Republicans invoked a decades-old statement from Joe Biden repeatedly during their hearings on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh to deny the requests for an FBI investigation. Even Kavanaugh, in a moment that will go down in the mansplaining hall of fame, told Sen. Dianne Feinstein “just so you know” that the FBI does not reach conclusions on guilt or innocence, which echoes Biden’s statements from 1991.
Sanders reiterated the WH talking point that Judge Kavanaugh has been through six FBI background checks. She too cited Joe Biden saying FBI reports are not conclusive. But she repeated one WH conclusion, that the Democrats handling of the matter was "absolutely disgraceful." pic.twitter.com/qCSmZfWDun
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) September 28, 2018
Biden responded to the use of his words in a statement printed in The Washington Post.
Update: Biden reacts to GOP senators who invoked his remarks about FBI from 1991 Anita Hill hearings … "Despite every effort to distort my words and record, I insisted on and got an FBI investigation" https://t.co/DeIkJQrOPw
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 29, 2018
His full statement says:
‘What we witnessed yesterday from the Republican Judiciary Committee members was a degree of invective, blind rage, and brute partisanship that threatens not only the Senate and the Supreme Court — it threatens the basic faith in fairness and justice that binds this country together.
‘Doctor Blasey Ford gave courageous, credible and powerful testimony. I believed her. The country believed her.
‘I am glad that members of the Senate have exercised their power to advise and consent to delay further action on this nomination for a short while longer so that the FBI can do its due diligence in this nomination. I know how important the FBI’s role in nomination proceedings is. Despite every effort to distort my words and record, I insisted on and got an FBI investigation twenty-seven years ago. It was the right thing to do then and it is the right thing to do now.
‘Doctor Blasey Ford deserves an FBI investigation today. The millions of women who have suffered sexual assault and abuse deserve an FBI investigation. The country deserves one. And for its reputation and legitimacy, the Supreme Court needs one too.’
Kavanaugh will not call for an FBI investigation under questioning from Durbin.
"You know that's a phony question because the FBI doesn't reach a conclusion," Kavanaugh said.
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) September 27, 2018
GOP committee members seized onto those 27-year-old words, but skipped over all of the hindsight Biden has spoken of ever since, saying that he regrets the handling of Anita Hill’s hearing, which he headed at the time, and that Dr. Ford deserves a full FBI investigation.
VIDEO: Former Vice President Joe Biden expresses regret over the 1991 Anita Hill hearing. His suggestion is to start with an FBI investigation into allegations pic.twitter.com/QTaedmnVz4
— azcentral (@azcentral) September 21, 2018
Featured image via Flickr by Marc Nozell under a Creative Commons license
