Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said Friday that the FBI’s supplemental investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh must cover what she called “the three credible” reports of misconduct.
“It certainly should cover the three credible reports that have come forward, and it has to be complete,” Hirono told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.”
“It has to be the kind of job that we expect the FBI to do — and I believe that they can do it.”
Hirono was referring to the accounts brought forward by Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, who have leveled sexual assault or misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh stemming from his high school to his college years. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
Lawmakers opposing Kavanaugh’s nomination have put their focus on these allegations rather than two additional accusations that became public this week. These include allegations of an assault made in anonymous letter and an account of a sexual assault a boat that was recanted by the accuser hours after it went public.
In a fiery opening statement to address Ford’s allegations against him before the Senate Judiciary committee Thursday, Kavanaugh denied all allegations against him.
“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election,” he said.
On Friday, Republicans and the White House agreed to a one-week delay in Kavanaugh’s confirmation so that the FBI can investigate the sexual assault allegations.
“I’ve ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file,” Trump said in a statement. “As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”
Hirono praised the bipartisan effort from Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons, of Delaware, for prompting the supplemental FBI investigation into Kavanaugh.
“I know Jeff Flake has been torn,” she said. “I share those concerns and I have to say my good friend Chris Coons is a very good bridger, he really wanted to create a better way to go forward.”
“The rest of us have been calling for this for what seems like decades,” she added.
