Democrats are poised to ask questions about the drinking culture of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's high school when the judge faces the Senate Judiciary Committee following a sexual misconduct allegation.

"We want to hear — I would be wanting to hear what kind of environment it was in high school," Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said Sunday during an interview with CNN's "State of the Union."

"Apparently, there was a lot of drinking and partying going on," she continued. "This is why we need an investigation. We need an independent investigation that lays all of that out for us, so there's at least some chance of some outside entity, like the FBI, doing an investigation."

Hirono, who sits on the panel, added she would do everything in her power to ensure Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, can talk to the committee about her claim that Kavanaugh drunkenly forced himself on her during a high school party in the 1980s "free of intimidation, fear and the kind of threats she's already getting for even coming forward with this."

Ford, then a student at Maryland's Holton-Arms School, was 15 at the time of the alleged incident. Kavanaugh was a 17-year-old junior at nearby Georgetown Prep. He strongly denies the allegation.

Echoing Hirono was Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who told ABC News' "This Week" that the alcohol line of inquiry was "relevant to the whole conversation."

"Dr. Ford has said that they were stumbling drunk at the time this occurred," Durbin said. "There have been a loft things said about the alcohol consumed by the judge as well as by others in his school. That has to be part of any relevant questioning."

Both Kavanaugh and Ford have agreed in principle to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee as it considers Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. Negotiations, however, are still ongoing regarding the timing of the Ford hearing and the conditions under which it will proceed.