Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said he called for an FBI investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Friday because he wanted to “lend more legitimacy to this process,” adding he wouldn’t feel comfortable voting on the floor as things stand right now.
But what that investigation would look like remains unclear to him and the Democrats who backed his play in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Flake could still vote “yes” on Kavanaugh’s nomination depending on what emerges from the investigation.
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“There has to be some follow up by the FBI in order for me to feel comfortable voting on the floor so we’ll talk about whether that’s on motion to proceed or what,” Flake said to reporters after he shocked members of the Judiciary committee by calling for the FBI to investigate.
Flake said he initiated the backroom conversation he had with Sen. Chris Coon, D-Del., who sits on the committee, and other Democrats. As he walked through the Senate basement, accompanied by a new police detail, Flake said he and Coons had a “larger discussion about how we could lend more legitimacy to this process.”
Flake said he wanted to be sure that Democrats on the committee would “endorse” his idea because “the country needs to see some kind of bipartisan agreement even if the final vote isn’t any different, that the process is different.”
“I just wanted to get some Democrats to agree and [be] willing to come out and publicly say, ‘We would accept this and we would say that the process is fair’ at least, even if they’re not going to vote for it,” Flake said.
But some Democrats appeared skeptical of Flake’s request. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wouldn’t call it a victory, asking, “Are they narrowing [the investigation] to one small question, are they allowing the FBI to do a broad investigation on all the allegations?”
Republican leaders agreed to request the investigation and President Trump followed suit, ordering the FBI to conduct a probe “limited in scope” and that would be wrapped up in one week. The scope of the investigation and which allegations will be deemed credible will be up to the FBI.
Earlier Friday Flake was confronted by two women, one who said she was sexually assaulted. They told him he was sending a signal to women everywhere that they shouldn’t be believed when making allegations of assault.
“Don’t look away from me,” Maria Gallagher said to Flake as he stood in an elevator. “Look at me and tell me that it doesn’t matter what happened to me, that you will let people like that go into the highest court of the land and tell everyone what they can do to their bodies.”
Asked by the Washington Examiner if the women who confronted him contributed to him changing his mind, Flake shook his head and said, “no.”
