WASHINGTON — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
11:50 a.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the FBI’s background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh didn’t corroborate any of the sexual misconduct allegations against the Supreme Court nominee.
McConnell says the FBI didn’t uncover information from any witnesses to corroborate the claims against Kavanaugh, including from people his accusers named as eyewitnesses. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
McConnell says senators won’t be “hoodwinked” by those who have tried to “smear” Kavanaugh’s reputation.
The FBI’s confidential report was delivered to the Senate overnight. Senators have to read it in a secure room in the Capitol complex.
Senate Democrats says the investigation was incomplete and may have been limited by the White House.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, says it appears the White House had “blocked the FBI from doing its job.”
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11:30 a.m.
Senate Democrats are criticizing the White House for what they say is a limited FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (FYN’-styn), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the most notable part of report into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh “is what’s not in it.”
Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
Feinstein says the report made available to senators on Thursday is “very limited” and she says “it looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation.”
Feinstein says the White House may have limited the probe.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he disagrees with a statement by the committee’s GOP chairman that the report found “no hint of misconduct” by Kavanaugh.
Schumer is calling for the report to be made public as well the directive the White House gave the FBI ordering the investigation.
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11:10 a.m.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says there’s nothing new in the FBI’s supplemental background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
And she says the White House is eager for the Senate to vote on the nomination.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Sanders tells reporters that “we didn’t learn anything new and based on what we knew before, we felt very confident.”
She’s declining to say whether the president has read or been briefed on the FBI report. But Sanders says “the president’s aware and feels very confident in his selection and his support” of Kavanaugh.
Sanders said earlier on Fox News Channel that the politics Democrats have injected into the process has “upended our judicial system” and energized Republicans.
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10:40 a.m.
President Donald Trump is tweeting that “Due Process, Fairness and Common Sense are now on trial!” as the Senate considers the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump is citing the latest FBI report on Kavanaugh and says, “If we made it 100, it would still not be good enough for the Obstructionist Democrats.”
The White House says it received the FBI’s supplemental background investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, and that the report has gone to the Senate.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
Trump wrote earlier that “this great life cannot be ruined by mean & despicable Democrats and totally uncorroborated allegations!”
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10:15 a.m.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says the FBI found “no hint of misconduct” in its background investigation of sexual misconduct claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Chuck Grassley says he’s received a briefing from staff on the confidential report. And the Iowa Republican says in a statement that “there’s nothing in it that we didn’t already know.”
He says the FBI couldn’t find any people who could “attest to any of the allegations” against Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh denies the allegations.
The FBI report was given to the Senate overnight. Senators are reading it Thursday in a secure room in the Capitol complex, but aren’t expected to discuss specific details of what they learn.
Grassley said it’s time to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
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9:20 a.m.
Some senators might need to wait until Friday for the chance to see the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
A Democratic senator says lawmakers are being told that time slots for reading the report are getting full.
Illinois’ Tammy Duckworth tells reporters that “it’s so backed up I might have to wait until tomorrow. They’re so swamped.”
Senators are expected to begin reviewing the confidential FBI report on Thursday in a secure room in the Capitol complex.
Kavanaugh denies the allegations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.
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5:50 a.m.
The White House says it has received the FBI’s supplemental background investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and senators have enough time to review it and vote.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday he also had received the file.
White House spokesman Raj Shah says senators “have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation” into Kavanaugh, who denies accusations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.
Shah says the White House is “confident the Senate will vote to confirm” Kavanaugh.
Democrats argue Republicans have been rushing to confirm him.
The full Senate is preparing to weigh in on Kavanaugh’s nomination with an initial vote on Friday.
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5:15 a.m.
The Senate Judiciary Committee says it’s received an FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday, “Supplemental FBI background file for Judge Kavanaugh has been received.”
Because the report is confidential, senators will not be allowed to talk about what’s in it.
Republicans agreed to ask the FBI for an additional background check on Kavanaugh after his first accuser, Christine Blasey (BLAH’-zee) Ford, testified last week that he sexually assaulted her when they were in high school. Kavanaugh denies the accusation.
Ford’s attorneys have said she wasn’t contacted for an interview. But the FBI spoke to a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were in college. Kavanaugh says that accusation is false.
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1:30 a.m.
The full Senate is preparing to weigh in on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court with an initial vote on Friday.
In setting the voting process in motion, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to call for a final vote over the weekend.
Allegations of sexual misconduct when Kavanaugh was in high school and college have rocked President Donald Trump’s effort to put the conservative appeals court judge on the high court. Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
Where did it happen “I don’t remember”
When “I don’t remember”
How did you get there “I don’t remember”
How did you get home “I don’t remember”
(The most traumatizing event of her life. . . )
This whole made-up story is a political hit job created to delay the confirmation process past the mid-term elections