As the FBI wraps up its renewed background check into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the remaining undecided senators have only a few days left to decide if they are ready to approve his lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.
The prolonged process has generated more drama for Kavanaugh. This past week, old acquaintances came forward to dispute his testimony to Congress and Democrats accused the judge of lying under oath.
Two Republican swing votes on the nomination, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona, have said they would oppose Kavanaugh if he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If they both vote against his nomination, and all 49 Senate Democrats do the same, he could not be confirmed.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it "would not be acceptable" if Kavanaugh had lied. The question remains whether the senators would be willing to overlook seemingly minor inaccuracies by Kavanaugh, and Trump could change his mind if it appears that there are enough votes to confirm.
The stakes couldn't be higher for Kavanaugh. If he prevails, he could sit on the Supreme Court well into the 2040s. But if he goes down, his reputation could be tarnished as he continues hearing cases as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. If Democrats retake the House of Representatives, they could pursue an investigation -- or even impeachment -- of Kavanaugh.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee drilled down on some of these inconsistencies in their questioning of Kavanaugh last week. The nominee denies any wrongdoing and stands by his testimony. Lying to Congress is a federal crime, though it is rarely prosecuted.
Here's a breakdown of some of the biggest questions surrounding Kavanaugh's testimony.
The drinking age in Maryland
Kavanaugh testimony
On a few occasions, Kavanaugh insisted he was legally allowed to drink alcohol during his senior year in high school. "The drinking age, as I noted, was 18, so the seniors were legal, senior year in high school, people were legal to drink, and we -- yeah, we drank beer," Kavanaugh testified.
Reporting and analysis
Kavanaugh's comments are factually inaccurate, according to an Associated Press analysis of the drinking laws where he went to high school. There was never a time when he could legally drink in Maryland as a high schooler, because he was 17 when the state raised its drinking age from 18 to 21 in July 1982.
Drinking habits as a young man
Kavanaugh testimony
Asked if he ever drank "to the point that you would have blacked out," Kavanaugh replied "no." He later said he sometimes fell asleep from drinking, but "never blacked out." He also said, "I did not drink beer to the point of blacking out."
Reporting and analysis
At least five of Kavanaugh's classmates from Yale University have disputed his testimony. One said Kavanaughwas "blatantly lying" about drinking, and another said the judge "has not told the truth" about blacking out. His freshman year roommate at Yale, James Roche,said, "I saw him both what I would consider blackout drunk and also dealing with the repercussions of that in the morning." Others said they couldn't confirm blackouts but often saw Kavanaugh in an extreme state of drunkenness. Still, some of Kavanaugh's other friends from his youth said they never saw him blacked out from alcohol.
Social circles in high school
Kavanaugh testimony
Kavanaugh testified that he and Christine Blasey Ford, the California professor who has accused him of sexual assault, "did not travel in the same social circles" in high school. He said he does "recall her name" and that "it is possible that we met at some point at some events, although I do not recall that."
Reporting and analysis
Ford testified that her friend group "intersected" with Kavanaugh and his friends "for a short period of time" during high school. She also said she "went out with" one of Kavanaugh's close friends, Chris Garrett, nicknamed Squi. Garrett appears several times in Kavanaugh's calendar from summer 1982.
Controversial yearbook entries
Kavanaugh testimony
Democratic lawmakers peppered Kavanaugh with questions about apparent sexual references in his high school yearbook. He claimed that "boofed" was a term to describe flatulence. He said "Devil's Triangle" was a drinking game. He also said "FFFF" was an inside joke about Squi's stutter.
Reporting and analysis
Kavanaugh's explanations were met with skepticism from Democratic senators and by people who remember that many of these terms were commonly associated with sexual acts in the 1980s and beyond. Some of Kavanaugh's classmates told The New York Times that his explanations didn't check out.
'Bart O'Kavanaugh' moniker
Kavanaugh testimony
Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge wrote a book about his struggle with alcoholism. In it, Judge described a friend named Bart O'Kavanaugh who once drank so much that he vomited in a car and "passed out." Kavanaugh testified that he believes Judge "picked out names of friends" for the book but would not say if he was the person Judge was referencing. "You'd have to ask him," he said.
Reporting and analysis
It's unclear whether Kavanaugh is the character in the book and if the incident was real or fictionalized. But Kavanaugh signed his name as "Bart" in a letter he wrote to his friends in June 1983 about an upcoming party weekend at the beach, according to The New York Times.
