Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the 2018 probe into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Whitehouse is alleging that the probe was fake.
In a letter, Whitehouse asked Garland to conduct “proper oversight” into the bureau’s probe which he says “appears to have been a politically-constrained and perhaps fake.”
The FBI began their investigation after Christine Blasey Ford came forward to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school. Other women also came forward with similar allegations but Kavanaugh claims he was innocent.
Democrats argued that the investigation was incomplete since some key witnesses were not interviewed.
In his letter Whitehouse alleged that the agency refused to hear testimony from witnesses, ignored members who inquired on behalf of witnesses, and said the agency’s use of a “tip line” that was meant to accept allegations and evidence was used as a “garbage chute.”
“This ‘tip line’ appears to have operated more like a garbage chute, with everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the figurative dumpster,” he said.
Whitehouse also criticized FBI director Chris Wray for not answering questions about the probe.
“If standard procedures were violated, and the Bureau conducted a fake investigation rather than a sincere, thorough and professional one, that in my view merits congressional oversight to understand how, why, and at whose behest and with whose knowledge or connivance, this was done,” Whitehouse wrote. “It cannot and should not be the policy of the FBI to not follow up on serious allegations of misconduct during background check investigations.”
