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WASHINGTON DC – Senior officials said the White House was controlling the extent of the FBI's investigation into allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The investigation is the result of a dramatic day in Washington on Friday, which, in all appearances, began with a quick move towards Kavanaugh's confirmation and ended with a break while the FBI took the reins.
Following the agreement reached by the FBI to investigate Kavanaugh, the focus has been on how the investigation will be handled, on its ultimate conclusions and on fears of a lack. due diligence with respect to the candidate.
A source familiar with the investigation told CNN that the FBI would take its instructions from the White House, not the Senate, and that the agency would interview a handful of people.
The story of Kavanaugh, which was mentioned in the allegations, is not part of the investigation, which was handled by the FBI's security division at the agency's headquarters in Washington.
While President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the FBI would have "a freedom of choice" in his investigation, people close to the case said the field of action was much more limited. White House lawyer Don McGhan, who is the Kavanaugh's chief administrative counsel for the confirmation, oversees the investigation for the president and works closely with the Republican leaders of the Senate.
The source reiterated that the officers would draw no conclusions about what the witnesses are telling them and would report their findings to the White House, which is a standard protocol in similar basic investigations. The source would not say whether the direction the FBI received listed specific people or whether it should investigate specific allegations.
Kavanaugh denied all the allegations made against him.
An informed source said the White House had confided to the FBI the limited scope of the investigation based on the demands of the Senate.
Trump ordered the investigation on Friday after Senator Jeff Flake of the Arizona GOP pushed the Senate to request the FBI's review.
Two sources familiar with the situation, however, told CNN that Senate Republicans were working with White House legal adviser Don McGahn, who "tried to make it as close as possible."
Kellyanne Conway, a Trump advisor, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the White House respected the FBI's independence but said it should not become a "fishing expedition".
"The scope will be limited," said Conway. "It's scheduled to last a week, I believe from last Friday. And that will be the case – it's not supposed to be a fishing expedition. "
Asked if McGahn had told the FBI that he could interview, Conway said, "I do not think Don McGahn would do it, but I did not tell him about it."
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders spoke about "Fox News Sunday," saying the White House "is not micromanaging" the FBI investigation and has not heard of McGahn at the FBI. .
"The White House Council has authorized the Senate to dictate what these terms and the scope of the investigation look like," Sanders said.
A person familiar with the subject told CNN that the Senate Republicans had drafted the initial list of people to be interrogated by the FBI and handed the list to the White House. The source noted that this was not a definitive list and that they left the possibility of new witnesses.
People probably interviewed
The FBI began investigating Professor Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her while they were high school students. FBI agents are also expected to interview several people whom Professor Ford said he attended on the night when the alleged attack took place, including Mark Judge, Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Keyser, sources close to the case.
Professor Ford alleged that the judge was present in the room with her and Kavanaugh when the proposed candidate assaulted her. The judge said he had no memory of the assault described by Professor Ford and that he did not remember the party, and Smyth and Keyser also said they did not remember the party.
Deborah Ramirez, another woman who has made allegations against Kavanaugh, has been contacted by the FBI, according to a Ramirez lawyer.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Kavanaugh supporter who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on ABC this week that Flake, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski
"They wanted to talk – the FBI to speak with the witnesses named by Dr. Ford," said Graham. "They want to talk to Ms. Ramirez because she refused to talk to the committee. They're going to see Mark Judge, have you ever seen drug-addicted women in Brett Kavanaugh or been involved in gang rape. I think that will be the subject.
Graham was referring to an allegation from another woman, Julie Swetnick, who made allegations against Kavanaugh and Judge, claiming that they were present at the party in the early 1980s when she said she was raped by a gang.
Swetnick did not identify Kavanaugh or Judge as one of his assailants. Swetnick added that during a series of holidays, she had seen Kavanaugh "systematically engaging in excessive drinking and inappropriate sexual contact with women in the early years." 1980 ".
Kavanaugh also denied Swetnick's allegations, calling them "the twilight zone".
The judge said in a statement that he categorically denied Swetnick's allegations.
On Sunday morning, nothing indicated that the FBI would talk to Swetnick.
Two reputable Republican sources told CNN of hope that when investigators meet with the judge, they would not ask him questions about Dr. Ford's allegations, but also about Swetnick's allegations.
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