White House 'Fully Confident' Kavanaugh Will be Confirmed Following FBI Report
The White House has announced its received FBI report
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The White House has announced it has received the official FBI supplemental background investigation report into Supreme Court Nominee court Brett Kavanagh and are 'fully confident' he will be confirmed.
Following the Kavanagh hearings, Trump ordered the FBI to carry out full background checks into the Supreme Court Judge nominee, investigating allegations into alleged sexual misconduct from three women.
Following Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testimony, the FBI investigation commenced and should be concluded by the end of the week, according to various officials.
Principal deputy press secretary for the White House, Raj Shah, confirmed the finalized FBI report is currently "being transmitted to the Senate."
The news comes as Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Md.) called for an investigation by the FBI/Justice Department into the "false affidavit" given by Judge Brett Kavanaugh's third accuser, Julie Swetnick.
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According to Fox News: "With [Senate Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell’s cloture filing, Senators have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation," Shah said in a statement posted to Twitter.
“This is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents.”
Shah said the “White House is fully confident” Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the Supreme Court in the Senate vote.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources, that the White House had examined interview summaries from the FBI’s inquiry into Kavanaugh and obtained no corroboration of the accusations of sexual misconduct.
The Journal showed that the FBI report might do little to contribute evidence and essentially leaves senators in the same situation as they were in last week: two witnesses giving different accounts on what occurred.
Attorneys for Ford slammed the FBI background investigation.
"An FBI supplemental background investigation that did not include an interview of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford -- nor the witnesses who corroborate her testimony -- cannot be called an investigation," the statement read. "We are profoundly disappointed that after the tremendous sacrifice she made in coming forward, those directing the FBI investigation were not interested in seeking the truth."
Ford told the committee that she was "100 percent" satisfied that Kavanaugh was her assailant.
.@WhiteHouse statement on @FBI supplemental background investigation into Judge Brett Kavanaugh:
— Raj Shah (@RajShah45) October 4, 2018
“The White House has received the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s supplemental background investigation into Judge Kavanaugh, and it is being transmitted to the Senate. (1/3)
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Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations.
The announcement comes as senior congressional sources tell Fox News that the Senate Judiciary Committee has not taken the FBI's report on Kavanaugh.
Senators will be able to view the report Thursday in a safe area off the Senate subway.
McConnell on Wednesday filed for cloture to end debate on the nomination, setting up a key procedural vote for Friday -- and a possible confirmation vote as early as Saturday.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and committee member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would be given the first opportunity to look at the report.
Kavanaugh’s fate boils down to three Republican Senators: Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV., who is facing a re-election fight, has said he will make his judgment after the FBI probe.
Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Senate 51-49, and – in the event of a tie – Vice President Mike Pence would be the deciding vote.
Rachel Mitchell, the sex-crimes prosecutor, hired by the Senate Judiciary Committee to assist Republicans who questioned Ford last week, wrote in a memo released late Sunday that there appeared to be discrepancies in her testimony and that she would not bring criminal charges against Kavanaugh.
