Top Senate Democrats on Thursday knocked the FBI’s investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as “incomplete” and too narrow in scope.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) spoke with reporters after getting briefed on the FBI’s report, which senators say is about 50 pages and includes interviews or statements from 10 individuals.
{mosads}”We had many fears that this was a very limited process that would constrain the FBI from getting the facts. … Those fears have been realized,” Schumer told reporters on Thursday.
Feinstein characterized the FBI’s investigation as “incomplete,” floating that it might have been “limited” by the White House.
The press conference comes as senators began viewing the FBI’s report on Thursday morning. Most Democrats began filing into a secure location in the Capitol basement around 11 a.m. to be briefed by Judiciary Committee staff and view the report.
Republicans want to hold an initial vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee chairman, said that the FBI’s investigation “found no hint of misconduct” regarding Kavanaugh.
But Schumer disagreed with Grassley’s assessment.
“I disagree … with Sen. Grassley’s statement that there was no hint of misconduct,” he told reporters.
He did not respond to follow-up questions asking what he meant or what lead him to that conclusion.
The FBI was tasked last week with looking into several sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh after the Supreme Court nominee and Christine Blasey Ford, his first accuser, testified during a closely watched, emotional hearing.