Just a few days after being ordered to look into sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the FBI has talked with his high school friend Mark Judge, but the interview is not complete, his attorney said on Monday.
University professor Christine Blasey Ford has said Judge was a witness to Kavanaugh allegedly sexually assaulting her at a party in 1982 when they were high school students in Maryland.
Kavanaugh and his friend Judge have denied her accusations, as well as those of two other women while accusing Democrats of a political “hit”.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Friday in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination but a full Senate vote on confirmation was delayed for a week after President Donald Trump folded under pressure from moderate members of his Republican Party for the FBI probe.
Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh to the top U.S. court, said on Monday the FBI would have free rein to interview any witnesses it deemed necessary. He said he did not want the probe to become a “witch hunt” and that it should be completed quickly. His remarks followed criticism by Democrats that he and other Republicans were trying to limit the scope of the FBI probe.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber would vote this week on Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge in Washington. A spokesman for McConnell declined to clarify whether McConnell was referring to procedural votes or a final vote on confirming Kavanaugh.
