President Trump has directed the FBI to conduct a supplemental background investigation to determine if Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh had any relevant involvement in the allegations raised by Christine Ford and Deborah Ramirez. President Trump further directed the FBI to conclude its supplemental investigations by next Friday, October 5.
I predict: Between November 28 and October 5, Christine Ford and her attorneys will try to file a criminal complaint against Brett Kavanaugh with the state of Maryland. Fox News is reporting that “Earlier this week, a group of Maryland lawmakers, all Democrats, called for the state to conduct its own criminal investigation into decades-old sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh …” A letter in response from the Montgomery County Police and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office indicated they would conduct a state level investigation into such allegations if the victim filed the complaint.
If as I predict Ford files the complaint with the state of Maryland, the investigation would be difficult to complete by Friday, October 5. Almost certainly Senate Democrats would demand under penalty of #MeToo that the Senate confirmation vote on the Kavanaugh nomination must be postponed until the Maryland state investigation has concluded and the State’s Attorney has made a charging decision.
Question: Why did President Trump assign the Brett Kavanaugh supplemental background investigation to the FBI and not the Office of Personnel Management, National Background Investigations Bureau ? Why were Senate Democrats and some Republicans so intent on getting the FBI involved in this?
Given the allegations of FBI and DoJ wrongdoing in connection with the 2016 presidential campaign, and particularly considering the mounting evidence that the FBI and DoJ knowingly submitted applications which intentionally included false and misleading information to obtain a FISA warrant and three renewals to surveil Carter Page, a Trump campaign low-level staffer, why would anyone want the FBI anywhere near the Kavenaugh mess? The supplemental BI does not require the involvement of any criminal investigative body, certainly not the FBI.
The supplemental BI is an administrative investigation, not a criminal one. NBIB agents would not be asking questions predicated on proving or disproving criminal allegations; they would be investigating to gather factual information which the sponsoring agency could use to determine an applicant’s suitability or fitness for federal employment.
Indeed,
So many questions; so few (e.g. no) answers.
Comment by Tributary — October 15, 2018 @ 10:10 am
Tributary,
Well, I was wrong on the state criminal filing. It may have been that the political winds brought the scent of reality to the noses of Ford’s attorneys. I would like to have seen the representational agreement(s) between Ford and her attorney(s) to know exactly who the attorneys were engaged to represent. I understand that the DC Bar Association may receive a complaint (not from Ford) about Katz’s and Banks’ diligence or lack of it in representing Ford’s interest.
The answer to the FBI vs NBIB assignment question may be a memorandum of understanding or something even more formal that specifically requires federal judicial nominee BIs to be done by the FBI. It isn’t that the FBI is any better than NBIB or any other competent and properly trained investigators. It all comes down to the adjudicators (usually in the sponsoring agency, in this instance, the Congress) making a determination of suitability or fitness for federal employment based on fairly strict stndards except when the political hacks (AKA: elected officials) get involved and invoke political expedience rather than rule of law.
Comment by Bill — October 15, 2018 @ 12:45 pm