The FBI was tasked last week with investigating allegations that Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh committed sexually assault decades ago. While Democratic lawmakers and mainstream media members initially celebrated the decision to conduct a probe, some media outlets are now condemning the investigation, Media Research Center senior analyst Kyle Drennen says.
The New York Times reported that Democrats “were preparing Thursday morning to aggressively challenge the legitimacy of the investigation” before they even “completed their own review of the F.B.I.’s material.” It appears many members of the press followed suit.
Drennen wrote that NBC News “went to work trying to preemptively discredit the findings” when “Today” focused “almost entirely on Democrats complaining that it ‘did not go far enough.’”
ABC News’ “Good Morning America” covered the report with Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran questioning its credibility.
Some staffers working in the office of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have been on the receiving end of a series of nasty phone calls that have included insults such as “racist trash” and “a disgusting excuse for a human being.” (AP)
“This FBI investigation was fast. It was limited and several potential witnesses are now claiming it was incomplete,” Moran said to kick off his report that detailed how accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s legal team is “profoundly disappointed” in the probe. Moran then noted that “perhaps” the investigation left “some stones unturned.”
Media Research Center analyst Kristine Marsh called Moran’s segment “a completely one-sided, anti-Kavanaugh report” that touted critics of the nominee “complaining that the FBI investigation wasn’t conducted how they wanted.”
The Washington Post published a headline, “FBI background check of Kavanaugh appears to have been highly curtailed,” which tells readers that “the bureau would again face criticism for what some will view as a lackluster investigation.”
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Daily Beast political reporter Betsy Woodruff proclaimed the investigation is “widely viewed as insufficient and as something that’s largely a symbolic undertaking.” Over on CNN, “New Day” co-host John Berman pondered if it was a “sham investigation,” while Alisyn Camerota asked if it was “bad for the FBI.”
“The View” predictably bashed the investigation, as co-host Sunny Hostin declared it wasn’t “thorough” as the chyron asked, “Why weren’t witnesses interviewed?” The New Yorker published a splashy headline “The FBI probe ignored testimonies from former classmates of Kavanaugh,” while New York Magazine wrote: ‘Report: The FBI’s Investigation of Kavanaugh Was a Sham.”
GQ had a similar take, writing “The Kavanaugh Investigation Is a Sham,” as did HuffPost: “From A Sham Hearing To A Sham Investigation.” Even actor John Cusack took to Twitter to call the investigation a “sham.”
Professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault in 1982, listens while testifying before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. (REUTERS)
Many mainstream media members are upset that Ford -- who testified before the Senate Judiciary last week – wasn’t questioned by the FBI. However, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders disagrees with those critics.
“The whole world watched as Dr. Ford was interviewed for hours by the individuals that have to make the decision… they had ample opportunity to ask any question they wanted,” Sanders said Thursday on Fox News. “The idea that the FBI now needs to interview her again is ludicrous.”
Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley declared Thursday nothing in the document changed his mind and that it was time for the Senate to vote on the jurist's high-court confirmation.
The FBI interviewed nine potential witnesses in search of possible corroboration of Ford's claim the now 53-year-old Kavanaugh forcibly groped her when they were teenagers. Although the report is not expected to be made public, potential witnesses named by Ford previously said they had no knowledge of the party where she claims the attack occurred.
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told Fox News on Wednesday that Kavanaugh isn’t getting a fair shake because most members of the mainstream media “want the Republicans to lose,” and reaction to the FBI probe won't exactly prove him wrong.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
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