White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday downplayed the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by saying they were never an issue in the six prior FBI background checks he’s been through.
“Just Kavanaugh has been through six background investigations, he’s been at the height of scrutiny for over 26 years,” Sanders told ABC, adding that the investigations took place long after the time period of the alleged incidents.
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“I’ve been through [a background check] before,” Sanders said. “They go to your neighbors, they talk to your classmates from high school, from college, coworkers that lead all the way up to your present day. And at no point during any one of the six separate times [Kavanaugh’s] had that done has anything come up.”
Sanders said the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questioning yesterday of Ford and Kavanaugh was very similar to any sort of investigation the FBI would conduct at this point.
Still, Democrats insisted that another FBI check was needed, and the American Bar Association called late Thursday night for the committee to stall its consideration of Kavanaugh until another FBI investigation can be conducted.
Christine Blasey Ford publicly alleged this month that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school 36 years ago. Kavanaugh denied the allegations.
The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote Friday morning on the nomination, and the Senate will vote over the weekend to set up a final confirmation vote by early next week.
