Senators swap accusations over past FBI Kavanaugh probes

[October 04, 2018]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday accused Republicans of "mishandling" information about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, demanding they correct a claim that past FBI background reports contained no information about inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) speaks with reporters on the from the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, eight of the 10 Democrats on the panel said information contained in a Republican Twitter posting "is not accurate and must be immediately corrected."

The tweet they complained about stated, "Nowhere in any of these six FBI reports, which the committee has reviewed on a bipartisan basis, was there ever a whiff of ANY issue -- at all -- related in any way to inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse."

Further details from the Democrats were not provided. They noted in the letter, seen by Reuters, that they were "limited" in what they could say about the background investigation in a public setting.

Judiciary Committee Republicans countered that the Twitter post was accurate.

"Nothing in the tweet is inaccurate or misleading. The committee stands by its statement, which is completely truthful. More baseless innuendo and more false smears from Senate Democrats," committee Republicans said on Twitter.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Amanda Becker; Editing by Tom Brown)

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