FBI director faces new scrutiny over investigation of Brett Kavanaugh

[riversedge]

Source: the guardian




Claim that FBI lacked authority to conduct further investigation into Kavanaugh may be inaccurate






Last modified on Tue 14 Sep 2021 13.51 EDT


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At the heart of the new questions that Wray will face later this week, when he testifies before the Senate judiciary committee, is a 2010 Memorandum of Understanding that the FBI has recently said constrained the agency’s ability to conduct any further investigations of allegations of misconduct.

It is not clear whether that claim is accurate, based on a close reading of the MOU, which was released in court records following a Freedom of Information Act request.


The FBI was called to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation process in 2018, after he was accused of assault by Christine Blasey Ford, a professor who knew Kavanaugh when they were both in high school. He also faced other accusations, including that he had exposed himself to a classmate at Yale called Deborah Ramirez. Kavanaugh denied both accusations.


The FBI closed its extended background check of Kavanaugh after four days and did not interview either Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh. The FBI also disclosed to the Senate this June – two years after questions were initially asked – that it had received 4,500 tips from the public during the background check and that it had shared all “relevant tips” with the White House counsel at that time. It is not clear whether those tips were ever investigated....................

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/14/brett-kavanaugh-fbi-investigation-documents

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Past time this issue was investigated.

Link to tweet

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The FBI was called to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation in 2018, after he was accused of assault by Christine Blasey Ford. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

[babylonsister]

1. Cover-up by Wray? I hope all the sordid details come out. nt

[LudwigPastorius]

2. Biden should seriously consider replacing Wray.

Every Trump appointee should face intensive scrutiny and be removed if any improper actions are uncovered.

[Bev54]

4. Wray and Kavanaugh need to be gone.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

3. Much as I appreciate the Guardian, not sure they're right on this one ...

If neither the Executive nor the Senate (in GOP hands at that time) asked for a thorough investigation, not sure it's up to the FBI to, on their own accord, investigate every 'tip' they received.

Sexual assault, outside of certain parameters, is a State-level charge.

If there were reports of Federal crimes it would've been different, but I'm inclined to think the FBI is correct that it lacked the authority to do anything more in this particular context.

Also, 4,500 tips may sound incriminating, but when something as high-profile as these kinds of accusations against a SCOTUS nominee hits the news, a lot of people will decide to just call in fake tips.

If there's not been at LEAST 4,500 tips called into the FBI about, say, Hunter Biden's laptops ... I'd be VERY surprised.

[Bev54]

5. If they had no intentions of investigating tips, what was the point of a tip line

and requesting tips. It was just a sham, to look like they were doing something when in fact they did nothing but provide the tips to the accused parties.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. That point may well be worth looking into, but isn't really contrary to my argument

FBI can logically argue that they were looking specifically for credible tips on federal crimes, and found none in the 4500.

But there could've been something shady about the tip line and how it was 'used', that could be worth looking at.

[Bev54]

9. The FBI confirmed they did not look into any of the tips

just passed them on to the WH.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

10. Okay, well ... that may've been what they honestly thought they were expected to do in this case

This is article is just the Guardian saying they're not sure that was 'the right thing for the FBI to do' based on their reading of the MoA. Doesn't mean they're right.

OTOH, they might be, and if not, I suspect the issue is one of jurisdiction. Seems pretty possible that unless the WH asks DoJ to pursue the tips for possible criminal charges, they're not supposed to. IOW, it's not really the FBI's job to vet SCOTUS nominees, of their own accord, as a matter of course.

They probably SHOULD, but ...

[Griefbird]

12. So the FBI was instructed by the Senate to conduct a sham investigation?

That's probably true. However, lacking any knowledge of federal office vetting processes, I still can't imagine that a candidate for the CIA, for example, wouldn't have his or her entire record, state, federal, local and otherwise, investigated. Vulnerability to blackmail is just as much a risk for a Supreme Court justice as it is for anyone else in government.

[Botany]

7. What I don't see any problems with the investigation? Because there was no investigation.

They didn't interview Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez or Kavanaugh or Ms. Ford's therapist or
look at Ms. Ford's house with 2 front doors because she was afraid of being trapped or ...

Kavanaugh was a done deal after Justice Kennedy's son got Trump a loan from Deutsche
Bank. (Kavanaugh had clerked for Justice Kennedy.) Kavanaugh was groomed to be on
the SCOTUS by the Judicial Crisis Network as were Roberts, Alito, and Coney Island.

[BlueWavePsych]

8. K&R

[Wild blueberry]

11. Who paid off all Boof's debts?

Asking for 300 million friends.

[mahina]

15. This

All day!

[Captain Zero]

13. And today. Wray 'sorry' they flubbed Larry Nassar

Investigation.

Coincidence. ? FBI flubs investigations into sexual harassers and abusers.

Nassar and Kavanaugh.

[riversedge]

14. ...In a statement to the Guardian,Whitehouse, the senator from Rhode Island who has led Democrats' d

Good to see Sen. Whitehouse on this case


............In a statement to the Guardian,Whitehouse, the senator from Rhode Island who has led Democrats’ demand for answers on the investigation, said: “In its years-late response to our questions, the FBI leaned hard on the notion that this MOU limited its authority to be the FBI and investigate wrongdoing. Now that we have the MOU, it’s even harder to understand the Bureau’s excuses for ignoring credible information it received. Director Wray ought to be ready to answer my questions about this episode – I won’t stop asking until he does.”

The FBI declined to comment.