WASHINGTON – Pursuant to last Friday’s request from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the administration instructed the FBI to conduct a supplemental background investigation with respect to the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The FBI has now concluded that supplemental investigation, and the White House delivered the updated file to the committee at approximately 2:30 this morning.

As with all background investigation (BI) files, the file and the information therein is held confidential under a 2009 memorandum of understanding between the White House and the committee. All 100 senators and a very limited number of cleared committee staff can have access to the information in the BI file. This is how such files have been handled for several administrations.

As a security and confidentiality precaution, this BI file will be held in the Office of Senate Security. Amidst concerns over recent leaks of sensitive or confidential information, the legal restrictions imposed by the Privacy Act and the expected interest among senators to review the information, the use of the Senate’s secure space will best facilitate access for senators. The use of the secure space in this case will satisfy the physical custody requirements outlined in the memorandum of understanding.

What Democrats have said about an FBI Supplemental Background Investigation:

  • “It will not take a “tremendous amount of time,” but it is necessary if you truly want the facts to be known.” –Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
  • “It will only take a few days.” –Sen. Chuck Schumer
  • “The FBI has ample resources to do this within the 1-week period requested by the members of the Judiciary Committee. No one is asking that it take longer than a week …” – Sen. Chuck Schumer
  • “I have proposed and talked to some of my colleagues, and I know others have as well, about a finite period for an FBI investigation, maybe a week. George H.W. Bush ordered that in the Anita Hill case, a three-day investigation. That happened.” – Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)
  • “I think I'm satisfied. … This is a very small universe of witnesses here and a very big FBI.” – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
  • “And I have conveyed to my friends and colleagues that I had wished we would take a one-week pause, one week only.” –Sen.Chris Coons (D-DE)

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