The FBI’s investigation into the sexual violence allegations against U.S. Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh was “manipulated” and influenced by the Trump White House, a new report found.
Kavanaugh was confirmed on October 6, in 2018, after he was accused of sexual misconduct while in high school and college—claims he has “categorically and unequivocally” denied.
Before Kavanaugh was confirmed, the FBI carried out a supplemental background investigation—a review done in addition to standard background checks, usually used to address specific concerns.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who has been an outspoken critic of Kavanaugh’s confirmation, produced a report that reached several “troubling” conclusions, legal commentator and former district attorney Matthew T. Mangino told Newsweek.
These include that “the supplemental background investigation was flawed and incomplete” because the FBI reportedly did not follow up on numerous leads that could have corroborated evidence.
The inquiry also said that “the Trump White House exercised total control over the scope of the investigation,” by preventing the FBI from interviewing certain witnesses and following up on tips.
It claims the FBI did not investigate thousands of tips that came in via the agency’s tip line, “on instructions from the White House.”
“Instead, all tips related to Kavanaugh were forwarded to the White House without investigation,” the report added.
It concluded: “The Senators’ oversight inquiry reveals disturbing gaps in the FBI’s supplemental background investigation process for judicial nominees—gaps that enabled the White House to undermine the Senate’s ability to reliably exercise its advice and consent responsibility with respect to the Kavanaugh nomination.”
If the report is true, it would be contrary to how Trump described the investigation at the time, when he said the FBI had “free reign.”
“I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion,” Trump said.
In response to Whitehouse’s report, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told The Washington Post that Kavanaugh “was unfairly slandered and smeared with lies.”
The FBI told Newsweek: “The FBI, in its role as an investigative service provider, responds to requests from the Office of White House Counsel and other government entities to conduct background investigations of candidates for certain positions. In these investigations, the FBI follows a long-standing, established process through which the scope of the investigation is limited to what is requested.
“We have consistently followed that process for decades and did so for the Kavanaugh inquiry. The FBI does not have the independent authority to expand the scope of a supplemental background investigation outside the requesting agency’s parameters. This is different from criminal investigations where the FBI has broad authority, granted by the Attorney General Guidelines, to make investigative decisions.”
Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign team and the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office, via email, for comment.
Kavanaugh was first accused by Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged that she was assaulted during a high school party in the summer of 1982, when she was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17. She claims Kavanaugh pinned her down onto a bed, groped her and tried to remove her clothes.
After Ford went public with the allegations, another woman, Deborah Ramirez, came forward, telling The New Yorker how Kavanaugh allegedly exposed himself to her and forced her to touch him without her consent.
Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the accusations, calling them “calculated and
orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election.”
The FBI probe was just one part of the process that took place before Kavanaugh was confirmed. Kavanaugh and Ford testified before the committee and were questioned by senators and outside prosecutor Rachel Mitchell.
The Senate was given materials related to the FBI’s supplemental background investigation on October 4, when senators were given a one-hour window to review the documents, which contained more than 1,600 pages, Whitehouse’s report said.
“If senators relied on an incomplete supplemental report to make such an important decision, then what confidence can the nation have with any decision,” Mangino, the former Democratic district attorney of Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, told Newsweek.
“It is shocking that any president, let alone Donald Trump, should be able to wield some much power over such an important legislative matter.
“Moving forward, there must be policies and procedure established that outline the FBI’s discretion in supplement background investigations and the executive branch should be limited in its oversight of such investigations. This investigation, or lack thereof, has altered the trajectory of the high court for years to come.”
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