In Kavanaugh Pivot, Flake Certainty Becomes Doubt, Then Delay
- Senate panel had been set to send nomination to full chamber
- Arizona Senator prompted week-long delay for FBI investigation
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Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court went from apparent certainty to open question with a small wave and an anguished meeting between two friends in an anteroom on the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and key vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, had provided the judge crucial momentum earlier in the morning. In a statement issued at his office at 9:26 a.m., Flake said that while he had "as much doubt as certainty" on allegations surrounding Kavanaugh, he had decided to ultimately vote for his confirmation and give him the final vote needed to emerge from Judiciary Committee, which Republicans narrowly control.