Why the Democrats have zeroed in on the FBI in the Brett Kavanaugh rape scandal

| 11:50 pm EDT September 17, 2018
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Now that Senate Republicans have blinked by delaying the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Brett Kavanaugh, the Senate Democrats are pushing a unified message. They’re insisting that the FBI must investigate the attempted rape accusations against Kavanaugh. Not the Maryland Attorney General, not the local authorities, but the FBI. This is despite the fact that the FBI generally won’t investigate a case like this unless the White House requests it.

So why are the Democrats pushing the FBI angle, if the FBI would have a harder time investigating this accusation than other law enforcement agencies? That may be the entire point. It feels like the Democrats are trying to force Donald Trump into a corner where if he refuses to sign off on the FBI investigating Kavanaugh, they’ll be able to use that during the hearings to paint Trump and Kavanaugh as complicit in trying to cover up an attempted rape. There may be more to it.

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal appeared on MSNBC on Monday night and stated that while the FBI isn’t technically supposed to investigate this without Trump’s approval, Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley could also ask the FBI to investigate it. Blumenthal also stated that due to the extraordinary circumstances, the FBI could simply choose to investigate the Kavanaugh matter of its own accord. Are the Democrats trying to give the FBI the chance to get revenge on Trump for all his false attacks on the agency, while also doing the right thing?

Finally, there’s the matter of local authorities investigating the Brett Kavanaugh attempted rape accusations. Senator Blumenthal was asked about the matter, and he opined that the FBI should be working with them. It’s enough to make you wonder if perhaps the local authorities already are investigating this and the Democrats know it. In any case, we’ll find out soon enough.