Brett Kavanaugh latest: Key senators to vote 'yes' for Supreme Court nominee

Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has received key Senate backing
AFP/Getty Images
Katy Clifton|Ella Wills5 October 2018

Brett Kavanaugh has won the backing of key senators, all but confirming the Supreme Court nominee's seat.

Republican Senator Susan Collins and Joe Manchin, a Democrat, both indicated they will vote to confirm the judge on Friday.

The Senate floor announcement ended the suspense over a battle that left the nomination of Mr Kavanaugh, who is accused of sexually assaulting women decades ago, in doubt for nearly a month.

Mr Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegations.

It comes hours after the US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump's nominee to a final vote, pending 30 hours of debate in the Senate.

US Senator Susan Collins announced she will vote to confirm Mr Kavanaugh
REUTERS

Confirmation would hand Mr Trump a clear victory and tip the balance on the court to a 5-4 majority in favour of conservatives.

The Supreme Court has the final say on contentious issues such as abortion rights, immigration, and Mr Trump's attempt to ban transgender people from the US military.

Support by the two Senators on Friday gives the Supreme Court nominee, who has been accused of a sexual assault by Dr Christine Blasey Ford, at least 51 votes in the 100-member Senate.

Confirming her vote in favour of Mr Kavanaugh, Ms Collins said: “We will be ill-served in the long run if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness, tempting though it may be."

Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee
AP

She added: “We must always remember that it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy."

Ms Collins said Dr Ford's dramatic testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week describing Mr Kavanaugh's alleged 1982 assault on her were "sincere, painful and compelling."

But Ms Collins said witnesses Dr Ford had identified who were interviewed by the FBI last week and included in a report the agency gave lawmakers had failed to corroborate Ford's claims.

"I do not believe that those charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court," Ms Collins said.

Brett Kavanaugh protests - In Pictures

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Mr Manchin said in a written statement: "My heart goes out to anyone who has experienced any type of sexual assault in their life.

“However, based on all of the information I have available to me, including the recently completed FBI report, I have found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him."

Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a fellow moderate and a friend of Ms Collins, is the only Republican who has indicated she will vote no. She told reporters Friday that Mr Kavanaugh is "a good man" but maybe "not the right man for the court at this time".

Three women have accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in separate incidents in the 1980s. The nominee has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Last week, Dr Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was “100 per cent” certain that Mr Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers.

Calling the Supreme Court nominee “the boy who sexually assaulted me”, Dr Ford said the alleged assault has been seared into her memory and that she “agonised daily” ahead of her testimony.

The vote and debate occurred a day after the Senate received a roughly 50-page FBI report on the sexual assault allegations, which Mr Trump ordered only after wavering GOP senators forced him to do so.

Republicans said the secret document - which described interviews agents conducted with 10 witnesses - failed to find anyone who could corroborate allegations by his two chief accusers, Dr Ford and Deborah Ramirez.

Thousands gathered for protests against Mr Kavanaugh on Thursday outside the nation's highest court in Washington.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.

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