A video from 1991 found by NTK Network reveals that former Vice President Joe Biden, D-Del., then a senator, pushed back on the notion that the FBI would reach any sort of conclusion from an investigation.
Biden made his comments while he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas in the early 1990s. Thomas was nominated by former President George H. W. Bush, a Republican.
“The next person that refers to an FBI report as being worth anything, obviously doesn’t understand anything,” Biden said. “FBI explicitly does not, in this or any other case, reach a conclusion. Period.”
Quite the find from @NTKNet. Sen. Biden is very informative in this clip. pic.twitter.com/HUeyZKupPC
— Elliott Schwartz (@elliosch) September 25, 2018
Biden said the investigation into whether or not sexual harassment occurred in the 1991 case is a game of “he said, she said” with inconclusive results.
During Thomas’ confirmation, Anita Hill accused him of sexually harassing her, and NTK Network notes she claims the FBI investigated.
“The reason why we cannot rely on the FBI report — you wouldn’t like it if we did because it is inconclusive. They say, ‘he said, she said, and they said.’ Period,” Biden continued.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process has been stalled after two allegations of sexual assault emerged. The two women detailed the separate alleged incidents, stemming back more than three decades, right before the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of drunkenly groping her at a high school get-together 36 years ago, previously said she would not testify before the committee until the FBI fully investigated the allegations.
“So when people wave an FBI report before you, understand they do not, they do not reach conclusions,” Biden said.
Democrats have sought to delay Trump’s second Supreme Court pick until after the 2018 midterms, where they hope to take back a majority in Congress and be able to block the nomination entirely.
