September 29,2018:

On Friday, the US Senate Judiciary Committee gave its backing to Brett Kavanaugh who is Donald Trump's controversial pick for the Supreme Court, one day after he fought off allegations of 'Sexual Assault' at a dramatic day-long hearing that freezed the nation.

The Panel split along strict party lines with 11 Republican members backed Kavanaugh and all 10 Democrats voted against the President's Controversial Nominee -- whose lifelong appointment would tilt the 'Top Court' decisively to the right.

However in an 11th-hour move, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake asked for a delay of up to one week before Kavanaugh's nomination is put to a vote in the full Senate to allow for an FBI investigation into the allegations against him.

The voting took place under extraordinary tense circumstances, with America's Political Polarization was on full display on Capitol Hill. Kavanaugh's supporters and opponents squared off in hearing rooms while the protest-filled hallways.

It came a day after Kavanaugh furiously refuted the testimony of 51-year-old university professor Christine Blasey Ford in a marathon hearing that stretched over 9 hours.

The emotional, duelling accounts sent Republican & Democratic Senators into a full uproar of insults & festering recriminations.

President Trump though whole-heartedly reaffirmed support for Kavanaugh to join the nation's Top Bench after the hearing.

In moving ahead on Kavanaugh's nomination, Republicans rejected calls to further investigate the assault claims.

Trump told reporters that he is not at all looking for a new Supreme Court nominee and added his remark,"I just want it to work out well for the country."

All eyes will now be on Flake, as well as two key Republican women, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, to see if they break ranks in the full Senate vote, with Republicans holding a slim 51-49 majority.

Protestors swarmed the halls of the Capitol and chanted outside the Supreme Court ahead of the panel vote claiming that support for Kavanaugh sent a message to women to not go public with their allegations of rape and sexual abuse.

After Thursday's hearing, the nation's leading legal organization,'American Bar Association' -- which initially endorsed Kavanaugh -- called for the vote to be postponed until an FBI investigation could be carried out.

Grassley said, "There is simply no reason to deny Judge Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court on the basis of evidence presented to us."

Democrats expressed outrage and some walked out of the committee meeting earlier on Friday after Republicans unanimously backed taking a vote.

Veteran Democrat Patrick Leahy told colleagues,"It's almost surreal." and said that Senate was "no longer an independent branch of government."

Female Democratic members of the House of Representatives stood in the back of the room in protest.Several were arrested.

Flake was earlier confronted by angry women who said they were victims of Sexual Assault.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Anthony Kennedy, who had been a swing vote on a Court now divided between 4 Conservative & 4 Liberal Justices.

Two Republicans would need to defect, with all Democrats voting in opposition, in order to sink Kavanaugh in the full Senate vote.

On Thursday,a defiant Kavanaugh came out with guns blazing insisting the assault never happened, accusing Democrats of destroying his reputation and condemning his confirmation battle as a "national disgrace."

Kavanaugh said,"I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr Ford. I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in High School, not in college, not ever." His voice was shaking with anger as he fought back tears.

As Thursday's marathon hearing wrapped up, Trump weighed in to stand by his man. He tweeted, "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him." after the hearing adjourned.

In addition to Blasey Ford, two other women have come forward with allegations of assault against Kavanaugh, against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's pick for the US Supreme Court. But in a dramatic last-minute move, Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona asked for a delay of up to a week before the full vote takes place to allow for an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.

Blasey Ford said she was "100 percent" certain that Kavanaugh was the person who assaulted her at a high school party in Suburban Maryland in 1982. She said a drunken Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, pushed her into a bedroom, that Kavanaugh pinned her down and muffled her cries as he tried to pull off her clothes.

Democrats have pleaded with Grassley to subpoena Judge to appear before the committee to answer their questions, but the chairman has refused.

Source: Indian Express

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