Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., on Thursday downplayed Democratic suggestions that past background checks have turned up unflattering information about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying that the back-and-forth between the majority and minority parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday night over the hints was not “constructive.”
“This is not the sort of back-and-forth by the majority and the minority that is constructive, frankly, because we can’t tell the public what is in the background investigation,” Coons said in an appearance on “Fox and Friends” Thursday morning.
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Coons also dismissed suggestions by members of his own party on the panel that past background checks into Kavanaugh found alarming information relevant to the just-concluded FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against the nominee. “There is nothing in here that is some bombshell that is unknown,” he said.
The two parties had sparred over the Judiciary Committee Democrats’ allegations Wednesday that there was material in the background checks that reflected poorly on Kavanaugh but could not be made public.
Minority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., had sent a letter Wednesday night to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urging him to issue a correction to a tweet posted earlier in the day stating that in the previous six FBI background investigations there was not a “whiff of any issue … related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse” by Kavanaugh.
[More: Justice Kavanaugh? White House ‘fully confident’. FBI report with Senate. Full vote Saturday]
Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports, which the committee has reviewed on a bipartisan basis, was there ever a whiff of ANY issue – at all – related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse. 2/2
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 2, 2018
“While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information in the second post that is not accurate,” Durbin wrote in the letter. “We urge you to ensure that these Twitter posts are promptly corrected.”
Coons, though, said Thursday morning that Democrats were risking the discussion of information that is confidential.
“We’re now into something that is confidential and this is a back and forth between the majority and minority about something we, both sides, know was in the background investigation that doesn’t clear the standard of ‘not a whiff,’” Coons said.
Grassley and the committee majority maintained that what they tweeted was accurate.
“Nothing in the tweet is inaccurate or misleading. The committee stands by its statement, which is completely truthful. More baseless innuendo and more false smears from Senate Democrats,” the tweet states.
Nothing in the tweet is inaccurate or misleading. The committee stands by its statement, which is completely truthful. More baseless innuendo and more false smears from Senate Democrats. https://t.co/x7VUEKnFRV
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 3, 2018
