Trump agrees to open ‘limited’ FBI investigation into accusations against Kavanaugh

President Donald Trump, ceding to a request from Senate Republican leaders facing an insurrection in their ranks, ordered the FBI on Friday to reopen a background investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, his nominee to the Supreme Court, and examine allegations of sexual assault against him.

>> Nicholas Fandos and Sheryl Gay StolbergThe New York Times
Published : 29 Sept 2018, 04:16 AM
Updated : 29 Sept 2018, 05:00 AM

The announcement plunged Kavanaugh’s nomination into new turmoil and will delay, by as much as a week, a final confirmation vote. It came only 24 hours after the judge and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, each gave emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee that led many Republicans to think Kavanaugh’s confirmation was inevitable.

Trump and the Republican leaders had little choice but to ask Trump to order the FBI inquiry after Senator Jeff Flake (Republican-Arizona), said he would not vote to confirm him without an FBI investigation first.

Trump, who had hoped Kavanaugh would be sworn in by the time the Supreme Court opens its term Monday, said he was ordering the FBI to conduct what he called a “supplemental” investigation that he said “must be limited in scope and completed in less than a week.”

The FBI had already completed a background check on Kavanaugh, and it was unclear what the parameters of the new inquiry would be. But according to a person familiar with the matter, the allegations made by Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s, will be investigated along with those made by Blasey.

Christine Blasey Ford is flanked by her attorneys, Debra Katz, left, and Michael Bromwich at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday, Sept 27, 2018. Blasey testified about her accusation that Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, sexually assaulted her. The New York Times

Kavanaugh said in a statement Friday that he would continue to cooperate with investigators to clear his name. Debra S Katz, a lawyer for Blasey, said her client welcomed the development but not the “artificial limits” imposed. Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh’s identified by Blasey and another accuser at the scene of the episodes, said through a lawyer that he would cooperate with investigators.

The delay cast a cloud over what Republicans expected to be a triumphant day, but they were able to muscle the nomination through the Judiciary Committee with an 11-10 vote and send it to the full Senate with a favourable recommendation.

Even before an investigation was reopened, Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for one of the accusers, Julie Swetnick, announced Friday on Twitter that Swetnick would tell her story “directly to the American people” this weekend because Republicans have not allowed her to testify under oath.

The bureau has looked at Kavanaugh six times in the past, but it has never investigated the specific accusations raised in recent weeks.

The president alluded to those previous investigations Friday night in a tweet, saying he had “Just started, tonight, our 7th FBI investigation,” and declaring that Kavanaugh would “someday be recognized” as a great Supreme Court justice.

© 2018 New York Times News Service