White House denies meddling in FBI probe into Kavanaugh

SENIOR Trump administration officials have insisted the White House is not “micromanaging” a new FBI background check of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and that senators are dictating the parameters of the investigation.

President Donald Trump initially opposed such an investigation in the face of sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh (right), but the President and Senate Republican leaders agreed to an inquiry after Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona made clear he would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh without one.

White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said oversight of the investigation belonged to the Senate. “The White House counsel has allowed the Senate to dictate what these terms look like and what the scope of the investigation is,” she said. “The White House isn’t intervening. We’re not micromanaging this process. It’s a Senate process. It has been from the beginning, and we’re letting the Senate continue to dictate what the terms look like.”

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said the investigation will be “limited in scope” and “will not be a fishing expedition. The FBI is not tasked to do that.”

Yet the precise scope of the investigation remained unclear.

Mr Trump told reporters “the FBI, as you know, is all over talking to everybody” and said “this could be a blessing in disguise”. “They have free rein,” he added. “They’re going to do whatever they have to do, whatever it is they do. They’ll be doing things that we have never even thought of.

“And hopefully at the conclusion everything will be fine.”

At least three women have accused Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, of historical misconduct.

He denies all the claims.