11:28 AM update:
Grassley calls for a 15 minute break. Republican prosecutor Mitchell has asked several poignant questions, including one that led to an admission of an embellishment of the story on the part of Ford.
In Ford’s testimony, she claimed that members of the “social gathering” were laughing and talking downstairs during the alleged ordeal, but then admitted that she could not hear them. When asked how it was possibly that she knew that they were talking and laughing, Ford admitted that she “assumed” that that was the case.
11:06 AM update:
Grassley is giving Judiciary Committee members five minutes each: Five minutes for a Republican member to ask questions, then five minutes for a Democrat member. Republicans are using prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who will be interrupted every five minutes for softball questions from Democrats.
10:53: AM update:
Opening statements are finished, and prosecutor Rachel Mitchell has the floor to ask Ford questions.
10:38 AM update:
Noticeably emotional, Ford is now recounting the details of her alleged sexual encounter with Kavanaugh.
She said that either Kavanaugh or his friend Mark Judge pushed her into a bedroom at a house party, before Kavanaugh, in a drunken state, grinded on her and attempted to remove her one-piece bathing suit.
She has not given any new details that were not provided in her letter to Feinstein.
According to Ford, she wanted a “second front door” when her home was remodeled, which brought up the story about the alleged assault. She does not remember naming Kavanaugh as the assailant, but that her husband does.
10:33 AM update:
Ford is sworn by Grassley. She is now under oath, preparing to give her opening statement.
10:20 AM update:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is making her opening remarks. She welcomed Ford to the hearing, and is now addressing the prevalence of sexual assaults in America, and calling the process for addressing such allegations “wanting.”
“Our institutions have not progressed in how they treat women who come forward,” she said.
10:00 AM update:
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is making opening remarks, during which he blasted Democrats for obstructing the investigation into Ford’s allegations after her confidential letter to Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was leaked to the media. Ford, looking tense, is waiting for Grassley to finish his opening remarks to speak publicly for the first time.
Big League Politics will be bringing live coverage of today’s testimony by Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.
Watch the hearing here: