The FBI talks with Denver-based Brett Kavanaugh's friend

WASHINGTON – FBI leaders cautiously attempt to slip into the politically-charged background check on Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh as the office seeks to protect itself – and after the elections Mid-term – fierce criticism of Congress, according to the government. to people familiar with the subject.

The White House gave the FBI until Friday to provide the results of a week – long investigation into allegations that Kavanaugh allegedly sexually assaulted female students in high school and college – accusations that they had been sexually abusive. he denied with anger. Officials said the FBI could finish before Friday, especially when senators seek information before the first procedural vote on its confirmation this week.

FBI agents have completed a first batch of interviews with four people close to alleged events, and the White House has given the bureau the green light to conduct further interviews, according to people close to the case.

On Tuesday, the FBI went beyond these initial four people by interviewing Tim Gaudette, a classmate of Kavanaugh's Prep. Gaudette's lawyer, Kenneith Eichner, said that an interview with the FBI had taken place but declined to comment further. Gaudette's house was the site of a party Kavanaugh listed on July 1, 1982, which is the focus of legislators' concerns.

FBI agents also interviewed Mark Judge, a key friend of Kavanaugh High School, who denied any knowledge of a teenage rally such as the one described by Kavanaugh's first accuser.

During the interview, the judge also denied the recent allegations of Julie Swetnick, stating that he knew nothing of what she had claimed, namely that he, Kavanaugh or D & # 39; Other male friends had tried at home evenings to get drunk girls to exploit them. , according to two people familiar with the interview.

Another Kavanaugh High School friend, Chris Garrett, has also completed an interview with the FBI, according to Garrett's lawyer, William Sullivan, Jr., who declined to comment further.

Discussions between the FBI and the White House are complicated by a number of factors: the long-standing mistrust of the president with regard to the agency on his investigation in Russia, the intense criticism by the members of Congress on the handling of politically sensitive investigations by the FBI, and the added difficulty of conducting an investigation that could tip the scales in deciding who will become the next member of the Supreme Court.

According to people familiar with the FBI and the deliberations of the administration, a political consideration is more important than ever: if the Democrats took control of the House, lawmakers could open an investigation into what the White House and the Office officials said about the Kavanaugh case.

The White House and the FBI "are very careful with each other," said a person familiar with the case, who, like others, spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss delicate deliberation. "Everyone realizes that it is under great surveillance and will be too when it is finished."

Several people involved in the discussions said that part of the challenge was to treat the Kavanaugh inquiry as a "regular" check of antecedents when circumstances make it extremely unusual.

In many background checks, interviews will be conducted by a single officer, but the Kavanaugh case is anything but a standard investigation.

When the FBI met one of Kavanaugh's accusers, Deborah Ramirez, in Boulder, Colorado, last weekend, they sent two officers and a supervisor waited in a nearby room, according to reports. current.

John Clune, Ramirez's lawyer, said on Twitter on Tuesday that his client had been talking to the FBI for more than two hours Sunday in a "thorough and productive interview". The agents "were clearly motivated to investigate in any way the means allowed to them." , "he added, but he claimed that Ramirez had provided the names and contact details of more than 20 witnesses likely to corroborate his allegation that Kavanaugh was exposed to him at an evening in Yale and that, to the knowledge from Clune, The FBI had not contacted any of them as of Tuesday.

"Although we appreciated the agents who responded on Sunday, we are very concerned that the FBI is not conducting – or not being allowed to conduct – a serious investigation," he said.

Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified that she was assaulted by Kavanaugh as a teenager and testified in the Senate last week, wrote to FBI director Christopher Wray on Tuesday to tell them that FBI did not ask for an interview.

"It is inconceivable that the FBI could conduct a thorough investigation of Dr. Ford's allegations without questioning him, or Justice Kavanaugh, or the witnesses we identified in our letters," wrote the lawyers, demanding an immediate response to their words. days of silence from the FBI.

The office declined to comment.

The Kavanaugh investigation is conducted by the FBI Security Division, a component of the Human Resources Branch that is normally responsible for managing background checks.

Because the White House and even the president dictate what the office should do, Wray is also involved in the case, according to people familiar with the job.

Background checks are one of the pillars of the FBI, but they are not usually an exciting – or noticeable – case. These are often assignments to younger officers to teach them how to handle paperwork and conduct interviews.

The Kavanaugh investigation is taking place publicly. The lawyers of the interviewees often confirm that we spoke to their clients.

Some people have contacted the office on their own and have sometimes been frustrated with being directed to a notification line or an online reporting form. For example, the office normally handles bulky tips in the most prominent areas, but in the case of a short-term inquiry, the answer seems inadequate for some.

Law enforcement officials said they expect to be attacked by any party that does not like the results – or by both parties.

Since Trump ordered the reopening of the background investigation, the FBI categorically refused to comment, referring all questions regarding his work to the White House. Since this is a background check rather than a criminal investigation, it is not inappropriate for the White House to pull the strings.

"The office is not going to draw conclusions, but simply gather the facts that it can corroborate, write reports and make its work," said Joe Lewis, a former senior FBI official who at one point in his career , had supervised the background check. surveys. "They will not play football with her or shade anything."

Joseph Campbell, former deputy director of the FBI's Criminal Investigations Division, said the office would probably do what it always does in political controversies: appeal to the procedure.