A high-stakes hearing on Capitol Hill lasted almost nine hours Thursday and began with testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual and physical assault from an incident in the 1980s, when the two were at a party during their high-school years.
"I am terrified," she told the Senate Judiciary Committee in her opening statement. "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."
When US Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, asked her how certain she was that it was Kavanaugh who assaulted her, Ford responded confidently: "100%."
Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied Ford's allegation, which has threatened to derail his confirmation. After Ford gave her testimony, he got his chance to speak to the committee and tell his side.
During his opening statement on Thursday, Kavanaugh called the accusations from the past two weeks "a calculated and orchestrated political hit."
"This confirmation process has become a national disgrace," he said. "The Constitution gives the Senate an important role in the confirmation process. But you have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy."
Since Ford's accusation, at least three others have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has denied them all and said he is facing a "smear campaign."
