Trump heeds Senate call for new FBI probe of Kavanaugh

Washington, Sep 29 (IANS) President Donald Trump said on Friday that he acceded to a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee to have the FBI investigate sexual abuse accusations against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

"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," the President said in a statement, Efe reported.

Trump’s announcement followed a letter from the judiciary panel seeking an expedited probe of the allegations pursuant to a bipartisan agreement to put off a vote on the nomination.

"The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today," the committee said.

The committee voted 11-10 Friday to send the Kavanaugh nomination to the full Senate.

Prior to the party-line vote, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said that he reached an accord with the Democratic minority to call for the Senate to delay a final vote on Kavanaugh by one week to allow an FBI investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the nominee.

Three women have accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting them several decades ago.

One of those women is Christine Blasey Ford, who appeared at a judiciary committee hearing on Thursday to testify that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her in 1982.