Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a swing vote in the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh who called for the week-long delay, has conceded that the FBI investigation into the allegations of sexual assault against the SCOTUS nominee found no corroborating evidence to support Christine Blasey Ford’s claims.
According to The Hill, Flake announced that he agrees with his colleague Sen. Susan Collins (R-MN) that the FBI investigation was thorough. He also added that they found nothing.
“I think Susan Collins was quoted saying it was very thorough but no new corroborative information came out of it. That’s accurate,” Flake told reporters after reviewing the FBI report on Thursday.
“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.
“Thus far we’ve seen no new credible corroboration, no new corroboration at all,” he said.
Though Flake has remained undecided, his tone has consistently stood in the Kavanaugh camp despite his calling for an FBI investigation last Friday. This week, as Democrats were trying to say that Kavanaugh lied under oath about his drinking, Flake even came to the judge’s defense.
“That’s obviously difficult to judge what constitutes drinking in excess. I’m not sure how to quite judge that ― especially for this Mormon,” Flake told NBC. “If he misled the committee in that way, that’s something that is not right and shouldn’t happen, can’t happen. We’ll have to look at what the FBI comes back with. I don’t want to prejudge.”
Flake still has not stated he will vote “Yes” on Kavanaugh this week; however, his latest announcement shows promising signs.