New allegations about Kavanaugh's FBI investigation raise uncomfortable questions

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings in the fall of 2018 were highly contentious for a variety of reasons, including the extent of the FBI background check that was supposed to be part of the process.

Just two days before the Senate confirmation vote, when the FBI review was supposedly complete, Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said it appeared to be “a very thorough investigation.”

That was exactly six years ago this week. Collins' assessment seemed completely flawed at the time, but things look much worse today. As my MSNBC colleague Clarissa-Jan Lim explained:

In 2018, at the height of the controversy, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein – then the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee – said that the FBI report on Kavanaugh “appears to be the result of an incomplete investigation that may have been limited by the White House.”

Six years later, it appears the California Democrat was on to something.

After a lengthy review, Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island released his findings, claiming the Trump administration had “exercised complete control over the scope of the investigation” and prevented the FBI from following up on leads. The result was a “flawed and incomplete” investigation of a Supreme Court nominee that “the Senate cannot trust.”

As a related Washington Post report noted, when Kavanaugh was confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct, Trump said the FBI would have “free rein” to investigate the claims. Trump said the FBI was “talking to everyone,” adding on social media, “I want them to use their discretion to interview anyone they see fit.”

Of course, that was what the then-President had to say public. In PrivateAccording to Whitehouse's findings, not only did the Trump administration “challenge the ability of FBI investigators to adequately investigate these allegations, but the lack of transparency misled the Senate and the public about the thoroughness of the investigation.” “

Kavanaugh and the FBI declined to comment, and the Trump campaign called the results an “attempt to delegitimize the Supreme Court” (which, by the way, the former president tried to delegitimize).

Speaking of the Republican nominee a year after Trump left the White House, he said of Kavanaugh, “I saved his life.” He wouldn't even work in a law firm. Who would have had it? No one. Completely degrading. Only I saved him. … I saved his life and I saved his career.”

It was a strange quote that is now seen in a new light.

This post updates our relevant previous reporting.