Sens. Flake and Coons discuss drama that led to call for FBI probe: 'It was quite a moment'


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Women plea with Senator Flake to hear their concerns about confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
USA TODAY


WASHINGTON – GOP Sen. Jeff Flake had a message for his friend Democratic Sen. Chris Coons on Friday when they left a meeting on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination together, just before the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote.


“He said very intently, ‘This is tearing our country apart.’ We have to do something,” said Coons, a Delaware Democrat.


Their meeting would lead to the advancing of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate – but the circuit court judge now faces an FBI inquiry into the sexual assault allegations against him.


In their first interview together since reaching that remarkable compromise, the two senators described on “60 Minutes” Sunday how they agreed on a limited, week-long FBI probe.


More: Analysis: How Jeff Flake seized the spotlight in Kavanaugh confirmation


More: Jeff Flake has managed to frustrate all sides in past 2 years


Coons and Flake met in a tiny hallway outside the Senate meeting, and as other members of the committee got involved in the discussions, the two squeezed into “literally a phone booth that we can barely fit in” to continue discussions with another senator, Coons said.


“It was quite a moment,” Flake said.


Coons had been talking to friends and colleagues about taking a “one week pause, one week only.”


“I was, principally, concerned about helping my friend listen to his doubts and his conscience,” Coons said of Flake. “And I cannot tell you how grateful I am. Jeff’s the hero here.”


If he had been running for re-election, Flake acknowledged, there is “not a chance” that he would have been able to reach an agreement. The Arizona Republican is retiring at the end of this year.


“There’s no value to reaching across the aisle,” Flake said. “There’s no currency for that anymore. There’s no incentive.”


Kavanaugh faces sexual misconduct allegations, including those from Christine Blasey Ford, who testified last week that a drunken Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were in high school. He has vehemently denied all allegations.


After Flake’s call, President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the FBI to reopen its investigation into Kavanaugh’s background after Flake called for the probe.


Earlier on Friday, Flake announced he would vote for Kavanaugh, but he looked shaken after being cornered in an elevator by two sexual assault survivors as he headed to the committee meeting.


“I couldn’t move forward without hitting the pause button,” Flake said on “60 Minutes.” “Because, what I was seeing, experiencing, in an elevator and watching it in committee and just thinking, this is tearing the country apart.”


More: White House is not involved with FBI investigation into Kavanaugh allegations, officials say


More: FBI has contacted Deborah Ramirez about sexual assault allegations by Brett Kavanaugh




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9/28/18 12:13:06 PM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters gather at the United States Supreme Court steps while the Senate Judiciary Committee moves to vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. -- Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff ORG XMIT: JG 137505 Kavanaugh Protes 9/28 (Via OlyDrop)9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. A woman who said she is a survivor of a sexual assault, right, confronts Republican Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake, left, in an elevator after Flake announced that he vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.9/28/18 9:22:27 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Valerie Robertson of Milo, Maine, along with a small group of Maine residents opposed to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, visit the office of Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) asking to meet with their Senator ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. -- 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Capitol Police block the 2nd floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway allowing only select individuals into the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room prior to the vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. epa07054607 Democratic members of the House of Representatives stand up to show disapproval during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 28 September 2018. The committee is poised to vote on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination the day after he and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford both testified on allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh.9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.Protesters line up in a hallway on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 28, 2018 as the vote on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is about to begin. - Kavanaugh's contentious Supreme Court nomination will be put to an initial vote Friday, the day after a dramatic Senate hearing saw the judge furiously fight back against sexual assault allegations recounted in harrowing detail by his accuser. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_19J9ZN


  • 9/28/18 12:13:06 PM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters gather at the United States Supreme Court steps while the Senate Judiciary Committee moves to vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. -- Photo by Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Staff ORG XMIT: JG 137505 Kavanaugh Protes 9/28 (Via OlyDrop)1 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. 2 of 12

  • A woman who said she is a survivor of a sexual assault, right, confronts Republican Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake, left, in an elevator after Flake announced that he vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.3 of 12

  • Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.4 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:22:27 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Valerie Robertson of Milo, Maine, along with a small group of Maine residents opposed to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, visit the office of Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) asking to meet with their Senator ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. -- 5 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Capitol Police block the 2nd floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway allowing only select individuals into the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room prior to the vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.6 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington. 7 of 12

  • epa07054607 Democratic members of the House of Representatives stand up to show disapproval during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 28 September 2018. The committee is poised to vote on Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination the day after he and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford both testified on allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh.8 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.9 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington10 of 12

  • 9/28/18 9:59:14 AM -- Washington, DC, U.S.A -- Protesters are arrested as they sit and block the 2nd floor Dirksen Senate Office Building hallway on the same floor of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 in Washington.11 of 12

  • Protesters line up in a hallway on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 28, 2018 as the vote on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is about to begin. - Kavanaugh's contentious Supreme Court nomination will be put to an initial vote Friday, the day after a dramatic Senate hearing saw the judge furiously fight back against sexual assault allegations recounted in harrowing detail by his accuser. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images ORIG FILE ID: AFP_19J9ZN12 of 12


 


Article source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/08/as-twitter-purges-fake-accounts-trump-asks-whether-ny-times-washington-post-made-list.html


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