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Trump orders FBI probe on US Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh following intense pressure

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U.S President Donald Trump Friday ordered an FBI probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against US Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh following intense pressure from his own party’s moderates, Reuters reported. The probe has led the nomination process be delayed by a week.

Senator Jeff Flake, a moderate Republican, set to retire from the Senate next January consulted with colleagues including Democratic Senator Chris Coons and cast a vote only after asking for the allegations to be investigated.

Trump who had earlier denied to entertain such a request, granted it under the condition that the “supplemental investigation” to be “limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”

“Just started, tonight, our 7th FBI investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He will someday be recognized as a truly great Justice of The United States Supreme Court!,” Trump said in a Twitter post late Friday.

The decision was taken after a riveting day of hearings from university professor Christine Blasey Ford who gave uncomfortable details about the allegation. Flake stated that he made the decision after he was cornered by two sexual assault survivors in an elevator and was severely reprimanded by them to vote for Kavanaugh.

“That’s what you’re telling all women in America – that they don’t matter, they should just keep it to themselves,” one of the protesters shouted at Flake.

Throughout the hearing, tensions and emotions were high after both stood firm their ground, with Kavanaugh accusing Democrats of a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”

In a statement issued by the White House, Kavanaugh said he would cooperate with the FBI investigation.

Earlier, Ford, a 51-year-old research psychologist in California, had accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in the early 1980s publicly narrated her ordeal through the Washington Post on Sunday, Reuters reported.

During the interview, she said when she was attending a high school in Maryland, a “stumbling drunk” Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her and attempted to remove her clothing.

Last week, however, Kavanaugh had “categorically and unequivocally” denied the allegations. The White House did not reply immediately for a comment on Sunday.

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