Donald Trump has a new reason why he doesn't want the FBI to investigate the allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh violently sexually assaulted a 15 year old when he was in high school: The FBI, he says, doesn't feel like it.
From the White House transcript of his remarks during an appearence with Polish President Duda:
I don’t think the FBI really should be involved because they don’t want to be involved. If they wanted to be, I would certainly do that. But as you know, they say this is not really their thing. But I think, politically speaking, the senators will do a very good job. They really will. They're going to open it up, and they will do a very good job.That is obviously a nonsensical and bizarre statement. Vetting presidential nominees is, in fact, a longstanding duty of the FBI; what Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is alleging goes beyond mere issues of character; she is directly accusing Kavanaugh of a violent crime.
In any event, the FBI doesn't get to decide which things they "want to be" involved with. How's that supposed to work?
"Look alive, team, we've got a series of brutal murders in Boston. The victims were dismembered and scattered over ten city blocks."
"Wow, that sounds really gross and unpleasant. I think we're going to take a pass on that one, buddy, we do not need to see that."
What Donald Trump, Rapist Apologist means is that he, Donald Trump, doesn't want the FBI to investigate the charges against Kavanaugh. This is almost certainly because he believes, like most other Kavanaugh allies who have weighed in, that an FBI investigation will not exonerate his nominee. If Trump and others truly believed Dr. Ford was lying or "mixed up" they would not hesitate to use the government powers at their disposal to attack her–Trump weaponized his control of the FBI as recently as yesterday to release information he felt would benefit him personally. Now he is using the same powers in an attempt to thwart further investigation.
What's not immediately clear is whether the FBI can move forward with an investigation if the White House does not want them to. The agency may only undertake vetting procedures after a request from the appropriate government agency–in this case, the White House. But Dr. Ford has described not merely an untoward event from Kavanaugh's past but a violent sexual assault, one which has now been referred to the bureau by Sen. Diane Feinstein; the White House may not have a final say in whether federal or state prosecutors open a criminal investigation into the incident, or whether the FBI is summoned to assist in that effort.
No comments: