The FBI never investigated the tipline’s reports of Kavanaugh’s sexual harassment allegations

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) has produced a new report highlighting how the Trump administration has undermined efforts to investigate allegations of sexual harassment and assault made against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 He was nominated for this position.

Near the end of the testimony phase of Kavanaugh’s nomination process, a woman named Christine Blasey Ford, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University, publicly alleged that he sexually abused her in the early 1980s. According to Blasey Ford, who testified under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time, she was “100 percent sure” that Kavanaugh had tried to rape her.

Afterward, another woman, Deborah Ramirez, came forward to say that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her and used his genitals during a dorm party at Yale University in the late 1980s.

In an effort to get enough senators to ignore these claims and quickly confirm Kavanaugh, the Trump administration said it was directing the FBI to conduct a rapid investigation into the matter. Former President Donald Trump even said he would give the agency “free rein” to uncover more information about Kavanaugh that was relevant to the allegations.

However, according to Whitehouse’s report, this was a lie. Instead of having full access to investigate the claims, the FBI instead received no guidance on how to respond to over 4,500 tip responses—in fact, the Trump administration never gave the agency permission to investigate Kavanaugh. Instead, these messages were forwarded to the Trump White House, where they were neither followed up nor further investigated.

The lack of additional evidence supporting Blasey Ford and Ramirez’s claims tipped the balance in a close confirmation vote for Kavanaugh. But the lack of evidence was largely due to a lack of effort by the FBI and the Trump administration to look for it, according to Whitehouse’s report. In one case, senators attempted to contact the agency after their constituents provided them with information about Kavanaugh’s past, but the agency did not pursue the matter further.

“Today’s congressional report confirms what we have long suspected: The FBI’s supplementary investigation into then-nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh was actually a sham attempt by the Trump White House to lure courageous victims and other witnesses who came forward. to silence and hide the truth,” said a statement from the attorneys who represented Blasey Ford.

The report from the White House office took six years to complete, the senator explained, because of executive branch obstructions during both the Trump and Biden administrations. It is not uncommon for presidents to suppress such congressional requests, particularly when it comes to how they advise and select Supreme Court nominees or take other actions authorized under Article II.

The FBI’s inaction resulted in the Trump administration “foiling a meaningful investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh and denying senators information they needed to carry out their constitutional duties,” Whitehouse said in a press release accompanying the report.

Whitehouse further explained why he pursued the matter years after Kavanaugh was appointed to the court:

In 2018, I vowed to Christine Blasey Ford that I would continue to research, no matter how long it takes, and not give up or walk away from the Trump White House’s shameful confirmation process for Judge Kavanaugh. A comprehensive and proper investigation is the bare minimum that victims who come forward – like Dr. Ford and Deborah Ramirez – deserve.

Whitehouse also said it was important to revisit the matter to ensure situations like Kavanaugh’s do not happen again.

The FBI “must establish real protocols so that senators and the American people get real answers — and not artificial misdirections — the next time serious questions about a nominee arise late in the confirmation process,” Whitehouse said.