Claims ‘no misconduct’ found in secret FBI inquiry into Kavanaugh
● Senate roll call set for tomorrow ● Report unlikely to be made public
A high-stakes partisan row broke out over a confidential FBI report about allegations Brett Kavanaugh sexually abused women three decades ago, with Republicans claiming investigators found “no hint of misconduct”, but Democrats accusing the White House of slapping crippling constraints on the inquiry.
Republican leaders seemed to show increasing confidence.
Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa said he now expects the Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed in a Senate roll call tomorrow.
The FBI interviews focus on allegations against Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, although his critics have also called into question his drinking habits during high school and college.
Mr Kavanaugh strongly denies the sexual accusations and has said stories of his bad behaviour while drinking are greatly exaggerated.
The White House received the FBI report around 3am yesterday. US president Donald Trump weighed in hours later in a tweet in which he denounced what he called “the harsh and unfair treatment” of Mr Kavanaugh.
“This great life cannot be ruined by mean and despicable Democrats and totally uncorroborated allegations!” Mr Trump posted.
With Republicans clinging to a razor-thin 51-49 Senate majority, and five senators, including three Republicans, still publicly undeclared on whether to back Mr
Kavanaugh, the conservative jurist’s prospects of Senate confirmation remained murky and dependent in part on the file’s contents, which are supposed to be kept secret.
It is unclear how much of the FBI report, if any, will be made public. While senators from both sides have expressed support for revealing at least parts of the findings, such FBI background checks are supposed to remain confidential.
The Trump administration is confident that after reviewing the material, senators will be comfortable about voting to confirm Mr Kavanaugh, White House spokesman Raj Shah said yesterday. He would not disclose details of the FBI report, but said the agency reached out to ten people and interviewed nine.
“They interviewed several individuals at the request of the Senate and had a series of follow-up interviews.”
Mr Shah rebuffed statements made by some Democrats, who said other people had reached out to be interviewed by the FBI or the judiciary committee, but were not questioned.
The FBI interviewed several people, including three who Dr Christine Blasey Ford – who gave evidence to the Senate publicly last week – has said attended a 1982 high school gathering where she says Kavanaugh’s attack occurred.
Senator sand a small number of top aides were being permitted to view the material in a secure room in the Capitol complex. Senators are not supposed to divulge the contents of the agency’s background reports. Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth said timeslots for reading the FBI file were so full that senators were being told they might have to wait until today to see the material.
“I can’ t get in ,” ms duck worth said. “It’s so backed up I might have to wait until tomorrow. They’re so swamped.”
The report arrived at a Capitol palpably tense over the political stakes of the nomination fight and reeling from aggressive anti-kavanaugh protesters. Feeding the anxiety was an unusually large presence of the US Capitol Police, who were keeping demonstrators at arm’s length by forming wedges around politicians walking through corridors.