Following a lengthy review, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island released
his findings, alleging that the Trump administration “exercised total control over the scope of the investigation” and prevented the FBI from pursuing leads. The result was a “flawed and incomplete” investigation into a Supreme Court nominee, which was “unworthy of reliance by the Senate.”
As a related
Washington Post report noted, as Kavanaugh faced sexual misconduct allegations, Trump said that the FBI would have “free rein” to scrutinize the claims. Trump said the FBI was “talking to everybody,” adding by way of social media, “I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion.”
That, of course, was what the then-president had to say in
public. In
private, according to Whitehouse’s findings, the Trump administration not only “kneecap[ed] FBI investigators’ ability to adequately investigate those allegations, but the lack of transparency misled the Senate and the public about the investigation’s thoroughness.”
Kavanaugh and the FBI declined to comment, and the Trump campaign called the findings an “attempt to delegitimize the Supreme Court” (which, incidentally, the former president has tried to delegitimize.)
Speaking of the GOP candidate, the year after Trump left the White House, he said, in reference to Kavanaugh, “I saved his life. He wouldn’t even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him. ... I saved his life, and I saved his career.”
It was a curious quote, which is now seen in a new light.
