Claim of 'thorough' FBI probe of Kavanaugh is 'absurd,' says friend of Ford who wasn't interviewed

Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford released a statement Friday from a friend of Ford's who says he is a corroborating witness to Ford’s sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh -- and criticized the FBI for not interviewing him.

In a sworn statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Keith Koegler wrote that Ford told him in 2016, while they were watching their kids play together, that a federal court judge in Washington, D.C., had sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.

“There are a minimum of 7 additional people, known to the White House, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the FBI who knew about the assault prior to the nomination who were not interviewed,” Koegler wrote of the limited FBI probe into the allegation. “I am one of them.”

Ford’s revelation occurred around the same time when former Stanford University student Brock Turner was sentenced for raping an unconscious woman, he wrote.

“Christine expressed anger at Mr. Turner’s lenient sentence, stating that she particularly was bothered by it because she was assaulted in high school by a man who was now a federal judge in Washington, D.C.,” Koegler said.

Koegler said he had a copy of a June 29 email thread where Ford identified her alleged assaulter as President Trump’s “favorite for SCOTUS.”

He responded, “I remember you telling me about him, but I don’t remember his name. Do you mind telling me so I can read about him?”

“Brett Kavanaugh,” Ford replied.

Koegler said he’s known Ford and her husband for more than five years and coached their son’s baseball team.

In the declaration, Koegler also expressed frustration with the way Ford’s allegations have been handled by lawmakers and law enforcement authorities.

"The process by which the Senate Judiciary Committee has 'investigated' the facts related to the assault has been a shameless effort to protect Judge Kavanaugh," Koegler wrote. "The fact that the FBI did not interview either Christine or Judge Kavanaugh, by itself, renders absurd any assertion that the investigation was 'thorough.'"

Democrats have slammed the investigation as not complete or thorough.

Some Republicans, and Kavanaugh himself, have called the allegations against him part of a smear campaign to keep him off the bench.

Koegler denied any “grand-conspiracy” to conduct a “political hit job” on Kavanaugh, adding that “this was always about one woman struggling with a perverse choice.”

The Senate is expected to confirm Kavanaugh to the court Saturday.