A top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee resurfaced the Supreme Court hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, requesting Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the FBI’s background check on the judge, which he said was “fake.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse asked Garland to look into four separate Trump-era investigations, which he said “evaded oversight” when they were conducted. The investigation into the sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh was “politically-constrained” and potentially made up, the Rhode Island Democrat wrote.
“If standard procedures were violated, and the Bureau conducted a fake investigation rather than a sincere, thorough and professional one, that in my view merits congressional oversight to understand how, why, and at whose behest and with whose knowledge or connivance, this was done,” Whitehouse wrote in a letter to Garland.
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Some witnesses who wanted to share their accounts didn’t have contacts at the FBI who would accept their testimonies, and no one was assigned to take or gather evidence, Whitehouse alleged.
That was “unique behavior” within the bureau, and members of the public and Congress couldn’t provide information to the FBI, the senator said.
Once the FBI created a “tip line,” lawmakers were still not given any direction on how tips would be processed or evaluated.
Whitehouse criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray, alleging he interfered with the oversight of the investigation. Wray has remained director of the bureau under President Biden.
“It cannot and should not be the policy of the FBI to not follow up on serious allegations of misconduct during background check investigations,” Whitehouse wrote.
Kavanaugh faced an allegation of sexual misconduct during his confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court in 2018. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused the justice of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school.
During the hearings, Whitehouse asked Kavanaugh about the contents of his high school yearbook and his drinking habits.
At the time, Whitehouse, a former prosecutor, urged an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh, adding that he didn’t think Kavanaugh’s defense was credible.
“This has lit up America,” Whitehouse told reporters in 2018. “I think people who know nothing about picking judges see the way he ranted and raved, see the way he made stuff up and dissembled, and they think to themselves, ‘That’s not a judge.’ And if he gets nominated to the court, it’s going to be very damaging to the court.”
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Kavanaugh, who denied the allegations against him, was confirmed on a 50-48 Senate vote. Whitehouse cast a “no” vote.
In addition to the Kavanaugh investigation, Whitehouse called on Garland to look into a civil fraud investigation of the tobacco industry, an antitrust investigation into California’s fuel-emission agreements, and Internal Revenue Service referrals for false statement cases.
The Justice Department confirmed to the Washington Examiner that it has received Whitehouse’s request and are currently reviewing it. The FBI had no comment on the matter.
