After a thorough investigation
Of course; the fix is in. The FBI has handed over its “report” and the Republicans are saying it’s all good and that’s the end of that.
A leading Republican said Thursday that a new FBI report on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh found “no hint of misconduct,” while Democrats called it incomplete and suggested that the White House limited the probe to protect President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
The headlines are full of stories on people who had relevant information who could not get the FBI to talk to them.
“There’s nothing in it that we didn’t already know,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement after being briefed on the FBI report by his staff. “It’s time to vote.”
There’s nothing in it that they didn’t already know because they blocked all new information.
This is so fucking sleazy.
But even before the report was formally sent to the Senate, lawyers for Ford criticized what they viewed as an incomplete FBI probe.
“An FBI supplemental background investigation that did not include an interview of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford — nor the witnesses who corroborate her testimony — cannot be called an investigation,” her legal team said in a statement. “We are profoundly disappointed that after the tremendous sacrifice she made in coming forward, those directing the FBI investigation were not interested in seeking the truth.”
Hey, they let her talk, they just didn’t listen. You can’t have everything.
On Thursday, a lawyer for Deborah Ramirez, who has accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself while in college, sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray making the same claim.
The letter noted that Ramirez had been interviewed by the FBI for two hours Sunday in Colorado and later provided a list of 20 people who might corroborate her account of Kavanaugh’s behavior.
“Fewer than four days, later, however, the FBI apparently has concluded its investigation — without permitting its agents to investigate,” wrote Ramirez lawyer William Pittard. “We are deeply disappointed by this failure.”
So are we.
This is what Mitch McConnell said they were going to do. They were going to allow her to talk, and then they were going to confirm Kavanaugh. The investigation was foreordained, and it is merely there to provide cover for people like Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, who want to stay loyal to the party so nice cushy positions remain open to them, but don’t want to be seen voting to confirm a rapist. Mission accomplished.
Meanwhile, back in Realityville…men have just been sent the message that it’s okay to do what they want as long as they do it to women. Rape culture remains intact; this was just a small blip that never really threatened anything.
And now Blasey-Ford will have the reputation of a liar (though most believe her, there are going to be many who do not, and those are the ones who take to Twitter, Facebook, and any other nasty means they can to try to destroy her through a hate campaign).
And people want to know why women don’t report rapes?
So much for Comey’s “The F.B.I. Can Do This” of four days ago.
Well, the FBI could do it – they just didn’t.
If the FBI had a stronger leadership it would not have allowed its investigation to be influenced or restricted by the White House. As things now stand, the integrity and independence of the entire justice department is compromised, and seen as being in the pocket of Trump.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Emporor Trump has started a conflagration and is busy on his fiddle(s).
I don’t know that the FBI had a huge amount of choice in this case. From what others have been saying this is a commissioned report done to WH specifications, not a criminal investigation done to FBI specifications.
That’s not to say that the FBI as an organisation or individual FBI staff are not consciously or subconsciously adjusting their performance on the basis of fear for their careers, jobs or future funding.
Let me start by saying I 100% believe Blasey Ford.
However…
…I think that overstates things. Nobody but her and the 2 lying/drunk perps had any reason to remember that party, and unfortunately none of the other people do. The only corroboration is that she told people about this incident in recent years, but I don’t think that’s in serious dispute. The only dispute is if she used Kavanaugh’s name specifically, and I think there’s nothing new to say about that.
The FBI should have moved heaven and earth to find any additional corroboration and to investigate other claims, but I don’t share the outrage that they didn’t talk to Blasey Ford again.
They sure should have talked to Kavanaugh though, after his shaky testimony. Remind him that lying to the FBI is taken way more seriously than lying to the Senate and re-ask him everything…
Rob, I’m sure I read somewhere a couple of days ago that the White House can commission an investigation by the FBI, but cannot tell them how to conduct it. Something to do with ensuring the investigation isn’t unfairly weighted from the off so the final analysis is balanced and fair, I believe.
AoS, I see you and Rob in agreement overall. As you say, the Administration can commission an FBI investigation, but “cannot” tell them how to conduct it. But “cannot” assumes unwritten and unenforceable norms, and those norms are out the window.
Skeletor – Nah. It’s just standard procedure for investigators to talk to the complainant and the suspect first and then go from there. A farcical “hearing” conducted by senators is not a replacement for that, and it most certainly does not render a genuine investigation superfluous. It really doesn’t matter what bystanders think about what the complainant and the suspect have already said in another setting; an investigation is a separate thing and it’s conducted by professionals according to established rules and criteria.