A defiant, angry and emotional Brett Kavanaugh answered accusations from three women who have claimed he sexually assaulted them.
Kavanaugh nearly broke down in tears multiple times in a 45-minute emotional opening statement to senators today, as he described the effect of the allegations against him on his family and his daughters, saying his youngest even wanted to pray for Christine Blasey Ford.
Kavanaugh choked up and took deep, heaving breaths as he talked about what his youngest daughter told his wife the night before he testified.
“Little Liza all of 10 years of old, said to Ashley, we should pray for the woman. That’s a lot of wisdom from a 10 year old,” he said.
He also reiterated his claim he made in a Fox News interview on Monday that he was a virgin in high school and for years afterward.
“This is not a topic I ever imagined would come up in a judicial confirmation hearing,” he said. “I never had sexual intercourse of anything close to it during high school or for many years after that.”
“I’m here today to tell the truth. I have never sexually assaulted anyone – not ever.”
Kavanaugh also admitted he drank beer as a teenager, but that it didn’t mean he sexually assaulted anyone.
“I liked beer. I still like beer. But I never drank beer to the point of blacking out and I never sexually assaulted someone,” he said. “If every American who drank beer in high school is suddenly presumed guilty of sexual assault we are in a new place in this country.”
Kavanaugh was visibly angry when he started talking, demanding senators to think about the facts and his willingness to testify in the wake of the allegations against him as they weigh whether or not to confirm him to the Supreme Court.
Practically shouting into the microphone, Kavanaugh blasted the Senate Judiciary Committee for waiting 10 days to let him give his side of the story, noting he denied the allegations as soon as they were made public.
“My family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed,” he said. “You have replaced advise and consent with search and destroy. This whole two week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit.”