Did the FBI fake a background check on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh?

Washington DC – Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is calling on the Department of Justice to probe the FBI's 2018 background check on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, calling it incomplete and potentially fake.

Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice after being cleared by the FBI and the senate judiciary committee in 2018.
Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice after being cleared by the FBI and the senate judiciary committee in 2018.  © IMAGO/ ZUMA Wire

Prior to Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, the FBI was involved in the investigation of claims of sexual misconduct against him.

Whitehouse, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, wrote a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, calling for a probe into the FBI's handling of the allegations, calling it "politically constrained and potentially fake."

The Rhode Island senator said that the FBI failed to speak with or gather testimony from several of the accusers, including Doctor Christine Blasey Ford and even Brett Kavanaugh himself.

The letter also claimed that potential witnesses and accusers struggled to get in touch with anyone at the FBI and that there was little interested in hearing their testimonies or accounts.

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Eventually, the bureau created a "tip line," which Whitehouse compared to a "garbage chute" for information that was never looked into.

Whitehouse seeks answers from the FBI

In his letter to the attorney general, Whitehouse wrote, "It cannot and should not be the policy of the FBI to not follow up on serious allegations of misconduct during background check investigations."

Whitehouse is now asking for clarifications from the FBI and DOJ on what their procedures were and why the background check didn't treat the sexual assault allegations more thoroughly.

The FBI has previously defended its investigations of Justice Kavanaugh. In 2018, before the explosive nationally-televised hearings that featured testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, it released a statement insisting that it's only role had been to determine whether Kavanaugh "could pose a risk to the national security of the United States."

A spokesperson for the DOJ told Forbes that they were reviewing Whitehouse's letter and had nothing more to add.

Cover photo: IMAGO/ ZUMA Wire

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