Brett Kavanaugh investigation: Senator Susan Collins returns to review FBI report as protests rage against Supreme Court nominee
Senators are reviewing the FBI’s latest background check on Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, in a secret Capitol Hill location.
They are expected to vote on Friday on whether to move forward swiftly on Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination to a likely confirmation vote at the weekend.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said senators “have been given ample time to review this seventh background investigation” into Mr Kavanaugh, who denies accusations of sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college. The White House was “confident the Senate will vote to confirm” the judge, he added.
The Independent will be providing live updates on the latest in the confirmation process for Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court.
The White House has claimed it found nothing in the interview records contained in the FBI's report that corroborates claims of sexual assault against Mr Kavanaugh, according to reports in US media.
Mr Kavanaugh has strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
How do senators go about reading the secret FBI documents?
All 100 senators and a few senior aides are permitted to view them, but it is not clear whether the latest investigation into Brett Kavanaugh will be made public.
Background checks are a normal part of the nomination process but this one was requested specifically by senators who have not decided whether they will vote to confirm Mr Kavanaugh.
It takes in the claims of Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses the nominee of sexual assault, and Deborah Ramirez, who says Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her.
To accommodate the senators, and to guard the sensitive information, the FBI's report is expected to be held in a secure room normally reserved only for classified matters.
There are several of these rooms in the Capitol complex, but senators usually use one in the basement of the Capitol Visitor Centre. The rooms are called SKIFs, or Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities.
Chuck Grassley, the senate judiciary committee chairman, is expected to read it first, followed by his colleagues either individually or possibly in groups.
According to a preliminary schedule, Republicans will read the first hour, starting Thursday morning, and Democrats will read the hour after that, according to a person who was briefed on the plan. The person was not authorised to release the information and requested anonymity.
There are nine staff members – both Republicans and Democrats – who have access to the report and can brief members who do not want to read it in detail.
No copies will be made of the report – a standard measure – so senators will have to go to the room to learn its contents. And because the report is confidential, they will be expected not to repeat what they learn.
"None of that stuff's public," Mr Grassley told reporters on Wednesday. "If you want people to be candid when they talk to the FBI, you ain't going to make that public."
Another Republican senator has attacked Donald Trump following his decision to mock Christine Blasey Ford, one of Mr Kavanaugh's accusers.
Ben Sasse, of Nevada, said the president was unfit to lead a country riven by tensions over the nomination and other issues.
Hailing the Me Too movement as "very important", he also said the vote on whether or not to confirm Mr Kavanaugh was not a "binary choice" proxy on whether "we do or don't care about women".
Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, said "vital witnesses" had not been questioned for the FBI report.
In an interview with CNN he also said his fellow senators needed to consider whether Mr Kavanaugh was truthful during his testimony.
"I think we should have, as President Trump said we would, an open, week-long investigation by the FBI where they would be allowed to follow all investigatory leads on the credible allegations against Judge Kavanaugh," he said.
"I'm concerned that if they never interviewed Dr Christine Blasey Ford or her corroborating witnesses, if they never interviewed many of Judge Kavanaugh's classmates at Yale who came forward to be heard about the alleged incident with Debbie Ramirez, then this isn't the investigation I was hoping for.
"But I won't pre-judge it, I haven't seen it yet."
The White House has admitted they did not investigate Brett Kavanaugh's alleged excessive drinking at college, something he repeatedly denied while under oath.
Despite most women thinking Brett Kavanaugh should not be confirmed to the Supreme Court, Republicans say otherwise.
Both men and women in the GOP are still standing by President Trump's nominee. 84 per cent of Republicans said Mr Kavanaugh should be confirmed, according to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in the days after Christine Blasey Ford and Mr Kavanaugh testified.
Busy Philipps and Ellen DeGeneres have recalled being sexually assaulted as teenagers, having been inspired to speak out about their experiences following the Brett Kavanaugh hearing.
The Senate are set to begin reviewing the document that is the culmination of the recent FBI investigation against Brett Kavanaugh. The White House has already seen the report and have said the additional interviews conducted show no corroboration of allegations against Mr Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
With daily protests taking place, heightened security has been put in place at the Capitol, with dozens of arrests for unlawful demonstrations. Police have been escorting some senators into and out of buildings, for example Susan Collins, a Republican Senator, who's vote is key in making a decision on Brett Kavanaugh.
Some senators might need to wait until Friday for the chance to see the FBI report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
A Democratic senator says lawmakers are being told that time slots for reading the report are getting full.
Illinois' Tammy Duckworth tells reporters that "it's so backed up I might have to wait until tomorrow. They're so swamped."
Democrats are now holding a briefing after reading the FBI report on assault allegations against Mr Kavanaugh.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has said that she cannot release details.
"The most notable part of this report is what is not in it. As was noted by the White House, the FBI did not interview Brett Kavanaugh. Nor did the FBI interview Dr Blasey Ford," she said.
Ms Feinstein has noted several times that senators have had limited opportunity to read through the FBI investigation.
She has suggested that the White House blocked the FBI from access to important documents, and "from doing its job".
Democrats, she said, agreed that the FBI investigation's scope should have been limited. But, she said, the FBI's investigation should not have it's hands "tied".
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now speaking.
"Having received a thorough briefing on the documents, those fears have been realised," Mr Schumer said of the FBI investigation, which he said he had feared would be limited.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley tweeted early Thursday that he had received the FBI file. He and his colleagues began reviewing the documents on Thursday morning.
Republicans agreed to ask the FBI for an additional background check on Mr Kavanaugh after his first accuser, Dr Christine Blasey Ford, testified last week that he had sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers. Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to move the nomination to the full Senate but had asked that the FBI investigation be conducted.
Dr Ford’s attorneys have said she was not contacted for an interview. But the FBI spoke to a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, who claims Mr Kavanaugh exposed himself to her when they were in college. Mr Kavanaugh says that accusation is false.
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