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(CNN) – Now that President Donald Trump has ordered the FBI to conduct a further investigation into Brett Kavanaugh, the task of shedding light on the blatant allegation of sexual assault that holds the Supreme Court candidate's confirmation could fall in the hands of the Washington-based team responsible for conducting background investigations of high-level appointees.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the confirmation hearing of the Supreme Court's decision in the Senate office building Dirksen at Capitol Hill, Sept. 27, 2018, in Washington, DC DC. (credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)
Concentrated in the office's field office and supported by field offices across the country, these agents regularly conduct gumshoe surveys that help elevate public servants to positions of power.
"Basically, you're knocking on doors and prospecting in the neighborhood and wondering if future FBI agents, people who undergo a five-year review to maintain a very secret clearance, and candidates for the judiciary, must be in office, like Kavanaugh, "said James Gagliano, retired CNI Special Constable.
On Friday, Trump ordered the security forces to reopen the investigation into his candidate 's background after Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, sided with the Democrats who had asked the FBI to investigate allegations that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. when both were teenagers in Maryland.
Deborah Ramirez (credit: New Yorker)
The investigation will also examine the allegations of Deborah Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of being exposed to her at a party while they were students at Yale University, according to the New York Times. Kavanaugh and the White House have denied these allegations.
"I ordered the FBI to conduct an additional investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's case. As requested by the Senate, this update must be limited in scope and be completed in less than a week, "said Trump in a statement.
The FBI has not commented on the president's order, but a background investigation of a presidential appointee, like Kavanaugh, would likely also have a layer of surveillance at the highest levels of the head office FBI in Washington, and senior officials could be mobilized to strengthen the investigation team on the background for the most sensitive interviews, said former agents.
Given the unprecedented situation, the FBI could also use new tools or create a "special" investigation team that exists between divisions of the agency, said former officials.
While background checks usually take several days of field investigations, FBI leaders may decide to be vigilant and assign a group of agents from several squadrons to wrap the probe as soon as possible.
"They could almost give up everything they do, a new background check so that the generals get the next star, as well as the US secretaries of cabinet and lawyers," said Tom Fuentes, former FBI deputy director and lead law enforcement analyst at CNN. "They could pack everything. If they want to put 500 agents on this tomorrow, they could do it. "
The extent of the investigation that FBI agents will undertake is not clear. Ford leaked the details of his charges at a televised hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, and two other women have come out publicly to claim episodes of sexual misconduct on the part of Kavanaugh. He categorically denied them with force.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 27: Christine Blasey Ford at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in the Senate Office Building Dirksen at Capitol Hill on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. A professor at the University of Palo Alto and a researcher in psychology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Mr. Ford accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of having it. Sexually assaulted at a party in 1982, while they were high school students in suburban Maryland. (Melina Mara-Pool Photo / Getty Images)
The key to Ford's charge, which dates back to a 1982 holiday, is a handful of witnesses who, according to the California psychologist, were present on the night of the so-called attack.
Mark Judge, whom Ford says was in the room with Kavanaugh when he pinned her on a bed and covered her mouth while trying to pull off her clothes, also denied that the incident had occurred place. In a statement made Friday by his lawyer, the judge said he would "answer any questions that would be asked" if the FBI requested an interview. Two other people that Ford said were present the night of the incident – Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser – said they did not remember attending a party with Ford and Kavanaugh.
A Smyth lawyer also said Friday that he was "happy to cooperate fully with this FBI investigation," and Keyser's lawyer said in a letter to the committee that his client would also cooperate in the investigation.
FBI officials will probably try to question some or all potential witnesses, in addition to Ford and Kavanaugh. The FBI, however, can not force interviews into background investigation investigations, or criminal investigations about it. Although witnesses in a criminal case may be summoned to appear before a grand jury, witnesses to a background investigation do not face a similar law enforcement tool to get them to speak.
Investigators can also look for witnesses who can attest to Ford's credibility, including his parents, the former agents added. Evidence of substance abuse problems may color a plaintiff's charge, but the FBI draws no conclusions about the credibility or significance of an allegation in a preliminary investigation report.
"They could question somebody who says I saw Judge Kavanaugh being teleported by a UFO – he's an alien, they would put that in the 302," said Chris Swecker, a former deputy director. from the FBI, referring to the form in which agents will commemorate their talks. "They would not say," We have refuted that, they have not refuted it. "
An additional background check in Ford's allegations could also go beyond questioning witnesses to include an investigation into a deficiency that Ford admitted in his story: the date of the party.
When appearing in the Senate Thursday, Ford lamented his foggy memory but gave a clue – a meeting with a judge at a supermarket he worked on about six to eight weeks after the alleged attack.
"It would be helpful, with anyone's resources, to know when he was working there, if people want more details from me about when the attack took place," Ford said.
Safeway, the chain that Ford testified that the judge was running caddies, did not respond to CNN's request for records of employment. The FBI may be luckier.
Yet, with 36 years between the night of the alleged attack and the next antecedent investigation, the officers in this background check have some work to do.
"You will take care of memories that fade away, you will take care of neighborhood paintings where the accuser does not know exactly where this neighborhood. The task will be difficult and daunting, "said Gagliano.
By David Shortell, CNN
The-CNN-Wire
™ 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
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