Harris to Kavanaugh: Are you willing to ask the White House to initiate an FBI investigation?

All three of the women who have made sworn allegations against you have called for an independent FBI investigation into the claims. You've been asked during the course of this hearing by four different members by my count at least eight times today and also earlier this week on national television whether you would call for the White House to authorize an FBI investigation each time you have declined to do so. Now you know, I know you do, that the FBI is an agency of men and women who are sworn and trained law enforcement who in the course of conducting background investigations on nominees for the Supreme Court of the United States and others are charged with conducting those background investigations because they are sworn law enforcement and they have the expertise and the ability and the history of doing that. So I'm going to ask you one last time. Are you willing to ask the White House to authorize the FBI to investigate the claims that have been made against you? Well, I'll do whatever the committee wants, of course. And I've heard you say that, but I've not heard you answer a very specific question that's been asked, which is, are you willing to ask the White House to conduct an investigation by the FBI to get to whatever you believe is the bottom of the allegations that have been levied against you? The FBI would gather witness statements. You have the witness statements. I don't want to debate with you how they do their business. I'm just asking, are you willing to ask the White House to conduct such an investigation? Because as you are aware, the FBI did conduct a background investigation into you before we were aware of these most recent allegations. So are you willing to ask the White House to do that and say yes or no and then we can move on? I've had six background investigations over 26 years. As it relates to the recent allegations, are you willing to have them do it? The witness testimony is before you. No witness who was there supports that I was there. Okay, I'm going to take that as a no and we can move on. You have said in your opening statement, you characterized these allegations as a conspiracy directed against you. I'll point out to you that Justice Neil Gorsuch was nominated by this president. He was considered by this body just last year. I did a rough kind of analysis of similarities. You both attended Georgetown Prep. You both attended very prestigious law schools. You both clerked for Justice Kennedy. You were both circuit judges. You were both nominated to the Supreme Court. You were both questioned about your record. The only difference is that you have been accused of sexual assault. How do you reconcile your statement about a conspiracy against you with the treatment of someone who was before this body not very long ago? I explained that in my opening statement, Senator. Look at the evidence here, the calendars. Look at the witness statements. Look at Ms. Kaiser's statement. And then, do you agree that it is possible for men to both be friends with some women and treat other women badly? Of course, but the point I've been emphasizing, and that is if you go back to age 14 for me, you will find people, and not just people, lots of people who I've been friends with, some of whom are in this room today, starting at age 14, women, and who talked about my friendships with them through my whole life, and it's a consistent pattern all the way through. Sixty-five women who knew me more than 35 years ago signed a letter to support me after the allegation was made because they know me, and they were with me, and we grew up together. We talked on the phone together, and we went to events together. That is who I am. What they've said, what the people who worked with me in the Bush White House, the women there, look at what Sarah Day said in centralmaine.com, look at what the law clerks, I have sent more women law clerks to the Supreme Court than any other federal judge in the country. I only have a few seconds left, and I'll just ask you a direct question. Did you watch Dr. Ford's testimony? I did not. I planned to. I planned to, but I did not. I was preparing mine.