Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) issued the following statement regarding Judge Brett Kavanaugh:

“Judge Kavanaugh is without doubt one of the most qualified people to be nominated to America’s highest court. His judicial philosophy most closely mirrors former Justice Scalia. They both start with the proposition that the court’s job is not to make law but to apply the constitution and statutes as they were written, to the facts of a case. 

“Very late in the confirmation process serious allegations were made against Judge Kavanaugh. Such allegations must be taken seriously and must be soberly evaluated. Judge Kavanaugh has undergone seven FBI investigations including one specifically reviewing the last-minute allegations. In all, over 150 people were interviewed by the FBI. Having served as a prosecutor and made thousands of decisions regarding whether a person had committed an offense and should be charged, and having reviewed thousands of investigations by law enforcement, this decision process is not foreign or uncomfortable for me. All inquiries must start with the constitutional due process requirement that all are presumed innocent until proven guilty regardless of who they are and regardless of the nature or seriousness of the alleged offense. The investigations of Judge Kavanaugh did not come close to overcoming the presumption of innocence. The investigations corroborated the assertion of innocence by the accused and in no way corroborated the claim of the accuser. Therefore, justice demands that we act on the corroborated evidence or lack thereof before us. The allegations, though serious, were not proven nor close to proven. Given that, the path forward was clear.

“I believe Judge Kavanaugh will serve on the Supreme Court with distinction.”