WASHINGTON �� The White House pushed back Sunday against reports that the Trump administration set the ground rules for a brief FBI investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
President Donald Trump ordered the investigation Friday into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh after a request by Senate Republicans, a striking turnabout for a nominee the party had hoped would be confirmed by early this week.
The investigation, though, will be limited in scope in ways determined by the White House, a person familiar with the proceedings said Saturday. That includes not following up on claims of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh from a third woman. The nominee's alcohol use may also be off-limits.
Not true, White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway said. "The White House is not getting involved in the FBI investigation in that way," she said on CNN's "State of the Union." "The president very much respects the independence of the FBI."
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said on "Fox News Sunday" that the White House "is not micromanaging this process."
"The Senate is dictating the terms," she said. She also said she was not "aware of" any directives from White House counsel Don McGahn, and that senators would need to answer questions about any limits they might have imposed on the investigation.
Conway and Sanders characterized the weeklong investigation as not meant to be a fishing expedition. Sanders said the White House didn't expect significant new allegations to arise in the FBI investigation, since there have been six background checks on Kavanaugh.
Three Senate Republicans sided with Democrats Friday in seeking the investigation. Senators Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine forced the hands of Republican leaders in seeking the delay, because Kavanaugh must have the support of at least two of them to be confirmed by the Senate, which Republicans control 51-49.
The about face came after Thursday's Senate hearing, at which Kavanaugh denied claims by California professor Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her in high school.
Kavanaugh said Friday that he will cooperate with FBI investigators.
On Thursday, the Judiciary committee heard Ford testify that she's "100 percent" certain that Kavanaugh attacked her in 1982 when they were teenagers, describing in detail being held down on a bed at a drunken high school gathering. She described "uproarious laughter" by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge, who's said he doesn't recall such an incident.
Asked to square the accounts of Ford, whom Trump described as "a very credible witness," Conway said "I think they could both be right."
"I think something terrible could have happened the same summer she and I were 15, and that Judge Kavanaugh was not involved," Conway said. Trump's former campaign manager revealed that she had been a victim of sexual assault.
A second woman, Deborah Ramirez of Colorado, claims that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a drunken party when they were freshmen at Yale. A third woman, Julie Swetnick, has said in a sworn statement that Kavanaugh took part in efforts during high school to get girls drunk so that a group of boys could have sex with them.
The American Bar Association and Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, where Kavanaugh earned his law degree, called for a delay in Kavanaugh's confirmation to allow an investigation.
