Senator Flake, thank you very much for letting common sense over partisanship prevail! So, although he voted yes for Kav to get him majority in committee to allow for a full Senate vote, he remarked just before that he will not vote yes in the full Senate vote unless a weeklong FBI investigation is first done. Flake knows he has a lot of leverage in the full vote as his no vote will mean fewer than 50 votes based on just hearing that Sen Murkowski supports the weeklong delay. This was an absolutely brilliant move on the side of common sense.
They reported the allegations up the food chain to Trump, and he has to request the further investigation. I would be surprised if Trump requested they investigate, despite the "understanding" Flake was part of.
I doubt very much that Trump will ask the FBI to follow through on Flake's request, despite the "understanding" that led Flake to approve Kavanaugh for the floor vote.
....stranger things have happened
Senator McConnell now knows that he will not have 50 yes Senate votes if an FBI weeklong investigation isn’t first done. Knowing that, he’ll ask Trump to approve the FBI investigation. Trump will then have to approve it because he’ll then know that not doing so means Kav doesn’t get approved by full Senate. Absolutely one of the most brilliant political moves I’ve seen in decades.
This is good for both sides. If the FBI discovers enough to allow one to conclude that Kav actually did commit sexual assault, he’s going to be defeated after the weeklong delay by Flake, Murkowski, and possibly others who join the Dems, which to me would be a win for our country and would quite possibly end up being better for even the GOP (believe it or not) as regards the opinion of the American electorate. If the FBI doesn’t find out enough to support Dr. Ford’s allegations, then Kav is cleared (which would be great for Kav and his family) and he’d easily get a majority, possibly including some Dems! I’d then also be in favor of Kav at that point.
Trump approved the FBI investigation as I expected due to having his back to the wall. Also, he actually sounded extra civil today regarding remarks on Ford's testimony. Even that was a breath of fresh air. Was a spell cast on Washington today??
As bad as I felt yesterday due to partisanship dominating the atmosphere, today was the polar opposite for me. What a great day for America. Admittedly, the drama made it as riveting a day on the US political front as any I can recall outside of elections (especially the 2016 major upset and the incredibly close 2000) and the drama surrounding John McCain during last year's Obamacare vote.
peace
I agree Larry,
From the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/us/politics/jeff-flake-protesters-kavanaugh.html
Mr. Flake is obviously a very good person.
While we wait for the results of the FBI investigation, there will be other allegations coming forward...........which is what the Dems are hoping for.
I believe that Judge K is lying about never having blacked out while drunk and he had enough incidents...not crimes but drunken incidents (when a youth) that people wanting to get some attention or to hurt him will come forward with and the media will fall over themselves to cover it.
That's not even counting the fraudulent stuff like what was presented by the porn star lawyer with a client that said Judge K was at 10 different parties when he was in high school, where they drugged and raped women.
Even if he comes back squeaky clean, like he did after the first 6 thorough background checks from the FBI, no dems will vote for him. They only want to stop him. They have been granted another week with the opportunity to try to do that, thanks to a republican with a big heart and conscience.
On Dr. Ford. Nobody would dare say anything against her or be lambasted for being insensitive to a woman that had a traumatic experience 36 years ago but she lied about several things in her testimony.
I will only mention this one, as to not appear to be calloused(what she states could have happened) Stating that she could not come out to the hearings the Republicans wanted right away because of her fear of flying for instance. Turns out that she has a hobby of surfing and has recently traveled to Hawaii, Coast Rica, South Pacific Islands and French Polynesia to surf as well as many times for her work...........and to the Washington area, where she took a lie detector test on this topic..................waaaaay back on August 7th.
She was working with somebody back then(in addition to the corrupt Feinstein), preparing for this. She did not want to come out right away because it would mess up the plan to delay the confirmation vote.
Maybe she is telling the truth about what happened. However, when you bust somebody telling a lie on part of the story, then how can you believe the rest of it?
Both those that testified yesterday provided convincing testimony but they both lied about some stuff too.
I have to add that Judge K almost HAD to deny having black outs or lapses in memory while drinking. To admit that, would have caused every dem to insist that he could have done this while drunk and not remembered it. He knows it and they know it. He has to remember every moment in his testimony or else he's vulnerable.
As a previously active drinker that did lots of dumb things, while drinking in my youth and had many black outs, I insist based on what we know about Judge K. that he had more than a few black outs.
It will be interesting to see all the new stuff that shows up in the media over the next week and I'll bet it ties in with drinking.
Have we heard the end of this?
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/michael-avenatti-identifies-kavanaugh-accuser-as-julie-swetnick.html
... why is Swetnick who is: 3 years older, graduated high school and now in college ....going back to high school parties for 15-year olds and is allegedley pulled a train on... AND then goes back to 9 more of the the alleged, high school, drunken orgies ???.... PPpppppffffttttt.....
SHE IS THE ONLY ADULT AT THE PARTY AND IS GOING BACK FOR MORE>>>>
SHE IS SEEKING SEX WITH MINORS
ohhhh brilliant move...right ...brilliant. .just proves how easy a flake gets played by a bunch of the most evil people who ever walked the face of the earth. end of it, sure what a laugh, how you and flake be o naïve as to trust a bunch who went to lows nobody could dream
mcfarm,
I disagree with your characterization of Jeff Flake. He was doing the right thing and was one of the few looking at it from a point of view that was not completely one sided.
His move is actually brilliant in numerous ways, including for the Republicans.
The worst thing possible would have been having Judge K. confirmed on a totally partisan basis, with 100% of the Democrats against it and all of them calling for another FBI investigation that the Republicans refused to do and the president refused to order. They would have continued to insist that it was a big cover up and for the rest of this man's career as Supreme Court Judge, half the people in this country would have insisted this. Half the people would also feel even more bitter and had even more reason to hate Trump and the republicans, who pushed thru this person that they are convinced committed this horrible crime.
There could be only 1 way to negate this. Do the FBI investigation. I will guess that it will not come back with a definitive answer(both sides will still insist on their position) but doing the investigation has completely disarmed the dems with their strongest narrative/talking point. At the hearings, every single dem insisted on this investigation. It's been granted.
If it doesn't show, new conclusive evidence that Judge K committed a crime and the dems continue to try to block the confirmation..............who looks bad? Who looks good?
If it does show new conclusive evidence, then we should be glad too. It means the investigation was probably a good thing. Ideally, they would not just investigate 36 years ago and Judge K but also the strange set of circumstances that led up to this being reported the way that it was.
In order to have complete faith in the honestly of this report, we must be able to track the actions of the person reporting it to show she acted authentically in the manner described with no contradictions, at any point. Failure to do this by the FBI, is not properly establishing the credibility of the witness. We should also know the circumstances that led to this coming out the way that it did that extend beyond the power of the Dr. Ford.
Determining whether Judge K did this or not is the priority but determining why and how he is being accused of doing this should also be a priority. An accusing entity that has an ulterior motive cannot be deemed as credible as one that is objective.
What nobody wants, is bad stuff coming out AFTER he is confirmed with no investigation.............which the media would broadcast round the clock and be the biggest disaster for a supreme court judge in history. Judge K would be attacked constantly for the rest of his career.
This additional investigation allows his supporters to take the high road and say "look you guys, we did everything that you asked for and then something extra, you just don't like this guy"
I'm strongly with Larry on this being a smart decision. It even made Trump look good for once.
Ideally, it will help both sides move towards each other, instead of farther away!
Because we aren't going to waste time investigating that absurd accusation.
After reading the idiotic posts, I am shaking my head.
A man works hard, graduates at the top of his class repeatedly including playing sports, is universally liked by everyone he knows, has served on the second highest court in the land for 12 years and you stupid imbeciles want to crucify him for an unsubstantiated accusation when he was 17 years old that didn't involve intercourse.
I can't express adequately my disgust for you empty headed cretins.
finis ... not falling for an asterik ending...
The Man Is A U.S. Citizen... HE HAS EQUAL RIGHTS ALSO !!!
The problem with an investigation is that there is nothing to investigate. We don't even know when or where the alleged incident occured. It's an obvious ploy by the left and giving credence to an obviously absurd charge is a waste of time and money. It also sets a precedent that will allow, even encourage this sort of nonesense again and again.