The 2018 nomination of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court became one of the most divisive moments of former President Donald Trump's tenure in the White House.
As Kavanaugh's nomination went before the Senate Judiciary Committee, explosive allegations of sexual assault and harassment upended the proceedings and prompted an FBI investigation.
Despite Kavanaugh's unpopularity, Republican Senators leapt to his defense, discrediting his accusers and decrying Democrats who called for the nomination's withdrawal.
Nevertheless, Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed to the nation's highest Court in a 50 to 48 vote.
Two years after his confirmation, a Democratic Senator is calling on Biden's Justice Department to examine the thoroughness of the FBI's probe.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a former prosecutor who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on newly-confirmed Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into the thoroughness of the 2018 investigation, which Whitehouse worried was "politically-constrained and perhaps fake."
Whitehouse included these concerns in a letter of issues he recommended Garland investigate.
The Senator noted that the FBI opened up a tip line for any other potential accusers to come forward, but Whitehouse felt this may have been insufficient:
"It did not appear, however, that any review had been undertaken of any of the information that flowed through this tip line. We could get no explanation of the tip line procedures. In 2011, the FBI had posted a video, 'Inside the FBI's Internet Tip Line,' in which the Bureau described procedures for review of tip line information in criminal investigations ... and for forwarding credible information appropriately within the Bureau for further investigation. The FBI appears not to have followed these procedures, and the Bureau has repeatedly refused to answer questions from Senate Judiciary Committee members about this matter."
Neither Kavanaugh, nor his most prominent accuser—Dr. Christine Blasey Ford—were interviewed by investigators.
Twitter supported taking a deeper look into how the investigation was conducted.
And they praised Senator Whitehouse for calling for it.
Whether Garland will follow Whitehouse's recommendation has yet to be seen.
AMC
