American Bar Association Urges FBI Inquiry Into Kavanaugh, as Jesuits Withdraw Endorsement

The American Bar Association called Thursday evening for postponing a vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court until sexual assault and misconduct allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others are investigated by the FBI.

Separately, the magazine of the Jesuit religious order in the United States, America, withdrew its endorsement of Kavanaugh, who was educated by Jesuits at Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland. In a statement Thursday, the editors said the nomination was “no longer in the best interests of the country.”

“If Senate Republicans proceed with his nomination, they will be prioritizing policy aims over a woman’s report of an assault,” the magazine said. “Were he to be confirmed without this allegation being firmly disproved, it would hang over his future decisions on the Supreme Court for decades and further divide the country.”

The statements from the ABA and America followed a day of emotional and at times painful testimony, which included Blasey’s allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh at a house party 36 years ago and his angry denial of the encounter.

The ABA request was made in a letter from the association’s president, Robert M. Carlson, to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the panel.

The bar association urged that senators vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination “only after an appropriate background check into the allegations made by Professor Blasey and others is completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the letter said.

The call for a pause is significant not just because of the bar association’s clout in the legal community but also because an ABA committee had said unanimously a month ago that Kavanaugh was “well qualified” for the Supreme Court, its highest possible designation.

Kavanaugh and his supporters had noted that distinction in arguing for his nomination to be approved by the Senate.

The request for an investigation was made out of respect for the rule of law and due process, Carlson wrote.

“The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and the facts by the FBI,” he wrote.

“Each appointment to our nation’s highest court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote,” the letter added. “Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court.”