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FBI interviews Kavanaugh accuser as battle rages over scope of investigation FBI interviews Kavanaugh accuser as battle rages over scope of investigation
(about 1 hour later)
Democrats and Republicans clashed over the scope and substance of an FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Democrats and Republicans continue to clash over the scope and substance of an FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, called on the White House and the FBI to provide the written directive regarding the investigation’s scope. In a letter on Sunday, she also asked for updates on any expansion of the original directive. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, called on the White House and the FBI to make available the written directive regarding the investigation’s scope. In a letter on Sunday, she also asked for updates on any expansion of investigation.
Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, a judiciary committee member, doubted how credible the investigation could be, given the time limit. The White House insisted it was not steering the FBI’s work, in which agents on Sunday interviewed Deborah Ramirez, one of three women who have accused Donald Trump’s second supreme court pick of sexual misconduct.
“That’s bad enough,” she told ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “But then to limit the FBI as to the scope and who they’re going to question, that … I wanted to use the word farce, but that’s not the kind of investigation that all of us are expecting the FBI to conduct.” Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of allegations against him.
FBI agents on Sunday interviewed Deborah Ramirez, one of three women who have accused Donald Trump’s second supreme court pick of sexual misconduct. In an interview with the New Yorker, Ramirez alleged Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm room party when they were at Yale in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of allegations against him. Ramirez alleges Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm room party when they were at Yale in the early 1980s.
When Ramirez spoke to FBI agents, she detailed her allegation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of a confidential investigation. When Ramirez spoke to FBI agents, she detailed her allegation, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of a confidential investigation who spoke to the Associated Press. The source said Ramirez also provided the names of others she said could corroborate her account.
The person familiar with Ramirez’s questioning, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Ramirez also provided investigators with the names of others who she said could corroborate her account.
Another Yale classmate came forward, meanwhile, to accuse Kavanaugh of being untruthful in his testimony to the Senate judiciary committee about the extent of his drinking in college.Another Yale classmate came forward, meanwhile, to accuse Kavanaugh of being untruthful in his testimony to the Senate judiciary committee about the extent of his drinking in college.
In his statement released on Sunday, Charles “Chad” Ludington, who now teaches at North Carolina State University, said he was “deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale”. In his statement, Charles “Chad” Ludington, who now teaches at North Carolina State University, said he was “deeply troubled by what has been a blatant mischaracterization by Brett himself of his drinking at Yale”. Ludington said he was a friend at Yale, when Kavanaugh was “a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker”.
Ludington said he was a friend at Yale, when Kavanaugh was “a frequent drinker, and a heavy drinker”. “On many occasions I heard Brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer,” Ludington said. “When Brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive.”
“On many occasions I heard Brett slur his words and saw him staggering from alcohol consumption, not all of which was beer. When Brett got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive,” Ludington said. While saying youthful drinking should not condemn a person for life, Ludington said he was concerned about Kavanaugh’s statements under oath.
While saying that youthful drinking should not condemn a person for life, Ludington said he was concerned about Kavanaugh’s statements under oath. In that Senate judiciary committee hearing last Thursday, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh, Dr Christine Blasey Ford, detailed the attempted rape she said happened at a house party in 1982.
In that Senate judiciary committee hearing last Thursday, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh, Dr Christine Blasey Ford, detailed the attempted rape she said happened at a house party in 1982. Ford has not been contacted by the FBI since Friday, according to a member of her team. Ford has not been contacted by the FBI since Friday, according to a member of her team. On Monday morning Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for another woman who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, Julie Swetnick, said his client had not been contacted either.
On Monday morning Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for another woman who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, Julie Swetnick, said his client had not been contacted either.
Posting a portion of the statement in which Swetnick says Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were present at parties in the same early 1980s years at which drunken girls were gang-raped, Avenatti wrote: “It is outrageous that my client has not been contacted by the FBI because [Donald] Trump is instructing them not to. He is trying to ram through a nomination by purposely preventing the truth from being known. This is a threat to our very democracy.”Posting a portion of the statement in which Swetnick says Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were present at parties in the same early 1980s years at which drunken girls were gang-raped, Avenatti wrote: “It is outrageous that my client has not been contacted by the FBI because [Donald] Trump is instructing them not to. He is trying to ram through a nomination by purposely preventing the truth from being known. This is a threat to our very democracy.”
He added: “Be clear: 1. I CANNOT just walk my client into an FBI office. We tried that. They claim they don’t have jurisdiction and they refuse to take a stmt. 2. While we may file a criminal complaint, that will have no bearing on any vote due to timing. We will proceed with other options.”He added: “Be clear: 1. I CANNOT just walk my client into an FBI office. We tried that. They claim they don’t have jurisdiction and they refuse to take a stmt. 2. While we may file a criminal complaint, that will have no bearing on any vote due to timing. We will proceed with other options.”
The White House insisted it was not “micromanaging” the one-week FBI investigation, which Trump ordered at the behest of the Arizona senator Jeff Flake, after the Senate panel voted on party lines to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination. In Boston, meanwhile, hundreds gathered ahead of a speaking engagement in the city by Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who demanded the FBI investigation after voting for Kavanaugh’s nomination to proceed to the Senate floor.
As Democrats claimed the White House was keeping investigators away from certain witnesses, Trump tweeted that no matter how much time and discretion the FBI was given, “it will never be enough” for those trying to keep Kavanaugh off the bench. Ed Markey, the junior Massachusetts senator, told protesters he was calling for “no duration limit” on the FBI’s work.
The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, told Fox News on Sunday that the White House counsel, Don McGahn, “has allowed the Senate to dictate what these terms look like, and what the scope of the investigation is”. “We thank the survivors,” he said. “Dr Ford was empowered and she was courageous. She had nothing to gain and everything to lose. She stepped forward to tell her story. Now others are stepping forward to tell their stories about Brett Kavanaugh.”
“The White House isn’t intervening. We’re not micromanaging this process. It’s a Senate process.” Boston’s mayor, Martin Walsh, also spoke. He wanted to thank Flake, he said, “for asking the question but that’s your job. That’s your job, to vet the nominee in that committee.” The Arizona senator, he said, could now do “a very special thing next week” and vote against Kavanaugh.
A Senate judiciary committee member, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said testimony would be taken from Ramirez and Judge, who has been named by two of three women accusing Kavanaugh. Judge has denied the allegations or said he does not remember the events described. In the crowd, Melissa Tully and Mary Power, both from Hingham, Massachusetts, were holding “#stopkavanaugh” signs. Tully said she had experienced sexual harassment in college, but “nothing compared to what Ford experienced”.
“I think that will be the scope of it. And that should be the scope of it,” Graham told ABC’s This Week. Tully said: “I think Judge Kavanaugh did not answer many questions directly and disassembled questions in his response. As a judge he knows the difference between the word refute and the phrase “I don’t remember being there.”
Susan Collins of Maine, a key vote when Kavanaugh’s confirmation comes to the floor, said she was confident in the investigation and “that the FBI will follow up on any leads that result from the interviews”. Kavanaugh, she said, did not have the demeanor of someone “fit to be on the supreme court”.
Republicans control 51 seats in the Senate and cannot afford to lose more than one vote. Collins and Flake spoke throughout the weekend. Senate Republicans discussed the investigation with the White House late on Friday, according to a person familiar with the call not authorized to discuss it publicly. 
The office of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, declined to elaborate, reiterating only that the investigation would focus on “current credible allegations”.
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