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What did Brett Kavanaugh and Dr Christine Blasey Ford say at the Senate hearing?
Here's what you need to know about the hearings that took place at the US Senate
SUPREME Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and accuser Christine Blasey Ford spoke before the US Senate on September 27 to answer questions over the alleged attack in the 1980s.
Here's what you need to know about what they said.
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What happened at the hearings?
The Senate Judiciary Committee comprised of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
They heard from both Christine Blasey Ford, a Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University and a Research Psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and Trump's Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh.
Democrats asked Kavanaugh if he would be willing to undergo FBI questioning about the various claims and demanded that Republicans press him about his drinking and behaviour as a teenager.
Ford testified first at the hearing and at her request was being held in a small hearing room that seats only a few dozen spectators.
Republicans hired an outside attorney, Phoenix prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to handle much of their questioning to avoid having an all-male contingent interrogating her.
It was revealed Dr Ford has passed a polygraph test.
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What did Dr Ford say at the hearings?
Dr Ford told the committee that, one night in the summer of 1982, a drunken Kavanaugh forced her down on a bed, "groped me and tried to take off my clothes," then clamped his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream before she was able to escape.
Reading from a prepared statement, Dr Ford said Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge pushed her into a bedroom at a house party.
She said: "Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes.
"I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming.
"It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life."
At the hearing, Democrat Richard Blumenthal said Donald Trump's "failure to order an FBI investigation" was "tantamount to a cover-up".
Upon questioning, Ford's voice cracked as she described her most vivid memory being the "uproarious laughter" of the pair.
"They were laughing with each other. Having fun at my expense. Two friends having a really good time with one another."
She explained she only escaped the room when Judge jumped on the bed causing Kavanaugh to lose his balance and fall off her.
Ford then told how she immediately fled the house.
"With what degree of certainty do you believe Brett Kavanaugh assaulted you?" Democratic Senator Richard Durbin asked Ford.
"One hundred per cent," she replied, remaining firm and unruffled through hours of testimony.
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What did Brett Kavanaugh say at the hearings?
In Kavanaugh's prepared testimony, the 53-year-old appellate judge acknowledges drinking in high school with his friends, but says he's never done anything "remotely resembling" what Ford describes.
He said he has never had a "sexual or physical encounter of any kind" with her.
Kavanaugh angrily and tearfully claimed he was the victim of a "political hit" after Dr Ford said she was "100 per cent certain" he attacked her.
Kavanaugh branded himself a victim of "grotesque and obvious character assassination".
He then "unequivocally and categorically" denied Ford's allegation, adding: "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process."
"I'm here today to tell the truth, I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not college, not ever.
"Those who make allegations always deserve to be heard. At the same time, the subject of the allegations also deserves to be heard."
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What happened next?
The Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled its vote for Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court for 9.30am local time on Friday, September 28.
This was done in order to comply with rules that requires three days' notice is given ahead of any vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve Kavanaugh's nomination to the US supreme court.
It will now be brought to the Senate where a vote in the full chamber - currently controlled by the Republicans - would secure his position on the Supreme Court.
Following the Judiciary Committee confirmation, Republican senator Jeff Flake called for a delay of the vote for up to a week for the Senate vote, announcing he would support moving forward with the understanding of an investigation into allegations against Kavanaugh.
The FBI then proceeded to investigate Kavanaugh with the resultant report deemed acceptably thorough by Republicans and inadequate by the Democrats.
Yesterday Republican Senator Susan Collins and Joe Manchin, a Democrat, both indicated their backing his seat looks all but confirmed ahead of the vote scheduled for tonight.
Brett Kavanaugh hearing – Dr Christine Blasey Ford says she feared Supreme Court nominee was 'accidentally going to kill me' during alleged sexual assault
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