Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley announced on Thursday that the FBI report detailing the investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh did not provide lawmakers with any new information.
“I’ve now received a committee staff briefing on the FBI’s supplement to Judge Kavanaugh’s background investigation file. There’s nothing in it that we didn’t already know,” Grassley said in a statement. “These uncorroborated allegations have been unequivocally and repeatedly rejected by Judge Kavanaugh and neither the Judiciary Committee nor the FBI can find any third parties who can attest to any of the allegations.”
“Fundamentally, we senators ought to wipe away the muck from all the mudslinging and politics and look at this nomination with clear eyes,” the statement concludes. “We know he will be an excellent justice because he’s been an excellent judge. It’s time to vote. I’ll be voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”
The report will not be made public. Each party was given one hour for its lawmakers to review the document in a secure room on Capitol Hill on Thursday morning.
The White House ordered the FBI to reopen the background investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh on Friday, after Republican senator Jeff Flake of Arizona said he would not vote to confirm the nominee until the FBI completed a one-week supplementary investigation.
Democrats have cast the probe as ineffectual, citing the numerous witnesses, including Christine Blasey Ford, who asked to speak with FBI agents but were not interviewed.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has scheduled a key procedural vote for Friday morning, and the final confirmation vote is expected to take place Saturday afternoon.