However, Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the FBI report found "no hint of misconduct". Crucially, two Republican senators who had not yet confirmed their support for Kavanaugh, appeared to react positively to the report. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate. Credit:Bloomberg Senator Jeff Flake said the FBI found no corroborating information regarding the allegation. Senator Susan Collins said: "It appears to be a very thorough investigation." Completion of the FBI probe has started the clock for a final Senate vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation this weekend; a procedural vote will take place on Friday, followed by a final vote on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

Kavanaugh's fate is still unclear because Flake, Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski are undecided. Several Democrats are also said to be wavering. Loading McConnell needs at least two of three undecided Republicans, assuming all Senate Democrats oppose Kavanaugh's nomination. Heidi Heitkamp, one of the few Democratic senators who had been undecided on the Supreme Court nominee, said on Thursday she would vote against Kavanaugh's nomination. “The process has been bad but at the end of the day you have to make a decision and I have made that decision,” Heitkamp told WDAY radio in Fargo, North Dakota. “I will be voting no on Judge Kavanaugh.”

Kavanaugh was initially set to face a Senate vote earlier this week, but the three Republicans abruptly joined Democrats on Friday in requesting an FBI inquiry into allegations by California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when both were in high school in 1982. He has denied the allegations. Loading President Donald Trump gave the FBI a week to look into the matter and said publicly that the law enforcement agency had free rein. But Democrats accused the administration of restricting the probe behind the scenes. Not interviewing Kavanaugh, Ford and other key witnesses raises “serious concerns that this is not a credible investigation and begs the question: what other restrictions has the White House placed on the FBI?” Feinstein said before the report was completed. “Last week's hearing is no substitute for FBI interviews, especially when you consider the tenor of Judge Kavanaugh's testimony.”

The White House hasn't said what, if any, restrictions were placed on the FBI probe. Democrat senator Chris Coons said he would have expected the FBI to use the entire week it was afforded. Senator Joe Manchin, one of the few Democrats who remain undecided, said the FBI report would be instrumental in his decision. He said on Wednesday: “I'm going to read whatever they've got... Before I start jumping in, let me just read what they have and we'll go from there.” The report – which is confidential – has been given to the Senate and all senators are able to access it in a secure room. There is debate on Capitol Hill as to whether all or some of the report should be made public. A key part of Flake's drive to push for an FBI probe was to have a more transparent public process. Other Republicans have voiced similar concern.

Christine Blasey Ford arrives for a Senate judiciary committee hearing in Washington. Credit:Bloomberg “I'm of the view that whatever could be made public should be, but that would be well outside the normal way these things are treated,” said Republican senator Roy Bunt. Senate judiciary committee Democrats sent a letter on Wednesday to Republican senator Charles Grassley, chair of the committee, calling for “bipartisan ground rules” for how the FBI report can be discussed, expressing concern that there will be an effort to “publicly mischaracterise or selectively leak” its contents. The Democrats pointed to a Tuesday tweet from the committee's Republican staff saying that there was “never a whiff of ANY issue” involving alcohol abuse or sexual misbehaviour in six previous FBI background checks on Kavanaugh. “While we are limited in what we can say about this background investigation in a public setting, we are compelled to state for the record that there is information [in the tweet] that is not accurate,” the Democrats wrote in their letter, without providing details.

President Donald Trump mocked two of Brett Kavanaugh's accusers at a rally in Mississippi. Credit:AP Republicans called the Democrats' letter “baseless innuendo”. Loading The temperature around the nomination rose after Trump mocked Ford during a campaign rally. He mimicked her dramatic testimony, emphasising her inability to remember certain details and suggesting she drank more than she claimed. All three undecided Republicans condemned Trump's remarks. Flake called them “appalling”, while Murkowski said it was “unacceptable” and Collins called the President's actions “wrong”.

The White House insisted Trump was merely restating facts, although Ford had conclusively said the assault happened upstairs and remembered many other details vividly. Asked if Trump was worried that his comments would jeopardise votes from swing Republican senators, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “I don't think so. The President is very confident in his nominee, as he's stated time and time again, and we expect the Senate to vote, and we hope they do that soon.” Loading The FBI's supplemental investigation began last Friday night, US time, after an official request from the Senate judiciary committee and an order from the White House. Agents spoke with Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh's who Ford said was in the room when she was assaulted. He had previously submitted a statement denying the incident but had resisted appearing before the committee.

Also interviewed was Tim Gaudette, a high school classmate of Kavanaugh. According to Kavanaugh's 1982 calendar, he hosted a party that included several people that Ford identified as being present on the night she was assaulted. Agents were also apparently willing to let the statements made under the penalty of perjury by Ford and Kavanaugh to the committee to stand without further questioning. It is unclear whether the FBI spoke to Jamie Roche, who wrote an opinion piece published by Slate on Wednesday evening, US time, where he says he was a roommate of Kavanaugh at Yale. He said “Debbie’s story was believable and that Brett was frequently, incoherently drunk”. He reiterated his previous statement that Kavanaugh “was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk”.