Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is calling on the FBI to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct facing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that have delayed his confirmation vote.
Schumer on Monday evening accused the White House of “intentionally” choosing “to bury its head in the sand and make weak excuses” for its pick.
{mosads}“We need the FBI to step forward to ensure that the Senate and American public have complete information about this troubling alleged incident before a hearing is held,” he said in a statement.
Schumer issued his remarks shortly after the Justice Department announced that the allegation against Kavanaugh “does not involve any potential federal crime,” according to The Associated Press.
Department officials asserted Monday evening that the FBI’s role in conducting background checks is to assess whether potential nominees may pose risks to national security. They may have concluded a 36-year-old accusation of sexual assault stemming from Kavanaugh’s high school years does not threaten national security.
Schumer explained that he is not asking for a criminal investigation but for a deeper probe since the earlier FBI review did not delve into claims by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her and attempted to strip off her clothes while she was attending a party as a 15-year-old high school sophomore.
“The White House understands very well that we aren’t asking to open a criminal investigation, but to have the FBI re-open and complete the standard background investigation for someone who has been nominated for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court,” he said in his statement.
A Democratic aide said the White House can urge the FBI to reopen its background check since Kavanaugh is one of its nominees.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an additional day of hearings Monday to review Ford’s accusation and to give Kavanaugh a chance to refute her claims.
Hundreds of graduates from Ford’s high school, the Holton-Arms School, have signed a letter declaring they believe her. The signatories include women who graduated in the early 1980s and could, according to Democrats and their allies, provide some corroborating evidence pertaining to Kavanaugh’s conduct three decades ago.
A group of 65 women who knew Kavanaugh when he attended high school from 1979 to 1983 wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “for the entire time” they knew Kavanaugh, he “has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.”