As Republicans prepare for vote, Trump hints support could be withdrawn if investigation finds Kavanaugh lied to the Senate

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Donald Trump once again defended his supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, as Senate Republicans prepared to vote on the nomination this week. But the president also warned his support could be withdrawn if the FBI determines the judge lied to the Senate in testimony regarding an allegation of sexual assault.

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“A lot is going to depend on what comes back from the FBI,” Trump said.

“I don’t think you should lie to Congress. For me that would not be acceptable.”

Speaking to reporters before flying to Philadelphia, the president said the #MeToo movement had created a “very scary time for young men in America”. Asked if he had a message for young women, Trump replied: “Women are doing great.”

The Senate is awaiting the results of an investigation into three allegations.

“We’ll have an FBI report this week and we’ll have a vote this week,” the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, told reporters. He would not say if that would be a final vote on the nomination or a move to allow the Senate to begin debate.

The FBI will send a report to the Senate. McConnell said it would not be made public. He would not say how long senators would have to review it.

The Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, has requested the Senate receives a full briefing on the report. He called on McConnell to release it.

“Why are our Republican colleagues so afraid of making this public?” he said.

Among Republicans, John Cornyn, No 2 to McConnell, told reporters it was “important that the results in some form be shared with the public”.

Democrats continued to decry the narrow scope of the investigation and to raise questions about Kavanaugh’s truthfulness and temperament.

The judge gave testimony before the Senate judiciary committee last Thursday, after his first accuser, Dr Christine Blasey Ford. For Democrats, Kavanaugh’s anger opened a new line of attack.

On the Senate floor on Tuesday, Schumer said Kavanaugh’s testimony was riddled with misstatements and inaccuracies and “grossly mischaracterized his relationship with alcohol”.

“Even if you feel that what happened when he was 15 and 18 shouldn’t matter, what happens when he’s 53 does matter and his credibility is in real doubt,” Schumer said. “Doubt enough, I think, for most Americans to say, ‘This man does not belong on the supreme court.’”

Moments earlier,McConnell, had accused Democrats of engaging in the “politics of personal destruction” against a “stunningly qualified nominee”.

“Democrats may be trying to move the goalposts every five minutes – but their goal has not moved an inch,” he said. “They will not be satisfied unless they have brought down Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination.”

Play Video 0:44 Trump defends 'good man' Kavanaugh – video

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied all of the allegations against him, from Ford and two other women.

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His confirmation hinges on a small group of Republicans who have not revealed how they will vote: Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Flake said on Tuesday he was “very troubled by the tone” of Kavanaugh’s remarks, especially his exchanges with Democrats on the judiciary committee.

“The interaction with the members was sharp and partisan and that concerns me,” Flake said at the Atlantic Festival in Washington. “I tell myself: ‘You give a little leeway because of what he’s been through.’ But on the other hand, we can’t have this on the court. We simply can’t.”

Flake told the Guardian he and the Delaware Democrat Chris Coons were working with White House counsel, Don McGahn, to expand the FBI investigation.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Kavanaugh backer, urged colleagues to “not quit”.

“It is incredibly important we do not legitimize these smears and attempts at character assassination for the good of the court, the future of the Senate and the character of our nation,” the South Carolina Republican said. Graham has said that if Kavanaugh fails, Trump should renominate him.

In a statement to the Portland Press Herald, a spokeswoman for Collins said she, Murkowski and Flake thought the FBI check would help the Senate decide.

“That would include the allegations that were brought by Julie Swetnick,” the statement said, referring to the third woman to come forward, after Ford and Deborah Ramirez. Swetnick accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at drunken high school parties.

Late on Tuesday, Republicans on the judiciary committee released a statement by Dennis Ketterer, a former Washington TV weatherman and, he said, an ex-boyfriend of Swetnick. The statement described her alleged sexual preferences and speculated about her mental health.

Swetnick’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called Ketterer’s claims “garbage”, said Republicans were “desperate” and demanded the “FBI interview my client & him”. Avenatti also published a declaration from another witness who said she could attest to the truthfulness of Swetnick’s claims.

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Lawyers for Ford said she had yet to be contacted and said it was “inconceivable” the FBI could conduct a thorough inquiry without her. A lawyer for Ramirez said she spoke to the FBI for two hours on Sunday and provided a list of 20 witnesses who could corroborate her account.

“We are not aware of the FBI affirmatively reaching out to any of those witnesses,” said John Clune. “Though we appreciated the agents who responded on Sunday, we have great concern that the FBI is not conducting – or not being permitted to conduct – a serious investigation.”



The FBI has interviewed Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh named by Ford and Swetnick as a key witness, PJ Smyth, another classmate who Ford said was at a gathering on the night of her alleged assault, and Leland Keyser, Ford’s high school friend who does not remember the party.

A police report obtained by the New York Times, meanwhile, showed Kavanaugh was questioned by police following an altercation at a bar in 1985. The incident was made public after Yale classmate Charles Ludington accused Kavanaugh of being untruthful in his testimony.

Schumer pointed to the reports as evidence that Kavanaugh had not been truthful. McConnell mocked the story.