Ten people were contacted in the FBI Kavanaugh investigation
40 replies, posted
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/409838-white-house-10-individuals-were-contacted-in-fbi-kavanaugh
Ten people were contacted by the FBI over the course of a week for the supplementary investigation into Brett Kavanaugh, the White House said Thursday.
Deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on CNN's "New Day" that the White House could offer few details about the report, which is confidential, but said that 10 individuals were
contacted by the bureau after an initial list of four names were provided by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Ten individuals were contacted. There was an initial list of four provided to us by the Senate, they were interviewed and then leads were followed-up on," Shah told CNN on Thursday.
"Without getting in to the details, we feel very confident that when the senators have the opportunity to review this material, as they're just beginning to right now, that they are going to
be comfortable confirming Judge Kavanaugh," Shah added.
The report's completion and delivery to the Senate came amid concerns from Democrats including high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti that the FBI investigation did not contact an
adequate number of witnesses about the allegations of sexual assault, which Kavanaugh forcefully denied last week during a hearing.
"The FBI investigation was no investigation at all. @realDonaldTrump, @senatemajldr and @ChuckGrassley ensured that numerous key witnesses, including six very damaging
witnesses I am aware of, were never even interviewed. Their conduct is a disgrace - they never wanted the truth," Avenatti tweeted Thursday morning.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the White House this week upon news reports that the Trump administration was limiting the scope of the investigation,
urging White House counsel Don McGahn to ensure that the FBI's investigation was not restricted.
"We ask that you confirm that the FBI background investigation will include the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick and that the FBI will perform
all logical steps related to these allegations, including interviewing other individuals who might have relevant information and gathering evidence related to the truthfulness of
statements made in relation to these allegations," the senators wrote.
Fuck. I really hope not.
If Kavanaugh is indeed confirmed, it's a really sad day for sexual assault victims everywhere, IMO.
The FBI was extremely limited by the White House for most of the investigation, it was only ever meant to be a sham to shut people up. Even if Flake was genuine in wanting an investigation, Trump and co took advantage of their ability to obstruct it.
Yeah, they ignored other witnesses that wanted to come forward because they just listened to the R senators.
1 more month til midterms. Can't wait for these traitors to get the fuck out
Every two years I think it's going to happen, I think the Republicans were too awful this time, they're not make it into office, every time they make it in anyways. Their propaganda sources and voter suppression tactics are just too powerful.
And millions of people think they're the superior party. Democrats have currently a 1/4 chance of taking both chambers, 1/2 that they take the House but not the Senate, and 1/4 neither.
He literally ordered the investigation to be insufficient so he could complain about the investigation being insufficient. Seems they're taking the Scott Pruitt approach of making their own problems.
I can't believe Grassley, who was alive to witness WW2 and the Cold War, is such an un American asshole.
I by no means wish to slander the guy, his actions this past week have been damning enough and he was 6 when the war btoke out, by I can't help but wonder if he had any association with the America First Committee we had traitors back then, and they're still using the same slogans.
How so? I believe Ford's story but the sad part is that there has been no substantial evidence other than allegations. I can't stand the idea of a sexual predator becoming a supreme court judge, but unless it can be proven in a court of law, the man is and should be innocent until proven guilty.
Talk about his bad 4th amendment views, talk about how he has agreed with indefinite detention of prisoners, but its frustrating to see people on right and the left simply believe he's innocent or he's guilty because he's on/against their side.
Allegations or not, his extreme bias alone is a reason to disbar him from the court.
The thing is, I feel that you, like many others, are mixing up the idea of being sentenced for a crime and simply not being confirmed. I agree that Kavanaugh has not been proven guilty, but I feel that there's enough doubt that we should be very cautious about confirming him to the highest court of the land in perpetuity.
Senate Democrats are criticizing the White House for what they say is a limited FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the most notable part of report into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh “is what’s not in it.”
Kavanaugh denies the accusations.
The California Democrat says the report made available to senators on Thursday is “very limited” and she says “it looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation.”
Feinstein She says the White House may have limited the probe.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he disagrees with a statement by the committee’s GOP chairman that the report found “no hint of misconduct” by Kavanaugh.
Schumer is calling for the report to be made public as well the directive the White House gave the FBI ordering the investigation.
AP
Any doubt should be automatically disqualifying.
Federal judges already have a senior status system, shame that we'd need an amendment to give a mandatory senior age for federal judges, 80 would be a good compromise imo.
And that is a fair claim, and I still am not sure if accusations alone should prevent someone from holding a job or political position. (I could understand the role of supreme court just perhaps having a higher standard) My worry would be if some crazy right wing extremists want to knock someone like Bernie or democrat appointed justice candidate out of a race, just find some people who will make false allegations, even if the accusations are unprovable.
Would one person making an unprovable accusation be enough to be disqualifying?
I think that is where the discussion around him should be focused on. Ford's claims are not provable/disprovable, but unfortunately everybody has already decided whether he's guilty or innocent.
Get ready for the House investigation of Kav on January 3 if Pelosi gets the gavel.
That's why you have an actual investigation that has agents talking to people who have information, not a sham like this. The worst part of this is the number of people who came forward to say he definitely lied under oath, but the White House didn't allow that thread to be traced. So we can't be sure of anything because the ruling party doesn't want us to be.
Kavanaugh's looking pretty inevitable again, I just hope it pisses people off to vote D in the midterms.
I'm certain it will. However, removing him from the bench will be extraordinarily difficult -- which means we may be looking at a Supreme Court packing again (an expansion of the number of seats on the SCOTUS to water-down these corrupt appointments)
I'm opposed to that for the integrity of the court but Gorsuch and Kav have killed the integrity of it anyway so go ahead if they have the political capital.
Kavanaugh's confirmation would be the biggest argument that sexual assault victims don't matter in the US.
It is within the best interests of corrupt institutions to appear entirely unassailable. Posts like this are playing directly into those interests
I think it's time to trot out those posts I did on reactionary rhetoric a while back again
What is the 'perversity' argument? Any attempt to change society will instead result in the opposite occurring.
What is the 'futility' argument? Any change is meaningless and that human society will remain the same.
What is the 'jeopardy' argument? Any change will have too much cost, and would endanger society or some previous reform.
The fact that you feel that way is a very deliberate and very successful attack on your morale as a potential voter
And from another, slightly older post
I think a great first step would be to aggressively stamp out defeatism and apathy. One of the absolute largest reasons the problems persist so readily is apathy. Apathy is the ultimate tool of the politically corrupt. People will go to astonishing lengths to uphold their apathy, they'll go to incredible lengths to justify all the reasons you just shouldn't bother trying to change anything because the system is rigged, the parties are the same, the odds are against you, the deck is stacked, all politicians are the same, you can't fight big [COMMODITY], money talks more, and oh but what if this goes wrong or that doesn't work or they can't be trusted or they're not who we think they are and this goes wrong and that breaks and on and on and on and on, and all of that works out really well for the people benefiting the most from the broken system. There's no more valuable tool for the corrupt than a disenfranchised, disillusioned, apathetic voter
Republican propaganda is directed at a lot more than just their voters. It's directed at everyone else's voters, too. And it's not always as obvious as FOX news, it's a thousand and one seemingly innocuous little cultural truisms about how politics is just inherently corrupt and no matter what you'll always get the bad guys who ruin it all for everyone else, so why even try in the first place? Ain't you a smart cookie for seeing behind the curtain!
The intention is exactly the same as airdropped propaganda leaflets: To erode the morale of your enemy to a point where they cannot find it in themselves to fight anymore. Break their spirit, and it doesn't even have to be a fight, it can just be a sweeping victory
Recognize the propaganda tactics, get educated on the rhetorical strategies they use, get educated on the Republican party's long and illustrious history of corruption and the way they leverage the system, and quit falling into the same trap. They want you to feel hopeless, that's the whole point, that is how they hold on to their power. It's not just the gerrymandering and the redistricting and the voter roll purges and the obviously rigged elections, those are the tools of last resort. The Republican Party's first line of defense is convincing people like you and I not to vote at all, and to not encourage others to vote, and to discourage others from voting. That's why they invest so heavily in voter suppression tactics and propagandizing
When you don't have an opponent, winning is easy
if flake was genuine in doing what is right for the country he would have voted no and let this thing die in committee and force them to move on to someone who would have been a more moderate but instead he runs around whining about how he wants things to be better and casts votes for the people who are making it worse.
That's hardly the only problem with the guy.
His attitude during the confirmation hearing and the way he spoke to United States senators is not befitting of a judge.
Him potentially lying under Oath on matters as trivial as how much beer he drank in high school raises questions of trustworthiness.
His disdain for Democrats raises serious questions into his commitment to remaining impartial, especially with regards to political cases.
