WASHINGTON, DC — Amid a flurry of last-minute negotiations, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Friday to move federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation to the full Senate but with a major concession: a further FBI investigation into the nominee, this time with allegations of sexual assault out in the open.
Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, who she accused of sexually assaulting her decades ago when they were teenagers, both offered emotionally raw testimony in an extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday. Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who holds a key vote on the committee and in the Senate, said enough questions were raised in the testimony that the Senate should ask for the FBI investigation to fulfill its due diligence.
President Trump signaled Friday that he is OK with the delay, and GOP leadership followed suit. Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa had said after the panel’s vote that he couldn’t guarantee the FBI investigation would move forward and the decision would be up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
McConnell huddled with Senate leaders after a number of key senators urged him to delay the vote and agreed to Flake’s terms for his support, though Republicans are eager to bring a swift end to a confirmation process that originally been seen as a sure thing. Originally, they hoped to have Kavanaugh on the high court when it convenes next week for the fall term, but have refocused on getting the confirmation before the Nov. 6 midterm elections, which could tilt Republicans’ majority in the Senate.
Democrats are pleased with the victory, even if it’s only temporary, and credit Flake for crossing the aisle to get the delay.
“What it comes down to is the Senate always reminds you in these critical moments, that one or two senators can make a difference,” Illinois Democrat Richard J. Durbin, a member of the Judiciary Committee, told The New York Times. “And in this situation Senator Flake realized that something was important to him, and if he put his vote on the line, he could get a result.”
Among those expected to be questioned by the FBI is Mark Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaugh’s who Ford testified was a witness to the alleged assault. He said through his attorney that he would cooperate with investigators, The Times reported.
Earlier Friday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, offered a motion to subpoena Judge, and when Republicans blocked the vote, Blumenthal and other Democrats, including Kamala Harris of California and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, then walked out of the hearing room.
Blumenthal said Judge hasn’t been investigated by the FBI or questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and has only offered a six-sentence statement about the alleged incident and that was through his attorney.
Republican senators who have insisted for days that an investigation by the FBI is unnecessary said Friday they think investigators can finish their work quickly and the confirmation vote could take place as early as next Tuesday.
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose impassioned speech from the dais left no doubt about his anger, frustration and impatience with both the process and Democrats, said Friday he believes Kavanaugh and thinks he will ultimately be confirmed.
“I’ve never felt better about it, quite frankly,” Graham told The New York Times.
Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that he thought Ford’s testimony was “compelling” and said “she looks like a very fine woman to me,” but said he isn’t wavering on his choice to fill the second Supreme Court vacancy of his presidency.
“Not even a little bit,” Trump said when asked if was considering replacing Kavanaugh as the nominee.
On Thursday, Trump tweeted that Kavanaugh’s testimony “showed America exactly why I nominated him.”
“His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting,” the president tweeted. “Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!”
On Friday, Trump said Senate leaders should do “whatever they think is necessary” to get to a decision on whether to confirm him.
Asking for the investigation and delay, Flake said the “country is being ripped apart here” and “we ought to do what we can to make sure we do all due diligence with a nomination this important.”
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the committee and sharply criticized for her timing in making Ford’s allegations public, said she would support Flake’s suggestion.
The session was to have begun at 1:30 p.m. EDT, but was delayed for about 20 minute amid the negotiations to delay the vote until Ford’s allegations can be more fully investigated.
Emotions were running high, and several Democrat senators walked out for a time in protest shortly after Grassley gaveled the panel to order Friday morning and voted to schedule the vote for early afternoon.
Announcing his decision to vote to move Kavanaugh’s confirmation forward, Flake said he was entitled to the “presumption of innocence … absent corroborating evidence.”
“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,” Flake said. “I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”
Two women who were among a swarm of protesters on Capitol Hill cornered Flake in an elevator and, through tears, implored him to change his mind.
WATCH: Women Confront Jeff Flake After He Says He’ll Vote Yes
Grassley said both Ford and Kavanaugh offered credible testimony, but said the questions Democrats asked of the judge were “unequivocally unfair and hostile.”
During the intense day-long hearing Thursday viewed by millions on television and internet live streams, Ford said unequivocally that it was Kavanaugh who attempted to sexually assault her at a party in the early 1980s. Her certainty, she said in a soft-spoken and sometimes halting voice voice, was at “100 percent.”
Ford said she “believed he was going to rape me,” and told senators it has “haunted me episodically as an adult.”
Kavanaugh offered a vociferous defense, shouting at times and appearing to cry at others as he maintained his innocence of the California psychology professor and researcher’s accusations. He said the hearing was a “calculated and orchestrated political hit” designed to derail his nomination, and that the maelstrom of criticism from Ford’s accusations have ruined his family’s life and jeopardized his career. He admitted he drank beer in high school, but denied he was even at the party.
“I’ve never done this,” Kavanaugh said of Ford’s assault charge. “It’s not who I am. I am innocent.”
The American Bar Association on Thursday night called for a delay pending a full background check on the assault claims of Ford and others. Also Thursday, the magazine of the Jesuit religious order in the United States withdrew its endorsement of Kavanaugh, saying the nomination was no longer in the interests of the country and “should be withdrawn.”
The magazine’s reversal is significant given Kavanaugh has repeatedly cited his Roman Catholic faith and his years as a student at the Jesuit-run Georgetown Prep school in Maryland. But the editors of America magazine said that by moving ahead with the nomination, Republicans are “prioritizing policy aims over a woman’s report of an assault.”
“Were he to be confirmed without this allegation being firmly disproved, it would hang over his future decisions on the Supreme Court for decades and further divide the country,” they wrote.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Photo: Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
Click Here: new zealand rugby team jerseys