Trump orders FBI to investigate sex assault allegations against Kavanaugh
US President Donald Trump has ordered the FBI to launch an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at Senate Republicans’ request.
Trump issued the order on Friday after he has come under intense pressure from moderates in his own party, including Senator Jeff Flake, a Republican retiring from the Senate in January.
After Flake called for a delay on the Senate vote for Kavanaugh, other key senators backed him up, with the Senate Judiciary Committee announcing it was asking the White House for an FBI probe.
"The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today," read the statement by the committee.
Shortly after that, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted out Trump's statement, which calls for a "supplemental investigation" into the allegation.
Statement from President @realDonaldTrump:
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 28, 2018
“I’ve ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”
Kavanaugh stands accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford during a violent encounter at a high school party back in the 1980s when she was 15 and he was 17.
However, he "categorically and unequivocally" denied Ford's claim during his testimony on Thursday.
Trump’s move will delay the contentious confirmation process by a week.
Meanwhile, a statement from Kavanaugh was released by the White House, saying he will cooperate with the FBI.
“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and, yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” read the statement.
Thousands rallied across the United States in solidarity with Ford on Friday, with reports saying that police in Washington had arrested nearly 60 people protesting against the nomination of Kavanaugh to the country’s Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh is also facing similar accusations from Deborah Ramirez, who charges the top judge once exposed himself to her at a drunken dormitory party and forced her to touch his genitals in the 1983-84 academic school year, when he was a freshman at Yale University.
He has denied claims by Ramirez, expressing his readiness to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee to save his reputation.
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