayed with friends and their parents in a hotel. They sought a security service to escort their children to school.
Read more here.
8 am: In the first public comment, another accuser says that Kavanaugh does not deserve the seat of the Supreme Court
In her first public comment, Julie Swetnick, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in high school, said in an interview broadcast Thursday that Kavanaugh did not deserve a lifetime commitment to the Supreme Court.
"If he wants to have this seat legitimately, all of these things should be investigated because after what I've experienced first-hand, I do not think so." that it belongs to the Supreme Court, "says Swetnick in an interview for the Showtime series. . "
"I just want the facts to come out and I want it to be right and I want the Americans to have these facts and judge for themselves."
On Wednesday, Swetnick accused Kavanaugh of being violent toward girls in high school and attending a party in 1982 where she said she had been a victim of "gang rape."
Swetnick, a Washington resident, is represented by prominent lawyer Michael Avenatti, who revealed his identity on Twitter and published his photo on Wednesday.
In the interview, she stated that she did not deliberately timed her appearance as an Accused on the eve of Thursday's Senate hearing with another Kavanaugh accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
"It was not that I wanted to go out a day before the hearings," she said. "Circumstances did it that way."
Watch an excerpt of the interview here.
Further reading:
The Fix: A Guide for the Audience for Kavanaugh's Hearing
The Fix: 7 Things to Watch for Thursday at Brett Kavanaugh's Hearing
Brett Kavanaugh's opening statement to Congress, annotated
Robert Barnes and John Wagner contributed.
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