JUDGE Brett Kavanaugh last night fought back tears as he claimed he’s the victim of a “grotesque character assassination”.

Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee branded allegations he sexually assaulted Professor Christine Blasey Ford at a high school party a "joke".

Giving evidence, furious Mr Kavanaugh said he was the victim of a “calculated and orchestrated political hit” by the Democrats.

He told the Senate committee his reputation had been "totally and permanently destroyed by vicious and false accusations".

Asked if he was innocent or had doubts about his integrity, he replied: "100 per cent. Not a scintilla. Swear to God."

His testimony came hours after Dr Ford said she feared Kavanaugh might accidentally "kill her" during the alleged assault in the summer of 1982.

She sobbed as she told how potential the Supreme Court judge pinned her down and covered her mouth with his hand to muffle her screams.

Fighting back tears, Kavanaugh said: "This is a circus... This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasion of serving our country.

"You [the Democrats] have tried hard, you've given it your all, no one can question your effort.

"But your coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name and destroy my family will not drive me out.

"The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit.

"I'm here today to tell the truth, I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not college, not ever.

"Those who make allegations always deserve to be heard. At the same time, the subject of the allegations also deserves to be heard."

The Judiciary Committee will vote at 9.30am (2.30pm) local time this morning on whether he can maintain his nomination to the Supreme Court.

With his wife Ashley looking visibly emotional behind him, Kavanaugh slammed Democratic members of the committee for branding him "evil".

Kavanaugh also told the committee, "I liked beer and still like beer", but said he did not drink to the point of passing out.

He added: "I drank beer with my friends - almost everyone did. Sometimes I had too many beers, sometimes others did."

And, just as he had done in a Fox News interview this week, he went into his sexual history to try and prove his innocence.

He said: "Sex is not a topic I thought would ever come up at a judicial hearing but I want to give you a picture of who I was.

"I never had sexual intercourse, or anything close to it, at high school or for many years afterwards.

"For me and the girls I was friends with, the lack of rampant, sexual activity in high school was a matter of faith and respect and caution."

The committee also asked about calendars from the time of the allegations which were submitted as evidence.

He said all the handwriting on the calendars was his and he had not added or removed anything from it since.

Donald Trump was "riveted" by his testimony and tweeted: "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him."

Washington Post reporter Robert Costa claimed Trump admired how Kavanaugh was fighting back against his accusations.

Reading from a prepared statement earlier today, Dr Ford said Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge pushed her into a bedroom at a house party.

She said: "Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes.

"I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming.

"It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life."

At the hearing today, Democrat Richard Blumenthal said Donald Trump's "failure to order an FBI investigation" was "tantamount to a cover-up".

Upon questioning, Ford's voice cracked as she described her most vivid memory being the "uproarious laughter" of the pair.

"They were laughing with each other. Having fun at my expense. Two friends having a really good time with one another."

She explained she only escaped the room when Judge jumped on the bed causing Kavanaugh to lose his balance and fall off her.

For then told how she immediately fled the house.

Kavanaugh is Donald Trump's pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy following his retirement from the Supreme Court.

Democrats are fighting the move though as they believe Kavanaugh will tilt the Court - which handles landmark Constitutional cases - to the right of the political spectrum.

Ford alleged in an interview with the Washington Post earlier this month that Mr Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and tried to undress her when they were both teenagers.

Deborah Ramirez, 53, who was at university with Kavanaugh, claims he exposed himself at a party and thrust his penis into her face when they were both drunk at a dorm party.

And just this week Julie Swetnick said in a sworn statement that she witnessed Kavanaugh "consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s".

She also made explosive claims Kavanaugh was present when girls were drugged and then gang-raped by groups of teenage boys.

In a sworn statement released by her attorney Michael Avenatti, she said: "I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.

"In approximately 1982, I became the victim of one of those 'gang' or 'train' rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present.

"During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me."

Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied all the allegations. This week he said he'd never even heard of Swetnick and called her accusations "ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone."

Last night's hearing was the first time the world has seen and heard from the 51-year-old Ford beyond the grainy photo that has been flashed on television in the 10 days since she came forward with her contention.

In testimony released in advance of the hearing, she said she was appearing only because she felt it was her duty, was frankly "terrified" and has been the target of vile harassment and even death threats.

"It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth."