Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has urged the FBI to extend its investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to include a look at possible coordination by Democrats and lawyers representing women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

"What Senate Democrats really want is more time to smear Judge Kavanaugh, regardless of the toll it takes on his wife, his daughters, and our country," Cassidy wrote in an op-ed published on Breitbart.

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President Trump ordered FBI investigation on Friday following pressure from senators, and asked that it take no more than one week. The investigation follows testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee from Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual assault when the two were in high school, and by Kavanaugh, who has denied all allegations.

Kavanaugh during the hearing also accused Democrats of waging a smear campaign against him in order to thwart his nomination, and said he believes he is a victim of those who seek "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."

Cassidy said he believed the Democrats' goal has not been to discovered what occurred, but to delay the nomination so that more allegations will surface and so that Democrats can block Republicans from appointing another nominee to the Supreme Court.

"It will not matter how ludicrous they are," Cassidy wrote of the possibility of new allegations surfacing. "Democrats will instantly call them credible, demand more delays, more FBI resources, and more hearings. They will attack anyone who disagrees."

He also wrote that Democrats should have investigated the allegations when they first received a letter from Ford in July. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee who had the letter, has said that she did not bring it forward because she tried to respect Ford's desire to remain anonymous.

It isn't clear how the allegations were leaked. Ryan Grim, a journalist for the Intercept who first reported the existence of the letter, said on Twitter that it was not leaked to his publication by Feinstein's staff.



Feinstein's staff did not leak the letter to The Intercept — Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) September 27, 2018

Feinstein gave the letter to the FBI following the reporting by the Intercept, and soon it became widely leaked.