Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said Tuesday that the FBI has told him their agents can’t help with the murky allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Democrats have sounded the call for an FBI investigation into Christine Blasey Ford’s claim that Mr. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school, but Mr. Graham said he was informed that the account has too many holes.
“The FBI has told me, ’We don’t know how to help you. We don’t know where to go, we don’t know what town to go, we don’t know what month to look at, we’re not even sure about the year,’” Mr. Graham told Fox’s Martha MacCallum.
“So this is just an excuse to destroy this man’s life,” he said.
A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Graham pointed to the absence of corroborating witnesses and basic details, such as when and where the incident occurred.
“We have an allegation that’s collapsing,” he said. “I’ve never been more upset than I am now. I voted for [Justices] Sotomayor and Kagan. I didn’t do this to them. Judge Kavanaugh doesn’t deserve this. Ms. Ford doesn’t deserve what’s happened to her.”
Ms. Ford, a Palo Alto University psychology professor, has said there were four other teens at a party at which Mr. Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped, but all four of the others have said they have no knowledge of such a gathering.
Mr. Graham accused Democrats of political gamesmanship, pointing out that they were aware of the allegations in July but didn’t release them until a week ago.
“About the FBI investigation: If you really wanted one, why didn’t you tell us in July when you first got this accusation?” asked Mr. Graham. “What’s the FBI going to investigate? You can’t tell the FBI what month it happened, you can’t tell the FBI where it happened. What are they supposed to do, go talk to everybody in Maryland in 1982?”
Mr. Kavanaugh and Ms. Ford were students at different private high schools in suburban Maryland at the time of the alleged attack. He has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying, “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”
“I’ve been a lawyer all my life,” said Mr. Graham. “You couldn’t get a warrant based on this allegation. You can’t tell me when it happened, where it happened, and everybody named said it didn’t happen.”
He said he has sympathy for the plight of Ms. Ford, who’s scheduled to appear Thursday before the committee.
“Dr. Ford is being abused as much as anybody else. She said she didn’t want to come forward,” Mr. Graham said. “Somebody on the other side leaked her name. Not us. She’s been a victim of this as much as Kavanaugh has.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.