The FBI probe into Brett Kavanaugh will end tomorrow with an expected vote on the Senate floor by the end of this week.
According to The Wall Street Journal, sources confirmed “that the FBI investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh could wrap up very soon, well ahead of the end-of week deadline.” The probe could be done possibly late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
“Agents had interviewed at least four key people as of Tuesday in its background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh,” reports WSJ. “The White House had given the bureau until Friday to wrap up the probe.”
The debate among the senators now is whether or not the FBI’s findings should be made public, and that outcome is still up in the air. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that only senators will be allowed to see the report.
“We will get an FBI report soon. It will be made available to each senator and only senators will be allowed to look at it. That’s the way these reports are always handled. These background checks from the FBI to the Judiciary Committee. And we will be voting this week,” McConnell said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer challenged that assertion by saying it should be made public, mostly because the FBI hotline has been flooded with crazy allegations with no credibility whatsoever.
“We are getting report after report of people who call the FBI Hotline, the tips line, and are never called back,” Schumer said. “People who claim — we don’t know the veracity of these claims — but people who claim to have new and compromising information.”
Other Republicans, like Sen. John Cornyn, think the FBI probe should be made partially public. “There does need to be some sort of public statement, if not the reports themselves,” he said. “Since the accusations have been made public, it seems to me that people are not going to be satisfied until some public statement about what the FBI supplemental background investigation showed is made.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said such an action would not be standard protocol. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said the release should “be limited.”
Recent polls indicate that if the FBI probe finds nothing, a majority of Americans want to see Kavanaugh confirmed.
