Criminal Investigation of Nominee Brett Kavanaugh?

A criminal investigation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh might be appropriate, a Democratic senator suggested Friday.

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made her comment on CNN.

Anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Hirono (pictured above right) about allegations Christine Blasey Ford made that Kavanaugh held her to a bed and tried to pull off her clothes during an underage drinking party, when they both were high school students in the early 1980s.

Blitzer noted that Maryland, where Ford said the alleged incident occurred, has no statute of limitations on sexual assault.

Blitzer then asked Hirono if a criminal investigation by local law enforcement authorities was warranted. The senator did not rule that out.

“They better put the resources there to be able to do a fair and complete investigation in a one-week period.”

“That’s something that Dr. Ford has to decide. Her life has been totally upended as it is,” she said. “She gave very credible, believable testimony. She shared her truth with us. I think it was very hard to watch her and not conclude that she was telling the truth.”

Hirono did not explain — and Blitzer did not ask — how such an investigation would take place.

In 1982, when Ford says the assault occurred, she and Kavanaugh (pictured above left) were minors. This would mean, ordinarily, that criminal charges would be adjudicated in juvenile court, the proceedings would be closed to the public, and any conviction would be sealed.

If local authorities tried to prosecute such a case, would it be in juvenile court? If convicted, where would Kavanaugh serve his sentence? A sex crimes prosecutor brought in to handle questioning of Ford for Senate Republicans reportedly told senators that the case would not meet the threshold for prosecution.

For days Hirono and other Democrats have been calling for an FBI investigation into Ford’s claims. On Friday, President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans — under pressure from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) — agreed to one.

Related: What Sex-Crimes Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell Told Senators About Brett Kavanaugh Overnight

In response, Hirono suggested the new FBI query might not be sufficient. She said at the very least, it would have to cover all three “credible” allegations against Kavanaugh.

That would include a claim by a Yale University graduate who said Sunday in a New Yorker story that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken dorm party in their freshman year, and an allegation by a Washington woman that she saw Kavanaugh, during his high school years, spiking drinks in order to take advantage of girls and joining a “train of men” participating in gang rapes.

“It has to be complete. We can’t have some kind of a perfunctory investigation just to give cover to some wavering senators,” Hirono said. “It has to be the kind of job that we expect the FBI to do. And I believe that they can do it, and they better put the resources there to be able to do a fair and complete investigation in a one-week period.”

Hirono also made clear that no FBI investigation would change her “no” vote.

“I had already determined, prior to all of these reports coming forward, that he lacked, definitely, credibility,” she said.

See Hirono’s full comments: