Letter - People Power United joins coalition efforts to urge Congress to Address Mishandling of Kavanaugh FBI Investigation
🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.
People Power United joined other local, state, and national groups to urge members of Congress to Address Mishandling of Kavanaugh FBI Investigation. Shout out to Court Accountability for leading these efforts. Here is the letter sent on behalf of our membership:
October 24, 2024
Dear Chair Durbin, Ranking Member Graham, Chair Jordan, Ranking Member Nadler, Chair Comer, Ranking Member Raskin, Chair Peters, Ranking Member Paul:
We are writing to urge your committees to take all necessary steps to remedy serious faults in the vetting process for judicial nominees uncovered by a recent Senate report. The stunning report, issued last week by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse following a thorough, multiyear oversight investigation, reveals that the Trump White House sabotaged the supplemental investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into serious and credible allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against then-nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The intentionally deficient supplemental background investigation deprived senators of information needed to fulfill their constitutional duty of assessing Justice Kavanaugh’s suitability for the Supreme Court, and so it is incumbent on your committees to use their full oversight authorities to minimize the chances that such failures are repeated when future nominees are considered.
The U.S. Constitution requires that the Senate provide “Advice and Consent” for the appointment of “Judges of the Supreme Court.” To fulfill this obligation, senators must have the necessary information about a judicial nominee’s background and personal conduct to make an informed decision about whether to confirm the nominee to a lifetime appointment to one of the most powerful positions in our government. The supplemental background investigation into then-Judge Kavanaugh, however, omitted material information about Justice Kavanaugh’s past conduct by design.
As Senator Whitehouse’s remarkable report makes clear, Justice Kavanaugh’s supplemental background investigation process was designed to make it impossible for the FBI to uncover the truth behind the very serious allegations against Justice Kavanaugh made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and potentially other victims. Dr. Blasey Ford and Ms. Ramirez bravely came forward, reliving trauma in the process, to tell their stories. They did so knowing that they would be attacked, ridiculed, undermined, and have their lives completely upended under a national spotlight. It is unacceptable that the FBI allowed itself to be used in furtherance of this smear campaign by participating in what it knew to be a sham investigation.
The supplemental background investigation performed on Justice Kavanaugh was beset by political interference, designed to arrive at a pre-ordained outcome and mislead the Senate in the process. Although former President Trump asserted that the FBI would have “free rein” to investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh and “interview whoever they deem appropriate,” his White House Counsel’s Office never allowed the FBI such authority. The White House tightly controlled who the FBI could interview and which leads it could follow, and the FBI accordingly never interviewed key witnesses or followed up on potential corroborating evidence. The FBI also did not investigate any of 4,500 tips that were submitted to the FBI tip line. Instead, those tips were sent to the Trump White House for review. Yet, multiple senators cited the supplemental background investigation’s findings, or lack thereof, in voting to confirm Justice Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Congress must prevent future political interference by the executive branch in a background investigation. It should also ensure that the investigation short-circuited by this interference at long last be completed. Your committees should fully investigate the allegations that were made against Brett Kavanaugh, including by finally pursuing the 4,500 leads provided to the FBI in 2018 that may corroborate the statements made by Dr. Ford and Ms. Ramirez. Your committees should exercise their broad oversight authority to interview witnesses, including Justice Kavanaugh, with relevant information about Dr. Ford’s and Ms. Ramirez’s claims and potentially those of other victims as well. Of course, if your investigation finds additional corroborating evidence showing that Justice Kavanaugh was not truthful in his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, your committees should be ready to begin relevant proceedings.
In the interim, your committees should also request that the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General investigate the conduct of the supplemental investigation. Among other things, OIG should examine the role of political interference in the supplemental investigation and the extent to which the FBI misled Congress and the
public, and it should offer recommendations on procedural protections for background checks of future nominees.
Congress has a duty to ensure that lifetime nominees to the Supreme Court have the requisite qualifications, character, and temperament to fulfill the significant responsibilities incumbent on the holders of that office. Congress can fulfill that solemn obligation only with full information about the conduct of nominees. The supplemental background check of Justice Kavanaugh failed to provide that information, and Congress needs both to remedy that failure to investigate the serious allegations against Justice Kavanaugh and ensure that such failures do not recur. It owes that duty to Dr. Blasey Ford, Ms. Ramirez, and all Americans.
Sincerely,
National Women's Law Center
Court Accountability Action
UltraViolet Action
Trans Empowerment Project
National Urban League
Revolving Door Project
Just Solutions
Survivor Love Letter
Women’s March
10000 Women Louisiana
Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) People For the American Way
The Workers Circle
Reproaction
Abortion Access Front
American Atheists
Women's March
A Woman's Choice Inc
National Partnership for Women & Families
Free Speech For People
People's Parity Project
MomsRising
Secure Elections Network
Center for Advancement of Public Policy
Stand Up America
FFRF Action Fund
Religious Community for Reproductive Choice
Red River Women's Clinic
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Equal Rights Advocates
Collective Power for Reproductive Justice
National Birth Equity Collaborative
Clearinghouse on Women's Issues
Ohio National Organization for Women
Feminist Majority Foundation
Alliance for Justice Action Campaign
Illinois NOW
National Organization for Women
Ipas
National Survivor Network
MoveOn
Enough of Gun Violence
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice People Power United
National Organization for Women Reproductive Health Access Project
End Citizens United Action Fund
End Rape On Campus
National Women’s Political Caucus
It's On Us
Callisto
VOICEINSPORT Foundation
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People Power United is a group of community members that champions progressive values and power for the people.