MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th October, 2018) Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in Saturday as the 114th Supreme Court justice, hours after a confirmation vote at the Senate, the White House said.
It released a photo of the private ceremony held in the Justices' Conference Room of the Supreme Court, with Kavanaugh swearing the oath while holding his hand on the Bible.
"Chief Justice John Roberts administered the Constitutional Oath in the Justices' Conference Room. Retired Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy administered the Judicial Oath. Mrs. Ashley Kavanaugh held the family Bible," the caption said.
It means that the 53-year-old can now participate in the work of the top court. A formal investiture ceremony will take place at the court's special sitting at a later date.
The Senate voted Saturday to install Kavanaugh on the nine-member panel, putting an end to weeks of bitter debates after three women accused him of sexually assaulting them in the past. He denied the allegations.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, US President Donald Trump told the pool on the way to Kansas he expected the newly-inaugurated justice to go down in history as "a totally brilliant Supreme Court justice for many years."
He added the jurist had a lot of support among women. "Women were outraged at what happened to Brett Kavanaugh, outraged, and... the women, I feel, were in many ways stronger than the men in his favor," he said.
Asked if he was absolutely certain of Kavanaugh's innocence, Trump said "I'm a hundred percent. I have no doubt.... This is - one of the reasons I chose him is because there is nobody with a squeaky clean past like Brett Kavanaugh."
Looking ahead at the midterm elections in November, Trump echoed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who said the standoff had "fired up" the Republican base.
"I think the Republicans are going to do great in the midterms. I think we have a momentum that hasn't been seen in years," he predicted.
Trump reiterated his claims that the scandal around his pick's nomination to the top court was "phony" and "orchestrated" by the Democrats and paid for by George Soros, a Hungarian-American magnate.
