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After the vote, Judicial Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of R-Iowa told Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., "That this is an agreement between men and women." At the end of the day, the decision to defer a roll-call vote for Kavanaugh is the responsibility of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of the R-Ky.
Flake and several other senators who vote for the appointment of Kavanaugh will finally decide the fate of the judge after a long day of testimony on Thursday by a restless Kavanaugh, who defended his honor and integrity, and an emotional Christine Blasey Ford's Kavanaugh's. allegedly sexually assaulted the high school while he was drunk.
After listening to the testimony of Ford and Kavanaugh, Flake issued a statement Friday declaring "to have left the hearing yesterday with so many doubts and certainties".
"What I do know is that our justice system offers a presumption of innocence to the accused, in the absence of corroborating evidence.That is what binds us the rule of law, "Flake said. "While some may argue that a different standard should apply with respect to the Senate's responsibilities for counseling and consent, I believe that the provisions of the Constitution relating to fairness and regular procedure also apply here.
In going to the vote of the committee on the appointment of Kavanaugh, Flake was confronted with a woman who declared to have been a victim of sexual aggression. The cable cameras broadcast the live confrontation while the woman repeatedly told Flake that her vote made her think that her voice and experience did not matter.
"Do not turn away from me," she said. "Look at me and tell me that no matter what happened."
Flake has not responded to the woman in the moment.
There remain two other undecided Republican voices: Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Senator Susan Collins. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin is also undecided. These three senators were huddled against Flake on Thursday night after the hearing. The help of Manchin tweeted that he was still undecided.
The Judiciary Committee's vote was initially scheduled for Friday morning, and after the Democrats failed to force Grassley to call other witnesses to testify, some Democratic members of the committee left the hearing. .
"It's a travesty of what's happening right now, the Democrats are not being heard, they're pushing through this process," said Senator Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Senator Cory Booker, DN.J, delivered a lengthy speech to the committee, highlighting his opposition to Kavanaugh and again calling for a postponement of the vote, but then joined the other Democrats to withdraw after completing .
"This is not a partisan moment, it's a moral moment in our country.That toxic culture, this pernicious patriarchy in this country must stop," said Booker.
But the Democrats did not understand that they would boycott Friday afternoon the vote in committee. "We have not decided yet," Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono told reporters on whether she would sit in the Judiciary Committee hearing room at the time of the vote.
The nomination process at Kavanaugh seems to have resulted in a deep rift between members of opposite sides of the alley. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a normally gay legislator whose reputation is based on bipartisanship, warned that the process of evaluating candidates for the Supreme Court would never be the same.
"This has never been about the truth … it's the beginning of a process that will tear this country apart," Graham said. "And if I'm president next year, if we retain a majority and Senator Grassley moves – and I hope that is not the case because I think he did a good job – I'll remember it, and the process after Kavanaugh. "
A procedural vote was scheduled for Saturday in the Senate, with Republican leaders seeking to hold a final vote in the Senate early next week, but given Flake's concerns, that could now change.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said before the judicial commission vote that the administration believes "things are moving in the right direction" for Kavanaugh's confirmation and that the White House continues to dialogue with undecided senators.
The Democrats were scandalized in their remarks on Friday about the partisan nature of Kavanaugh's reaction, but Shah said Kavanaugh "rightly and correctly emphasized this process."
In the hours following the hearing on Thursday, an undecided Republican voted in favor of Kavanaugh. Senator Bob Corker said in a statement that "although the two people provided convincing evidence, there was no evidence to support this allegation, and there is no doubt that Judge Kavanaugh is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court and in a court of law. political environment, it would be confirmed by an overwhelming majority. "
Meanwhile, two vulnerable Democratic senators amidst tight reelections – Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly and Montana Senator Jon Tester – both announced their opposition to Kavanaugh.
"I have serious reservations about the appointment of Judge Kavanaugh to this post and, as I said, we have not been able to obtain all the necessary information regarding this appointment, "said Donnelly. "While I would welcome the opportunity to work with President Trump on a new candidate for this critically important position, if Judge Kavanaugh's appointment came to the Senate for a vote in these circumstances, I would oppose it. "
Test also stated that he was "deeply concerned about the allegations of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh." Unfortunately, Judge Kavanaugh did not find the time to discuss these concerns with me in person. I will vote against him. "
Donnelly voted in favor of the first Supreme Court nominee of President Trump, now Judge Neil Gorsuch, while Tester opposed him.
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