Eight Senate Democrats sent a letter to President Trump Thursday afternoon urging him to launch an FBI investigation into an allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a young woman in the 1980s.
The group of senators, consisting of former prosecutors and attorneys general, is requesting that the Trump administration open an FBI investigation into the allegations before the Senate moves forward with Kavanaugh’s confirmation process. The group comprised Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Doug Jones, D-Ala., Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Catherine Cortez-Mastro, D-Nev.
“As former prosecutors and attorneys general, we write to express our deep concern that your Administration has reportedly refused to direct the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to reopen its background investigation to conduct appropriate follow-up in response to the allegations that have been raised against Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” the senators wrote.
The senators are addressing allegations raised by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who told the Washington Post on the record Sunday about an alleged incident between herself and Kavanaugh during a high school party in the early 1980s. Ford claimed Kavanaugh held her on her back on a bed during a house party in Maryland. She accused Kavanaugh of groping her, trying to undress her and suppressing her mouth with his hand. She said she was able to escape only after a friend interrupted them.
Ford claims there was at least one witness present in the room and a total of four people at the party. One of the witnesses, Mark Judge, who Ford identifies as the witness in the room, claims he was both not in the room during the alleged incident and he has never seen Kavanaugh act in the manner Ford describes. Another of the proposed witnesses, who was identified by Ford as being present party, also denies any knowledge of the party in question or any inappropriate conduct by Kavanaugh.
Ford’s story immediately caused Democrats and some Republican senators to call for an investigation, or public testimony from both Ford and Kavanaugh, before having a final vote on his confirmation.
Kavanaugh, who has called Ford’s allegations patently false, has agreed to testify before the committee and answer any questions the senators might have. Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley’s staff has repeatedly reached out to Ford, but she has yet to confirm whether or not she plans to testify.
There is a scheduled public hearing Monday to discuss the allegations. Ford has until 10 a.m. Friday to agree to publicly testify, following committee rules. The committee is expected to cancel the hearing Monday if Ford does not respond by the deadline.
Ford’s attorneys, along with Senate Democrats, are insisting that a full FBI investigation must come before both or either party testifies before the Senate — a point repeated in Thursday’s letter to the president.
“The allegations now before us include a number of issues that would ordinarily be addressed by law enforcement. One of these is the fact that the allegations mention multiple witnesses who may have relevant information to share in an interview. Another is that there are reports of medical evidence and a polygraph test, which should be reviewed,” the senators wrote. “These are tasks that are properly done by law enforcement professionals and that are consistent with the FBI’s work in conducting background checks of other nominees. In this instance, the need for this type of follow-up is all the more important in light of the fact that two of the people who may have relevant information have already sent letters stating their refusal to appear before the Judiciary Committee.”
The eight Democrats argue Trump is breaking the precedent set by former President George H.W. Bush’s administration when it tasked the FBI with investigating allegations Anita Hill raised against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991.
“Declining to have the FBI take action under these circumstances also abandons the precedent that President George H.W. Bush set when he asked the FBI to investigate after Anita Hill raised allegations against Judge Clarence Thomas in 1991. That decision was praised by Republican senators including Senator Hatch, who called it the “right thing to do,” and the FBI finished its work in three days,” the senators wrote.
Grassley, thus far, has shot down Democrats asks for a full FBI investigation. In a letter addressed to Democrats on the Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Grassley said Democrats are showing a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how the FBI operates and its background investigation processes.
“We have no power to commandeer an Executive Branch agency into conducting our due diligence,” Grassley wrote in a letter to the committee’s Democrats on Wednesday. “The job of assessing and investigating a nominee’s qualifications in order to decide whether to consent to the nomination is ours, and ours alone.”
The chairman also pushed back against comparisons between the Anita Hill allegations and those Ford has levied against Kavanaugh.
“We are in the same position the committee was in after Professor Hill’s allegations were leaked,” Grassley wrote Wednesday. “After that leak, we did not ask the FBI to conduct an investigation. Instead, we opened the hearing and assessed the testimony that was given on our own. As in 1991, it is now up to the Senate to gather and assess the relevant evidence.”
Democrats argue that the president, along with Senate Republicans, aren’t making good on their commitment to a “full” fact finding “process.”
“Earlier this week, you expressed your support for having a “full process” following the allegations that have been made against Judge Kavanaugh. But that is not what is happening here. Senate Republicans are attempting to make Dr. Blasey Ford testify on just a few days’ notice — without having the FBI follow up on her allegations and provide a report first,” the senators wrote Thursday. “This strikes us as simply a check-the-box exercise in a rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. It is for this reason that we urge you to reconsider your decision and ask the FBI to take appropriate action in response to the claims that have been made, so that Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination can be considered by the Senate in a manner that is both consistent with past practices and fair to the parties involved and the American people.”
For their part, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have offered to set up a public or private hearing, as well as public or private staff interview. Grassley has also made it know that he will send committee staff to California or elsewhere to meet with Ford.
“I certainly can understand that Dr. Ford might be distrustful of the committee’s ability to keep matters confidential based on the Democratic members’ recent conduct, but I sincerely hope that, if she chooses to testify in a closed setting, that my colleagues can see their way to plugging the leaks which have plagued this nomination and gain her trust,” Grassley wrote Wednesday.
