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Christine Ford & 19 Other People The FBI Didn't Talk To For Its Kavanaugh Investigation

by Seth Millstein
Drew Angerer/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The FBI has completed its investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — but many of Kavanaugh's opponents say the investigation was incomplete. In addition to the fact that the probe was authorized and carried out in less than a week, more than 20 potential Kavanaugh witnesses reportedly weren't interviewed by the FBI, including Kavanaugh himself and two of the women who made accusations against him.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Julie Swetnick have all gone on the record accusing Kavanaugh of some manner of sexual misconduct. Ford claims he pinned her to a bed, groped her, tried to take off her clothes and pressed his hand against her mouth when she tried to scream; Ramirez claims he exposed his penis to her and shoved it in her face; and Swetnick claims he was "present" during her rape and that of other women. Kavanaugh categorically denies all of the allegations.

At the request of Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a crucial undecided vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation, the White House ordered the FBI to carry out an investigation into the accusations against Kavanaugh. However, there were reports that the White House severely limited the scope of the investigation. The White House didn't deny this, and several witnesses later came forward to say that the FBI declined to interview them about the accusations.

Here are the named witnesses whom the FBI didn't interview, according to the witnesses themselves, statements from Ford's lawyers, and various reports in the New Yorker, CNN, and the Huffington Post.

  • Ford
  • Kavanaugh
  • Swetnick
  • Dr. Richard Oh: former Yale classmate of Ramirez and Kavanaugh
  • Kenneth G. Appold: former suitemate of Kavanaugh at Yale
  • Angela Walker: friend of woman who knew Kavanaugh
  • Jeremiah Hanafin: former FBI agent who conducted a polygraph of Ford. The polygraph determined that she was not being deceptive about her allegation against Kavanaugh.
  • Russell Ford: Ford's husband.
  • Keith Koegler: friend of Ford
  • Adela Gildo-Mazzon: friend of Ford
  • Rebecca Olsen: friend of Ford
  • Kirsten Leimroth: friend of Ford
  • Jim Gensheimer: friend of Ford
  • Monica L. McLean: friend of Ford
  • Liz Swisher: former classmate of Kavanaugh at Yale
  • Jamie Roche: Kavanaugh's freshman year roommate at Yale
  • Chad Ludington: former classmate and drinking buddy of Kavanaugh at Yale
  • Kerry Berchum: mutual friend of Kavanaugh and Ramirez
  • Mark Krasberg: former classmate of Kavanaugh and Ramirez at Yale
  • William Scheuerman: former classmate of Kavanaugh at Yale

In addition to the above individuals, there have been several reports of witnesses who, though not identified publicly by name, also weren't interviewed by the FBI.

  • The New Yorker reported that "several" of Kavanaugh's former classmates at Yale attempted to contact the FBI but were not interviewed.
  • Deborah Ramirez's attorney said that they provided the bureau with "more than 20" additional witnesses who ultimately weren't interviewed.
  • NBC News reports that "more than 40" people who potentially have information about Kavanaugh have not been contacted by the FBI.
  • An attorney named Alan Abramson told CNN that a client of his, whom he identified as a friend of Ramirez, offered to be interviewed by the FBI but wasn't.
  • CNN reported that a Yale graduate who lived in Kavanaugh's dorm also wasn't interviewed.
  • An anonymous classmate of Kavanaugh's at Georgetown Prep told the New Yorker that they submitted a sworn declaration to the FBI regarding Kavanaugh, but was not interviewed.

Because none of the above witnesses were identified, it's possible that some of them were already included in the earlier tally of named witnesses. As such, there may be some crossover between the two lists; it's therefore impossible to say exactly how many potential Kavanaugh witnesses the FBI declined to interview.

That ambiguity notwithstanding, one thing is abundantly clear: While investigating the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, the FBI did not interview at least 20 — and possibly over 80 — witnesses who may have had relevant information to contribute to the investigation.

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