<p class="title">A defiant Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court, angrily denied sexual assault allegations and condemned his bitter Senate confirmation process as a "national disgrace."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kavanaugh's passionate defence on Thursday came after a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The allegations against the 53-year-old conservative judge have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movement's harsh glare, and threaten to derail its bid to tilt the nation's highest court to the right for years to come.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr. Ford," said Kavanaugh, whose voice shook with anger during an opening statement that saw him repeatedly shed tears.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever." "I am innocent of this charge," Kavanaugh thundered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earlier, during four hours of emotionally-charged testimony, Blasey Ford, 51, said she was "100 per cent" certain Kavanaugh was her assailant and it was "absolutely not" a case of mistaken identity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am here today not because I want to be," Blasey Ford said as she recounted the sexual assault which she alleged occurred at a high school party at a suburban Maryland home in 1982.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am terrified," she said, her voice often quavering. "I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kavanaugh slammed what he called a "grotesque and coordinated character assassination" and a "calculated and orchestrated political hit." "My family and my name have been permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations," Kavanaugh said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This confirmation process has become a national disgrace." But he said he would not withdraw his candidacy for a spot on the nine-member Supreme Court.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," Kavanaugh said. "You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit. Never."</p>
<p class="title">A defiant Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee for the US Supreme Court, angrily denied sexual assault allegations and condemned his bitter Senate confirmation process as a "national disgrace."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kavanaugh's passionate defence on Thursday came after a university professor, Christine Blasey Ford, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The allegations against the 53-year-old conservative judge have thrust the Trump administration into the #MeToo movement's harsh glare, and threaten to derail its bid to tilt the nation's highest court to the right for years to come.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr. Ford," said Kavanaugh, whose voice shook with anger during an opening statement that saw him repeatedly shed tears.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever." "I am innocent of this charge," Kavanaugh thundered.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Earlier, during four hours of emotionally-charged testimony, Blasey Ford, 51, said she was "100 per cent" certain Kavanaugh was her assailant and it was "absolutely not" a case of mistaken identity.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am here today not because I want to be," Blasey Ford said as she recounted the sexual assault which she alleged occurred at a high school party at a suburban Maryland home in 1982.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I am terrified," she said, her voice often quavering. "I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kavanaugh slammed what he called a "grotesque and coordinated character assassination" and a "calculated and orchestrated political hit." "My family and my name have been permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations," Kavanaugh said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This confirmation process has become a national disgrace." But he said he would not withdraw his candidacy for a spot on the nine-member Supreme Court.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," Kavanaugh said. "You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit. Never."</p>