Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Wednesday that he remains undecided on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and decried the current political culture surrounding Thursday’s hearing involving the judge and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Flake said on the Senate floor that as part of that “toxic” culture, he and his family received a death threat recently due to his support for a hearing to allow Ford to tell testify on Thursday.
“The toxic political culture that we have created has infected everything, and we’ve done little to stop it,” Flake said. “Winning at all costs is too high a cost.”
“One man somewhere in the country called my office in Arizona saying he was tired of me ‘interrupting my president,'” Flake said. “And of that offense of allowing Dr. Ford to be heard for this offense, me and my family would be taken out. I mention this with reluctance, but only to say we have lit a match, my colleagues. The question is do we appreciate how close the powder keg is?”
Flake is one of the key undecided votes, including Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Bob Corker, R-Tenn. He is the only one from that group that sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Flake could sway the entire nomination given the split on the panel between 11 Republicans, 10 Democrats.
The comments also came hours after a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, alleged that Kavanaugh took part in gang rapes in the early 1980s and was involved in further sexual misconduct. She is being represented by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who also represents Stormy Daniels.
