With the FBI uncovering no shocking details about Brett Kavanaugh’s youth, it appears his confirmation will happen in the next few days.
Sen. Jeff Flake, a key swing Republican vote, said today that a new FBI report on Kavanaugh has failed to corroborate Christine Blasey Ford‘s allegation of sexual assault against the Supreme Court nominee.
Flake said there was nothing in the FBI’s supplementary background check to corroborate the claims from Ford, which threw Kavanaugh’s nomination into turmoil starting last month.
“Thus far we’ve seen no new credible corroboration, no new corroboration at all. I think Susan Collins was quoted saying it was very thorough but no new corroborative information came out of it. That’s accurate” he said.
Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski are the two Republican senators who are undecided on Kavanaugh.
Flake announced his support for Kavanaugh last week, after he forced his fellow Republicans into a week-long delay, and he is signaling his position has not changed.
“I wanted this pause, we’ve had this pause. We’ve had the professionals, the FBI, determine — given the scope that we gave them, current credible allegations — to go and do their review which they’ve done,” Flake said.
West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is also reportedly “leaning yes” according to Hill reporters.
Manchin is one of two red state Democrats — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota being the other — who have yet to take a public position on Kavanaugh.
It’s clear Manchin doesn’t want to be the 50th vote for Kavanaugh, but it seems like he’d be OK with being the 51st or 52nd, barring any new developments.
The U.S. Senate will move ahead on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination with a procedural vote expected Friday.
The Senate could then take a final vote on his nomination as early as Saturday.