The American Bar Association called on the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday evening to halt the confirmation vote for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying it should not move forward until an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against him can be completed.

[Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh adamantly denied Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation of sexual assault before the Senate Judicary Committee on Sept. 27.

[Christine Blasey Ford recounted and defended her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh on Sept. 27. ]



“The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI,” ABA President Robert Carlson wrote in a letter to Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein (Calif).

The letter, which is unlikely to sway Republicans, said that an appointment to the Supreme court “is simply too important to rush to a vote.” “Deciding to proceed without conducting an additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court,” Carlson wrote in the letter, obtained by The Washington Post.

The ABA, with 400,000 members, is the legal profession’s largest organization. Kavanaugh and his supporters have bragged about its favorable rating of the nominee, with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) describing the imprimatur as the “gold standard.”