There's nothing in the FBI report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh that "we didn't already know," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday, per CNN.
Senators are taking turns reviewing the report, which sought to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against the nominee. Federal investigators reportedly spoke with nine people with knowledge of the allegations against Kavanaugh, but not with Kavanaugh himself, nor with Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh has denied wrongdoing.
"This investigation found no hint of misconduct," said Grassley after receiving a committee staff briefing on the report. "There's nothing in it that we didn't already know," he said. The White House similarly said that the FBI had found "no corroboration" of the allegations. Grassley additionally said the report found "no contemporaneous evidence" of wrongdoing.
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The scope of the investigation has been controversial among lawmakers — some say it sufficiently supplemented previous probes into Kavanaugh's background, while others said constraints prevented the FBI from addressing "broader questions" about Kavanaugh's past drinking. Senate Democrats criticized the White House, saying President Trump prevented the bureau from speaking to Ford and other women who alleged misconduct.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is expected to bring the full Senate to a vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation by the end of the week. "It's time to vote," Grassley concluded. "I'll be voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."
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