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Some central characters in U.S. Supreme Court nomination drama

Sep 27, 2018 | 1:15 PM

WASHINGTON — A look at some of the central characters in Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court confirmation drama in Washington, where Christine Blasey Ford detailed her allegations of sexual assault in the 1980s at the hands of nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

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Brett Kavanaugh

A federal judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh was nominated in July by President Donald Trump to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Widely seen as a conservative juror, Kavanaugh’s confirmation was all but assured until earlier this month, when Christine Blasey Ford accused him publicly of sexual assault during their high school days in Maryland. Kavanaugh has strenuously denied the allegations.

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Christine Blasey Ford

Blasey Ford is a California psychology professor who alleges that during a gathering of teens at a suburban Maryland home in 1982, she was forced into an upstairs bedroom by two boys and forcibly groped by one of them, whom she identified Thursday “100 per cent” as Kavanaugh. Blasey Ford described being pinned down on the bed by a visibly drunk Kavanaugh, who she said groped her, tried to remove her clothing and covered her mouth to stifle her cries for help. Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh’s identified by Blasey Ford as the other boy in the room, has not been summoned to testify by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge has said publicly he has no memory of the alleged encounter.  

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Grassley is seen as central to the Republican majority’s concerted effort to get Kavanaugh confirmed before midterm elections in November, when a widely expected surge in Democratic support could all but thwart their efforts. Kavanaugh’s ascendance to the high court could help lock in a conservative majority for a generation, shaping dozens of rulings on abortion, regulation, the environment and more. Despite accommodating some — but not all — of Blasey Ford’s conditions for her public testimony, Grassley has pressed ahead with the hearing despite the objections of Democrats on the committee. As Thursday’s hearing got underway, Grassley defended the Republicans’ handling of the confirmation proceedings so far.

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Rachel Mitchell

A prosecutor from Arizona with extensive experience in prosecuting sex crimes, Mitchell was brought in by Republicans on the committe — well aware of the fact that there are no women among their ranks — to lead their questioning of Blasey Ford. She has more than a decade of experience in her area of specialty, which includes sexual assault, child molestation, child pornography and prostitution. Throughout Thursday’s testimony, she alternated with Democratic members in asking questions of Blasey Ford on behalf of Republican members.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

The ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, which means she is the most senior member of the committee from the minority party. Feinstein has battled with Grassley over the confirmation hearing, calling for the proceedings to be postponed in order to allow the FBI to review Blasey Ford’s allegations. Feinstein is also the senator to whom Blasey Ford wrote to detail her allegations against Kavanaugh once he was nominated. On Thursday, Feinstein criticized Republicans who have rejected Democratic demands to slow Kavanaugh’s confirmation process and let the FBI investigate all the allegations, saying, “What I don’t understand is the rush to judgment.” South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham suggested Thursday that Democrats owe Blasey Ford an apology as he accused them of leaking details of her story to the media.

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Deborah Ramirez

Deborah Ramirez went public with allegations that while in his first year at Yale University, Kavanaugh waved his penis in front of her, causing her to involuntarily touch it when pushing him away during a drunken dormitory party in the 1983-84 academic year. Ramirez has admitted to having gaps in her memory about the party because she had been drinking that night. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation and dismissed it as a “smear.”

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Julie Swetnick

Swetnick, through her attorney Michael Avenatti, has accused Kavanaugh and Judge of spiking drinks at parties and taking part in “gang rapes” of intoxicated women. She has alleged that Kavanaugh engaged in “abusive and physically aggressive behaviour” towards women, and that he and Judge would “drink excessively” and be “overly aggressive” with women. Again, Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, calling them “ridiculous” and saying he doesn’t even know Swetnick.

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The Canadian Press