CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin on Monday praised Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., for calling for an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a move that will delay his Senate confirmation until later this week.
Toobin said Flake deserved credit for the move, after he had previously called Flake “pathetic” for stating that he was ready to confirm Kavanaugh.
“I was very critical of Jeff Flake before last week, that he’s big talk, no action,” said Toobin. “And I was wrong. He is the person who got this FBI probe going. It was all his initiative. Hats off to him. ”
“I was very critical of Jeff Flake … and I was wrong,” says @JeffreyToobin of last week’s assessment that Sen. Flake is “big talk, no action.”
“He is the person who got this FBI probe going. It was all his initiative. Hats off to him,” Toobin says. https://t.co/CrrHSZGIdc pic.twitter.com/yStafdrWSp
— New Day (@NewDay) October 1, 2018
Flake on Friday voted to move forward to a full Senate vote for Kavanaugh, under the condition that the FBI take a week to complete a “limited” investigation of the allegations against Kavanaugh, which Democrats supported.
Flake’s proposal won support from a handful of Senate lawmakers who will likely decide whether Kavanaugh can be confirmed, since their votes will be needed to get the 50 votes necessary in the Senate. The Trump administration quickly instructed the FBI to investigate, and Republican leaders in the Senate are hopeful that work can be done quickly so he can be confirmed.
However, Flake has indicated that if the FBI turns up any evidence that the sexual assault allegations are true, or that Kavanaugh lied in his Senate testimony, he and other senators could decide to vote against him.
