Sen. Blumenthal: Trump Not Ordering FBI Investigation Is Tantamout To A Coverup

Image by twitter

By Aiden Pink September 27, 2018

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) used his time during the Senate Judiciary Committee questioning of Christine Blasey Ford to harshly criticize the lack of an FBI investigation of her sexual assault claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“It’s up to the President of the United States, and his failure to ask for an FBI investigation, in my view, is tantamount to a cover-up,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal also praised Blasey Ford for coming forward.

“I believe you,” he said. “You have given American an amazing teaching moment. You may have other moments in the classroom but you have inspired and you have enlightened America.”

“But also you have been very honest about what you cannot remember and someone composing a story can make it all come together in a seamless way but someone who is honest … is also candid about what she or he cannot remember as well,” he added.

Ford had testified earlier that Mark Judge, Kavanaugh’s high school friend who she says was also present during the high school gathering where the alleged assault occurred, had been working at a local supermarket, where she ran into him “six to eight weeks” after the incident.

Blumenthal and other Democratic senators pointed out that an FBI investigation of Judge would determine when exactly Judge worked at the store, which in turn could help clarify Blasey Ford’s timeline of events.

Blasey Ford says she does not remember the exact date or even year when the alleged assault occurred. Kavanaugh has publicly released his high school calendars in an attempt to clear his name.

Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount