FBI report expected imminently, one copy to be placed in Senate Judiciary Committee safe

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Lawmakers to lock FBI's Kavanaugh report in safe

Tensions running high on Capitol Hill as senators await FBI's background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh; chief congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel reports.

The FBI is expected to send a single copy of its supplemental report on sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to Capitol Hill, where it will be kept in a Senate Judiciary Committee safe, two senior Senate sources confirmed to Fox News Wednesday.

The sources added that the report will be sent to the White House before it goes to the committee and it may be carried to the offices of individual senators by request. All 100 senators and nine staffers will be authorized to read the document.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, told Fox News' "The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino" Wednesday that he expected to see the report "sometime today."

"Obviously, that will enable the process to move forward and we hope that we’re going to have the votes to get [Kavanaugh] confirmed when it’s all said and done," Thune said.

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Multiple women have stepped forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. The first, professor Christine Blasey Ford, has not yet heard from the FBI about scheduling an interview with her, according to her legal team in a Wednesday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley has asked for details on Ford's claims for his committee, saying: "It’s disappointing that Dr. Ford’s attorneys were willing to share evidence with The Washington Post many weeks ago but to this day refuse to share the same evidence, which Dr. Ford relied on in her testimony, with the Senate.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., must move to end debate on Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court by the end of Wednesday to preserve any hope of holding a confirmation vote this week, as McConnell previously vowed. However, any move to press forward before the FBI report is complete could risk alienating Republican Sens. Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski -- all of whom have supported the bureau's investigation.

"[McConnell] said we would vote this week," Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters. "I’d take him at his word, but we want to do first things first and read the report."

Republicans hold a 51-49 advantage in the Senate and can only afford to lose one vote before Kavanaugh's nomination would be scuppered.

"It's an audience of three that we have to win over, at least at the moment," said Thune, referring to Flake, Collins and Murkowski.

It is not clear whether any part of the FBI report will be made public, but Thune acknowledged "some of it will probably make its way out into the public and into the mainstream."

"But most importantly, at least right now, is that all senators who are going to have the responsibility to vote on this nomination have an opportunity to review it, assess it and come to their own conclusions about what’s in there."

Fox News' Jake Gibson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.