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

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published 1 October 2018

"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.

President Trump tweeted Saturday that he wants FBI agents "to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion," but FBI agents reportedly can't investigate widespread allegations from Kavanaugh's Yale and Georgetown Prep classmates that he lied under oath about his drinking and yearbook entries, among other topics. Officials tell the Times and NBC News that the FBI was directed to interview just four people: Kavanaugh high school friends Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth; Yale accuser Deborah Ramirez; and Leland Keyser, a high school friend of Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford. Ramirez reportedly spoke to the FBI on Sunday.

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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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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.