typically, in a criminal investigation, the fbi can interview anyone they want. in a background check, the client can limit the fbi to a specific witness list, which the white house has already done. a senior u.s. official tells nbc news, the white house counsel s office has directed the fbi to interview just four people. mark judge, patrick or pj smith, both friends of kavanaugh. he talked about them in his hearing. deborah ramirez, who accused kavanaugh of exposing himself when the two of them were students at yale. and leland kaiser, a friend of the accuser, christine blasey ford. it is unclear whether ford or kavanaugh will be interviewed by the fbi. ford s lawyer says the fbi has not contacted her. nbc news has learned ramirez spoke to the fbi on sunday, and one of kavanaugh s former classmates at yale, a guy named charms ludington, says he plans to give the fbi a statement today about what he calls, quote, violent, drunken behavior by kavanaugh. who is not on the witness list?
misconduct. the president told them to reopen their background check after it became clear kavanaugh did not have the votes to get him confirmed. three days in, it has been difficult to figure out exactly what s going on. the only official description of how this investigation would be carried out came from the senate judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley who said it would be a one-week long investigation and limited solely to, quote, current credible allegations against the judge. but that s very vague. all weekend, people have been trying to understand what that means. nbc has confirmed the white house has authorized the fbi to interview just four people. they include mark judge, who dr. christine blasey ford alleges was in the room. keyser, a friend of ford s who is said to have attended that same party. and deborah ramirez who accused
bureau launches the expanded background check on judge brett kavanaugh. just this afternoon nine of the ten democratic members of the senate judiciary committee sent the white house and the fbi a letter asking to broaden the probe. and if you re confused of what allegations are looked into, so are we. let s go through the claims. it all began when professor christine blasey ford accused kavanaugh of pushing her into a bedroom at a high school gathering, groping her and trying to remove her clothing. kavanaugh denies the attending the gathering and assaulting professor ford. the nib fbi is looking into the claim. second person, deborah ramirez, accused kavanaugh of exposing himself to her and putting his genitals in her face. again, kavanaugh denies this allegation. the fbi interviewed ramirez on sunday, a senior u.s. official confirmed to nbc news. and then there s the third
blasey ford allegations or julie swetnick. the third woman who accused kavanaugh of misconduct back in the 1980s. the president said the fbi should interview they want to within reason. our big question is what s within reason. ron clain and former u.s. assistant district attorney and msnbc legal analyst. ken, i kick it to you. what exactly does the president mean when he says within reason and what has the fbi been authorized to do? the president s playing a
but that is not what s coming from the white house counsel. so let s break down exactly what s going on. this is a limited scope, reopening of a background check. not a criminal investigation. and there are big differences between the two. first, in a criminal investigation, the fbi can follow whatever leads the agents find promising. in a background check, the fbi can only look into specific areas the client authorizes. which in this case the client is the white house. and the fbi can only pursue any new leads if it gets permission. in this case, it is unclear exactly what the fbi is investigating. senate judiciary chair, chuck grassley, says the probe is being limited to, quote, current, credible allegations. but sources familiar with the investigation tell nbc news that the fbi has not been permitted to investigate the claims of julie swetnick, who accused kavanaugh of engaging in sexual misconduct at a number of parties in high school.