New Kavanaugh probe likely can be done quickly

Former agents say a few days are enough for FBI

WASHINGTON – In FBI parlance, they are called “spins.”

They are special investigations into the backgrounds of nominees to the Supreme Court and other high-profile jobs in any presidential administration.

Perhaps never before has such attention been focused on the long-shrouded process than in the case of Brett Kavanaugh.

And Friday brought a new and unexpected wrinkle: Republican senators and President Donald Trump acquiesced to Democrats’ demand for the reopening of Kavanaugh’s background inquiry to vet allegations of sexual assault against the Supreme Court nominee leveled by high school acquaintance Christine Blasey Ford.

And the second woman who came forward with allegations against Kavanaugh has been contacted by the FBI, her attorney told USA TODAY on Saturday. Deborah Ramirez claimed Kavanaugh forcibly exposed himself to her at a dorm party at Yale University.

Ramirez’s attorney, John Clune, said she is cooperating with the FBI as agents investigate the batch of allegations in Kavanaugh’s reopened background check.

“We can confirm the FBI has reached out to interview Ms. Ramirez and she has agreed to cooperate with their investigation,” Clune said in a statement. “Out of respect for the integrity of the process, we will have no further comment at this time.”

While an extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing did little to reconcile the dueling accounts offered by Ford and Kavanaugh, lawmakers now believe that a clearer picture of the nominee’s credibility would likely emerge and Trump Friday authorized a “limited” one-week FBI review.

Only the White House was authorized to reopen the background review, closed long before Ford’s allegations were made public. But even in the narrow amount of time provided by Trump, former FBI officials said agents could reach a quick resolution.

“They could knock this thing out in a couple of days,” said Jim Davis, a former agent who participated in at least 50 such background inquiries. “The great and beautiful thing about the FBI is that it can apply incredible resources to whatever the issue requires.”

Phil Mudd, a former CIA and FBI official who has been the subject of a halfdozen background checks, said such reinvestigation is common and can be completed fairly quickly.

“If it is narrow in scope, it could take just a few days,” Mudd said.

Among the first witnesses likely to be contacted by investigators is Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge, who Ford claims was in the room when she was assaulted at a house party in the Washington, D.C., suburbs in 1982.

Democrats had sought to have Judge testify at Thursday’s hearing.

Judge, in a statement Friday, said he would “cooperate with any law enforcement agency that is assigned to confidentially investigate these allegations.”

Judge had previously told the committee in a sworn statement that he had “no memory” of the incident outlined by Ford.

In her testimony, Ford identified two others who were allegedly present at the party, P.J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser. Both of them also have issued statements indicating that they have no recollection of the party.

Davis said all of those identified as being present at the party would almost certainly be interviewed, as well as the people whom Ford told of the incident.