Flake Off!

Jeff Flake's call for a delay in a full Senate vote until a quick FBI investigation can be conducted cornered Republican leadership.

Republican leaders had no choice but to delay a confirmation vote on Brett Kavanaugh and call for an FBI investigation and the consequences could be dire for the nominee.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took the podium and said he would not sustain his support for Kavanaugh unless his nomination was put on ice for a week.

Flake has no authority but his demand carried such political clout that the GOP’s Senate leadership quickly caved.

Mark Zauderer, an appellate lawyer, said Flake’s ultimatum was successful because Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) recognized he was running a high risk of not being able to confirm Kavanaugh.

With a slim 51-49 majority, McConnell can only afford to lose one Republican vote granted that Democrats are able to hold ranks and uniformly vote against him.

Later Friday, President Trump took Republicans up on their request, ordering the FBI to “conduct a supplemental investigation” into claims against Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh’s nomination is likely to be derailed.

“Today the sensitivity to allegations of the kind involved here is much greater than it was over 25 years ago,” Zauderer said.

Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor in Illinois, said the bureau will be able to conduct all the interviews and gather all the records that were blocked by Republicans, who refused to allow testimony from any other witnesses than Ford and Kavanaugh.

“The FBI will interview everyone involved, like Mark Judge for example,” Mariotti said.

“As we saw (Thursday), the committee process is not very productive when it comes to finding out what really happened...” Mariotti said, referencing the testimony from both Ford and Kavanaugh. “FBI agents are neutral and are better at finding facts because they’re not trying to satisfy an agenda.”

“This will send a message to Dr. Ford and other sexual assault victims that when they come forward their claims will be fully investigated,” Mariotti said. “I think that’s a positive development for victims everywhere and the country in general.”