FBI Facing Allegation That Its 2018 Background Check of Brett Kavanaugh Was
'Fake'
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Guardian UK
17 March 21
A Democratic senator has asked attorney general Merrick Garland to
facilitate 'proper oversight' into concerns on the investigation
he FBI is facing new scrutiny for its 2018 background check of Brett
Kavanaugh, the supreme court justice, after a lawmaker suggested that the
investigation may have been "fake".
Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and former prosecutor who serves on
the judiciary committee, is calling on the newly-confirmed attorney general,
Merrick Garland, to help facilitate "proper oversight" by the Senate into
questions about how thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his
confirmation hearing.
The supreme court justice was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey
Ford and faced several other allegations of misconduct following Ford's
harrowing testimony of an alleged assault when she and Kavanaugh were in
high school.
Kavanaugh denied the claims.
The FBI was called to investigate the allegations during the Senate
confirmation process but was later accused by some Democratic senators of
conducting an incomplete background check. For example, two key witnesses -
Ford and Kavanaugh - were never interviewed as part of the inquiry.
Among the concerns listed in Whitehouse's letter to Garland are allegations
that some witnesses who wanted to share their accounts with the FBI could
not find anyone at the bureau who would accept their testimony and that it
had not assigned any individual to accept or gather evidence.
"This was unique behavior in my experience, as the Bureau is usually
amenable to information and evidence; but in this matter the shutters were
closed, the drawbridge drawn up, and there was no point of entry by which
members of the public or Congress could provide information to the FBI,"
Whitehouse said.
He added that, once the FBI decided to create a "tip line", senators were
not given any information on how or whether new allegations were processed
and evaluated. While senators' brief review of the allegations gathered by
the tip line showed a "stack" of information had come in, there was no
further explanation on the steps that had been taken to review the
information, Whitehouse said.
"This 'tip line' appears to have operated more like a garbage chute, with
everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the
figurative dumpster," he said.
He also criticized FBI director Chris Wray, who Joe Biden has elected to
remain in place, for not answering questions about the investigation.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment. The DOJ did not respond to
a request for comment.
While it is unclear whether the FBI would re-open an investigation into
Kavanaugh, who is now one of nine justices on the supreme court, the letter
could push Garland to force the DOJ to respond to questions about the
investigation into Kavanaugh.
Whitehouse said he is seeking answers about "how, why, and at whose behest"
the FBI conducted a "fake" investigation if standard procedures were
violated, including standards for following allegations gathered through FBI
"tip lines".