Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the House would continue to investigate a Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh if members feel the Senate hasn’t done a thorough job.
“If he is on the Supreme Court and the Senate hasn’t investigated, then the House will have to,” Mr. Nadler said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We would have to investigate any credible allegation, certainly of perjury and other things that haven’t been properly looked into before.”
Mr. Nadler, who is in line to become chairman of the committee if Democrats win the House, says he hopes the FBI has “free hand” over the next week to further investigate allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Judge Kavanaugh.
“If they don’t, that’s a real problem. It would call into validity the entire Senate process,” he said. “I would hope that Sen. Flake and others would make clear that their votes will not be for the nominee unless there is a free hand for proper investigation of these very serious allegations of sexual assaults.”
Mr. Flake, with support from several other key senators, called last week for the FBI to re-open a background check into Judge Kavanaugh before the full Senate votes on his nomination.
The Senate Judiciary Committee said it would support a supplemental background investigation limited to “current credible allegations” against Judge Kavanaugh, who has denied all charges of sexual assault.
President Trump confirmed that the FBI has started the investigation, and said the bureau should interview “whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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