SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook has been trying to duck the spotlight in Washington after a series of scandals. But one of its top executives just thrust the social media giant back into it.

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of global public policy and a close friend of President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, sat prominently among Brett Kavanaugh's supporters during Thursday's politically explosive Senate hearing. Both Kavanaugh and Kaplan worked for President George W. Bush.

Facebook declined to comment, but confirmed Kaplan, a key adviser to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, attended the hearing in a personal capacity.

The presence of a top Facebook executive was controversial inside the company among whisper networks of employees as Christine Blasey Ford testified that a 17-year-old Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her followed by a blistering defense delivered by Kavanaugh who denied the allegations.

Kaplan's show of support for Kavanaugh also drew the attention of reporters and women on social media. The majority of Facebook users are female. Many women were riveted by Thursday's hearing and even called C-Span to share their own stories of sexual assault.

Kaplan, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and on Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, joined Facebook in 2011 and leads its Washington, D.C., office.

His wife, Laura Cox Kaplan, has also been a vocal supporter of Kavanaugh. She told CNN last week: "It seems anyone can launch an allegation without corroboration or evidence and dismantle a person's career and their life and the lives of their family members. This is wrong."