Politics
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Brett Kavanaugh testified in front of the Senate Judiciary committee over sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford.
- Several people with information related to the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh say the FBI has not been willing to interview them.
- These people include multiple former classmates of Kavanaugh's who dispute the judge's characterizations of his drinking and partying in high school and college.
- While the White House and Senate Republicans have determined the parameters of the FBI probe, the president says he is not interfering in the law enforcement agency's work on the matter.
As the FBI launched into its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh this weekend, several people with information related to the allegations say the law enforcement agency has not been willing to speak with them.
This includes former classmates and friends of Kavanaugh's who have come forward to dispute claims the judge made about his drinking and partying habits in college.
The investigation comes after professor Christine Blasey Ford testified to a Senate committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a small house party in the summer of 1982, when they were in high school.
An attorney for Elizabeth Rasor, Judge's college girlfriend who says Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge once told her that he and other boys took turns having sex with a drunk woman during high school, has "received no substantive response" from the FBI after making Rasor's desire to speak with the FBI clear to both the bureau and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"She feels a sense of civic duty to tell what she knows," the attorney, Roberta Kaplan, told The New Yorker. "But the only response we've gotten are e-mails saying that our e-mails have been 'received.'"
Rasor's story appears to align with separate allegations made by Julie Swetnick, who alleges that Kavanaugh and Judge were present during "'gang' or 'train' rapes" of teenage girls at high-school parties in the early 1980s.
The president claims that he has given the FBI "free rein" to investigation the claims, despite reports that the White House is working in concert with Senate Republicans to determine the parameters of the weeklong probe.
The FBI reportedly plans to interview four witnesses - Mark Judge; Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's who says he drunkenly exposed himself to her; Leland Keyser, a friend of Ford's who allegedly attended the gathering where Ford says she was assaulted; and P.J. Smyth, a friend of Kavanaugh's who Ford says also attended the small house party.
The lead lawyer for Ford, who testified last week that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her at the 1982 party, said her client has not been contacted by the FBI.
"We've tried repeatedly to speak with the FBI, but heard nothing back," the attorney, Debra Katz, told The New Yorker.
The current investigation is limited
If investigators uncover new information over the coming week that they deem appropriate to pursue, the president can order an expansion of the probe beyond the four original witnesses. The current investigation is a limited background check, rather than a criminal probe.
A former Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's, who told The New Yorker he is "100% certain" he heard about an incident in which Kavanaugh thrust his penis into Ramirez's face during their freshman year of college, was also essentially ignored when he asked to provide his account to the FBI in recent days. He ultimately submitted a tip to the agency on an online portal, after being told to call an 800-number tip line.
A few other former Yale classmates, including Charles Ludington and Lynne Brookes, have come forward since Thursday's hearing to contradict Kavanaugh's characterization of his college drinking habits, alleging that Kavanugh became "belligerent and aggressive" when he drank to excess.
"I can unequivocally say that in denying the possibility that he ever blacked out from drinking, and in downplaying the degree and frequency of his drinking, Brett has not told the truth," Ludington wrote in a statement, adding that he would take his information to the FBI.
Over the weekend, Democrats expressed concern about the limits of the investigation, suggesting that the White House could be improperly interfering with the probe.
"We have been concerned from the outset about the so-called limits on scope, not to mention time for this investigation," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee told The New York Times. "It has to be full fair, real, not check-the-box. So any limits should be viewed with serious question."