Politics

Grassley refers man to DOJ/FBI for possible criminal charges for hoax accusation against Kavanaugh

On Saturday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray seeking a criminal investigation into allegations made by a man who claimed Judge Brett Kavanaugh raped a woman on a boat in Rhode Island in 1985.

The man later recanted his story and apologized on social media.

According to a press release at the Judiciary Committee’s official website:

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

Committee investigators have actively pursued a number of tips the committee has received regarding the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, though the committee has not been able to substantiate any allegations of wrongdoing by Judge Kavanaugh.  One tip was referred to the committee by staff for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I).  While Whitehouse referred the accuser to a reporter, the committee took the claim seriously and questioned Judge Kavanaugh about the allegations under penalty of felony. Judge Kavanaugh denied any misconduct.  After the transcripts of that interview became public, the individual recanted the claims on a social media post.

“The Committee is grateful to citizens who come forward with relevant information in good faith, even if they are not one hundred percent sure about what they know. But when individuals provide fabricated allegations to the Committee, diverting Committee resources during time-sensitive investigations, it materially impedes our work. Such acts are not only unfair; they are potentially illegal. It is illegal to make materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements to Congressional investigators. It is illegal to obstruct Committee investigations,” Grassley said in the letter.

He also called on the Justice Department and the FBI to review the matter as a possible violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 and 1505, portions of the U.S. code criminalizing the sharing of materially false information with committee investigators and obstruction of proceedings of congressional committees, the Judiciary Committee press release said.

Exit question: Will Jeff Sessions take action or will this be buried as well?

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Joe Newby

A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Joe ran for a city council position in Riverside, Calif., in 1991 and managed successful campaigns for the Idaho state legislature. Co-author of "Banned: How Facebook enables militant Islamic jihad," Joe wrote for Examiner.com from 2010 until it closed in 2016 and his work has been published at Newsbusters, Spokane Faith and Values and other sites. He now runs the Conservative Firing Line.

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