A group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday accused Republicans on the panel of mishandling information related to sexual misconduct allegations against…
A group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday accused Republicans on the panel of mishandling information related to sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) led a group of eight committee Democrats in a letter to Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in which the minority party members claimed the majority had shared inaccurate or misleading information about Kavanaugh’s previous background checks.
The Democrats highlighted a tweet from the Senate Judiciary Committee account, which is operated by GOP staff, that claimed none of Kavanaugh’s prior six FBI background checks turned up “a whiff of ANY issue – at all – related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse.”
“While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information in the second post that is not accurate. We urge you to ensure that these Twitter posts are promptly corrected,” the Democrats wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear what portion of the tweet Democrats were referring to in their letter, which was signed by every Judiciary Committee Democrat except Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Chris Coons (Del.).
A spokesman for committee Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter on Wednesday, though the majority staff issued another tweet on Wednesday evening standing by the original statement.
The group of Democrats also alleged Wednesday that GOP committee staff has previously provided misleading or mischaracterized information about the allegations against Kavanaugh intended to undermine the credibility of Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of assault.
The FBI is reviewing allegations from Ford that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her during a high school party in the 1980s. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the claim.
Two other women –– Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick –– have also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct stemming from his days in high school and college in the 1980s, allegations he has also denied.
Senate Republicans are expecting to receive the FBI’s report on its “supplemental” background check investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh as early as Wednesday.
In Wednesday’s letter, Democrats voiced concerns that Republicans may selectively release parts of the FBI’s supplementary review of the allegations against Kavanaugh.
“To avoid this possibility, we urge you to call for a full Senate briefing with the FBI on the results of their re-opened investigation so that all Senators hear the same information,” the Democrats wrote.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) had previously asked for a similar briefing, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rejected the request on Wednesday.
Democrats have cast doubt on the thoroughness of the FBI investigation amid reports that agents were not permitted to interview Ford or Kavanaugh.
Judiciary Committee Democrats previously took issue with what they viewed as too narrow a scope for the investigation.
