Senate GOP inexplicably brings in ATF and ICE to investigate Brett Kavanaugh allegations, but not FBI
All three women who have accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault are now calling for an FBI investigation into the matter. A federal investigation makes more sense than ever, both because these incidents took place in multiple states, and because Kavanaugh is seeking federal office. But instead of bringing in the FBI, Senate Republicans have brought in the ATF and ICE to investigate. Wait, what?
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley posted this astounding tweet about an hour ago: “Abt 20 of my cmte investigators are tracking down all allegations/leads & talking to all witnesses & gathering all evidence. We have experienced fed agents on detail from ATF+ICE along w seasoned congressional investigators from my nominations & oversight teams +temp SCOTUS staff.” Unless Grassley has misspoken in his tweet, this means that GOP has brought in Feds who normally investigate crimes relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and immigration – but not the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
One big red flag here is that ICE has been notoriously, and often criminally, loyal to Donald Trump with regard to his scheme to round of immigrants and lock their children in cages. Has the Republican Senate brought in ICE agents with the expectation that they’ll ignore any evidence that isn’t in Trump’s or Kavanaugh’s favor?
In any case, Chuck Grassley and the Republican Senate just admitted that the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh are serious enough to warrant federal investigators getting involved. Yet they’re still refusing to allow the FBI to do the investigating, even though it would be far better suited to investigate these kinds of alleged crimes than the ATF or ICE. Whatever is going on here, it can’t possibly be above board.
