Murky scope of the FBI's Kavanaugh probe prompts a new partisan battle

Brett Kavanaugh.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

"FBI agents are experts at interviewing people," former FBI Director James Comey said in a New York Times op-ed, and "unless limited in some way by the Trump administration, they can speak to scores of people" in their week-long investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. But there are contrasting indications of what restrictions the White House has placed on the FBI's "limited" supplemental background check, and officials told the Times it could be finished as soon as Monday morning.

The FBI is operating on behalf of the White House, but Trump administration officials say the Senate set the parameters. On Sunday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and senior aide Kellyanne Conway both said the FBI investigation can't become "a fishing expedition." The only official word on its scope is from Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who said the investigation can't be more than a week and is limited to "current credible allegations" against Kavanaugh.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.