GOP to protect secrecy of FBI’s report

There’s debate over how much should be made public

WASHINGTON – Republicans are planning a careful choreography for the results of the FBI’s background probe into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, including restricting its distribution and inviting senators to a secure meeting room in the Capitol to view the report.

The FBI has been investigating allegations by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were both in high school.

The report was expected to be delivered to Capitol Hill as early as Wednesday evening. It will go first to the White House and then to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers will read it in a secure location.

Senate Republicans are planning the cautious approach amid a debate over how much of the FBI’s investigation into Kavanaugh’s past should be available for public view. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said only senators will be able to see the results of the FBI’s work.

The report was the result of a dramatic and emotional hearing before the Judiciary Committee last week in which both Ford and Kavanaugh told their stories. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, voted to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination but called for the reopening of the investigation into his background.

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations of sexual assault.

While Democratic senators called for as much transparency as possible on the FBI report, Republican leaders and White House officials said the strict limitations on who would see the results are standard practice.

Republicans noted that a bipartisan 2009 memorandum of understanding dictates the handling of such files. Those guidelines call for sending a single copy of the FBI’s findings to Capitol Hill and housing it in a safe in the office of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said George Hartmann, a committee spokesman.