The FBI reportedly only interviewed 9 people about the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, and ignored his drinking habits

Reuters

Brett Kavanaugh.

• The FBI interviewed nine people for its investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, The New York Times reported.
• An official told the Times it also did not closely examine Kavanaugh's drinking habits.
• This is despite former classmates claiming Kavanaugh lied under oath about how much he used to drink.
• Critics say the investigation - which took less than a week - was too narrow in scope.
• Senators are due to read the report Thursday, in shifts and under intense security.

The FBI has interviewed only nine people about the sexual assault allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to The New York Times.

The Times also said that FBI agents did not make an effort to examine Kavanaugh's drinking habits, an issue which has become a prominent part of his confirmation hearings.

The FBI's report - the contents of which are classified - has been repeatedly criticized by Democrats, classmates of Kavanaugh, and other women accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct as being too limited in scope.

Former classmates have also said that Kavanaugh lied under oath about his drinking habits and called for his claims to be examined.

But the Times reports that the FBI's attention focused on incidents described under oath last week by Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accuses him of sexually assaulting her at a party in the 1980s.

Kavanaugh's wider lifestyle and a number of other accusations made against him were apparently not examined for the report, which senators will read today ahead of Friday's vote on Kavanaugh.

The nine people interviewed did not include Kavanaugh or Ford according to the Times.

Numerous former classmates of Kavanaugh have come forward to state that Kavanaugh in his youth would often drink heavily, depicting his claim under oath that he never blacked out despite sometimes drinking too much beer.

James Roche, Brett Kavanaugh's former Yale University roommate, said he believed he saw Kavanaugh "blackout drunk" and witnessed him vomiting and having "a lot of trouble getting out of bed." On Kavanaugh's testimony, he said: "I knew that he knew that he wasn't telling the truth."

Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images

Christine Blasey Ford testifies that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in school. He denies the allegations.

The Times said those interviewed by the FBI include Deborah Ramirez, who accuses Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her when they were in Yale University, and three people Ford said were at the party where she alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her: Mark Judge, PJ Smyth, and Leland Keyser.

After complaints that the scope of the investigation was too limited, President Donald Trump authorized the FBI to interview anyone they deemed necessary.

According to the Times, the FBI contacted a tenth person but did not interview him or her.

All 100 US senators will be able to read the FBI's report on the sexual misconduct allegations about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh today. But they will only be able to read from a single copy in one-hour shifts, and under intense security.