task0778
Diamond Member
Senate Republicans said Friday they had agreed to ask the FBI to investigate sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a move that will temporarily delay his nomination.
The move comes as multiple senators, including GOP Sens. Jeff Flake(Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), called for the FBI to be given a chance to investigate, raising questions about if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be able to move the nomination without a deal.
“There’s essentially going to be a supplemental FBI background investigation,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters.
Asked how long the FBI would have to investigate, Cornyn said not more than a week.
The Judiciary Committee said in a statement that it will ask the administration to instruct the FBI to conduct the investigation.
"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," the committee said in a statement.
Senators are still expected to hold a procedural vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Saturday. But a vote to end debate on Kavanaugh on Monday and hold a final vote on his nomination Tuesday are expected to be pushed to allow the FBI investigation.
Friday's announcement came as McConnell, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and Murkowski – a potential swing vote – met behind closed doors to discuss the path forward.
GOP leaders delay Kavanaugh confirmation for one-week FBI investigation
My take: all this does is delay the vote. Only a few days, but it's another delay. Anybody with half a brain realizes that the FBI will not find anything different than the Senate investigators did. The only thing this does is give the Dems a little longer to find another accuser, and that's pretty much it. But you gotta have the votes, so it must be that at least one of the Repub Senators indicated they wouldn't vote for Kavanaugh without the FBI investigation. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Added: what this does is give political cover to a Democrat or two like Joe Manchin to vote for Kavanaugh. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't but it does shut them fucking Dems up a little bit.
The move comes as multiple senators, including GOP Sens. Jeff Flake(Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), called for the FBI to be given a chance to investigate, raising questions about if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be able to move the nomination without a deal.
“There’s essentially going to be a supplemental FBI background investigation,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters.
Asked how long the FBI would have to investigate, Cornyn said not more than a week.
The Judiciary Committee said in a statement that it will ask the administration to instruct the FBI to conduct the investigation.
"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," the committee said in a statement.
Senators are still expected to hold a procedural vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Saturday. But a vote to end debate on Kavanaugh on Monday and hold a final vote on his nomination Tuesday are expected to be pushed to allow the FBI investigation.
Friday's announcement came as McConnell, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and Murkowski – a potential swing vote – met behind closed doors to discuss the path forward.
GOP leaders delay Kavanaugh confirmation for one-week FBI investigation
My take: all this does is delay the vote. Only a few days, but it's another delay. Anybody with half a brain realizes that the FBI will not find anything different than the Senate investigators did. The only thing this does is give the Dems a little longer to find another accuser, and that's pretty much it. But you gotta have the votes, so it must be that at least one of the Repub Senators indicated they wouldn't vote for Kavanaugh without the FBI investigation. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Added: what this does is give political cover to a Democrat or two like Joe Manchin to vote for Kavanaugh. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't but it does shut them fucking Dems up a little bit.
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