Coalition of Organizations Calls on Congress to Address Mishandling of Kavanaugh FBI Investigation

Washington, DC – October 25, 2024 – Yesterday, over 50 organizations submitted a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to deal with the FBI’s mishandling of its supplemental investigation into sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The decision for accountability follows a latest report from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) that reveals new particulars concerning the investigation’s shortcomings and underscores the pressing want for additional scrutiny.

The letter highlights procedural flaws, a scarcity of transparency and different critical issues concerning the FBI’s investigation, which did not examine credible allegations throughout Kavanaugh’s affirmation course of. Greater than 4,500 leads had been submitted to the FBI, but the investigation’s scope remained restricted and key witnesses — together with Kavanaugh — had been by no means interviewed.

The teams of their letter name on Congress to take the next actions:

Stop future political interference by the chief department in background investigations.
Reopen the Kavanaugh investigation to totally pursue the hundreds of leads supplied to the FBI.
Interview key witnesses, together with Justice Kavanaugh, to hunt and uncover extra proof.
If corroborating proof helps that Justice Kavanaugh was not truthful throughout his Senate testimony, provoke applicable proceedings for accountability.

“Sen. Whitehouse’s report confirms what many people have lengthy suspected — that the FBI’s investigation into the experiences of sexual harassment by Brett Kavanaugh was something however thorough,” mentioned Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the Nationwide Ladies’s Legislation Heart and spokesperson for the coalition. “What’s worse, we now know that the White Home restricted the scope of the investigation, refusing to permit witnesses with essential particulars to be interviewed. This abuse of energy calls for that Congress take instant motion. Failure to take action could be a grave miscarriage of justice and additional erode belief in our establishments.”

The coalition, which incorporates the Nationwide Ladies’s Legislation Heart, UltraViolet, and Court docket Accountability, represents a broad spectrum of advocates for judicial accountability, survivors’ rights, and governmental transparency. Collectively, the group urges Congress to revive integrity to this investigation and shield the credibility of future judicial confirmations.