Judged ‘innocent’cent

Trump says sorry to Kav for hell ride

President Trump began his ceremonial swearing-in of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Monday with an apology to him for the way his confirmation hearing went — and by saying the jurist was “proven innocent” of sex-abuse claims.

“On behalf of our nation, I want to apologize to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure,” Trump said at the evening White House event. “Those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception.”

The president said people “must always be presumed innocent, until they are proven guilty.”

He then announced, “You sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent” before giving the new justice a handshake.

Trump (inset) noted that Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley, was in the East Room, along with his two daughters, Liza and Margaret. In a message especially for his daughters, Trump called Kavanaugh “a man of decency, character, kindness and courage.”

“Mr. President, thank you for everything,” Kavanaugh said to Trump after he was sworn in by his mentor, newly retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“I will always be a team player in a team of nine,” Kavanaugh pledged.

Kavanaugh promised to be non-partisan.

“The Senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. That process is over. My focus now is to be the best justice I can be. I take this office with gratitude and no bitterness,” Kavanaugh said.

“I was not appointed to serve one party or one interest, but to serve one nation,” the new justice added.

Kavanaugh also said he would advocate for women, announcing that he had hired all female law clerks — a Supreme Court first — for the fall.

Monday’s ceremonial swearing-in ceremony at the White House wrapped up a dramatic confirmation process in which professor Christine Blasey Ford alleged Kavanaugh had attempted to sexually assault her as a teen in the 1980s.

Earlier in the day, Trump had attacked Democrats and Ford — calling the allegations “a hoax” and those who advanced them “evil.”