Lawmaker: We're Hearing 'Reports' About FBI Probe

First came the fiercely partisan hearings. Now, the FBI probe: "What we are hearing are reports that they are trying to limit this," says Sen. Amy Klobuchar on CNN's State of the Union about reports that President Trump is trying to limit the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh, per the Hill. "I'm very concerned about this because the White House should not be allowed to micromanage an FBI investigation." The Democrat says she was "really stunned" when Kavanaugh, asked whether he ever drank so much it blurred his memory, angrily threw the question back at her, per Politico. "This is basically a job interview for the highest court in the land," says Kobuchar. "... I was actually trying to get to the truth." A propos:

• No fishing: "No, the White House is not micromanaging this process," says Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Fox News Sunday, per Fox News. "This is—the Senate is dictating the terms." But "this can't become a fishing expedition like the Democrats would like to see it be."

• Bumbling, stumbling: "This is not going to be the future of the nomination process in the committee, where you accuse a guy of being a gang rapist, an alcoholic, bumbling, stumbling sexual predator, and you get upset when he forcefully fights back against liberal smears," says Sen. Lindsey Graham on ABC's This Week about future Supreme Court nominee hearings, per ABC News.
• Judicial temperament: "His evident animus toward the entire Democratic party, toward people associated with it, like the Clintons, should be disqualifying," says Rep. Jerrold Nadler on This Week, arguing that Kavanaugh should recuse himself from cases about Congressional Democrats, per the Hill. "He showed no judicial temperament."
• Search and destroy: "They have betrayed her," says Sen. Tom Cotton on CBS’ Face the Nation of how Democrats treated Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasley Ford, per CBS News. "She has been victimized by Democrats ... on a search-and-destroy mission for Brett Kavanaugh." He says Sen. Dianne Feinstein's office will be investigated for allegedly releasing Ford's confidential letter.
• Rosenstein redux: "A date for that hasn’t been set," says Sanders on Fox News Sunday about the next meeting between President Trump and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, per Fox News. "It could be this week. I could see it pushing back another week given all the other things that are going on with the Supreme Court, but we’ll see."
• The Grinch: Democrats "will be the Grinch that stole Christmas" if they triumph in the midterms, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes says on AM 970 in New York, per the Hill. "They’re going to try to destroy [Trump]."
• Smokescreen: "He’s just trying to find a smokescreen," says Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Face the Nation, about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contention that Iran is hiding a "secret atomic warehouse," per the Times of Israel. "He’s been wrong about the previous [allegations] and he’s wrong about this one."

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