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Brett Kavanaugh: committee to vote soon as protesters confront Jeff Flake – live updates Brett Kavanaugh: Jeff Flake calls for delay on floor vote – follow live
(35 minutes later)
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, tells reporters: “we are in a better place than we were at 8am this morning.”
In sum, Flake is now suggesting he won't vote to confirm Kavanaugh without a one-week FBI probe into Dr. Ford's allegations. That gives nice cover to other hold-outs, Collins and Murkowski.Up to McConnell to grant that week of delay, which he def doesn't want to do.
I'll just say we *still* don't have answers about July 1st and this gathering of people Ford says was present the night of the assault and which Kavanaugh notes in his calendar that he was with drinking beers.An FBI investigation could definitely clear those questions up.
A stunned Kamala Harris exiting the judiciary committee: “I can’t even. I don’t know. I don’t know how to react to that.”
Amid confusion, Grassley abruptly adjourns the meeting, citing a two hour rule.
The gavel went down and Feinstein said: “what?”
“This is all a gentlemen’s and women’s agreement,” Grassley responds before the mics are switched off.
Republicans won the key committee vote, bringing Kavanaugh to the brink of becoming a supreme court justice.
Kavanaugh’s nomination to the nation’s highest court now advances to the full Senate.
There is an informal potential roadblock, however, which is that Flake has asked for the vote to be delayed for a week, though this is not something the committee can decide.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell schedules the vote, and is not on the judiciary committee.
Flake is saying he will vote no unless an FBI investigation takes place, which would give McConnell reason to delay the vote.
McConnell controls the floor. But if Flake has Collins & Murkowski on his side, it doesn’t matter
There is still some confusion on whether Flake’s call for an investigation is being weighed.
Either way, the committee voted 11-10 to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination.
The meeting is back in session.
Republican senator Jeff Flake, of Arizona, has asked to speak.
Flake says they’ve had ongoing conversation to make sure “they do due diligence.”
He asks to delay the floor vote for up to one week. He says he spoke to other Republicans who might be supportive of that move.
“This committee has acted properly,” Flake says.
Senators are asking for clarity on what they are voting for.
Senators are coming back in the room so we should have some explanation for the delay momentarily.
Worth noting:
Elsewhere in the Capitol, other Senate Republicans are having what I'm sure is a leisurely lunch.
The recess was supposed to end seven minutes ago, but there have been many intense side meetings between senators in and outside the chamber for the past 30 minutes.
There are a lot of aides and senators moving around and a lot of people talking with folders in front of their faces to stop lip readers.
What is actually happening? Only a couple dozen people know.
Now 1:30 pm et. But no vote yet on Kavanaugh. Grassley just went into the back. Something is up
A very agitated Sen. Grassley just admonished reporters for trying to ask him a question while he was trying to talk to an aide right outside anteroom
The dean of Yale law school, which Kavanaugh attended, has also called for an additional investigation before the confirmation process proceeds.The dean of Yale law school, which Kavanaugh attended, has also called for an additional investigation before the confirmation process proceeds.
Dean Gerken Joins the ABA in Calling for Further Investigation. pic.twitter.com/SYAsVHwsi7Dean Gerken Joins the ABA in Calling for Further Investigation. pic.twitter.com/SYAsVHwsi7
Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who walked out of the hearing earlier, said he has to “disbelieve” Kavanaugh, who he calls an “angry” man.Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who walked out of the hearing earlier, said he has to “disbelieve” Kavanaugh, who he calls an “angry” man.
Senators on both sides have largely avoided saying explicitly that they believe one person and do not believe the other.Senators on both sides have largely avoided saying explicitly that they believe one person and do not believe the other.
Blumenthal addresses Dr Ford’s sons, calling their mother a hero.Blumenthal addresses Dr Ford’s sons, calling their mother a hero.
It’s an interesting comment as the Republican senators have repeatedly mentioned Kavanaugh’s daughters and how the process has impacted them.It’s an interesting comment as the Republican senators have repeatedly mentioned Kavanaugh’s daughters and how the process has impacted them.
With 30 minutes to go until the vote, here’s a brief roundup of reactions on Twitter to the morning’s news:With 30 minutes to go until the vote, here’s a brief roundup of reactions on Twitter to the morning’s news:
Writer Jill FilipovicWriter Jill Filipovic
Divorce your Republican husbands.Divorce your Republican husbands.
MSNBC analyst Maya HarrisMSNBC analyst Maya Harris
Hard to hold your head up when you have no spine. https://t.co/5NwUlfy6p0Hard to hold your head up when you have no spine. https://t.co/5NwUlfy6p0
Writer Jessica ValentiWriter Jessica Valenti
I hope rape survivors confront Jeff Flake in public for the rest of his life.I hope rape survivors confront Jeff Flake in public for the rest of his life.
Journalist Elise HuJournalist Elise Hu
It feels like we're in the last season of AmericaIt feels like we're in the last season of America
John Kennedy, Republican from Louisiana, has called the process an “intergalactic freak show.”John Kennedy, Republican from Louisiana, has called the process an “intergalactic freak show.”
He spends his allotted time roundly criticizing the entire procedure.He spends his allotted time roundly criticizing the entire procedure.
“There were no winners in this room yesterday,” he said. “None. All I saw were two people, two human beings in pain.”“There were no winners in this room yesterday,” he said. “None. All I saw were two people, two human beings in pain.”
Booker has overrun his allotted time and resisted Grassley’s initial calls to wrap it up.
“We should not brush aside her comments,” Booker says.
“We should listen to her. We should listen to women.”
He concludes his statement and walks out of the room.
It is unclear if he will return in 40 minutes for the vote.
Grassley as Sen. Booker speaks in Judiciary Committee - looks like a stopwatch on his phone: pic.twitter.com/tFFq6Nx6Sf
Montana senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, has said he’s voting no on Kavanaugh.
So this is where things stand:
With @SenatorTester and @SenDonnelly coming out as NOs today, and @JeffFlake coming out as a YES, Kavanaugh's nomination is now up to FOUR undecided Senators:1) @SenatorCollins 2) @lisamurkowski 3) @SenatorHeitkamp 4) @Sen_JoeManchin
Democrat Cory Booker, of New Jersey, is now up.
He walked out earlier in protest but is back to use his time in the meeting.
“This is not a partisan moment for our country,” Booker says.
Action is also happening off camera, with senators Flake, a Republican from Arizona, and Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, meeting privately off to the side.
Flake surprised many this morning when he said he would vote yes to Kavanaugh.
Flake just got up and left the hearing room and asked to speak privately to Coons in the ante room. They are close friends; Coons became emotional and upset this AM when he learned about Flake’s support of Kavanaugh
Some pictures of the women who challenged Jeff Flake in the elevator of the Senate building on Capitol Hill. One woman stopped the elevator door from closing and said to Flake: “Look at me when I’m talking to you. You are telling me that my assault doesn’t matter.”
You can read the story here:
US senator Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from Indiana, said he opposes Kavanaugh’s nomination.
He was one of a handful of Democrats who could have swung in favor of Kavanaugh.
“I do not view Supreme Court vacancies through a partisan lens, which is why I have used the same thorough process to evaluate nominees regardless of who the president is at the time. That was the case regarding the nomination of Judge Garland and also when I voted for Justice Gorsuch, who was President Trump’s first nominee. It has remained my approach with Judge Kavanaugh.
The Guardian’s Lucia Graves spoke with three women who accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment about the pain they experienced watching the hearing:
“This is about character and someone who clearly has no respect for women leading our nation and we’ve just let that continue,” says Rachel Crooks, who alleges Trump kissed her forcibly on the lips in 2005. “We should not be surprised he’s nominated Brett Kavanaugh and stood by Roy Moore and other men who have been in similar situations.
For Melinda McGillivray, a Florida resident who was among the first accusers to speak out against Trump, Kavanaugh’s indignation and categorical denials on Thursday carried echoes of the president’s response to her.
“I truly feel like Donald Trump had a big influence on his testimony as to deny, deny, deny,” she said of Kavanaugh’s approach. “The mere fact that she wasn’t granted and FBI investigation is completely misogynistic and political.”
Republican Ted Cruz, of Texas, is speaking about the possibility that Brett Kavanaugh won’t be able to teach law ever again.
The Harvard Crimson, the university newspaper where Kavanaugh has taught as a guest lecturer for more than a decade, reported on the hearing yesterday:
In a letter to this committee, my former students — male and female alike — wrote that I displayed ‘a character that impressed us all,’” Kavanaugh said Thursday. “I loved teaching law. But thanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed, I may never be able to teach again.”
According to several Law School enrollees, students sitting in Harvard Law classrooms Thursday “applauded” and “burst out in cheers” when Kavanaugh said he might never return to a teaching role.
Klobuchar is one of four women on the 21-person senate judiciary committee.
“This is not a ‘he said, she said,’” she says. “This is a ‘he said, they said.’”
Senator Mike Lee, Republican from Utah, retreading a Republican sticking point.
Why wasn’t Ford’s anonymous letter immediately shared with the FBI?
Now for Minnesota Democrat, Amy Klobuchar.
This is interesting. She does not lead on the Ford allegations.
Instead, she talks about Kavanaugh’s writings on executive privilege before moving on to the sexual assault allegation.
Klobuchar says she understands that people are frustrated this process happened late in the process, but says the justice system and what matters is:
“What do you do when it happens? When you are in a position of power?”
Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat from Rhode Island, says he doesn’t believe Kavanaugh’s explanation of his own calendar.
He says the FBI has resources to more seriously investigate the contents of the calendar and what they show about Kavanaugh’s actions that night. He also says a serious investigation would not rely solely on comments as evidence.
“Over time I expect that facts to come out,” Whitehouse says. “Cover-ups never last. The sand is running through Kavanaugh’s hourglass.”