Senate to read FBI’s Kavanaugh report; 1st vote set for Friday
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday night started the clock for Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, with a preliminary vote set for Friday and a final vote on Saturday.
The move came as the FBI completed its report into sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. Senators are expected to begin reading the report Thursday, under tight security and strict rules.
Kavanaugh’s fate remains unclear because three Republicans are undecided: Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Several Democrats are also said to be wavering.
McConnell needs at least two of three undecided Republicans on his side, assuming all Senate Democrats oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Kavanaugh was initially set to face a Senate vote earlier this week, but the three Republicans abruptly joined Democrats on Friday in demanding an FBI inquiry into allegations by California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were in high school in 1982. He has denied the allegations.
President Trump gave the FBI a week to look into the matter and said publicly that the agency had free rein. But Democrats accused the administration of restricting the investigation behind the scenes.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday criticized the FBI for not speaking with either Kavanaugh or Ford. She also complained that the FBI did not talk to witnesses identified by Deborah Ramirez, who also accused Kavanaugh of assault in the 1980s.
The lack of interviews raises “serious concerns that this is not a credible investigation and begs the question: What other restrictions has the White House placed on the FBI?” Feinstein said. “Last week’s hearing is no substitute for FBI interviews, especially when you consider the tenor of Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony.”
The White House hasn’t said what, if any, restrictions were placed on the FBI inquiry. Ford’s lawyers confirmed as of Wednesday afternoon that she had not been contacted by the FBI.
Sen. Chris Coons (DDel.) said he would have expected the FBI to use the entire week it was afforded.
Sen. Joe Manchin III (DW.V.), one of the few Democrats who remain undecided, said the FBI report would be instrumental in his decision.
“I’m going to read whatever they’ve got,” Manchin said Wednesday. “I want to see the first thing first. Before I start jumping in, let me just read what they have and we’ll go from there.”
Once the report — which is typically confidential — is given to the Senate, all senators will be able to access it in a secure room. Two Senate staff members say the current plan is to have separate times for Democrats and Republicans.
There is debate on Capitol Hill as to whether all or some of the report should be made public. A key part of Flake’s drive to push for an FBI inquiry was to have a more transparent public process. Other Republicans have voiced similar concern.
“I’m of the view that whatever could be made public should be, but that would be well outside the normal way these things are treated,” said Sen. Roy Bunt (R-Mo.). McConnell said Tuesday that the report should not become public.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats sent a letter on Wednesday to Sen. Charles E. Grassley (RIowa), chairman of the committee, calling for “bipartisan ground rules” for how the FBI report can be discussed, expressing concern that there will be an effort to “publicly mischaracterize or selectively leak” its contents.
The Democrats pointed to a Tuesday tweet from the committee’s Republican staff saying that there was “never a whiff of ANY issue” involving alcohol abuse or sexual misbehavior in six previous FBI background checks on Kavanaugh.
“While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information” in the tweet “that is not accurate,” the Democrats wrote in their letter without providing details.
Republicans called the Democrats’ letter “baseless innuendo.”
The FBI’s supplemental investigation began Friday night after an official request from the Senate Judiciary Committee and an order from the White House.