Extreme Measures Will Keep The FBI’s Report On Kavanaugh From Going Public
At this point, it’s easier to get an invitation to the royal wedding than it will be to read the FBI’s report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
According to USA Today, careful secrecy measures will be implemented to keep the information from being made public.
There will be only a single copy of the report, and it will be kept in a safe. The report will go to the White House first, and then to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Members of that committee will read the report in private.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is steadfastly against making the report public. He has stated that only Senators will be able to see the FBI’s background check on Kavanaugh.
Many Senators have asked for the FBI report to become public knowledge. “I hope the FBI report is made public, normally it is not out of respect for the privacy for the person being investigated, but this is an unusual circumstance,” said John Kennedy (R-LA).
The FBI report could be ready for them to read at any time. It was reported earlier this week that the FBI was nearing the end of its brief investigation into Kavanaugh. Originally, the FBI was given a one-week deadline to complete the background check.
All 100 Senators and nine staff members currently have permission to look at the document. After these individuals get a chance to review the information, it will be placed in a safe where no one can see it.
Many people publicly asked for the FBI to conduct an investigation into Judge Brett Kavanaugh — including his primary accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. She claims that Kavanaugh assaulted her years ago, while both of them were high school students. However, Time reports, the FBI investigation could be inconclusive.
This FBI investigation is not a criminal investigation. It is a background check. This means that the FBI does not have the power to subpoena. Cooperation with the check is entirely voluntary. If someone doesn’t want to be interviewed, they don’t have to be.
Also, the FBI report will not draw any conclusions about the credibility of witnesses who are interviewed — or about any allegations made against Kavanaugh. Additionally, no one who testifies as part of the background check can be forced to undergo polygraph testing.
There is no physical evidence to go over, either. The FBI is working with interviews alone.
In short, the highly-anticipated FBI report will only be seen by relatively few people and will not draw any conclusions. However, the interviews in the report could provide some important information about Kavanaugh’s past and provide more detail about events wherein he has been accused of sexual misconduct.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Senators are still waiting for their opportunity to read the report. Since there’s only one copy, that’s going to be a long wait.