Kellyanne Conway: 'I'm A Victim Of Sexual Assault'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/CNN) - Kellyanne Conway said during an interview Sunday morning she felt for the women coming forward about past sexual assaults because she herself is one of those victims.
"I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment and rape," said Conway on Jake Tapper's "State of the Union" program. "I'm a victim of sexual assault."
President Donald Trump's counselor was talking about the scope of the FBI investigation into sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh which Sen. Jeff Flake made a condition of his support in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.
"I don't expect judge Kavanaugh, or Jake Tapper, or Jeff Flake, or anybody to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct."
Conway said that the FBI investigation into sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh "will be limited in scope, it's meant to last one week, and ... it's not meant to be a fishing expedition."
Conway's comments came in response to a question from CNN "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper on whether the White House has directed the FBI to only investigate certain accusations against Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations.
When asked about Ford's allegations, Conway said all allegations should be taken serious but politics made for an inconsistent standard.
"They should all be heard, they should be heard in courts of law, they should be heard in depositions, they should be heard in proceedings," she said. "Those who can prosecute, those who have civil or criminal causes of action should pursue that - but we do treat people differently whether they're the victims or perpetrators of this based on their politics now, and based on their gender. That is a huge mistake - America, that's a huge mistake."
On The FBI Investigation
"The White House is not getting involved in the FBI investigation in that way," Conway said. "The President has said he very much respects the independence of the FBI and feels, as he said last night, that they should look into anything that is credible within that limited scope."
When pressed on what "limited scope" means, Conway said, "That's up to the FBI. In other words, I'm not involved in those specific conversations."
Two sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN that Senate Republicans were working with White House counsel Don McGahn, who was "trying to make it as narrow as possible."
The FBI has started investigating Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high schoolers. FBI agents are also expected to interview several people who Ford said were present at the party where the alleged assault took place, including Mark Judge, Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Keyser, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Deborah Ramirez, another woman who came forward with allegations against Kavanaugh, has been contacted by the FBI, according to an attorney for Ramirez.
As of Sunday morning, there was no indication that the FBI was going to talk to Julie Swetnick, who also came forward with allegations against Kavanaugh as well as Judge. Two Republican sources familiar with the matter have told CNN that the hope is that when investigators sit down with Judge, they will ask him not only about Ford's allegations, but also about those made by Swetnick. Judge has denied any memory of the assault Ford described and said in a statement that he categorically denied Swetnick's allegations.
Conway said she did not believe McGahn would have restricted who the FBI could talk to.
"I don't think Don McGahn would do that, but I've not talked to him about it," Conway said.
Trump said on Saturday that the FBI had "free rein" to investigate Kavanaugh. The President ordered the probe into Kavanaugh on Friday after Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake pushed for one at the Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation vote.
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