Surrounding Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, three women had come forward, accusing him of sexual assault, jeopardizing his nomination for the vacant seat.
Although the Supreme Court Justice has officially taken his seat on the bench, the accusations led to public hearings in which both Justice Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford, one of his alleged victims testified in front of the Judiciary-Senate Committee and were televised nationwide.
A number of events led up to the hearing, and this is how they unfolded:
July 9th – President Donald Trump announces his nomination for Supreme Court Justice to replace the seat of retired Judge Anthony Kennedy, stirring up controversy considering Justice Kennedy served as a swing vote for the Supreme Court.
According to the White House transcript, President Trump describes Kavanaugh as having “impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifi-cations and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law.”
July 30th – Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor from Palo Alto, California, anonymously sends a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. In the letter, Dr. Ford states, “Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s.”
Senator Feinstein does not make any formal announcements about the letter.
August 10th – Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley from Iowa, announces the confirmation hearings will begin on September 4th.
September 4th -7th – Justice Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee for three days. Multiple experts and witnesses testify on his behalf. The allegations of Dr. Ford are not mentioned.
September 12th – Senator Feinstein shares the contents of Dr. Ford’s letter with Democratic members of the Judiciary, Later that same day, the Committee asks to read the letter but Senator Feinstein denies authorization to do so. After is it leaked by Democratic Senators, she sends the letter to the FBI. There is no action taken by the FBI at this time.
September 14th – Dr. Ford does an anonymous interview with The New Yorker. Following the release of the story, Chairman Grassley releases a letter with 65 signatures of women who had contact with Justice Kavanaugh throughout high school and vouched for his character.
Justice Kavanaugh releases a statement through the White House, “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation, I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”
September 16th – The Washington Post publishes an interview with Dr. Ford, where she admits to writing the letter to Senator Feinstein, and describes the alleged incident. She claims she was constrained by Justice Kavanaugh on a bed during a house party, while he attempted to remove her bathing suit and covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming for help. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Dr. Ford says. She continues, saying “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”
Lawmakers schedule a hearing for the following Monday, September 24th, to hear from both Dr. Ford and Justice Kavanaugh.
September 23rd – Dr. Ford agrees to testify publicly before the committee on September 27th.
Later that day a second woman, Debra Ramirez, comes forward to The New Yorker with sexual assault allegations against Justice Kavanaugh. A third woman comes forward with similar allegations the same day.
Justice Kavanaugh denies both allegations.
September 24th – Fox News holds a live interview with Justice Kavanaugh. With his wife by his side he, once more, denies all allegations held against him.
September 26th – A fourth woman, Julie Swetnick, submits a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee with allegations against Justice Kavanaugh.
The White House releases Justice Kavanaugh’s statement, describing the incident as “ridiculous” and “from the Twilight Zone.” Justice Kavanaugh also claims he does not know Ms. Swetnick.
September 27th – Justice Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A special sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, is brought in to question Dr. Ford. Dr. Ford is asked whether she is sure it was Justice Kavanaugh who assaulted her. She says she is 100% sure.
After Dr. Ford’s testimony, Justice Kavanaugh is questioned by Senators. He vehemently defends himself during his statement.
September 28th – At the end of the hearing, many Senators are still undecided on how they will vote. Many release statements in regards to the hearing.
During a live CNN report, Senator Jeff Flake is confronted by sexual assault survivors for several minutes in an elevator.
Members of the Judiciary Committee agreed to a full FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations before agreeing to a full vote for Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination.
October 2nd – The White House reports that the FBI has begun a full investigation into the allegations of Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez, an unnamed woman, and Ms. Swetnick.
At a rally in Mississippi, President Trump relays his interpretation of Dr. Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He says: “’I had one beer.’ Well, do you think it was — ‘nope, it was one beer.’” President Trump continues, saying “How did you get home? ‘I don’t remember.’ How’d you get there? ‘I don’t remember.’ Where is the place? ‘I don’t remember.’ How many years ago was it? ‘I don’t know.’”
October 4th – The FBI delivers documents about Justice Kavanaugh, including the last six investigative background reports. After reviewing the documents, many Republican members of Congress release statements, declaring their support for Justice Kavanaugh.
The White House releases a statement: “We feel very confident that when the Senators have an opportunity to review this material, as they’re just beginning to right now, that they’re going to be comfortable voting for Judge Kavanaugh,” says Raj Shah, a spokesman for the White House.
October 6th – By a 50-48 vote, Justice Kavanaugh is officially confirmed into the U.S. Supreme Court.
October 8th – The day after the vote takes place, Justice Kavanaugh and President Trump have a ceremonial swearing in The White House.
Nearly every newspaper’s front page has been splattered with information about the sexual assault allegations surrounding Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The three-month long exploration of these allegations led to the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh but also, proved just how prominent the Time’s Up-era has become in politics today.
