"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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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked White House Counsel Don McGahn and FBI Director Christopher Wray on Sunday for a copy of the written directive for the Kavanaugh investigation and "any expansion beyond the initial directive," including "any additional witness or evidence." Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) warned Sunday that a limited FBI investigation would be a "farce."
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