Huffpost :
The White House received the results of the FBI investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and sent the information to the Senate early Thursday morning, saying they are “fully confident” that Kavanaugh will be confirmed.
The information “is the last addition to the most comprehensive review of a Supreme Court nominee in history, which includes extensive hearings, multiple committee interviews, over 1,200 questions for the record and over a half million pages of documents,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Twitter. “With this additional information, the White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.”
The FBI reportedly wasn’t able to corroborate the allegations of sexual misconduct, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. According to The New York Times, the bureau ended up reaching out to 10 people and interviewing nine of them.
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called for a Friday vote ? before the findings were even released ? to end debate on the Kavanaugh issue, with a final vote on his nomination as early as Saturday. The Senate Judiciary Committee will review the FBI’s findings on Thursday.
Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) claimed Wednesday that there was never once a “whiff” of sexual misconduct unearthed in the investigation or any previous FBI probe carried out on Kavanaugh since 1993.
Democratsattacked the statement as false, furthering the partisan back-and-forth that has swirled since three women came forward with allegations against the judge. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the claims.
It’s likely that Republicans will largely vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination, although Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said they haven’t yet made up their minds.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday set up a procedural vote for as early as Friday on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
McConnell, a Republican, filed a petition for a so-called cloture vote, which if successful would limit debate on the Kavanaugh nomination and start the clock ticking on a final 30-hour waiting period before the Senate could vote to confirm the nominee.
After filing a cloture petition, lawmakers must wait one legislative day before proceeding to the cloture vote, according to Senate rules. That means a cloture vote could come on Friday morning at the soonest.
