Grassley: FBI report on Kavanaugh will be released



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Brett Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh needs the support of 50 Senators to claim a seat on the Supreme Court. There are 51 Republicans in the chamber. But he still does not have enough votes – for now. | Michael Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday that he does not anticipate the FBI's final report of its inquiry into Brett Kavanaugh would be made public, adding that such a break from protocol "might actually hurt" the office's ability to conduct such probes.

All appointments will be made in a secure setting, but they will be made available to the Senate by this vote on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, according to GOP leaders. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas)

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"People will know what the FBI said before we end up voting," Cornyn said.

The report may be taken out of the public interest in the probe.

The FBI conducted an inquiry after Anita Hill's sexual harassment allegations against Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991, elements of which were cited by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) during those hearings.

Whether the report is an open question. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Kavanaugh's testimony: "We can not turn the court into a partisan body that acts like a legislative body. . " But he also said that it was not enough to make him vote on Kavanaugh.

But Grassley defended Kavanaugh from Democratic arguments that his defiant, politically defeated last week showed he lacks the temperament to sit on the high court.

"I do not know that any resentment [Thomas] Hillley said, "Hill's harassment allegations against him has affected his actions on the court. "I assume you're going to find the same thing when Kavanaugh gets on the Supreme Court."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that the Senate would vote on Kavanaugh's appointment this week as he brushed aside questions about the judge's past clothes. The Kentucky Republic is in a precarious situation on a final vote on President Donald Trump 's Supreme Court, with the help of the FBI. McConnell said on Tuesday that they would vote "after the FBI shares what they've found," but reiterated that a floor vote would happen "this week."

McConnell also dinged Democrats for embracing the allegations of a third woman coming forward with misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh even though Democrats initially hesitated last week. That woman is a client of Michael Avenatti, whom the GOP leader slammed as "a tabloid lawyer." The well-known attorney is an adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.

McConnell then mocked a New York Times report centering on police questioning Kavanaugh after a 1985 bar fight.

"Talk about a bombshell?" McConnell asked on the floor.

Senate Republicans are feeling more excited about their party. They believe that there is risk in the world of probability but it is unlikely that the FBI uncovers new damaging information.

It's unclear whether Kavanaugh can win over anyone else. Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Who opposes Kavanaugh, declined to say Tuesday whether the FBI probe could change his mind, while Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont) has "broader" concerns about Kavanaugh than just the allegations against him, his office said. Trump is popular. Undecided Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota Kavanaugh on Tuesday.

Democrats are trying to keep them focused on this week's FBI inquiry, which they view as their strongest chance to coax meaning. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Flake into the opposition camp. They have made a specific request for a perjury investigation into Kavanaugh's statements under oath, instead asserting that the 53-year-old appeals court has already set up enough evidence to lack the temperament to join the Supreme Court.

"Frankly, Judge Kavanaugh's testimony was better suited for the United States Supreme Court," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Said Tuesday on the floor.

"It should give rise to consider that it means to elevate such a partisan worldview to the Supreme Court, whether it be a Democratic Republican Partisan view, where rulings must be made on the legal merits, not on the side of the aisle which most benefits, "Schumer added.

Before Avenatti's client, Julie Swetnick, claiming that Kavanaugh was involved in sexual misconduct in the 1980s, Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez came forward with separate allegations of their own. Both of Ford's alleged high school-era sexual assault claim and Ramirez's college-era misconduct claim against Kavanaugh are part of this week's FBI probe.

Republicans have sought to poke holes in the narrative of Ford's ugly world, but it is not the case that Kavanaugh, but Schumer challenged McConnell.

"Does he believe or not believe Dr. Ford?" Schumer asked. "Yes, no, no, no, no, no, no, he knows that Dr. Ford had tremendous credibility."

If the FBI finishes its Kavanaugh inquiry before Friday, McConnell could move on to a final vote and vote. But if investigators do not complete their investigation into the nominee before the Friday deadline, McConnell's time frame for a final vote.

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