Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that only senators will see the FBI’s report on its investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“We’ll get an FBI report soon. It will be made available to each senator and only senators will be allowed to look at it,” McConnell told reporters.
He added, “That’s the way these reports are always handled.”
The FBI is investigating allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when the two were high school students more than three decades ago. Under a deal reached by GOP senators, the FBI has until Friday to wrap up the investigation.
Ford went over her allegations in dramatic testimony last week. Her charges were then refuted by Kavanaugh during a hearing that transfixed much of the nation.
The White House and Republican senators asked the FBI to reopen its investigation the next day, after Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and other senators called for it. Flake and two other GOP senators are undecided on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, as are two Democrats.
Shortly after McConnell’s comments, GOP Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), McConnell’s No. 2, said he expected a “public statement” on the FBI’s findings but not for the report itself to be released.
Republicans, leaving a closed-door lunch, said they did not know when the FBI would finish up its investigation but floated that it could happen as early as Wednesday.
Whether or not the report will be publicly released is becoming the latest point of division between senators.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said there was “growing” support within the Senate for publicly releasing the FBI’s report.
“Why are our Republican colleagues so afraid of making this public?” he asked.