New reporting details how FBI limited investigation of Kavanaugh allegations

WASHINGTON — As Justice Brett Kavanaugh prepares for his second year on the Supreme Court, new reporting has detailed how the limits ordered by the White House and Senate Republicans last year constrained the FBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct when he was a college freshman.

The FBI was informed of allegations that Kavanaugh, while drunk during his freshman year at Yale, exposed himself to two heavily intoxicated female classmates on separate occasions. The bureau did not interview more than a dozen people who said they could provide information about the incidents.

One of the accounts, reported by Deborah Ramirez, was made public at the time of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

The other, not publicly known until this weekend, was reported by a male classmate who said he witnessed the incident. He unsuccessfully sought to get the FBI to investigate with help from a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to look into the allegation.

The new details are based on interviews conducted by this reporter and two reporters for The New York Times for books about the confirmation. The New York Times reported some details late Saturday from its reporters’ new book. (The Times has also apologized for an offensive tweet sent to promote the article. The tweet said, in part, that “having a penis thrust in your face at a drunken dorm party may seem like harmless fun.” )

Wray has declined requests by this reporter to be interviewed about the bureau’s performance. Kavanaugh also declined to be interviewed.

The best-known allegation against Kavanaugh was the accusation by Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor from Palo Alto, that he assaulted her when they were high school students. Kavanaugh heatedly denied her allegation when he and Ford testified...