Trump calls Ford's testimony 'compelling,' orders new FBI probe of Kavanaugh
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President Donald Trump says he’ll leave it to the Senate to determine when it will vote on his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but he expressed optimism, saying: “I’m sure it will all be very good.” (Sept. 28)
AP
WASHINGTON – While re-opening an FBI background check of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump on Friday praised the testimony of accuser Christine Blasey Ford and said senators should do “whatever they think is necessary” to get to a vote.
A day after an emotional hearing in which Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, Trump told reporters at the White House he thought her testimony was “very compelling” and said “she looks like a very fine woman to me.”
However, he continued to stand by Kavanaugh, saying his testimony “was really something that I haven’t seen before” and “an incredible moment, I think, in the history of our country.”
 Asked if he had thought of replacing Kavanaugh, Trump said: “Not even a little bit.”
Hours later, Trump formally ordered a “supplemental investigation” to update Kavanaugh’s background file.
 “As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week,” Trump said in a statement.
Kavanaugh pledged to cooperate, saying in a statement issued by the White House: “Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will  continue to cooperate.â€
Both Trump and Kavanaugh had resisted calls in recent days for a renewed FBI investigation.
Ford testified that Kavanaugh and a friend pulled her into a bedroom at a house party when they were teenagers. She said an inebriated Kavanaugh pinned her to the bed and tried to remove her clothes but she broke free and ran out of the room. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved, along party lines, the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court – with a request that the FBI conduct an investigation into sexual assault allegations before the full Senate takes a vote.
When speaking with reporters earlier on Friday, Trump was pressed on what he thought about a possible reopening of the FBI investigation. “Well, I’m going to let the Senate handle that. They’ll make their decisions and they do a good job,” he said.
Change in tone
It was a change in tone for Trump from Thursday night, when he described Kavanaugh’s testimony as “powerful, honest, and riveting.” Trump did not comment publicly on Ford’s testimony in a Thursday tweet but denounced Democrats for what he called a “search and destroy strategy,” and urged immediate Senate action.
“The Senate must vote!” Trump tweeted.
On Friday, the president also said he had no message for senators who are undecided about whether or not to support Kavanaugh, saying they have to do what they think is right and they “have to be comfortable with themselves.”
In his comments about Ford’s testimony, Trump said, “certainly she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects.”
Trump said he didn’t know how things will play out, but he expressed optimism.
“I think it will work out very well for the country,” Trump said. “I just want it to work out well for the country.”
More: Behind the scenes of the Brett Kavanaugh vote: ‘Someone’s got to explain this to Trump’
Also: Protester shouts at Sen. Jeff Flake in elevator: ‘Tell me it doesn’t matter’
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