WASHINGTON -- Capping a full morning of heated and partisan debate, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker on Friday blasted the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court and then walked out of the Senate Judiciary committee in protest.

"This is a moral moment in our nation," the New Jersey Democrat said.

"I cannot sit here," Booker added, as the committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa implored him to finish his speech. "I cannot participate in what I know history will look back on as a dark moment."

"With that, sir, I will leave," he concluded.

The committee hearing came one day after high drama before the committee.

Research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh -- Republican President Donald Trump's nominee to the nation's highest court -- sexually assaulted her while both were in high school.

Kavanaugh, who followed Ford to the witness stand, accused Democrats of a last-minute partisan attack to delay his confirmation.

Booker spent much of speech Friday afternoon defending Ford and recounting her testimony.

He said "this is not about partisanship" and that some criticisms of Ford are "stripping away" her "heroism."

"She shared a raw and visceral, incredible and profoundly powerful testimony with not just this committee but the world," said Booker, a potential 2020 Democratic candidate for president. "And she was believable. I believe her."

Booker noted that he was a student during the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings in the early 1990s and said a lot of people "felt that was dealt with wrong."

"That involved multiple hearings," Booker said. That involved multiple witnesses. That involved an FBI investigation. ... Now we're here today and we have fallen even far short of what I believe was in inadequate process."

He noted that Ford said she was "100 percent" certain Kavanaugh attacked her.

"It was seared into her memory," Booker said. "She knows 100 percent. And that's credible because she knew him. She didn't need to pick him out of a lineup of teenagers of some random attack. She knew him."

Kavanaugh vehemently denied sexually assaulting anyone.

Chairman Chuck Grassley holds up his phone to show how long Sen. Cory Booker has been speaking. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/wq1el6bYIq — Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) September 28, 2018

Booker said Kavanaugh's statements have "proven to be not true."

Kavanaugh's testimony "stands in sharp contrast," he added, saying that "if I was being accused of things that were lies," he would ask for independent investigations.

During Thursday's hearing, Booker called Ford "heroic" for coming to testify, and criticized Kavanaugh for appearing to insinuate that she was part of an "orchestrated political hit."

Booker, a junior member of the committee, was one of the last speakers Friday. The senators speak in order of seniority.

Democrats had spent the morning criticizing the way Judiciary Committee Republicans pushed through along party lines to confirm Kavanaugh, setting a time for the vote and refusing to call other women who also have made charges against Kavanaugh or witnesses who could collaborate them, or to request an FBI investigation into the allegations.

In protest, Booker earlier withheld his vote from a motion to end debate and vote at 1:30 p.m., a motion that Democrats said violated committee procedures.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook