Trump orders FBI to reopen background investigation
WASHINGTON» President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the FBI to reopen the investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s background, a stunning turnaround in an emotional battle over sexual assault allegations that has shaken the Senate and reverberated across the country.
The dramatic developments capped an extraordinary day on Capitol Hill, which began with a sense of momentum for Kavanaugh but sharply changed when one of Trump’s fiercest Republican critics, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who at first endorsed the nominee, emerged from a private meeting with Democrats to call for a renewed inquiry into misconduct allegations.
Flake’s move puts in doubt the fate of Kavanaugh, who has in recent days drawn strong support from Trump and other top Republicans but now faces another week of scrutiny and must watch as senators in both parties endure mounting pressure from their respective bases to rally to his side or block his confirmation.
Conservatives have demanded that Republicans confirm Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, a judge who could shift the high court to the right for a generation, or face political consequences in midterm elections in six weeks with control of Congress at stake.
The delay once again thrusts the FBI, an increasing target of Trump’s ire, into the center of a politically
charged controversy during the #MeToo period.
Flake, who at one point Friday was confronted by two women who tearfully and angrily urged him to consider the pain of sexual assault survivors, was soon joined by Sens. Lisa Murkowski, RAlaska, and Susan Collins, RMaine, and hailed by Democrats for forcing a oneweek delay in the nomination process to allow for the federal inquiry.
“There’s lingering doubt out there among a lot of people that we haven’t taken every measure that we should to make sure that these allegations are dealt with,” Flake told reporters Friday after the Senate Judiciary Committee said it requested the White House call for an FBI probe. “That’s what this effort is about.”
The request for a supplemental FBI background check will almost certainly delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote beyond Tuesday, the tentative date eyed by Senate GOP leaders. But Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., had no choice but to placate the small core of undecided senators whom Trump has little power to influence.
Late Friday, by voice vote, the Senate took an initial step to move ahead on the nomination. Barring no major revelations from the FBI, the Senate could vote on confirming Kavanaugh next weekend, days after the start of the high court’s session.
The FBI already has cleared Kavanaugh through six background checks for his previous publicservice jobs, a point the nominee underscored in a statement Friday while adding, “I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate.”
Trump said the investigation “must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.” The Judiciary Committee said the probe would cover “current credible allegations,” although committee spokesmen did not respond to a request to elaborate on what those accusations are.
The rapidfire events Friday came just a day after dramatic, searing testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school, and from the nominee, who denied the allegation during an emotional presentation.
Attorneys for Ford praised the decision to reopen the probe and added, “No artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation.”
The announcement followed a vote along party lines by the Judiciary Committee to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination — an 11to10 roll call that was left significantly in doubt amid a contentious yet odd debate as senators dashed into an anteroom behind the hearing space.
The committee fight was tense, as several Democrats — including Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Kamala Harris of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island — walked out in protest. Flake often appeared conflicted and pained as senators engaged in a contentious debate over the nomination.
After Sen. Christopher Coons, DDel., implored Republicans to join Democrats in calling for an FBI probe, Flake walked over and gestured to Coons to join him in the anteroom. The two close friends, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DMinn., left — prompting immediate speculation about whether they were working to delay the vote.
The senators eventually returned, and Flake announced he would still vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination, on the condition that a final vote would be delayed no more than a week to allow for an investigation.