Who is Brett Kavanaugh and why is he all over the news?

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The US supreme court nominee has been accused of sexual assault in an incident that happened when he was a teenager

Susan Ramsay |
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US Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh was not impressed by the testimony against him.

If you watch news from international channels you will no doubt have seen all the coverage about Brett Kavanaugh. Here's what's going on.

Kavanaugh is hoping to become a judge on the US Supreme Court. It's the highest office in the judiciary.

SC Judges are selected by a committee, which checks their backgrounds and asks them a lot of questions. 

Kavanaugh had gone through all of this, and the selection committee was due to vote on whether or not his confirmation could go to the Senate for a vote. He looked like he would be a shoo-in.

What Christine Blasey Ford said at the Brett Kavanaugh Senate hearing

But, a woman named Christine Blasey Ford came forward to say that Kavanaugh had attacked her at a party, when they were teens.

At first it seemed impossible to prove anything that Blasey Ford said, because it happened so long ago.

Furthermore, Kavanaugh is a Republican. If he gets on to the Supreme Court, he will give the court a more Republican bias. Democrats fear that with Kavanaugh on board the Supreme Court could overturn some key legislation, such as the Roe vs Wade, 410 US 113 (1973) ruling that that laws which make abortions criminal are unconstitutional. The Democrats activists said they would stop Kavanaugh by "any means necessary". So when the Ford allegation surfaced, many people thought it would go away quite quickly. 

What happened at the teen house parties of the 1980s, such as the one Brett Kavanaugh attended that led to this week's hearing?

Ford had written a letter detailing the assault and that letter reached the desk of Senator Dianne Feinstein, a democrat. Feinstein says that at the time, Ford had requested confidentiality, but somehow the letter was leaked to the media.

This all culminated in Ford giving testimony before a committee of senators yesterday. 

Kavanaugh has denied having anything to do with her. The Republicans feel that the whole question could have been handled more privately, with a proper investigation. The Democrats and Ford want the FBI to take up the investigation. It seems likely that this will not happen, however, and that Kavanaugh's confirmation will be sent before the Senate as early as Saturday.

The moment Brett Kavanaugh broke down in tears at the Christine Blasey Ford hearing

Kavanaugh had a chance to defend himself in front of the committee. He angrily denies the claims, saying it was all a conspiracy against him and he had never done what Ford accused him of.

When the accusation became public, two other women came forward. Deborah Ramirez claimed Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her during a drinking game at Yale University in the 1983 - 1984 school year. Julie Swetnick said Kavanaugh had attended parties where women were verbally abused, inappropriately touched and gang raped.

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