FBI has free rein to probe judge, says Trump

THE woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were students at Yale has agreed to co-operate with an FBI investigation, her lawyer says, and President Donald Trump says the bureau has “free rein” to conduct the inquiry.

Deborah Ramirez’s lawyer, John Clune, said agents want to interview Ramirez, who has alleged Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in the early 1980s. Two other women have accused the appeals court judge of sexual misconduct.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, once seen as assured, became uncertain after the allegations and then dramatic Senate testimony by Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were teenagers. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favour of Kavanaugh along party lines on Friday.

While the precise scope of the reopened background investigation of Kavanaugh remained unclear, Trump said “the FBI, is all over talking to everybody”, adding “this could be a blessing in disguise”.

“They have free rein. They’re going to do whatever they have to do,” Trump said at the White House. “And hopefully at the conclusion everything will be fine.”

The president revisited the question of the scope of the FBI’s probe in a late-night tweet on Saturday, writing, in part, “I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion”. In a separate action involving the FBI, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked the Justice Department and the FBI to open a criminal investigation into “apparent false statements” made to committee investigators alleging sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh in 1985.

A constituent contacted the office of Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, alleging that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted an acquaintance on a boat in Rhode Island in 1985, but Grassley said the person later “recanted and apologised” for the allegation via social media.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. Senate leaders agreed to delay a final vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination to allow for a one-week FBI probe.

| EPA PROTESTERS outside the WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia, at the weekend, where US President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak at a rally, amid the controversy surrounding US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.