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Senate Judiciary Committee to Take Key Vote on Kavanaugh at 1:30 P.M.; Kavanaugh Clears Committee, Floor Vote May Be Delayed Pending FBI Investigation. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 28, 2018 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Will they get to something even more dramatic when it comes to how Jeff Flake had initially said he was going vote? We don't know the answer to that because it is literally happening behind the scenes, behind that dais as we speak.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think delay would be the most likely way they could put pressure on Flake. To ask for delay, to ask him to change his vote. It's something I don't think he would be likely to do. But there would be support for that from Senator Collins, who said Mark Judge needs to be interviewed by the FBI investigators, and maybe for Murkowski or Manchin. Chuck Grassley, his face is priceless right now because he's not sure --

(CROSSTALK)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: It's because time has been of the essence for Chairman Grassley and the White House. They put this on a fast track at every moment and to delay now will represent a very serious setback.

BORGER: And there's Senator Coons, but you see Leahy --

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Senator Whitehouse.

BORGER: -- and Whitehouse and Ben Sasse all having a little conference. And then --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: He is reporting back to the ranking Democrat.

BORGER: He's reporting to her.

BLITZER: He is reporting to Dianne Feinstein --

BORGER: Exactly.

BLITZER: -- the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Apparently, after his conversation with Senator Flake outside in a separate room outside the Judiciary Committee. As far as I know, Senator Flake has not yet returned. I assume once he returns and briefs the chairman and lets him know where he stands -- he announced he will vote in favor of the confirmation. And, Gloria, let's be precise. There are 11 Republicans on the committee and 10 Democrats. If Flake doesn't change his mind -- and I don't think he will. He's made a dramatic announcement -- it would be 11 Republicans in favor and 10 Democrats opposed. And it would go to the full Senate for consideration and there presumably would be a procedural vote as early as tomorrow morning.

BORGER: Right. But if he voted no for the purposes of a delay, wouldn't that change --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: It would change everything.

BISKUPIC: If he's about to change his mind --

BORGER: Change his mind --

BISKUPIC: -- they would postpone this. I don't think they want -- they are not going to want to send -- they have to send this to the floor in one way or another.

BORGER: Could he say, I would still vote for Kavanaugh, but I believe there should be more investigation, and therefore I vote no. And then he can -- I guess Grassley can send it to the floor if it's a tie.

BISKUPIC: They don't actually need the committee vote. That, for example, with Clarence Thomas --

BORGER: Sure.

BISKUPIC: -- it was a split vote --

(CROSSTALK)

BISKUPIC: -- of approval to get to the floor. There are various ways. But Senator Flake is crucial to the overall final vote, too.

BORGER: Right.

BISKUPIC: If he is suddenly saying either no or postpone, that is a momentous development.

BLITZER: There's 51 Republicans in the U.S. Senate, 49 Democrats and two are Independents but they caucus with the Democrats, 59-49. Now Flake decided he is going to vote in the favor of the nomination. To moderate Democrats who are up for reelection in the red-states, states, Joe Donnelly, of Indiana, John Tester, of Montana, said they would vote against this candidate for the Supreme Court.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Looks like they are walking out right now. At least some of them.

(CROSSTALK) BORGER: -- caucusing or something.

BLITZER: This vote, which was supposed to begin some three minutes ago, clearly is not going to happen at 1:30. They are now moving out and talking amongst themselves and they have deliberations going on.

Mark Short is with us as well. Mark was the political commentator -- he's a CNN political commentator, former White House director of legislative affairs.

I have no idea if you have inside information, Mark. But go ahead and tell us what you know.

MARK SHORT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's what you reported, Wolf. All eyes are on Flake. When you have such a narrow majority, then every member has enormous leverage to slow down the process.

When we talk about how much this process is rushed, is the commentary, I think it's important to note that Sotomayor got confirmed from the day she was announced, confirmation, 65 days. Gorsuch, 66 days. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 32 days. Those are modern confirmations. This has gone well past that. We talked about it being rushed. I know people were saying it's because of the new allegations coming forward, but the allegations came forward in July, that the Senate Democrats held on to until September. I have a concern about people continuing to say this is being rushed when it's taken more time than some of the most recent confirmations.

BLITZER: What would be the big deal, Mark, if they waited a week, one week --

SHORT: Sure.

BLITZER: -- and let the FBI question the so-called witnesses and report back to the Senate Judiciary Committee? Another week is not going to make much of a difference in terms of the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

[13:35:00] SHORT: That's fair, Wolf. But that's a motivation for people who want to come forward with unsubstantiated allegations that have political motivations in mind. That's the primary concern of having this drag on another week. That's a valid concern. When you have gone through six different background checks, going back to your 20s, if anyone has gone through this sort of investigation, they ask your neighbors where you grew up, families you lived with and were part of, and can ask what was this person like growing up, and did you ever encounter problems? The fact that Brett Kavanaugh has 30 years of public service and all sorts of public records and six different background checks that are clear, adds weight to the notion that it's time to move this forward.

BLITZER: There you see Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat, and Amy Klobuchar, another Democratic member of the committee. Looks like they're walking out. They'll be doing huddling outside this room. Orrin Hatch, you see him right there. Dana, you covered Congress for a long time. It looks like something potentially significant is unfolding behind the scenes right now. This vote has been delayed.

Maybe Chuck Grassley is now about to sit back down. He was just outside. Let's see if he says anything.

But go ahead, Dana.

BASH: I'm told there are active discussions going on. Unclear what will happen. It is clearly dramatic, and this is from a source who is familiar with what's going on as we speak. We don't know what the discussions are about and what they are trying to get towards. When I say they, those clearly talking to Jeff Flake, figuring out how to move him from his stated position that he put out in a very official way in a press release saying he would not vote -- excuse me, that he would confirm Judge Kavanaugh. He said, "I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh." That was his clear position. There was no wiggle room there in that statement.

But things have changed. You can see it on the faces of the Republicans --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: -- who want to get this vote done quickly. They are not very happy. It's understandable given the position they have taken.

(CROSSTALK)

BISKUPIC: Can I remind you when this vote was scheduled? It was scheduled before the hearing occurred.

BASH: It was.

BISKUPIC: Which is --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Chairman Grassley just left the room. That's not a good sign. The chairman of the committee just walked out.

Is he back?

BLITZER: It looks like he is walking back in.

BASH: He's walking back in.

(CROSSTALK)

BISKUPIC: I want to respond about the numbers. That's correct, but in terms of the process for this individual candidate, they held the hearings before the National Archives was able to go through the records. And again, with this vote scheduled before they had the hearing yesterday. That's what I mean by time has been of the essence for the White House and they have not wanted to pause for better or for worse. That's the consequence that we are seeing here. Jeff Flake came out with a statement a couple of hours ago, and right after he came out with that statement, he is cornered at the elevator. We have seen it play out. We are all aware of the context, not just with Christine Blasey Ford's testimony yesterday, but the larger context of what this represents for women's rights and important social issues at the Supreme Court, which is a backdrop to all of this, which is why there's so much more drama not just in this crucial moment at eight minutes past when they were going to hold the vote, but for the consequences of a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court.

BORGER: We have seen delays plenty of times in Senate committees. That occurs all the time. What is different about this is you have members on one side sitting with their hands crossed with glum faces looking as the Democrats have clearly left the room, caucusing about something quite urgent, it would seem.

BLITZER: I want to go to Lauren Fox, our reporter on Capitol Hill.

Lauren, what are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Wolf, there were widespread protests across Capitol Hill and at the Supreme Court this morning. I was at one of the protests. It was energized. Folks were sitting on the floor, chanting that November is coming. They were blowing whistles so loudly that capitol police were going one by one and taking the whistles out of their hands. That is the kind of energy on Capitol Hill today. There's so much pressure. Gloria talked about that moment with Jeff Flake earlier. I think that was such a pertinent moment. It has something to do with what we may be seeing in the Senate Judiciary Committee room.

But it is a powerful time. I talked to a group of about two dozen women who got on a bus in Portland, Maine, and came all the way to Washington, D.C. And got in at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Had a meeting in Susan Collins's office. Five women, sexual assault survivors, were escorted to the capital to meet with Susan Collins, to tell her their stories. Obviously, a powerful moment. For Senators on the fence, they were hearing from constituents, and sometimes quietly, sometimes loudly, as we saw with the protesters.

Obviously, so much energy and so much passion as liberals and people who are part of the Democratic base are urging Senators not to support Brett Kavanaugh and not to vote for him and allow his nomination to move forward -- Wolf?

[13:40:38] BLITZER: They are still deliberating behind closed doors outside the Senate Judiciary Committee. Looks like some of the members are leaving. They were supposed to vote about 10 minutes or so ago. Clearly there's some disruption and a plan that the Republican majority clearly wanted.

Dana, the schedule that Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, wanted to pass it at 11-10 this morning. It's now the afternoon. And then for there to be an important procedural vote on the Senate floor tomorrow, setting the stage early next week for a final roll call for all 100 members of the Senate. BASH: That's exactly right. The strategy all along, as Joan has

said, has been frankly to jam this, which is why you have seen so many Democrats understandably up in arms. Never mind, even if this -- I know Mark Short said this is keeping with other nominees, but given the situation that they are in right now, and given the calendar we are seeing that the midterm elections in less than six weeks, time is of the essence for the Republican majority to get this done sooner rather than later. The fact that there's a question mark right now about what is going on, even though, an hour ago, the votes were there in a very public way. All the 11 Republicans said we are going to vote yes.

BORGER: Flake did not speak.

BASH: Flake had not spoken, but he put out a written statement saying that.

BORGER: We don't know.

BASH: We don't know. It's very, very dramatic. And Manu is hearing from sources and I, too, am hearing that these are active discussions with Jeff Flake. We don't know what form or shape or tone or tenor those active discussions are. We are just going to keep watching and waiting and trying to get it from our sources. It seems to be second by second, minute by minute developing situation.

BLITZER: You can see the anguish the Republicans -- you see Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley, the chairman, are not pleased there's a set back to their plan. Chuck Grassley, having covered him for many years, when he said 1:30, there will be a roll call and the hearing will start at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m., it starts within a minute or two. He is very, very precise. He is not happy about this nearly 15-minute delay right now. Clearly, he doesn't have a lot of choice.

Phil Mattingly is on Capitol Hill.

What are you hearing, Phil?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the interesting element here is how few people have any idea what's going on, Wolf. On Capitol Hill, it's usually pretty easy to find out what's happening or get a degree of the sense of things. Staff from the leadership level on down is out of the loop right now.

Here's what we know. I know Dana and Manu have been talking about this. I have been hearing this from sources. These discussions do involve Jeff Flake, who walked out of the hearing room about an hour ago or so now with Senator Chris Coons. All of the Democrats had gone back into the ante room to have discussions as well. At one point, Mike Davis, the chief nominations counsel for Senator Chuck Grassley, went up and got him and brought him back as well. The conversations are ongoing. What they entail, we are not sure right now.

I think Dana makes the key point that before this started, Jeff Flake put out a statement. That is concrete. That's what I have been hearing from the Republicans. What is it going on here? He put out a statement that he walked into the room, at some point during the course of events, something came up, he left the room. We have seen people filing back and forth. And it looked for a time that he ended up leaving the room and coming back into the hearing room.

What we know is Jeff Flake is involved in discussions. Democratic Senators have been filing back and forth and several Republican Senators have been filing back and forth as well. The chairman has gone back a couple of times as well and the chairman's key staff is there. Something is happening. We don't know what it is or what will result in. But the fact that the conversations are happening at all, particularly, given the fact that Senator Flake put out that very definitive statement, even though he was so trouble and torn about this nomination for the last couple of days, it shows you that something is clearly happening right now -- Wolf?

[13:45:04] BLITZER: Stand by, Phil.

Dana is getting information from her sources.

What are you hearing, Dana?

BASH: I am told by a source familiar with what is going is that there are serious conversations underway about how and whether a brief additional investigation could be done by the FBI and a vote to be delayed by no more than one week. Those are the discussions that are going on right now behind the scenes with Jeff Flake and others. Conversations about a potential FBI investigation that the Democrats have been screaming from the roof tops that they need and wanted and think they need and deserve. No more than a week delay. Again, those are the parameters of the discussions. Unclear if the Democrats will get there.

Oh, there's Jeff Flake. We will probably know the answer shortly.

BLITZER: Jeff Flake is now back in the room. The other Senators, the Democratic Senators are walking back. You see Senator Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat. Jeff Flake will go to his seat. Let's see if he makes a statement and delivers a speech before the roll call, if there's going to be a roll call. Let's see if there's a delay in all of this.

Chuck Grassley heading back presumably as well to his seat and see if he gavels the session back into order. Dramatic developments are unfolding. And we're staying on top of it.

Dana, as we watch this unfold, what you said, the discussions for a week delay, let the FBI do some background checking, that's what the Democrats have been asking for days and days.

BASH: Yes.

BLITZER: The Republicans repeatedly rejected that. You heard Mitch McConnell reject it and Chuck Grassley reject it and Orrin Hatch reject it --

BASH: And -- BLITZER: -- the senior leadership, John Cornyn all rejecting it. The only reason they may be open to it is if they don't have the 50 votes.

BASH: It's all about math,. It's all about math.

BLITZER: Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are two key Republicans that are still undecided.

BASH: They are, but they also have to get it out committee. They --

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Yes, but let's say they call Murkowski or Collins or whoever it is and say, look, you have to get it out of committee. That's the first step.

BASH: Yes.

BORGER: If they say to Murkowski and Collins, we are proposing this, what do you think?

BASH: Are you with us?

BORGER: Are you with us? That makes it more muscular. They are very important. Joe Manchin, for example. So who knows who is calling whom at this particular point to see if they are on board with this. I heard yesterday that Senator Murkowski really wanted a short delay to make up her mind. And Collins said to journalists that she's still undecided.

BASH: Yes.

BLITZER: Let's go back to Manu. He's up at the hearing room.

What are you hearing, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right. The members are waiting to see what will happen. The discussions, Wolf, are happening in the door next to where the hearing is taking place. Multiple members have been shuttling back and forth between the hearing room and the holding room next door to have discussions with Jeff Flake. When Jeff Flake emerged moments ago. It was the first time we had gone in, in more than an hour. He has been -- after Chris Coons, his close friend, made remarks, he went over to him afterwards and gestured him to go to the back of the room. They had a discussion. Coons had multiple discussions with Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat, who had discussions with Chuck Grassley. This discussion about where they could delay the vote is very serious right now. It's happening. The chairman, Chuck Grassley, may be making remarks momentarily. We may get a sense of what is happening. But this vote was supposed to happen at 1:30, and clearly something very significant has come up about delaying the vote and the concerns Jeff Flake has had, privately and publicly. We will see if the Republicans agree to do that or if Flake withholds his support right now. A lot of drama and a lot of uncertainty.

BLITZER: Hold on --

RAJU: It's very tense.

BLITZER: -- Manu.

It looks like he's about to speak. Looks like he turned on that microphone. I think he's just waiting, Chuck Grassley, for some members to be seated.

Let's listen in. I think he's about to begin.

(GAVEL)

GRASSLEY: I recessed the meeting until the fall of the gavel. We're going to take action with a motion that's before us. We got to make sure that we have a quorum.

[13:50:39] SEN. JEFF FLAKE, (R), ARIZONA: (INAUDIBLE)

GRASSLEY: As a point of personal privilege, I'm going to call on Senator Flake to speak. Normally, we would start the vote right now. But as a point of personal privilege, I would call on Senator Flake.

FLAKE: Thank you.

I have been speaking with a number of people on the other side. We had conversations ongoing for a while with regard to making sure that we do due diligence here. And I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the FBI continue to do an investigation, limited in time and scope to the current allegations that are there, and limited in time to no more than one week. And I will vote to advance the bill to the floor with that understanding.

And I've spoken to a few other members who are on my side of the aisle that may be supportive as well. But that's my position. I think that we ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important.

And I want to say that this committee has acted properly. And the chairman has bent over backwards to do investigations from this committee, and to delay this vote in this committee for a week so that judge -- or so that Mrs. Ford, Dr. Ford, could be heard, and she was yesterday. So that's -- with that agreement, I will vote to advance the bill to the floor.

GRASSLEY: The clerk will call roll.

(CROSSTALK)

FLAKE: Wait just one second. Can Dianne speak?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: What are we voting on?

(CROSSTALK)

GRASSLEY: We are voting on the motion to report the nomination to the floor.

The clerk will call the roll.

(CROSSTAKL)

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Aye.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, (D), CALIFORNIA: Wait, that's not my understanding of what -- Mr. Chairman, let the Senator explain it.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Mr. Chairman?

(CROSSTALK)

FLAKE: My understanding and the Democrats can speak to it, if Chris or you as we talked about before, that the Democrats would accept and endorse a one-week FBI investigation limited in time and scope.

FEINSTEIN: That is correct.

GRASSLEY: Since you're the deciding vote here, we'll vote, and then if there's any sort of discussion, we'll go do that after the vote.

Call the roll.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED SNEATOR: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Graham?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Cornyn?

REP. JOHN CORNYN, (R), TEXAS: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Lee?

SEN. MIKE LEE, (R), UTAH: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Cruz?

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Flake?

FLAKE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Crapo?

SEN. MIKE CRAPO, (R), IDAHO: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Tillis?

SEN. THOM TILLIS, (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Kennedy?

SEN. JOHN NEELY KENNEDY, (R), LOUISIANA: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Ms. Feinstein?

FEINSTEIN: On the nominee, no.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Leahy?

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D), VERMONT: On the nominee, no.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Durbin?

SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D), ILLINOIS: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Whitehouse?

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, (D), RHODE ISLAND: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Ms. Klobuchar?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, (D), MINNESOTA : No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Coons?

SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D), DELAWARE: For the nominee, no.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Blumenthal?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, (D), CONNECTICUT: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mrs. Hirono?

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, (D), HAWAII: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Booker?

SEN. CORY BOOKER, (D), NEW JERSEY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Ms. Harris?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D), CALIFORNIA: No.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Chairman?

GRASSLEY: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED CLERK: Mr. Chairman, the votes are 11 yeas and 10 nays.

GRASSLEY: The nominee will be reported to the floor.

COONS: Mr. Chairman, may I be recognized? GRASSLEY: Yes.

COONS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I just want to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Flake.

And thank you for giving us the time today to have a conversation.

A number of my colleagues have asked for a one-week delay in order that there might be an FBI investigation of what allegations are currently before this committee. I respect Senator Flake's view in his opinion it was best to respect your having given Dr. Ford the time to be heard yesterday and advance the nominee to the floor. But it is my hope that we could work together on a bipartisan basis to diligently pursue an FBI investigation within the next week, not for the purpose of delay, but for the purpose of investigating further either allegations made by Dr. Ford or others with a goal towards demonstrating a bipartisan commitment to diligently investigating these allegations.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Flake.

[13:55:10] GRASSLEY: Senator Feinstein?

FEINSTEIN: Thank you.

I would support that motion. I think we do need this investigation.

As a matter of fact, I sort of misunderstood, Senator Flake, what you were doing. I thought it included a one-week investigation.

So I would like to support the motion for that investigation.

GRAHAM: Mr. Chairman?

LEAHY: Mr. Chairman?

GRASSLEY: We'll take turns here.

Senator?

GRAHAM: I love this committee but we're not the majority leader. Senator Flake has made clear what it would take him to be comfortable on a final passage vote. It doesn't matter what we say here. This will be up to Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell, so.

FLAKE: It is completely up to them.

GRAHAM: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Mr. Chairman?

GRAHAM: He's made himself very clear --

GRASSLEY: Senator --

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: -- and let's move.

GRASSLEY: Senator Leahy? Senator Leahy?

LEAHY: Mr. Chairman, I want to make sure, because this is somewhat unprecedented. When I do agree with the Senator from Arizona that we should have this further investigation. So my understanding is that during the week that that is taking place, there will be no action on the floor of the United States Senate on this nomination. Is that correct?

(CROSSTALK)

GRASSLEY: I cannot say that.

(CROSSTALK)

FLAKE: Let me say again, I can't make that commitment for the leadership. I can only say that I would be only comfortable moving forward on the floor or move it out of committee, but I would only be comfortable moving on the floor until the FBI has done more investigation than they have already. It may not take them a week. I understand that some of these witnesses may not want to discuss anything further, but I think we owe them due diligence.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Mr. Chairman?

KLOBUCHAR: Mr. Chairman?

GRASSLEY: Just a minute.

All I have said to Senator Flake is that I would advocate for the position he took, but I don't control that.

Senator?

KLOBUCHAR: Mr. Chairman.

GRASSLEY: Yes, Senator Klobuchar?

KLOBUCHAR: Mr. Chairman, there are other Senators as well who may be interested in this negotiation on the Republican side, and there's not really a set agreement here. All of us had already said we were voting no. It is simply Senator Flake working with all of us to say, for the good of the Senate and the good of the court, the American people deserve to have the facts followed up on. And I really appreciate his willingness to do that. And that is what this is about. This is simply about -

(CROSSTALK)

KLOBUCHAR: And, by the way, if Senator McConnell wants to go forward in light of that, and we still have several Senators that haven't said how they're voting on this nominee, I actually think this is very important what just happened right now.

(CROSSTALK)

KLOBUCHAR: So it doesn't have to have an agreement. It is one Senator who is standing up.

GRASSLEY: Senator Cornyn?

CORNYN: Mr. Chairman, I just want to express my appreciation to Senator Flake for allowing this process to move forward. There's some difference of opinion among us as to what exactly the FBI investigation would consist of. Some of us think it has been concluded and supplemented by this committee's investigation. Others disagree with that. But I respect the fact that not only Senator Flake advocated to give Dr. Ford a chance to appear in front of the committee, which was the right thing to do, but also that he's allowed this process to move forward, subject to further discussions about what the FBI may or may not be able to come up with. But certainly, he maintains his right to cast his vote, yea or nay, as he sees fit and maintains significant leverage that way. But I appreciate his support for a full and fair hearing for Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh, as well as his willingness to allow this to go forward subject to his request.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: Mr. Chairman?

BLUMENTHAL: Mr. Chairman?

GRASSLEY: Senator Blumenthal, I think I ought to call on Senator Feinstein.

FEINSTEIN: If I, through the chair, could ask a question of Senator Flake.

Does your amendment include continuing the investigation during this period of time?

FLAKE: If I could respond, there's no amendment. I'm simply stating the discussion that we had between us all is that I would hope, and I think we had some agreement before, that the Democrats who have been, I think, justifiably uncomfortable moving ahead, could publicly, in an effort to bring this country together, say that we would feel better. I'm not expecting them to vote yes, but not to complain that an FBI investigation has not occurred. This is what I'm trying to do. This country is being ripped apart here. And we've got to make sure that we do due diligence. I think this committee has done a good job.