Brett Kavanaugh sworn in as US Supreme Court Judge
October 07, 2018  07:54
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Brett Kavanaugh, 53, was sworn in as a judge of the US Supreme Court, hours after he was confirmed by a bitterly divided Senate by 50-48 votes.

Kavanaugh was officially sworn as the 114th Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts who administered the Constitutional Oath in the Justices' Conference Room.  

Retired Associate Justice Anthony M Kennedy administered the Judicial Oath. Wife Ashley Kavanaugh held the family Bible. Justice Kavanaugh's two daughters, Liza and Margaret, and his parents attended the ceremony. Kavanaugh replaces Kennedy, who had announced his resignation early this year.

The swearing in of Kavanaugh as the Supreme Court judge brought to end weeks of bitterly fought battle between the ruling Republican and the opposition Democratic parties. 

Things took an ugly turn in the last few weeks, when at least three women came forward with allegations that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted them. 

Millions of people inside US and abroad watched live on their television sets the open hearing of Kavanaugh and his first accuser Christine Ford, a professor in California. 

Under tremendous political pressure, Trump ordered a last-minute FBI supplemental inquiry, the results of which reports said did not prove the allegations. Day later on Saturday, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Kavanaugh by 50-48 votes, which was mostly on party lines. 

Kavanaugh is the second Supreme Court nominee of US President Donald Trump to be confirmed by the Senate.

Trump who was on a November 6 mid-term election campaign trail in Kansas called Kavanaugh to congratulate him on his confirmation and swearing in. 

"I just congratulated him," he said, "Congratulations". It was well fought.  I mean, who would have thought a thing like that could've happened -- what he's been through?  Everything was uncorroborated, he told reporters in Topeka, Kansas.

Describing Kavanaugh as an outstanding person, Trump alleged that in recent weeks he and his family suffered a lot because of the opposition Democratic lawmakers who according to him supported an uncorroborated allegation of sexual assault against him. 

"We're very honoured that he was able to withstand this horrible, horrible attack by the Democrats. It's a horrible attack that nobody should have to go through," he said.

"But the beautiful thing is, he is now in.  He's going to be there for a long time. And he's just an outstanding intellect, outstanding scholar, a brilliant lawyer -- brilliant at everything he's ever done.  So we're very happy. It was a great vote, a very historic vote," Trump said. 
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