Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal used his five minutes of televised question time of Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford to thank the witness for her courage and to lambaste President Donald Trump and Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans for their lack of action in investigating claims of sexual assault.

“You have given America an amazing teaching moment,” Blumenthal said directly to Ford, adding that she may have inspired students as a teacher, “but you have inspired and enlightened America. You have inspired and given courage to women to come forward,” to Senate offices with stories of abuse and assault. “You have inspired and enlightened men in America to listen respectfully to women survivors, and men who have survived sexual attack, and that is a profound public service.”

Ford faced about two and a half hours in session with legislators before they went to break shortly after 12:40 p.m. During her testimony she said she was “100 percent” sure that it was Kavanaugh who attacked her at a high school party when she was 15, and that this was “absolutely not” a case of mistaken identity, though she does not “recall all the details that I would like to.”

“The people of America should be really proud of what you have done,” Blumenthal said, adding, “I believe you.”

Blumenthal based his analysis on the character of Ford's testimony, which he said included instances and details that she acknowledged she could not remember. “You have been very honest about what you cannot remember and someone composing a story can make it all come together in a seamless way, but someone who is honest—and I speak from experience as a prosecutor as well—is also candid about what he or she cannot remember.”

Blumenthal pointed out that Republicans on the committee “have been silent” during the hearing, other than Chairman Charles Grassley, and that “this procedure is unprecedented in a confirmation hearing.”

Blumenthal asked Ford directly if she would want a witness she has identified, journalist-author Mark Judge, to be questioned regarding her allegations, to which she replied ”Yes.” Blumenthal said Trump and Republican legislators have chosen not to explore this investigative avenue, and the fact that Trump has not asked the FBI for further investigation “is tantamount to a cover-up.”

Blumenthal thanked Ford on behalf of the country for her testimony. “If we agree on nothing else today, I hope on a bipartisan basis we can agree on how much courage it has taken for you to come forward, and I think you have earned America's gratitude.”