The senate Judiciary Committee has referred potential false statements alleging misconduct by Judge Kavanaugh to federal law enforcement for criminal investigation after accuser recanted. Judge Kavanaugh categorically denied the allegation, Later on the individual recanted and apologized for his allegation via social media.
In a tweet posted on the Committee’s twitter account at 6:12 PM on Saturday, September 29, 2018 the referral was outlined in this short statement:
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee today referred for criminal investigation apparent false statements made to committee investigators alleging misconduct by Judge Brett Kavanaugh. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray, Chairman Chuck Grassley sought a criminal review the actions by a named individual who provided Congress with the information, diverting Committee resources from an ongoing investigation.
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“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.
Grassley has 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.
