Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said Wednesday he’s worried that the FBI might be moving too quickly to wrap up its report on sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“That would concern me,” he said on NBC when asked if he’s worried the FBI might finish its work by Wednesday.
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“Does that strike you as sufficient time, or does that feel rushed?” @savannahguthrie asks @ChrisCoons about possibility of Kavanaugh FBI investigation wrapping up today
“That would concern me.” –Sen. Coons pic.twitter.com/jsbb2wA5iv
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 3, 2018
“I hope the FBI has been allowed to follow all the reasonable leads from the credible allegations that were before the committee last week,” he said.
Coons’ opinion could matter, as he is a close ally of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. The two agreed last week that the FBI should investigate allegations against Kavanaugh for another week, a decision that was joined by two other Senate Republicans which meant the nomination was blocked. If that handful of senators isn’t satisfied with the result, they have the numbers to keep Kavanaugh from being confirmed.
Meanwhile, the FBI is reportedly close to finishing its work of examining some of the assault claims against Kavanaugh that surfaced last week. Some Democrats have already indicated they think the process is still moving too fast, but Coons on Wednesday reiterated the one-week agreement.
“Jeff and I came to an important agreement, that it would be a one-week investigation, and then leave it to the professionals at the FBI to decide exactly who they ought to interview and when they ought to deliver a final report to the Senate,” he said.
One of Kavanaugh’s accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, said she has not yet been interviewed by the FBI. But Flake, who was interviewed alongside Coons, said that isn’t necessarily a problem given that Ford testified before the Senate last week, and said he would only be worried if the FBI wasn’t talking to others about her allegation that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school gathering in 1982.
Flake also indicated he would have to rethink Kavanaugh’s nomination if the FBI report showed that Kavanaugh lied to the Senate last week.
“Obviously if there are demonstrable lies, if something is blatantly, if he mislead the committee in that way, then that’s something that is not right and shouldn’t happen, can’t happen,” he said.
