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Trump supreme court nominee denies sexual assault

WASHINGTON 17 Sep (ANA) - A woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, has identified herself.

Christine Blasey Ford told the Washington Post Mr Kavanaugh had pinned her to a bed and tried to undress her when they were both teenagers.

Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegations when they first surfaced last week.

The top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are now expected to speak to both Mr Kavanaugh and Mrs Ford.

Mrs Ford, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University, told the Post she had decided to go public as her privacy was "being chipped away".

She said she first approached Democratic lawmakers with her allegations in July, shortly after Mr Trump's nomination of Mr Kavanaugh revived the pain of the memory.

If chosen for the lifetime appointment, Mr Kavanaugh would be expected to tilt the Supreme Court's balance to the right.

The conservative appeals court judge is strongly opposed by some Democrats for his views, such as on abortion.

Mrs Ford said she believed the incident happened in 1982, when she was 15 and Mr Kavanaugh was 17.

He was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Maryland, and she was studying at a nearby high school.

The incident allegedly happened at a gathering of teenagers at a house, when Mr Kavanaugh and a friend allegedly "corralled" her into a bedroom. Mr Kavanaugh and his friend were both drunk, she says.

In the words of the Washington Post, "While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.

"When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth."

Mrs Ford, 51, is further quoted as saying that she managed to break free.

"I thought he [Mr Kavanaugh] might inadvertently kill me," she told the Post.

Mr Kavanaugh issued his denial last week: "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time".

Mark Judge, who has been named as the third person in the room, told The Weekly Standard the allegations were "absolutely nuts".(ANA)

FA/ANA/17 September 2018------