{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/judiciary-committee-democrats-to-chairman-grassley-postpone-hearing-support-fbi-investigation", "Judiciary Committee Democrats To Chairman Grassley: Postpone Hearing, Support FBI Investigation", "2018-09-26", "2018", "2018-09", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "09.26.18\n\t\t\t Judiciary Committee Democrats To Chairman Grassley: Postpone Hearing, Support FBI Investigation \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashingtonFollowing the release of a sworn affidavit from Julie Swetnick detailing new allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today urged Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to postpone tomorrow's hearing and Friday's vote and support an FBI investigation of all allegations.\r\nThe senators wrote: The Senate Judiciary Committee is not a court of law. Our job is not to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh is guilty of a crime. Our job is to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh has the character and qualifications to be promoted to the most prestigious and powerful court in the country.\r\nIt would be an unprecedented abuse of power and abdication of our constitutional responsibilities to move forward with this nomination given the concerns about Brett Kavanaugh's character and actions. We ask that you immediately request an FBI investigation or support the withdrawal of this nominee, but at a minimum the vote that has been scheduled for Friday must be canceled.\r\nFull text of the letter follows:\r\nSeptember 26, 2018\r\nHonorable Charles Grassley   Chairman   Committee on the Judiciary   United States Senate   Washington, D.C. 20510\r\nDear Chairman Grassley:\r\nIn light of shocking new allegations detailed by Julie Swetnick in a sworn affidavit, we write to request that the Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh be immediately canceled and that you support the reopening of the FBI investigation to examine all of the allegations against Kavanaugh or withdrawal of his nomination.\r\nUnder penalty of perjury, which would cause Ms. Swetnick to be subject to criminal prosecution, she states that she witnessed Brett Kavanaugh engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, grinding against girls,' and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts as well as make crude sexual comments that were designed to demean, humiliate and embarrass them.\r\nThe Senate Judiciary Committee is not a court of law. Our job is not to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh is guilty of a crime. Our job is to determine whether Brett Kavanaugh has the character and qualifications to be promoted to the most prestigious and powerful court in the country.\r\nIt would be an unprecedented abuse of power and abdication of our constitutional responsibilities to move forward with this nomination given the concerns about Brett Kavanaugh's character and actions. We ask that you immediately request an FBI investigation or support the withdrawal of this nominee, but at a minimum the vote that has been scheduled for Friday must be canceled.\r\nSincerely,\r\nDianne Feinstein   Ranking Member\r\nPatrick J. Leahy   United States Senator\r\nRichard J. Durbin   United States Senator\r\nSheldon Whitehouse   United States Senator\r\nAmy Klobuchar   United States Senator\r\nChristopher A. Coons   United States Senator\r\nRichard Blumenthal   United States Senator\r\nMazie K. Hirono   United States Senator\r\nCory A. Booker   United States Senator\r\nKamala D. Harris   United States Senator\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tDavid Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/judiciary-committee-democrats-to-chairman-grassley-postpone-hearing-support-fbi-investigation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.3247189819812775, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}