Ahead of his ultimate Senate confirmation in 2018, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh faced a range of allegations based on allegations of sexual misconduct.
Despite the fact that he is now seated on the nation’s highest court, at least one Senate Democrat still wants to see the claims against him investigated even further.
Allegations of a “fake” probe
According to reports, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has requested recently confirmed Attorney General Merrick Garland to conduct a review of Kavanaugh’s FBI background check as well as the allegations lodged against him.
Whitehouse, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was involved in the prior effort to undermine Kavanaugh’s nomination through the promulgation of multiple unverified allegations of misconduct by accusers including Christine Blasey Ford.
The uproar surrounding those allegations prompted the FBI to conduct an additional probe into the nominee on top of the standard background check he had previously cleared.
That additional investigation failed to substantiate any of the claims against him and the Senate subsequently confirmed him with a vote of 50-48.
Whitehouse remains unconvinced, however, maintaining that the additional scrutiny was either “fake” or influenced by partisanship, suggesting that federal investigators refused to consider all the evidence and witness testimony presented against Kavanaugh.
“Operated more like a garbage chute”
In a letter to Garland earlier this month, the senator expressed concerns over “what appears to have been a politically-constrained and perhaps fake FBI investigation” into the allegations of sexual misconduct.
He went on to assert that other accusers, at least two lawmakers, dozens of witnesses, and fellow lawmakers attempted to share information with the FBI to no avail.
Arguing that the bureau was not open and “amenable” to those offers of information and assistance, Whitehouse wrote that “the shutters were closed, the drawbridge drawn up, and there was no point of entry” for anyone to reach the agents involved.
The senator also took exception to a tipline set up by the FBI for Kavanaugh-related tips, claiming that it was unmanned and unmonitored, writing that it “appears to have operated more like a garbage chute, with everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the figurative dumpster.”
For his part, FBI Director Christopher Wray has declined to respond to concerns presented by the committee, leading Whitehouse to conclude that “such stonewalling does not inspire confidence in the integrity” of the bureau.
The post Dem lawmaker wants AG Garland to review FBI probe into Kavanaugh allegations first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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