Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court Nomination Confirmed in 50-48 Decision

The Supreme Court Justice nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday.

The final vote came in at 50-48, with Kavanaugh being sworn in as the next Supreme Court Justice. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only Republican to vote against Kavanaugh’s nomination, but chose to vote present, so that Montana Sen. Steve Daines did not have to miss his daughter’s wedding. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the only Democrat to vote for Kavanaugh.

President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh after the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will be retiring, but the nomination became a controversial one.

In addition to public concerns over how Kavanaugh may view topics such as women’s rights and gun law reform, he also faced allegations of sexual assault.

Palo Alto University professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward to claim that Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her while the two were at the same high school party in 1982.

In a letter written by Ford, and shared by Vox, she detailed the events of the encounter as she claimed to remember them.

“Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s. He conducted these acts with the assistance of [REDACTED],” her statement began. “Both were one to two years older than me and students at a local private school.The assault occurred in a suburban Maryland area home at a gathering that included me and four others.”

“Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stair well from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help,” Ford’s statement continued.

“Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with [REDACTED], who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state,” the statement added. “With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me.”

Ford also claimed to recall that “from across the room a very drunken [REDACTED] said mixed words to Kavanaugh ranging from ‘go for it’ to ‘stop.’” She later stated that she was eventually able to get away from her alleged attacker and has “not knowingly seen Kavanaugh since the assault.”

Following Ford’s allegations, she and Kavanaugh went before a Senate committee and each gave statements on the alleged encounter, as well as answered questions about it.

The committee voted to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward, with a subsequent FBI investigation into the allegations determining that the department was not able to corroborate the claims.

The Senate then voted Friday in a 51-49 decision to move forward with a final vote within a 30-hour window.