FACT CHECK: DID KAVANAUGH REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO AN FBI INVESTIGATION OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS?

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a tweet Friday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh refused to submit to an FBI investigation over recent sexual assault allegations.

Elizabeth Warren

✔@SenWarren

Of course we need an FBI investigation before voting. So far, Brett Kavanaugh has refused over and over again to submit to one. He lied repeatedly while under oath. I don’t know when the full Senate will ultimately vote. But NOW is the time to make your voice heard.

2:27 PM - Sep 28, 2018

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“Of course we need an FBI investigation before voting. So far, Brett Kavanaugh has refused over and over again to submit to one,” Warren said in the tweet.

Verdict: False

Kavanaugh indicated that he would cooperate with any investigative actions that the Senate Judiciary Committee wanted to pursue, including an FBI investigation.

Fact Check:

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Sept. 27 to address a sexual assault allegation from Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University who said that Kavanaugh tried to remove her clothes and put his hand over her mouth at a house party when they were in high school in the early 1980s.

Kavanaugh also faces allegations from Deborah Ramirez, who attended Yale University with Kavanaugh and alleged that he exposed himself to her at a dorm party when they were freshmen, and Julie Swetnick, who claimed that Kavanaugh attended parties in high school where women were gang-raped.

The FBI conducts background checks on Supreme Court nominees, but hadcompleted its investigation into Kavanaugh before the allegations were revealed. Democratic senators on the committee repeatedly asked Kavanaugh at the hearing whether he would support or call for the FBI to reopen its investigation, a request that needed to come from the White House.

While Kavanaugh did not directly say that he would ask for an investigation, he did not “refuse” to submit to one. He indicated that he would support and cooperate with any actions that the committee wanted to take.

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