Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) argued on Wednesday morning that an outside investigation is unnecessary regarding the sexual assault allegations leveled against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“Cmte investigators are following up on the leads from Dr. Ford’s allegations & news stories No other OUTSIDE investigation is necessary for the Cmte to do its investigation,” Grassley tweeted.

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“Don’t know why Dems are refusing to cooperate in the cmte’s investigation I hope Dems will join me.”

Christine Blasey Ford came forward as the alleged victim after a letter she sent to Senate Democratic leaders was leaked last week. Kavanaugh, she alleged, sexually assaulted her at a party when they were in high school, roughly 35 years ago.

Kavanaugh was quick to deny the allegations when they first started spreading last week, and he has maintained that stance ever since.

But Ford’s accusations have upended the confirmation process and even resulted in the canceling of the first scheduled vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Related: Democrats Renew Calls to Delay Kavanaugh Vote Amid Sexual Assault Scandal

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) referred the allegations to the FBI after the letter was leaked to the public.

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She and some others received the letter earlier in the summer but decided not to go forward with it after speaking with Ford.

Senate Republicans have raised questions about the timing of the leak.

Democrats didn’t bring up the allegations in the months since they knew, including during a four-day confirmation hearing.

The letter was then leaked less than a week before the committee was scheduled to vote on whether to advance his nomination to the full Senate.

“If Senate Dems think they need the FBI to investigate, why didn’t they alert the FBI on July 30?” Grassley also tweeted.

“As soon as I learned of the allegations from the Washington Post on Sunday, I moved swiftly to follow up on Dr. Ford’s allegations As the FBI has said, its role here is complete.”

Related: Kavanaugh Denies Dems’ 11th-Hour Sexual Assault Allegations

Grassley also repeated his stance that Ford deserves to be heard despite the questionable way the accusations have come together.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has invited her to testify and offered to hold either a public or closed hearing. The committee scheduled a hearing for Monday but it’s unclear whether she will attend.

Senate Democrats have called for the Kavanaugh nomination to be delayed ever since it was announced July 9.

The sexual assault allegations are the latest in a series of reasons they’ve cited for why the process should be halted.

The Democrats could potentially improve their chances of stopping Kavanaugh’s path to the high court if they’re able to delay a final vote until after the midterm elections.

(photo credit, article image: Sen. Chuck Grassley, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)