The FBI ended up interviewing nine witnesses in its investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's alleged sexual misconduct when he was in high school and college.
White House Spokesman Raj Shah said Thursday that the FBI did comprehensive interviews of all nine witnesses, whom he would not name. Officials said the FBI also contacted a tenth, unnamed witness, but is wasn't clear whether that witness submitted to a full interview.
The FBI did not interview Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school house party in the early 1980s.
Democrats say the failure to interview Kavanaugh or Ford shows that the investigation was a "sham" that was unduly restricted by the White House. Republicans say the FBI didn't need to interview them because they both testified extensively before the committee last week.
Agents also did not interview Julie Swetnick, who alleges in a sworn statement that Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, tried to get teenage girls "inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys."
Kavanaugh and Judge have vehemently denied the allegations by Ford and Swetnick.
President Donald Trump directed the FBI to reopen its background investigation of Kavanaugh last Friday. Trump issued the order after Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he would only vote to advance Kavanaugh's nomination through the Judiciary Committee if GOP leaders promised to allow a week-long FBI probe before holding a vote in the full Senate. The FBI took less than a week to complete the investigation.
Here's a look at some of the people the FBI interviewed:
Deborah Ramirez
Ramirez is a board member and volunteer at Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, a Colorado-based group that helps victims of domestic violence.
Ramirez alleged in an interview with The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party when they were both freshmen at Yale University. She and Kavanaugh and a few other students were playing a drinking game and were both drunk. Kavanaugh then exposed his penis and shoved it in her face, Ramirez alleges.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
Ramirez's attorney, John Clune, confirmed over the weekend that the FBI had reached out to interview Ramirez. He said she was cooperating with the investigation.
Mark Judge
Judge, a conservative writer, was a friend and classmate of Kavanaugh's at Georgetown Preparatory School, a private, all-male Catholic school in North Bethesda, Maryland.
Ford alleges that Judge was in the room watching and laughing when a drunken Kavanaugh pinned her down on a bed at a high school house party in the early 1980s.
Ford said Kavanaugh tried to remove her clothes and held his hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming. She said she was able to get away and run into the bathroom after Judge jumped on her and Kavanaugh, knocking them off the bed.
Judge has said that he has no memory of the alleged incident and never saw Kavanaugh behave like that. His attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, confirmed that the FBI has interviewed Judge.
Leland Keyser
Keyser, a longtime friend of Ford's, was present at the small party where Ford was attacked, according to Ford's testimony before the Judiciary Committee. Ford said Keyser, a former professional golfer and coach, was downstairs when the alleged attack happened and was not aware of what was happening in the upstairs bedroom.
Keyser's attorney, Howard Walsh, has confirmed that she was interviewed by the FBI.
"Ms. Keyser does not refute Dr. Ford's account, and she has already told the press that she believes Dr. Ford's account," Walsh wrote in a letter to the Judiciary Committee last week. "However, the simple and unchangeable truth is that she is unable to corroborate it because she has no recollection of the incident in question."
Patrick "P.J." Smyth
Ford said that Smyth was also at the party where she alleges that Kavanaugh attacked her. She said that Smyth, like Keyser, was downstairs at the house when the alleged attack took place upstairs.
Smyth, who works in insurance and investment management, has said that he has "no knowledge" of the party or the alleged attack. His attorney, Eric Bruce, said that Smyth repeated that statement in his interview with the FBI. Bruce, in a statement, said Smyth answered all of the investigators' questions.
Tim Gaudette
FBI agents also talked to a fifth witness, Gaudette, another friend of Kavanaugh's from Georgetown Prep. Gaudette had a gathering at his house on July 1, 1982, according to Kavanaugh's calendar for that year. The people who were at Gaudette's house that day included some of the same people whom Ford identified as attending a small party where Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted her.
Kavanaugh wrote on his calendar for that date "Go to Timmy's for skis w/Judge, Tom, PJ, Bernie, Squi." He told senators that "skis" referred to "brewskis," or beer. He also said there were no girls there.
Gaudette's attorney, Ken Eichner, has confirmed that Gaudette was interviewed by the FBI. Gaudette lives in Denver, Colorado.
Chris Garrett
Garrett also attended the July 1 gathering at Gaudette's house that Kavanaugh wrote down on his calendar. Kavanaugh identified Garrett by the nickname "Squi."
Ford also testified before the Judiciary Committee that she and Garrett were "going out" during high school and that he introduced her to Kavanaugh.
In a letter to the Judiciary Committee, Garrett denied having any information about Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh.
Garrett's attorney confirmed he spoke with the FBI.
Contributing: David Jackson
