Christine Blasey Ford has accused US Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers.
According to Ford, Kavanaugh groped her and try to remove her clothing at a party in 1982.
Kavanaugh, who was nominated by President Donald Trump in July, denies the allegations, “calling them a smear campaign”.
They will testify in front of the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday beginning at 10am local time (14:00 GMT).
Latest updates as of Wednesday, September 26:
Ford to testify: ‘Assault drastically altered my life’
In her prepared opening statement for the Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Christine Blasey Ford will tell the panel’s members the assault “drastically altered my life”.
“I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. 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,” the statement, released on Wednesday, reads.
According to the remarks, Ford will describe the events in the summer of 1982 when she said Brett Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes.
“I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are the ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult,” Ford will say.
She will also describe the reaction she has received since coming forward.
“I have experienced an outpouring of support,” she will explain. “At the time time, my greatest fears have been realized – and the reality has been far worse than what I expected,” Ford will say. “My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable.”
Ford will conclude by saying the past couple of weeks have been the hardest of her life.
“I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me … It is not my responsibility to determine whether Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth.”
Kavanaugh to tell Senate panel: ‘Last minute smears, pure and simple’
In his opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Brett Kavanaugh will again deny the allegations levelled against him by Christine Blasey Ford and others.
“Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired,” Kavanaugh will say, according to his statement, released on Wednesday. “There has been a frenzy to come up with something – anything, no matter how far-fetched or odious – that will block a vote on my nomination. These are last minute smears, pure and simple.”
Kavanaugh will tell the panel that he is there to “answer these allegations and to tell the truth”.
“Sexual assault is horrific. It is morally wrong. It is illegal. It is contrary to my religious faith,” he will say. “Allegations of sexual assault must be taken seriously. Those who make allegations deserve to be heard. The subject also deserves to be heard.”
According to the statement, Kavanaugh will tell the committee that he “never did anything remotely resembling with Dr. Ford describes”. He will add that he is “innocent of this charge.”
Trump calls allegations ‘big fat con job’
In a rare solo press conference, US President Donald Trump called the allegations levelled against Kavanaugh as a “big fat con job” orchestrated by Democrats.
“I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me,” he said. “When I see it, I view it differently than someone sitting at home watching television.”
Trump said, however, that he could “always be convinced”, adding that it will be “interesting to hear what she [Ford] has to say”.
Kavanaugh calls new allegations ‘ridiculous’
In a statement on Wednesday after allegations surfaced from Julie Swetnick, Kavanaugh said: “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
Julie Swetnick became the third woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct after her lawyer tweeted a declaration of the allegations on Wednesday.
According to the declaration, shared by lawyer Michael Avenatti, Swetnick said she met Kavanaugh and his school friend, Mark Judge, in the 1980s and attended several parties in which the two were present.
“On numerous occasions at these parties, I witnessed Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking ‘No’ for an answer,” she said. “This conduct included the fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent.”
Avenatti said that his client demands a “full and complete” FBI investigation into the allegations.
Swetnick’s declaration comes a day before Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes when they were both teenagers, are set to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh staunchly denies ever sexually assaulting anyone, and his allies have questioned the credibility of Ford and a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, based in part on what they say is a lack of corroboration. Judge, who Ford said was present at the time of the assault, said in a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee by his lawyer that he had “no memory of this alleged incident”.
