Senators get FBI report on Kavanaugh; vote today
The White House rebuffed Democratic criticism over its handling of an FBI report on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying yesterday it had not micromanaged the agency or edited the report on allegations of sexual misconduct.
President Donald Trump, pushing to get his nominee to the court confirmed, said in a Twitter post early yesterday that the allegations against Kavanaugh were "totally uncorroborated."
The White House sent the FBI report to the US Senate Judiciary Committee early yesterday. The Senate Judiciary Committee said lawmakers will review the report before a procedural vote advancing the nomination today.
Some Democrats said the FBI had not interviewed enough people, reflecting the partisan struggle that has developed around the report, and more broadly, over Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Trump and the Senate Republican leadership are battling to corral enough support for a majority vote for Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge who would become a deciding conservative voice on the country's highest court, while Democrats are in near unanimity against him.
Christine Blasey Ford, a college professor from California, has accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her in 1982 when they were high school students. Her attorneys said she was not contacted by the FBI for the latest report.
Three Republicans who could be key to whether Kavanaugh is confirmed given the narrow Republican majority in the chamber - Senators Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski - have criticised Trump for mocking Ford at a political rally on Tuesday.
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