Democrats claim FBI’s hands tied as probe on Kavanaugh published

A HIGH-STAKES partisan row has broken out over a confidential FBI report about allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually abused women three decades ago.

Republicans have claimed investigators found “no hint of misconduct” while Democrats accused the White House of slapping crippling constraints on the probe.

The verbal battling began as the conservative judge’s prospects for winning Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court remained at the mercy of five wavering senators, with an initial, critical vote looming today.

It followed the FBI’s release yesterday of its investigation, which President Donald Trump reluctantly ordered under pressure from a handful of wavering Republican senators.

“There’s nothing in it that we didn’t already know,” Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley said in a written statement. The Republican said he based his view on a briefing from committee aides and added: “This investigation found no hint of misconduct.”

Top Democrats hit back after getting their own briefing.

The judiciary panel’s top Democrat Dianne Feinstein said it appeared the White House had “blocked the FBI from doing its job”.

She said while Democrats had agreed to limit the probe’s scope, “we did not agree that the White House should tie the FBI’s hands”.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already started a process that will produce a crucial test vote today on Mr Kavanaugh’s fate.

Should Republicans get the majority of votes they need — and vice president Mike Pence is available to cast the tiebreaker, if necessary — that would set up a decisive roll call on his confirmation, probably over the weekend.

Ms Feinstein complained that agents had not interviewed Mr Kavanaugh (right) or Christine Blasey Ford, who has testified that he sexually attacked her in a locked bedroom during a high school gathering in 1982.

She also said lawyers for Deborah Ramirez, who has alleged Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when both were at Yale, had no indication the FBI had reached out to people she had offered for corroboration.

Mr Grassley said the FBI could not “locate any third parties who can attest to any of the allegations”, and he said there is “no contemporaneous evidence”.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats’ fears that the “very limited process” laid

out for the inves- tigation would restrain the FBI “have been realised”. He also said: “I disagree with Senator Grassley’s statement that there was no hint of misconduct.”

Neither side provided any detail about the report, as the results of FBI background checks have to remain confidential.

Earlier, White House spokesman Raj Shah rebuffed Democrats’ complaints, saying: “What critics want is a neverending fishing expedition into high school drinking.”

Mr Trump posted a tweet denouncing “the harsh and unfair treatment” of Mr Kavanaugh.

“This great life cannot be ruined by mean” and “despicable Democrats and totally uncorroborated allegations!” he said.