Campaign for Christine Ford raises over $450,000 during testimony

A GoFundMe campaign set up for Christine Ford, the woman who has accused President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saw a surge in donations as she delivered an emotional testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Around 10,371 people raised USD 473,622 in the last nine days. Before the testimony, the total amount raised was approximately USD 175,000, CNN quoted a GoFundMe campaign spokeswoman as saying.

The organisers, who had initially set an original target of USD 150,000, said that all the additional funds will "cover travel costs as well as security" for Ford, while the initial amount of USD 150,000 will be directed solely for security to her family.

In the testimony, Ford, a pyschology professor at Palo Alto University in California, had alleged that she was 100 per cent certain that Kavanaugh had assaulted her during a party when the two were in a high school back in the 1980s.

Ford had stated in the Senate that Kavanaugh, in an inebriated state in 1982, had allegedly attacked her and tried to undress her at a gathering of teenagers in Maryland, when he was 17-year-old and she 15.

In his prepared testimony, Kavanaugh had "unequivocally and categorically" denied the allegations levelled against him, as well as "other false and uncorroborated accusations" by his other accusers.

"Sexual assault is horrific. It is morally wrong. It is illegal. It is contrary to my religious faith. And it contradicts the core promise of this nation that all people are created equal and entitled to be treated with dignity and respect," Kavanaugh responded.

On July 10, Trump picked Kavanaugh as his nominee for the US Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will likely cast their votes on Friday to decide whether to elevate Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. If given the approval, the 53-year-old judge will replace long-serving conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement at the age of 81 on June 27 this year.