The White House and Senate Republicans must choose: either immediately call for the FBI to conduct an investigation into the multiple allegations of sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh or withdraw his nomination. These women had every reason to stay silent to avoid harassment and death threats. They have shown that they have nothing to hide by calling for a nonpartisan FBI investigation and sworn testimony from other witnesses.

“Plow right through.” That’s what Republican leaders want to do with Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, even though serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct have been brought forward. Republicans want to rush this vote through ASAP. Despite all the calls for fairness over and over again by Senator McConnell, fairness would dictate that the FBI do an impartial investigation of the sexual assault allegations against Judge Kavanaugh and present their conclusions, whatever they may be.

Today I sat down with leaders at @YWCAChicago for an important discussion about the challenges faced by sexual assault survivors—and the need to listen to, support, and believe survivors when they choose to come forward with their stories. At a time when Dr. Blasey Ford is experiencing death threats and vicious attacks, Republicans are trying to rush a rigged hearing, refusing to call all of the relevant witnesses, and denying her request to hold off on a hearing until the FBI conducts an independent investigation.

Rs are rushing a hearing within a week after a serious, credible allegation of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh. No FBI background investigation has been completed, no witnesses beyond the Judge & Dr. Blasey Ford have been asked to testify. Rs are trying to rig the hearing. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. The FBI should be asked to run its investigation, and the Judiciary Committee should ask other relevant witnesses to testify, like Mark Judge and others the FBI identifies in an investigation.

I am calling on Senate Republicans to delay next week’s Judiciary Committee vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. This is the most important Supreme Court vacancy in a generation, and President Trump has chosen Judge Kavanaugh to be the decisive vote on the health, privacy, and rights of all Americans, and whether our Constitution will protect everyone or just the wealthy and powerful.

We continue to find more evidence that Judge Kavanaugh misled me and the Judiciary Committee under oath. I’m posting important documents that Senate Republicans didn’t want the American people to see. We deserve transparency about this nominee. In 2006, I asked Judge Kavanaugh about his role in the 4th Circuit nomination of Jim Haynes – a key figure in crafting the Bush White House detention & interrogation policies. Under oath, he said, "I’ve—I know Jim Haynes, but it was not one of the nominations that I handled.”

In my opening statement at Judge Kavanaugh’s hearing, I predicted that he wouldn’t tell the Judiciary Committee much. I was right. He refused to discuss his views on many critical issues facing our country in this perilous moment. Instead, Judge Kavanaugh wants us to trust his word that he would be an independent justice who would approach cases with an open mind and no agenda. As President Reagan used to say, trust but verify.

One year ago today, President Trump announced he was ending the #DACA program. With the stroke of a pen, he could fix it and give #Dreamers the future they deserve in the only country they call home. #SaveDACA Since President Trump announced he was ending #DACA one year ago, he has rejected at least 6 bipartisan deals to give #Dreamers a future here in America. He’s proven time and again he has no interest in solving the crisis he created.

So far, the only documents we’ve seen from Judge Kavanaugh’s White House Counsel record are documents that were handpicked and cleared by Bill Burck. Burck is also hiding one hundred thousand documents citing “executive privilege." Who is Mr. Burck? He’s a Republican attorney who represents both President Bush and White House Counsel Don McGahn. He actually used to work for Brett Kavanaugh as his Deputy Staff Secretary.

The Administration and Senate Republicans have refused to disclose any documents from the 35 months that Judge Kavanaugh spent as Staff Secretary in the White House, a time when many controversial issues of constitutional importance were debated and decided. Judge Kavanaugh today acknowledged that he was involved in many of these issues, including same-sex marriage, abortion, executive power, detainees, torture, Supreme Court nominations, warrantless wiretapping, and more.

Today’s announcement about sanctions against Burmese military officials responsible for human rights violations is a long overdue step. As the one-year anniversary of this brutal campaign approaches, the US must continue to fight against human rights atrocities & ethnic cleansing America has been on the front lines of the humanitarian effort to stop the ethnic cleansing being committed against Rohingya, but we must not stop there.

Today I joined my colleague @SenJohnKennedy in commending the DEA for taking steps—three years in a row—to reduce the number of opioids allowed to be produced in the U.S. by Big Pharma durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press… But our work is not done. Reform of opioid quota laws is needed so DEA can take important factors like diversion & abuse into account when setting quotas, rather than chasing the downstream consequences of this crisis.

6 years ago, the government began accepting the first applications for the #DACA program, changing the lives of 800,000 young immigrants who could now receive temporary protection from deportation, study, and legally work in the only country they have ever known. #ProtectDreamers I was there when #Dreamers came to Navy Pier by the thousands to apply for #DACA. They just wanted the chance be a part of America’s future. nytimes.com/2012/08/16/us/…

Take note: Unless it was produced by the National Archives, every document you see from Judge Kavanaugh’s White House tenure was selectively chosen for release by his former deputy, Bill Burck. This is not an objective process. nytimes.com/2018/08/09/us/… Because the National Archives won’t be able to complete its production of Judge Kavanaugh’s White House documents by October, Senate Republicans are getting ready to argue that the partisan Bill Burck document production is good enough to use for a September hearing. It’s not.

I'll be introducing a bipartisan bill this week with @lisamurkowski to crack down on kid-friendly cigar & e-cigarette flavors. If gummy bear and cotton candy flavored nicotine really help adult smokers quit, then the e-cigarette industry should have to prove it. Our bill is simple: it makes tobacco companies prove that their kid-friendly e-cig flavorings 1) help adults quit smoking; 2) don’t cause kids to start smoking; and 3) don’t harm the user. It’s that simple. abc7chicago.com/health/durbin-…

I’ve introduced a bill with @LindseyGrahamSC that would prevent foreign nationals from exploiting our immigration laws to undermine our democracy – activities revealed by Special Counsel Mueller. durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press… Russians traveled to the United States with the explicit purpose to learn more about American political & electoral processes & how they could interfere. One of Mueller's indictments describes how these Russians gathered intelligence during a three-week trip in June 2014.

Because of the backlash, the Trump Administration is no longer separating families. Instead, they want to jail them indefinitely. Experts tell us that jail is no place for children, and that even short term detention can do permanent damage to a child’s health and wellbeing.

This Thursday is the deadline for reuniting thousands of other children with their families. Here is what we know as of last night: The Trump Administration has identified 2,551 children between the ages of 5 and 17 who were separated from their parents. Of these children, the Administration claims that only 1,634 are “possibly eligible” for reunification.

Judge Kavanaugh never replied to a letter I sent him 11 years ago about a misleading answer he gave during Congressional testimony on his involvement in questions about the rules governing detention of combatants during the Bush Administration. Documents pertaining to his time in the Bush White House bear a direct relevancy to a sworn statement he made under oath that has now been disputed.

Senate Republicans just rubber-stamped another extreme, Federalist Society-approved judicial nominee to the federal appellate bench: 39-year-old Andrew Oldham In his confirmation hearing, Mr. Oldham refused to say that the landmark #SCOTUS case Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided. He also refused to say whether he agreed that voter discrimination still exists in the United States.

.@SenateDems asked for a public Judiciary Committee hearing on Trump’s cruel and immoral family separations with Administration witnesses testifying under oath. Instead, today we received a short private briefing that was closed to the press and public. This is not how Congressional oversight is supposed to work. The American people have a right to know what is being done in their name. So I’m going to share some of what I learned.