United States President Donald Trump has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct a supplemental investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in light of the sexual assault case.
White House Press Secretary, Sarah Sanders on Friday shared a statement from President Trump on Twitter. It reads: "I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week."
This comes after Republican Party Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona supported Kavanaugh on a condition that the nomination of the judge will be delayed and an FBI investigation will be ordered to probe the case. He, however, insisted that the delay should not be more than a week.
According to Fox News, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 to endorse Kavanaugh, with Flake supporting him.
Amid all of this, Kavanaugh in a statement assured that he will cooperate with the FBI. "Throughout this process, I've been interviewed by the FBI, I've done a number of 'background' calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me. I've done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate," the statement read, CNN reported.
The investigation was also welcomed by the lawyer of Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
"A thorough FBI investigation is critical to developing all the relevant facts. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford welcomes this step in the process, and appreciates the efforts of Senators Flake, Murkowski, Manchin and Collins -- and all other senators who have supported an FBI investigation -- to ensure it is completed before the Senate votes on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination. No artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation," read a statement released by one of Ford's lawyers.
Both Kavanaugh and Ford on Thursday testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee following which the voting on Kavanaugh's nomination was held on Friday.
Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University in California, had alleged that Kavanaugh had assaulted her during a party in the 1980s when they were both in high school. She had accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes.
Kavanaugh, however, denied all the allegations during the testimony, saying that his reputation and that of his family has been "totally and permanently destroyed".
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)