The FBI's week-long investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, as requested by President Donald Trump, got underway this weekend as the bureau contacted Deborah Ramirez, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while the two were students at Yale.
In other Kavanaugh news developments, the White House may be limiting the scope of the FBI's investigation to allegations made by Ramirez and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who testified last week, according to NBC News. The FBI's Kavanaugh investigation is expected to last about one week.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Sunday that oversight of the investigation belonged to the Senate, however.
"The White House counsel has allowed the Senate to dictate what these terms look like and what the scope of the investigation is," she said on "Fox News Sunday." ''The White House isn't intervening. We're not micromanaging this process. It's a Senate process."
Ramirez's lawyer, John Clune, said Saturday the FBI wants to interview her and she has agreed to cooperate. She has said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a drunken party in the 1980s when they were undergraduates at Yale. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation, as he has denied allegations of sexual misconduct by Dr. Ford.
"We can confirm the FBI has reached out to interview Ms. Ramirez and she has agreed to cooperate with their investigation," Clune said in a tweet. "Out of respect for the integrity of the process, we will have no further comment at this time."
Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, was close to a Senate confirmation vote on Friday before Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a known adversary of Trump, said he would not vote for confirmation unless there was an investigation into sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.
In limiting the FBI's scope, the White House reportedly wants the investigation to examine allegations made by Ramirez and Dr. Ford, while not investigating claims made by Julie Swetnick, who accused Kavanaugh of engaging in sexual misconduct in high school in the 1980s. A White House official confirmed that Swetnick's claims will not be pursued, NBC News reported.
Meanwhile, President Trump said Saturday he's all in on Kavanaugh and doesn't have a backup option for the vacant Supreme Court seat.
"I don't have a backup plan," Trump told reporters. "I don't need a backup. I think he's going to be fine."
When Will the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation vote likely occur? Here's the latest likely timeline according to events late this week:
--President Trump asked the FBI to reopen its background investigation on Kavanaugh on Friday (September 28) after several women accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexual misconduct that Kavanaugh has denied. Trump requested that the FBI investigation last no longer than up to a week.
--Senate leaders agreed to delay a final vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Friday in response, allowing for a one-week FBI investigation. The Senate Judiciary Committee said the FBI probe should be limited to "current credible allegations."
--The FBI investigation should conclude by Friday of next week or Saturday if the bureau obliges Trump's timeline request. That means the Senate could vote immediately or within days after that information is presented to the committee. Thus, Kavanaugh could be confirmed in the first week of October.
On Friday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that all 51 Republican senators supported the motion to proceed with Kavanaugh's nomination., according to the AP. That would be enough to get Kavanaugh the nomination, but McConnel's numbers came from a voice poll, without a roll call to put senators on record. Also, it came before the FBI's new investigation that's currently underway. It's still unclear how any information found and presented might impact the vote.
"This is a nomination that deserves to move forward," McConnell said.
The AP said investigators will "compile information about Kavanaugh's past and provide their findings to the White House and include the information in Kavanaugh's background file, which is available to senators."
