‘It Will Not Be Made Public’: Kavanaugh FBI Report To Be Kept Secret (Or Not)

As the clock ticks down to what the GOP still insists is an imminent vote on Brett  Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, it’s time to remind you that Senate Republicans do not want the public to know what the FBI uncovers in the supplemental investigation ordered by Donald Trump late last week.

At the request of Jeff Flake, the President acquiesced to a limited probe into allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Kavanaugh and in the five days since, critics have variously alleged that the FBI’s hands are tied.

For instance, according to two people who spoke to Bloomberg, investigators have not interviewed Ford or Kavanaugh himself because the bureau “doesn’t have clear authority from the White House to do so”.

So just to be clear, the President has apparently not allowed the FBI to interview the accused or the accuser. I’m not sure how that constitutes “an investigation.”

This week, multiple accounts have refuted Kavanaugh’s assessment of his drinking days as delivered under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday.

For instance, a statement penned by Chad Ludington, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh, recounts a 1985 episode during which Kavanaugh instigated a bar fight that left at least one person injured and led to Kavanaugh being questioned by the New Haven Police Department. A police report obtained and published by the New York Times corroborates the story.

In addition to that, The Times also published a letter Kavanaugh penned in 1983 that finds Trump’s Supreme Court nominee describing himself and his friends as “loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us.” It’s signed “Bart”, which clearly indicates that Brett is in fact the character from Mark Judge‘s memoirs.

Finally, text messages seen by NBC appear to show a concerted effort on the part of  Kavanaugh and his associates to pressure former friends into publicly refuting allegations leveled by Deborah Ramirez.

Despite all of this (and more), Republicans apparently don’t believe the public should have the right to review the FBI’s findings. Here’s NBC:

The FBI’s supplemental background investigation will be delivered soon to Capitol Hill and added to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s current background investigation file.

All 100 Senators will have access to the new information, but not their staffs. There also are 10 Judiciary Committee staffers who have access to the Kavanaugh file, which is a paper report — there are no pdf’s or emails of it. And it will not be made public.

Does that seem right to you? Does that seem transparent to you?

Or does that sound like Republicans are intent on cramming Kavanaugh through irrespective of what the report shows, and they’re worried that if the public gets a look at the findings, there will be a backlash that could derail the nomination?

You decide.

Oh, but don’t worry, because you can be 100% certain that this report will leak, which means that if there’s something unsavory in there, Republicans will not be able to hide it from voters.

Finally, as you ponder all of this, do note that on Wednesday evening, The National Council of Churches called on Kavanaugh to withdraw his nomination…

Via AP

A massive coalition of U.S. Christian churches attended by 40 million people wants Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw his Supreme Court nomination.

The National Council of Churches says the conservative jurist has “disqualified himself.” The group says in a statement that at last week’s dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, he showed “extreme partisan bias,” demonstrating he lacks the temperament to join the high court.

The group says Kavanaugh told “outright falsehoods.” And it is criticizing his judicial record on voting rights, health care and other issues on which the group has taken liberal-leaning positions.

Full Kavanaugh coverage

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