Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona refused to support a final confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination until the FBI conducted an investigation. As a result, the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked the White House to order an FBI investigation, which won’t last more than a week, according to statements by Senator Lindsey Graham. The purpose of the FBI investigation is to get more information of whether Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh are true.
According to an interview with Graham conducted by CNN, “A week is enough time for [Flake], maybe less … We’re not playing this game of opening this up and it goes on forever,” said Graham.
The hearing took place Sept. 28, the day after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when she was a teenager.
Even though Flake had released a statement saying he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, it has been said that two female sexual assault victims changed his mind. These two women were protesters who confronted Flake as he got on the elevator to head to the meeting. They told Flake about their experiences and scolded him for standing with Kavanaugh.
“What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a women to sit in the supreme court. This is not tolerable,” one women said on a video recorded by CNN.
According to a video recorded by CNN, another woman told Flake about how she had been sexually assaulted. “You are telling all women in America, that they don’t matter, they should just keep it to themselves because if they have told the truth you are just going to help that man to power anyway,” she said.
During the hearing, Flake said that he will move Kavanaugh to the floor of the Senate as long as the main vote is delayed in order to allow the FBI to run an investigation.
This investigation sparked a lot of controversy because it has brought up a lot emotions for women and men. Not only is there a lack of substantial evidence, but up until the request for the FBI hearing, it has been “he said, she said”. With the me too movement spreading around the United States, women have started to speak out about sexual assaults they have faced and how they were quieted by men in power. Some believe that Ford is lying about her sexual misconduct accusations against Kavanaugh, while others stand with Ford.
