Sarah Sanders vows White House ‘is not micromanaging’ FBI investigation into Kavanaugh

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is conceding no one ‘can know 100 percent’ about Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford’s versions of what happened at a high school party in the 1980s but, she vows, the administration ‘is not micromanaging’ the FBI investigation into the charges against the Supreme Court nominee.  

‘The White House is not micromanaging this process. The Senate is dictating the terms,’ Sanders said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

Questions have arisen about who the FBI will be speaking to in its probe, particularly if investigators will question Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh and his Georgetown Prep friend Mark Judge of being part of a group of boys that drugged and raped women.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the administration is not micromanaging the FBI investigation into the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono said she hoped the investigation wasn't a farce

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono said she hoped the investigation wasn’t a farce

Kavanaugh has denied all allegations against him.  

Sanders said she’s not aware if White House counsel Don McGahn has given the FBI a witness list of who agents can and cannot talk to.

‘The White House counsel has allowed the Senate to dictate what these terms look like and what the scope of the investigation is. Again, the White House isn’t intervening, we are not micromanaging this process. This is a Senate process, it has been from the beginning. We are letting the Senate continues to dictate what the terms look like,’ she said.

She said it was up to the Senate if Swetnick was to be interviewed. 

‘That’s a question you would have to ask the Senate. That’s not something the White House is engaging in,’ Sanders said on Fox. 

But, she cautioned, the FBI investigation will not become a fishing expedition. 

‘This can’t become a fishing expedition like the Democrats would like to see it be,’ she said. 

President Donald Trump insisted on Saturday the FBI has been given ‘free rein’ in the reopened probe, writing in a tweet: ‘I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion.’

Judge is supposed to be interviewed by agents, as is Debra Ramirez, who accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her while they were students at Yale University, pushing his penis in her face and forcing her to touch it when she pushed him away. 

Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.  

Sanders then went on the attack, echoing a Republican charge against Democrats and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they knew about Ford’s allegation but didn’t make it handle it as they should have.

‘Dianne Feinstein and her staff knew about these accusations. If they could have done all of this in a private way to protect Dr. Ford. Instead, for the people that claim to champion women, Democrats have exploited Dr. Ford, have exploited this process and I think it’s been totally disgraceful,’ she said.

She said Ford’s testimony before the committee on Thursday was ‘compelling’ and that she was obviously a victim of an attack but noted there was no proof it was Kavanaugh who was the perpetrator. 

‘Nobody could deny that her testimony wasn’t compelling, that it wasn’t impactful and certainly it appears something happened to this woman and I don’t think there’s anybody in America who would condone that or be okay with that,’ Sanders said. ‘I do think the big question is was that Brett Kavanaugh and I think based on his testimony and the information he provided you can easily come away and say it wasn’t.’

She added: ‘I don’t think anyone of us can know 100 percent, but I think we have to look at the information that’s provided. It is no doubt that her story is heartbreaking and it’s heart wrenching to watch it. I’ve watched it a number of times. Again, I think you have to look at Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony as well. Equally heartbreaking. Look at the destruction of his family, look at how this is played out.’

In their separate testimonies on Thursday, both Ford and Kavanaugh said they were ‘100 percent’ certain of their stories. 

Kavanaugh delivered a fighting end to his Senate testimony when asked directly if he was innocent of claims he tried to rape Ford or had any doubts about his integrity.

 ‘100 per cent. Not a scintilla. Swear to God,’ he said.

Ford recounted in her dramatic testimony how Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, tried to take off her clothes and covered her mouth when she tried to scream during a high school party in the 1980s.

She dismissed theories a Kavanaugh-look-alike attacked her instead.

When asked her degree of certainty it was Kavanaugh, Ford leaned down into the microphone and said: ‘100 percent.’ 

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has expressed concern over reports the White House is limiting the scope of the FBI investigation

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has expressed concern over reports the White House is limiting the scope of the FBI investigation

Brett Kavanaugh has denied all charges against him

Brett Kavanaugh has denied all charges against him

And on CNN, Kellyanne Conway reiterated the administration would not interfere in the investigation.

‘The White House is not getting in the FBI investigation that way. The president very much respects the Independence of the FBI and said feels, as he said last night, that they should look at anything in this limited scope,’ she said on ‘State of the Union.’ 

Democrats like Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota have expressed concern over reports the White House is limiting the scope of the FBI investigation.

‘What we are hearing are reports that they are trying to limit this,’ Klobuchar said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ Sunday. ‘I’m very concerned about this because the White House should not be allowed to micromanage an FBI investigation.’

She expressed concern some people who knew Kavanaugh when he was at Yale University would not be interviewed about their recollections of him drinking.

‘You have these other people from parts of his life who have said that he was belligerent when he was drunk and other things. Now, they have not been interviewed by the FBI,’ she said. 

The FBI is investigating Christine Blasey Ford's charge against Kavanaugh

The FBI is investigating Christine Blasey Ford’s charge against Kavanaugh

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway reiterated the administration would not interfere in the investigation

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway reiterated the administration would not interfere in the investigation

The FBI has reportedly been instructed not to investigate sexual misconduct allegations from a third woman, Julie Swetnick (left), who claims to have witnessed Kavanaugh in 'gang rape' situations in high school

Her lawyer Michael Avenatti (right) maintains she is telling the truth

The FBI has reportedly been instructed not to investigate sexual misconduct allegations from a third woman, Julie Swetnick (left), who claims to have witnessed Kavanaugh intoxicated and behaving inappropriately toward women at several high school parties in the 80s. Her lawyer Michael Avenatti (right) maintains she is telling the truth

Klobuchar did say she wasn’t sure or not if Swetnick’s bombshell allegations about President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee was true but said she should be interviewed.

‘I don’t know. I haven’t met her. I think she needs to be interviewed by the FBI. I do believe in due process. She did sign an affidavit and it needs to be looked into,’ she said. 

Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono said she hoped the investigation wasn’t a farce.

‘To limit the FBI as to the scope and who they’re going to question, that really – I wanted to use the word farce, but that’s not the kind of investigation that all of us are expecting the FBI to conduct,’ she said Sunday on ABC’s ‘This Week.’

 

 

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