White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers questions during the daily briefing at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders answers questions during the daily briefing at the White House. Photo / Getty Images
It's the news story that has dominated headlines across America all week — the sexual assault allegations against President Donald Trump's nominee for Supreme Court judge, Brett Kavanaugh.
After giving an emotional account of the night she was allegedly assaulted, Mr Kavanaugh's accuser Dr Christine Ford was ridiculed by Mr Trump during a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday.
The President made fun of Dr Ford's inability to remember some details about what happened, news.com.au reports.
Impersonating the psychology professor, Mr Trump said: "I don't know. I don't know. Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it? I don't know. But I had one beer. That's the only thing I remember," he said.
"I don't remember," he said repeatedly, mocking Dr Ford's testimony.
Mr Trump later went on to say that the #MeToo movement has unfairly hurt men.
"Think of your husbands. Think of your sons," he told the crowd.
In a criticism against all of Mr Kavanaugh's accusers — two other women have accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct — Mr Trump said: "These are really evil people."
But as expected, the White House rushed to defend his comments.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a rare White House briefing that on Wednesday night that "the President was stating the facts" at the Mississippi rally.
The ridiculousness of all this was perfectly summed up by CNN's breaking news headline:
"White House Denies Trump Was Mocking Kavanaugh Accuser After Trump Mocks Kavanaugh Accuser".
The CNN headline from the White House press conference. Photo / Twitter
Meanwhile, the FBI today released its much anticipated report into the allegations against Kavanaugh and "found no hint of misconduct" by the Supreme Court nominee.
The FBI's investigation found nothing to corroborate the sexual assault allegations a top Republican senator said Thursday.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it was now time for the full Senate to vote on Mr Kavanaugh's lifetime appointment to the nation's highest court — even as opposition leaders slammed the FBI probe as "incomplete."
"This investigation found no hint of misconduct," Mr Grassley said in a statement. "There's nothing in it that we didn't already know."
The FBI was given a week to look into Dr Ford's allegation that Mr Kavanaugh attempted to rape her when they were teenagers decades ago.
"These uncorroborated accusations have been unequivocally and repeatedly rejected by Judge Kavanaugh, and neither the Judiciary Committee nor the FBI could locate any third parties who can attest to any of the allegations," Mr Grassley said.
"It's time to vote," he said. "I'll be voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
Now the wait it on for the other three key Republican senators to cast their vote. Their decision could make or break Kavanaugh's nomination. The vote could be held as early as tomorrow.
Support from women around the world has poured in for Dr Ford, with the hashtag #IBelieveChristineFord trending on social media.
Mr Trump's fellow Republicans have gained confidence Mr Kavanaugh will win Senate confirmation.
Thousands of anti-Kavanaugh protesters rallied outside the Supreme Court and entered a Senate office building, holding signs such as "Believe Survivors" and "Kava-Nope".
Mr Trump, himself accused by numerous women during the 2016 presidential race of sexual misconduct, wrote on Twitter the FBI report showed the allegations against Kavanaugh were "totally uncorroborated".
No Republicans have said they will vote against Mr Kavanaugh.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein noted the FBI did not interview Mr Kavanaugh himself or Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor from California who has accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 1982.
"It smacks of a whitewash," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters, saying the report should not give political cover for Republicans to vote for Mr Kavanaugh because "it is blatantly incomplete".
Most Democrats opposed Mr Trump's nomination of Mr Kavanaugh from the outset. If confirmed, he would deepen conservative control of the court.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said the Trump administration was "fully confident" Mr Kavanaugh had the necessary support.
