“We ask that you notify us of the scope of the investigation and what the White House directed the F.B.I. to investigate, as well as what steps the F.B.I. will be taking,” the senators wrote. “We also ask that, upon completion of your work, you provide copies of all witness interviews, a list of all witnesses who refused to cooperate in the Bureau’s investigation, and a full report to each member of the Senate.”
Mr. Coons, notably, was the only Democrat on the committee not to sign the letter.
In interviews, several former senior F.B.I. officials said that they could think of no previous instance when the White House restricted the bureau’s ability to interview potential witnesses during a background check. Chuck Rosenberg, who served as chief of staff under James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, said background investigations were frequently reopened, but that the bureau decides how to pursue new allegations.
“The White House normally tells the F.B.I. what issue to examine, but would not tell the F.B.I. how to examine it, or with whom they should speak,” he said. “It’s highly unusual — in fact, as far I know, uniquely so — for the F.B.I. to be directed to speak only to a limited number of designated people.”
In his comments on Monday, Mr. Trump expressed indignation that Democrats were questioning Judge Kavanaugh’s youthful drinking and suggested some of them were being hypocritical because they themselves abuse alcohol.
“I happen to know some United States senators, one who’s on the other side who’s pretty aggressive,” he said. “I‘ve seen that person in some very bad situations,” which he called “somewhat compromising.”
He would not identify whom he meant, but he did later single out Mr. Blumenthal, a favorite target, for misleading the public for years about his military service during the Vietnam War. “This guy lied when he was the attorney general of Connecticut,” Mr. Trump said. “He lied.”
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