'It's not fair': Trump launches into extended defense of Kavanaugh but says he wants FBI to do a 'comprehensive' investigation amid confusion
- President Donald Trump defended his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, during a Monday press conference, calling the judge's Senate confirmation process "not fair."
- Trump claimed that he is allowing the FBI to freely investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, but said Senate Republicans will determine how broad the probe will be.
- "We don't want to go on a witch hunt, do we?" Trump said.
President Donald Trump on Monday defended his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and insisted the White House is allowing Senate Republicans to dictate the terms of the FBI investigation into sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.
During a White House press conference, Trump repeated his claims that Kavanaugh is a good man who's been treated "so viciously and so violently" by Democrats and suggested that the judge's sterling academic record makes the allegations against him "unfair."
"The trauma for a man that never had any accusation and never had a bad statement about him," Trump said. "I think he was number one in his class at Yale. He was number one in his law school at Yale. What he's gone through over the last three weeks is incredible ... it's not fair."
Trump said the FBI "should do what they have to do to get to the answer" regarding the allegations, despite the fact that the White House - in concert with Republican senators - has directed the law enforcement agency to limit the scope of the week-long probe.
Trump and his allies on the Senate Judiciary Committee have instructed the FBI to interview just four witnesses. And the agency is reportedly not planning to interview several individuals, including Yale classmates of Kavanaugh's, who want to speak with the FBI to dispute claims Kavanaugh has made about his college drinking and partying habits.
"I want them to do a very comprehensive investigation," he said. "Whatever that means, according to the senators and the Republicans and the Republican majority."
The president warned that if the probe is expanded, it could become a "witch hunt."
"We don't want to use an expression often used by me. We don't want to go on a witch hunt, do we?" Trump said. "You have to stay within reason. They should interview, but also be guided. I'm being guided by what the senators are looking for. They have to make the choice."