WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is calling certain allegations against him a "joke" and a "farce."

  

Kavanaugh made the statements while testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee following allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her in high school. Allegations by other women followed those by Ford.

  

Kavanaugh was referring specifically to allegations by Julie Swetnick, whose name and allegations became public Wednesday, a day before the hearings. 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."

  

Kavanaugh was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein when he said: "The Swetnick thing is a joke, that's a farce."

  

Feinstein asked Kavanaugh if he wanted to say more about Swetnick's allegations. Kavanaugh responded: "No."