Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., was confronted by sexual assault survivors in an elevator Friday morning just after he announced he would vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit in the Supreme Court,” one woman told Flake. “This is not tolerable. You have children in your family. Think about them.
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“I have two children,” the woman continued. “I cannot imagine that for the next 50 years they will have to have someone in the Supreme Court who has been accused of violating a young girl. What are you doing, sir?”
Another woman said she was a sexual assault survivor and that no one believed her story.
“You’re telling all women that they don’t matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them, you are going to ignore them,” the woman said. “That’s what happened to me, and that’s what you are telling all women in America — that they don’t matter, they should just keep it to themselves because if they have told the truth, they are just going to help that man to power anyways. That’s what you’re telling these women.”
“You have children in your family, think about them…What are you doing?” protester asks Sen. Jeff Flake as he heads to Kavanaugh vote https://t.co/avHKi4LPPB pic.twitter.com/4uhIl1NYr8
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 28, 2018
Flake listened and was asked by press to respond, but he pointed to his statement issued Friday morning. Flake said he found testimonies from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of forcing himself on her in the 1980s when they were in high school, and from Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to be convincing, but noted “I left the hearing yesterday with as much doubt as certainty.”
“What I do know is that our system of justice affords a presumption of innocence to the accused, absent corroborating evidence,” Flake said in his statement. “That is what binds us to the rule of law. While some may argue that a different standard should apply regarding the Senate’s advice and consent responsibilities, I believe that the Constitution’s provisions of fairness and due process apply here as well.”
Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual misconduct from three women. He has denied all allegations.
Senate Republicans are planning to hold a procedural vote on Saturday, followed by a final vote on Tuesday to confirm Kavanaugh to the highest court.
