FBI contacts second Kavanagh accuser Deborah Ramirez – which Trump calls a ‘blessing in disguise’ that will exonerate his SCOTUS pick, as the White House BANS the bureau from speaking to third woman Julie Swetnick
- A lawyer for Deborah Ramirez, confirmed Saturday that his client has been contacted as part of the FBI’s investigation of sexual misconduct
- Ramirez alleges that Kavanaugh exposed his penis to her during a drunken party at a Yale University dormitory, when they were undergraduates
- Claims by a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, will not be considered in the probe
- Swetnick’s attorney Michael Avenatti maintains that she is telling the truth
- Trump ordered the ‘supplemental investigation’ into his SCOTUS nominee Friday
- The White House counsel’s office has reportedly provided FBI investigators with a list of witnesses they are permitted to interview as part of the week-long probe
- As he headed to a West Virginia rally Saturday, Trump said: ‘I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge’
- He said there isn’t a backup plan in place because he doesn’t expect to need one
- Trump added that probe could be a ‘blessing in disguise’ if the allegations are revealed to be a plot hatched by the Democrats, as Republicans have speculated
The FBI has contacted the second woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as the White House limits the scope of the investigation ordered by President Trump on Friday
The FBI has contacted the second woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as the White House limits the scope of the investigation.
The week-long probe ordered by President Donald Trump on Friday will focus specifically on claims made by Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, but not those by a third accuser Julie Swetnick.
A lawyer for Ramirez confirmed Saturday that his client – who alleges that Kavanaugh exposed his penis to her during a drunken party at a Yale University dormitory when they were undergraduates – will cooperate fully with FBI agents.
‘We can confirm the FBI has reached out to interview Ms. Ramirez and she has agreed to cooperate with their investigation,’ attorney John Clune said in a tweet.
‘Out of respect for the integrity of the process, we will have no further comment at this time.’
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The White House has reportedly instructed FBI agents to limit the Kavanaugh probe to allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford, who testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week (left), and a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez (right)
White House officials also on Saturday stated that the FBI has been instructed not to investigate allegations made by Swetnick, who claims to have been gang raped at a party where Kavanaugh was present, back when the federal judge was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s.
Swetnick’s lawyer Michael Avenatti maintains that his client is telling the truth even though it appears her allegations will not be investigated.
Kavanaugh has staunchly denied allegations from Ford, Ramirez and Swetnick.
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Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on Saturday, Trump expressed confidence in his nominee and in the investigative process.
‘I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge,’ he said just before departing for a rally in West Virginia. ‘There’s never been anybody that’s been looked at like Judge Kavanaugh.’
The president added that he hasn’t come up with a backup plan concerning the nomination because he believes he won’t need one.
The White House counsel’s office has reportedly provided FBI investigators with a list of witnesses they are permitted to interview as part of the week-long probe, sources within the administration told NBC on the condition of anonymity.
Amid reports of the White House tightening the reins on the investigation, Trump said: ‘The FBI I believe is doing a really great job.
‘They have been all over already. They have free rein. They’re going to do whatever they have to do, whatever it is they do.
‘They’ll be doing things that we’ve never even thought of, and hopefully at the conclusion everything will be fine.’
Trump also said the probe could end up being a ‘blessing in disguise’ if the allegations are revealed to be a plot hatched by the Democrats, as many Republicans have speculated.
Trump expressed confidence in his nominee and in the investigative process on Saturday before heading to a rally in West Virginia, saying of the probe: ‘I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge’
The FBI has reportedly been instructed not to investigate sexual misconduct allegations from a third woman, Julie Swetnick (left), who claims to have witnessed Kavanaugh in ‘gang rape’ situations in high school. Her lawyer Michael Avenatti (right) maintains she is telling the truth
Sources within the White House have expressed concern that such tight restrictions could hinder the bureau’s ability to fully investigate the allegations.
The limited scope also appears to conflict with what lawmakers were expecting when they voted to allow the FBI up to a week to perform the probe.
Sen Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who led an 11th-hour request for an FBI inquiry, said he thought the bureau would be tasked with decided how to carry it out.
Sen Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, also said he expected FBI investigators to work diligently and independently with significant backing from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Trump administration.
The FBI probe into allegations against Kavanaugh is not a criminal investigation, but rather an expansion on the federal judge’s background check, and will thus not involve search warrants or subpoenas.
Deborah Ramirez’ attorney tweeted Saturday: ‘We can confirm the FBI has reached out to interview Ms. Ramirez and she has agreed to cooperate with their investigation’
Within the FBI, such investigations are known as ‘special presidential inquiries’, and they typically consist of voluntary interviews of the primary subject and any relevant potential witnesses.
In this case, Trump was forced to order the one-week investigation, which was highly sought by Senate Democrats, after Sen Flake announced he would not back a full Senate vote to confirm Kavanaugh until the probe took place.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Friday night that the expanded background investigation will be limited to ‘current credible allegations’ against Kavanaugh.
Mark Judge, whom Ford claims was in the room and participated in the alleged attack, will likely be considered a key interview subject by the FBI.
Judge has denied any knowledge of Ford’s allegations, and has said he is willing to speak to the FBI for their probe.
It’s been speculated that agents may also speak with two men who contacted the Judiciary Committee independent of each other claiming that they were the person who attacked Ford in 1982.
However, those men had reportedly not yet been contacted as of Saturday afternoon.
Republicans revealed that they had conducted interviews with the men on the eve of Thursday’s blockbuster hearing, but did not bring up their claims in the hearing, a likely signal that they did not find the men credible.
Mark Judge (left) and Kavanaugh are seen together in high school. Ford claims they were together during the alleged attack, which both men strongly deny
Trump was forced to order the one-week investigation, which was highly sought by Senate Democrats, after Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake (center) announced he would not back a full Senate vote to confirm Kavanaugh until the probe took place
Although a week may not seem like much time for the investigation, experts believe the probe’s limited scope will allow the FBI to complete its work within the deadline.
Taking the lead for the White House during the investigation is counsel Don McGahn, who has shepherded Kavanaugh’s nomination since president Trump announced it on July 9.
An official briefed on the matter told NBC its not unusual for the White House to set the parameters of an FBI background check for a presidential nominee.
The FBI has had no choice but to agree to the administration’s terms, sources said, because it is conducting the background investigation on behalf of the White House.
Donald Trump appeared to belittle the investigation just hours after ordering it, tweeting Friday evening: ‘Just started, tonight, our 7th FBI investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He will someday be recognized as a truly great Justice of The United States Supreme Court!’
In just a few days, Trump has jumped between calling the sexual assault allegations a ‘con job’, Ford a ‘credible witness’, and on Friday night emphasizing that this is the 7th FBI investigation of Kavanaugh and insisting he will be the next Justice of the Supreme Court.
What happens now? Whose claims will be investigated and what are the next steps in the Kavanaugh probe?
President Trump has ordered the FBI to conduct a ‘limited’ supplemental investigation into sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, but questions remain about the scope of the probe and whether it will look into additional assault claims from two women that emerged this week.
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans agreed to the investigation after a last-minute demand by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) forced the committee’s hand on Friday.
Both the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee stressed that the investigation would be ‘limited,’ and must be completed by next Friday.
‘The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today,’ said the Senate Judiciary Committee in a statement.
The investigation, which follows a prior FBI background check into Kavanaugh, will look into allegations from Christine Ford that he sexually assaulted her during a party in high school.
It is unclear whether the FBI will also examine claims from two other accusers – Kavanaugh’s Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez and a former Maryland resident named Julie Swetnick.
Ramirez has accused Kavanaugh of putting his genitals near her face while she was intoxicated on the floor at a college dorm party.
Swetnick, who is being represented by Stormy Daniels’s attorney Michael Avenatti, claims she witnessed Kavanaugh and his high school friend Mark Judge drugging girls’ drinks and participating in group-rape attacks at parties. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee did not immediately respond to requests to clarify the term ‘current, credible allegations.’ Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) also declined to comment when asked by DailyMail.com.
Flake – who forced the committee to agree to the investigation after telling Republican colleagues that it is the only way he will vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation – suggested to NPR on Friday that the decision of which allegations to investigate will be left to the FBI.
‘We’ll leave that to the FBI…. I am assuming that the Ford [allegations] are there, and maybe Ramirez. But Avenatti, I don’t know… but that’s their call.’
The FBI investigation would be a supplemental to the previous background check it conducted on Kavanaugh as it does for all Supreme Court nominees. The background investigation has been based out of the FBI Washington office.
The FBI will not conduct a criminal investigation because the charges against Kavanaugh do not relate to any federal crimes. Because of this, the bureau will not make a determination on Kavanaugh’s guilt or innocence. The FBI will submit a report to the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee when the examination is complete.
The scope of the investigation – which will look into claims dating back 36 years – is unusual for an FBI background check. Typically the bureau focuses on recent events from the past decade of the nominee’s life, or documented criminal or legal charges against the individual.
However, the probe could turn up individuals who are able to corroborate the claims from Ford, Ramirez or Swetnick. So far, the witnesses named by the accusers have said they don’t remember the incidents taking place.
The FBI will also be able to talk to potential witnesses who have not spoken directly to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mark Judge, a high school classmate of Kavanaugh’s who Ford claims was in the room while she was sexually assaulted, has agreed to cooperate with the FBI.
Judge has previously declined to testify to the committee but submitted a sworn statement saying he does not remember any incident like the one described by Ford.
Two other witnesses who Ford claims were at the party, P.J. Smythe and Leland Keyser, could also be interviewed by the FBI. Both Smythe and Keyser have said in statements to the Senate Judiciary Committee that they do not recall the event described by Ford.
Although the FBI will have just a week to investigate the allegations, this timeframe is not out of step with prior similar investigations.
During Clarence Thomas’s confirmation hearings in 1991, the FBI took three days to investigate sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by law professor Anita Hill. Thomas was ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court.
ABC News contributor and former FBI Special Agent in Charge Steve Gomez said the FBI is likely ‘organizing their resources to ensure that every field office and every agent is available to conduct’ the investigation within a week.
He defined the phrase ‘current credible allegations’ as ‘any kind of allegation where there are witnesses that can be interviewed and any kind of information that can be gathered to determine whether the allegations are true or false.’
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