Senate Democrats say Republicans are misleading the public about evidence of inappropriate behavior by Kavanaugh in prior FBI background checks.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are accusing Republicans of selectively leaking disinformation to hide evidence of inappropriate sexual behavior and/or alcohol abuse by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
In letter sent to Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Wednesday, a group of eight Democrats led by Sen. Dick Durbin said their GOP colleagues had shared false information on Twitter about Kavanaugh's previous FBI background checks.
The letter pointed to two tweets sent from the Senate Judiciary Committee's official account, which is run by Republicans staffers, that discussed the findings from Kavanaugh's six prior FBI background checks.
The second tweet claimed that none of the background investigations had uncovered "a whiff of ANY issue – at all – related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse."
But according to Democrats on the committee, that isn't true.
"While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information in the second post that is not accurate," Democrats wrote in the letter. "We urge you to ensure that these Twitter posts are promptly corrected."
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a tweet Wednesday night in response to the letter, saying that nothing in the original tweet was "inaccurate or misleading" and standing by the statement.
Durbin hit back at the tweet a short time later, writing, "This tweet is not accurate. Committee Republicans must correct it." He then referred back to the letter sent to Grassley.
While Democrats didn't specify which part of the tweet was inaccurate, the letter implies that there may be evidence of inappropriate sexual behavior and/or alcohol abuse in a prior background report on Kavanaugh — evidence that Republicans are apparently trying to sweep under the rug.
Democrats also said this isn't the first time GOP committee staff has provided misleading information about the allegations against Kavanaugh in an effort to discredit his first accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
After refusing to issue a request for the FBI to reopen its background investigation into Kavanaugh, the White House was finally pressured into authorizing a renewed investigation late last week.
But according to multiple reports over the past several days, the FBI has been stymied by the White House, which reportedly put strict limits on the scope of the investigation. On Wednesday, it was reported that the White House had not even authorized the FBI to interview Kavanaugh as part of its investigation into Kavanaugh.
Republicans have already made it clear that they are scared of what other damning information may come out about Kavanaugh — and now, they're showing just how far they'll go to keep it all a secret.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
