Senate

GOP senator: Anyone who thinks politics weren’t involved in Kavanaugh report ‘ought to put down the bong’

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Thursday that anyone who thinks politics didn’t play a role in the FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “ought to put down the bong.”

“I really wish you could see this,” Kennedy told reporters after leaving the secure area where senators have reviewed the FBI’s findings, as reported by CNN. “Let me say that again: I really wish you could read this report. There are things in here that really make me angry.” 
 
{mosads}Kennedy then added that “anybody who thinks politics isn’t involved in this ought to put down the bong.”
 
His comments came after the FBI released the findings of its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh.
 
They also echoed statements he made earlier in the week. 
 
Kennedy said on Fox News on Monday that if people thought the FBI probe into Kavanaugh was about searching for the truth, “you ought to put down the bong.”
 
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) announced earlier on Thursday that there was no corroboration for the accusations leveled against President Trump’s Supreme Court pick. 

“I’ve now received a committee staff briefing on the FBI’s supplement to Judge Kavanaugh’s background investigation file. There’s nothing in it that we didn’t already know,” Grassley said in a statement.

“These uncorroborated accusations have been unequivocally and repeatedly rejected by Judge Kavanaugh, and neither the Judiciary Committee nor the FBI could locate any third parties who can attest to any of the allegations. There’s also no contemporaneous evidence,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have railed against the FBI’s report. 

“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,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said during a press conference. 

The report was released to senators a week after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testified about claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s. 

Kavanaugh has fiercely denied the accusation. He’s also denied misconduct claims from two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday night filed cloture in order to set a vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation for this week.