Brett Kavanaugh and accuser Christine Blasey Ford testify at historic Senate hearing
Brett Kavanaugh
A high-stakes hearing over the future of the US Supreme Court opened Thursday with university professor Christine Blasey Ford set to testify that President Donald Trump's nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.
The accusation, which Kavanaugh steadfastly denies, has thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movement's harsh glare, and threatens to derail a conservative effort to tilt the high court to the right for years to come.
In prepared testimony, Blasey Ford alleges a drunken Kavanaugh shut her in a bedroom and tried to forcibly remove her clothing while they were in high school in the Washington area in 1982.
The all-male Republican majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee has hired a female lawyer with experience prosecuting sex crimes, Rachel Mitchell, to question Ford.
Democratic senators are also set to ask their own questions.
A conservative appeals court judge, Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump in July and appeared to be heading toward confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate until Ford's allegations became public earlier this month.
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If Kavanaugh's nomination survives what is expected to be tough questioning from Democratic senators on Thursday, the committee could vote on his appointment on Friday, with a final Senate vote early next week.