Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh to testify on sex assault claim

An explosive public hearing will hear testimony from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his sexual assault accuser.

Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate committee next week. Picture: AP.

An explosive public hearing in Washington next week will hear testimony from both the woman who has accused Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault and from Mr Kavanaugh himself.

The dramatic turn of events could determine the nomination of the 53-year-old conservative judge and therefore the ideological balance of the nation’s highest court.

The development came after Mr Kavanaugh’s accuser, Californian academic Christine Blasey Ford, and Mr Kavanaugh said they would be willing to give public testimony to back their different stories.

It also came after at least four Republican Senators said they wanted to weigh Mrs Ford’s testimony before making a final decision on Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The public hearing, set for next Tuesday (AEST, Monday US time) could see a repeat of the incendiary 1991 hearings over sexual harassment allegations levied against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas by a former work colleague Anita Hill. Judge Thomas was eventually confirmed to the court where he still serves.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said “Judge Kavanaugh looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation.”

Christine Blasey Ford has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault in the 1980s. Picture: Heavy.com.

The extraordinary hearing will delay Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation process. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s had been planning to vote on Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday (AEST).

Mr Trump defended Mr Kavanaugh but said the claims of the woman who has accused him of sexual assault while they were high school students 36 years ago would also be heard.

“We want to go through a full process . . . and hear everybody out,” Mr Trump said.

“If it takes a little delay it’ll take a little delay. It shouldn’t certainly be very much.”

He said Mr Kavanaugh was one of the “finest people I have ever known” and someone who “never even had a little blemish on his record.”

The president accused the Democrats of waiting until the last minute to release the assault claims.

“I wish the Democrats could have done this a lot sooner because they had this information for many months,” he said. “And they shouldn’t have waited until literally the last days. They should have done it a lot sooner.”

As the controversy enveloped Washington, Mr Kavanaugh visited the White House and released a statement about what he described as the “completely false” allegations against him.

“I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone,” he said, adding that he didn’t know who was making the accusation “until she identified herself yesterday.”

Christine Blasey Ford’s year book picture.

He said he was willing to give sworn testimony to defend his honour and integrity.

Mrs Ford, a 51-year-old Californian academic and a registered Democrat, claims Mr Kavanaugh groped her while drunk in a room during a party in Maryland in the early 1980s.

She says she feared he might inadvertently kill her as he placed his hand over her mouth and tried to undress her. She claims the assault only stopped when a friend of Mr Kavanaugh jumped on them both, causing them to fall on the floor and allowing her to escape. That friend, Mark Judge, also denies that the event occurred while Mr Kavanaugh says he did not attend the party.

Mr Ford’s claims have thrown the confirmation process into turmoil.

Moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who had been expected to support Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination, said she wanted to hear Mrs Ford’s testimony in order to judge for herself whether she was telling the truth. She said if it turned out Mr Kavanaugh was lying about the incident, it would be ‘disqualifying.’

Republican Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said Mrs Ford should be able to tell her story “in an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner.”

Republicans hold a narrow 11-10 majority on the Judiciary Committee and a 51-49 majority in the Senate, leaving no room for defections against Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The Democrats want to delay the nomination beyond the November mid-term elections where, if they regained control of the Senate, they could permanently stymie the nomination and prevent conservatives taking a 5-4 majority on the court.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia