Swing Republican Senators Condemn Trump's Attack on Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON – Three influential Republicans on Wednesday condemned President Trump for being mocked by a woman who had accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault, adding even more uncertainty to his case. confirmation fight in the Supreme Court as the Senate prepares to receive an FBI investigation of allegations late Wednesday night.

While they waited, the Democrats of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate have insinuated that the previous F.B.I. In fact, Justice Kavanaugh's background checks identified inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse. A letter from Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and other Democrats reprimanded in committee for a tweet that said "nowhere" in the old F.B.I. checks "has there ever been a smell of NO problems with inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse?"

The information contained in the message "is not accurate," the Democrats wrote.

"It is troubling that the majority of the committee has characterized information from Kavanaugh's confidential information on Twitter," they wrote, adding, "If the majority of the committee will violate this confidentiality and publicly characterize this general information you must at least be honest. about that."

Republicans have called the letter "more baseless insinuations and more false lies".

The exchange was only one element of the bitter struggle between the parties for the delivery of the F.B.I. interviews. A few hours before the expected arrival of the documents, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the highest Democratic Representative of the Judiciary Committee, warned that the summaries of the interviews may have no value because the investigation did not involve Interviews with Judge Kavanaugh; his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford; or witnesses identified as corroborating by his second accuser, a classmate at Yale named Deborah Ramirez.

"The White House has confirmed that it will not allow the F.B.I. question Blasey Ford, Judge Kavanaugh or witnesses identified by Deborah Ramirez raises serious concerns that it is not a credible investigation and asks the following question: what other restrictions the White House imposed on the judicial police?

But it's the three Republicans – Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona – who have injected the most uncertainty into the confirmation. Together, they could determine whether Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed in the Supreme Court and Mr. Trump's mockery of Mr. Blasey during the Mississippi campaign campaign on Tuesday only exacerbated tensions as senators prepared to read the highly anticipated summaries of the interviews.

"I take everything into account," Murkowski told reporters. "The comments of the President yesterday mocking Dr. Ford were totally inappropriate and in my opinion unacceptable."

"Today," on the "NBC" channel, said Mr. Flake, "there is no time or place to make such remarks, but discuss something as sensitive when a political rally is just not fair ".

"I would have liked that he did not do it, and I'm just saying it's appalling," Flake added.

And Ms. Collins told the press on Capitol Hill that her comments were "simply wrong."

Ms. Collins did not indicate that the comments would affect her final vote on Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, which could come as early as the end of the week. Mr. Flake said it would not affect his, "No, you can not blame or blame other people, the insensitive remarks of the president."

Instead, senators said they wait for the results of a further investigation into the history of the F.B.I. Senate officials were waiting to receive the investigation materials Wednesday night, but said that neither party would consider it before Thursday morning. Because the White House was to produce only one copy of the results of this investigation, Republicans and Democrats had planned to take turns Thursday morning to review the records in a secure Capitol Hall, officials said.

Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership, said that if the file was submitted Wednesday, the Senate would probably hold a procedural vote on Friday and a final confirmation vote on Saturday. This situation, he said, would be the "likely way to move towards the end of this and to begin healing here."

Senators from both sides said they would like the findings of F.B.I. are finally made public in one form or another, but a previous agreement governing background investigations such as that on Judge Kavanaugh could make this legally difficult.

A four-page memorandum between the Judiciary Committee and the White House prohibits disclosure of the contents of a substantive file by the committee and sets out the circumstances under which designated staff members or senators who disclose the content without authorization may be punished.

A F.B.I. Background investigation differs considerably from more usual criminal investigations and relies mainly on gathering information to inform Senators' and White House decisions. In a criminal investigation, officers make crucial investigative decisions about scope and strategy, and are able to use search warrants and subpoenas to require evidence. Officers conducting a background investigation do not have such tools and receive explicit market orders through the White House Law Office.

But in a sign of how the Kavanaugh debate broke the In the Senate, Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer of New York nearly accused his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, of lying after McConnell accused the Democrats of trying to delay the confirmation vote.