Hirono: Democrats did not expect limited Kavanaugh investigation

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) on Sunday said Democrats were not expecting a limited FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, and called for a thorough background check that would enable lawmakers to determine the Supreme Court nominee’s character and credibility.

Hirono, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” called on Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and other moderate Republicans to push for a more thorough investigation.

{mosads}“I would think that Jeff Flake and the other senators who are pulling for this investigation will call for — there’s time, you know? The thing is that every Senate vote matters and there’s time to get to the bottom of it,” she said.

“To limit the FBI as to the scope and who they’re going to question,  … that’s not the kind of investigation that all of us are expecting the FBI to conduct,” Hirono added.

President Trump on Friday asked the FBI to conduct a “limited” investigation into sexual misconduct accusations made against Kavanaugh. 

The investigation comes after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school, both testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Kavanaugh said during his testimony that opposition to his confirmation is “a calculated and orchestrated political hit” by Democrats seeking “revenge on behalf” of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Hirono during her interview on “This Week” criticized Kavanaugh’s testimony as excessively partisan.

“It was shocking to me that he would accuse Democrats of some kind of a vast conspiracy to do him in and even dragged in Hillary Clinton. I found that bizarre,” Hirono said. “We hardly need someone on the Supreme Court who has these conspiracy theory notions.”

Hirono also said that if Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, he should recuse himself in the future from cases involving congressional Democrats or liberal groups.

“He revealed himself as a partisan,” she said. “If I were a Democrat going before him, I’d ask him to recuse himself.”