Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is being investigated under a series of sexual allegations. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault through a letter in the wake of Kavanaugh’s nomination for Supreme Court Justice. Ford wrote her letter to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, describing the event which took place during high school.

“This decision has had backlash from both parties, especially on Ford coming out to the public,” Simran A. ‘20 said.

Ford told The Washington Post she remembers the incident occurred in the summer of 1982 when she was 15. She recalled a small room where herself and others drank one beer, while Mark Judge, Kavanagh, and their friends drank a lot. Ford said she left the room to go to the upstairs bathroom when she was pushed by Kavanagh into a bedroom, then onto a bed, but was able to escape once Judge jumped on them.

Decades later, Ford told no one of the incidents until in couples therapy in 2012. She was later put in individual therapy for the incident and the effect it had on her. Therapy notes released during the investigation say she was attacked by a “highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.” Kavanaugh has denied all incidents, and the White House sent The Post a statement of Kavanaugh’s denial.

“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school, or at any time,” Kavanaugh said in the statement.

After the statement was released, Kavanaugh has declined any additional questions and the White House has dismissed further comments. Judge spoke about Kavanaugh being a respectable and a good person during their high school years. He told The New York Times Kavanaugh was not into “anything illegal or crazy.”

During Ford’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Feinstein brought up Kavanaugh and Ford’s old anonymous classmates who said Kavanagh was a very aggressive individual when it came to drinking.

“He was a friend of ours in high school who developed a very serious drinking problem and an addiction problem that lasted decades, and was very difficult for him to escape from,” Kavanaugh said about Judge.

President Donald Trump has also come forward defending Kavanaugh. He asked why a woman who accused him of sexual assault did not come forward earlier, causing other women responded with their own personal stories using the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport. They are protesting how they feel because victims don’t get the support they need when it comes to sexual assault.

“Sexual violence is a serious problem that goes unseen. One out of three women, and one out of six men will experience a form of sexual assault in their lifetime,” Feinstein said before Ford’s opening statement.

Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also come forward accusing Kavanagh of sexual assault. Ramirez recalled Kavanaugh exposing himself to her at a college party in the 1980s. She did not speak at the hearing on Sept. 27th. Swetnick suggested Kavanagh was involved in multiple gang-rapes during the 1980s.

”I became aware of efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh, and others to ‘spike’ the ‘punch’ at house parties I attended with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say ‘No.’” Swetnick wrote in a letter.

A public outcry arose about once the scheduled hearing surfaced. The Republican side scheduled a hearing without notifying Ford. The hearing was then pushed back several days so Ford had time to prepare. The Republicans backing Kavanaugh have refused to testify, refute or call on any witnesses.

“What I found most inexcusable is the rush to judgment,” said Feinstein during Ford’s hearing.

After Ford’s four hour hearing, Kavanaugh was brought up to the podium. In his testimony, Kavanaugh denied all sexual allegations, he told the committee he was not at the party where Ford was sexually assaulted.  

“This confirmation process is a national disgrace. Since my nomination in July, there’s been a frenzy to come up with something to stop my nomination,” Kavanaugh said during his hearing.

Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Kavanagh if Judge could be called up as a witness, but Kavanaugh avoided the question. When Kavanagh was asked about a possible FBI investigation, he retaliated saying he’s innocent. Despite not answering the question, he said he would do whatever the court would decide.  After being asked if Ford’s allegations were true, Kavanagh said, “they are not accurate as to me.”

The Judiciary Committee voted on Friday to recommend Kavanagh to be voted on by the Senate with the condition that there will be an FBI investigation before the vote.