FBI official on the Dianne Feinstein referral about Kavanaugh: "Upon receipt of the information on the night of September 12, we included it as part of Judge Kavanaugh's background file, as per the standard process."
Here's an explanation of what that means. The FBI backgrounds White House employees and nominees, & gives the White House a file on what they've found. But the FBI doesn't decide whether the person gets a job/nomination. The White House does that, w/ the info in the FBI file...
Remember Rob Porter? The FBI backgrounded him, and gave WH a report. Then they got more info, and, Chris Wray has said, "we passed that on as well.” washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Same deal here. The FBI backgrounded Kavanaugh and gave White House a file. Then Feinstein gave them more info, and they passed that on as well...
Importantly, the FBI isn't doing a criminal investigation based on what Feinstein told them. The broad outline of the allegation, as I understand it, seems like it'd be in state/local authorities wheelhouse, if there even is a crime, and if the statute of limitations hasn't run.
That's not to say whatever happened or whatever was alleged isn't serious and deserving of attention and scrutiny. It's just to say the FBI has given the White House the info it might need for action. Because the White House, not the FBI, determines who it nominates.
