Dianne Feinstein confirms a secret document about Brett Kavanaugh has been handed over to the FBI
Democratic senators say that a letter containing information about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been provided to the FBI for investigation.
The Intercept first reported Wednesday that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had some sort of mysterious document about Kavanaugh that she was keeping from her fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. On Thursday, Feinstein confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed News that she has "received information from an individual" who "strongly requested confidentiality" and said she turned over this information to federal investigators. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also confirmed that the letter had been provided to the FBI for investigation.
While details about the document's contents remain unclear, The Intercept reports that it came from someone in California and that it's related to "an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman while they were in high school." The unidentified woman in question has reportedly retained the services of attorney Debra Katz, who has represented clients in sexual harassment cases. BuzzFeed News reports that Katz was seen on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, but she wouldn't say whether she was working for the woman behind the secret letter.
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Per CBS News' Mark Knoller, the White House said in response to Feinstein's statement that Kavanaugh has already been "thoroughly and repeatedly vetted," also suggesting that this is a ploy on the part of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation. The Senate is expected to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation next week, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that while he's aware of Feinstein's actions, there's "no plan to change the committee’s consideration of Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination."
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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