New Kavanaugh Allegations Confirm Urgency of Independent Investigations, According to the Association of Workplace Investigators

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New allegations bring into focus again the pre-confirmation investigation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, according to the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI), the nation's leading advocate of impartial workplace investigations.

Reported by national news media in recent days, new misconduct allegations against the Supreme Court justice were known, yet not fully investigated by Congressional investigators or federal law enforcement personnel. The Senate Judiciary Committee limited the scope of the Kavanaugh pre-confirmation investigation to one week and nine witnesses, all of whom were made available by the Committee majority. Fifty other potential witnesses were not interviewed by the Committee, news media reported.

AWI President Keith Rohman, who led investigations of alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib during the Iraq War and of the Rodney King beating incident in Los Angeles, said, "An effective investigation should be fair to both the accused and the accuser. Calling something an 'investigation' does not make it so. Regardless of one's political inclinations, no one should be surprised by this development in the Kavanaugh matter. Many aspects of the Kavanaugh confirmation should concern Republicans and Democrats alike."

AWI Past President Amy Oppenheimer said, "The scope of an investigation is key to good faith analyses and findings. This new information about the Kavanaugh investigation, if accurate, raises questions about whether the scope was too narrow, and whether the investigators were impartial and independent. All involved would have been better served by the promotion and enhancement of an impartial investigation."

About the Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI)

Founded in 2009, AWI is a professional membership association for attorneys, human resource professionals, private investigators, and many others who conduct, manage, or have a professional interest in workplace investigations. Our mission is to promote and enhance the quality of impartial workplace investigations. We have more than 1,100 members internationally. Our members include both internal workplace investigators who work inside companies and others who are external investigators. AWI offers training and education programs about conducting impartial workplace investigations, including the publication Guiding Principles for Conducting Workplace Investigations and the AWI Journal, a quarterly peer-reviewed professional journal. For more information, please email [email protected] or call 844.422.2294.

Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for the Association of Workplace Investigators, 281.703.6000, [email protected].

SOURCE Association of Workplace Investigators (AWI)