President Trump said Monday he doesn’t object to the FBI interviewing all three women who’ve accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, but he wants the probe to end quickly.
“I think the FBI should interview anyone they want, within reason,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference. “It wouldn’t bother me at all.”
But Mr. Trump cautioned that the background investigation, the seventh conducted of the nominee over the years, should be concluded rapidly.
“We don’t want to go on a witch hunt, do we?” the president asked rhetorically.
The Senate postponed a vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination Friday to await the FBI probe, which is centered on accusations of Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers in the early 1980s.
The president said he has instructed White House counsel Don McGahn twice in recent days to make clear that the FBI investigation should pursue whatever has been requested by Senate Republicans, who hold the majority.
Mr. Trump said the judge and his family should be spared the pain of an endless investigation.
“I want it to be done quickly because it’s unfair to the family and the judge,” he said. “What his wife is going through, what his beautiful children are going through, it’s not describable. For me, it’s like part of my job description to handle this crap. This is not from his world. I feel badly for all parties. This is so bad for our country.”
He said FBI agents “have worked round the clock on Saturday, on Sunday.”
“The FBI’s really working hard, and they’re putting in a lot of hours,” Mr. Trump said “I’m guided by the Senate. I want to make the Senate happy. I’m not making the judgment. The Senate is making the judgment on Judge Kavanaugh.”
The president said it would be a “tough thing” to stop Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination because he admitted drinking beer heavily as a young man.
“I’m not a drinker,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “I can honestly say I’ve never had a beer in my life. That’s one of my few good traits. Can you imagine, if I had, what a mess I’d be? I’d be the world’s worst.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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