Sheldon Whitehouse: FBI probe of Brett Kavanaugh was ‘fake’

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is accusing the FBI of conducting a “fake” investigation to help deflect sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh during his confirmation in 2018.

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Rhode Island Democrat said he wants the now-Democrat-led Justice Department to probe the FBI’s handling of the allegations against Justice Kavanaugh from three years ago.

Mr. Whitehouse said the FBI review in 2018 “appears to have been politically-constrained and perhaps fake” to protect former President Trump’s nominee.

A spokesperson from the Justice Department confirmed Tuesday it received and is currently reviewing the letter.

During the 2018 high court confirmation hearing to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, Christine Blasey Ford came forward with claims that Justice Kavanaugh, who was tapped to fill the vacancy, assaulted her when they were in high school but she could not say where or even what year the assault occurred.

Justice Kavanaugh vehemently denied any wrongdoing. After facing an FBI review into Ms. Blasey Ford’s allegations, Justice Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed to the high court by the U.S. Senate.

In the letter sent on Monday, Mr. Whitehouse accused the FBI of failing to follow up on other sexual misconduct allegations despite law firms providing the bureau with the names of additional witnesses.

“This was unique behavior in my experience, as the Bureau is usually amenable to information and evidence; but in this matter the shutters were closed, the drawbridge drawn up, and there was no point of entry by which members of the public or Congress could provide information to the FBI,” Mr. Whitehouse wrote.

Liberal groups echoed Mr. Whitehouse’s concerns, saying the Trump White House constrained the FBI from doing a thorough review.

“Somehow, the FBI investigated the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh without speaking to either Kavanaugh himself nor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford or any of the other people with information about the accusations against him,” said Nan Aron, president of the progressive Alliance for Justice. “It was almost as if the agency’s goal in the investigation was to obtain as little information as possible.”