Washington (CNN) -- Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation was suddenly thrown into doubt Friday after Republicans and the White House agreed to a one-week delay so that the FBI can investigate sexual assault allegations facing President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
"I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file," Trump said in a statement. "As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week."
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake first made the demand for the FBI probe after a chaotic scene at a Judiciary Committee meeting in which the panel advanced Kavanaugh by a 11-10 party line vote. Swing votes Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin subsequently backed an FBI investigation before they'll vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, said there would still be a procedural vote to move ahead with Kavanaugh's confirmation in the Senate on Saturday, with an agreement for the FBI investigation. The Judiciary Committee said the FBI should investigate "current credible allegations" against Kavanaugh, but it is unclear which allegations the committee considers credible.
The tumult came just hours after Kavanaugh appeared to be on solid footing, with Republicans rallying to his side after his denials of Christine Blasey Ford's allegation in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegations against him. In a statement Friday, he said he would "continue to cooperate" with the FBI.
"Throughout this process, I've been interviewed by the FBI, I've done a number of 'background' calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me," Kavanaugh said. "I've done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate."
Friday's dramatic events follow wrenching, partisan hearing Thursday where Christine Blasey Ford detailed her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh and he vehemently denied them.
Ford's attorney welcomed the new investigation but criticized the time frame.
"A thorough FBI investigation is critical to developing all the relevant facts," said Debra Katz. "Dr. Christine Blasey Ford welcomes this step in the process, and appreciates the efforts of Senators Flake, Murkowski, Manchin and Collins -- and all other senators who have supported an FBI investigation -- to ensure it is completed before the Senate votes on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination. No artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation."
Kavanaugh, a Republican who played a lead role in the Ken Starr investigation of Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct and later worked in former President George W. Bush's White House, is a DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge. He would replace the retiring Supreme Court swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, possibly cementing a conservative majority for a generation.
Flake changes his mind
On Friday morning, Flake -- who had been seen as one of three swing votes in a Republican caucus that can only afford to lose one vote -- announced he would support Kavanaugh's confirmation.
Then, on the way to the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing room, he was involved in a dramatic confrontation, when two protesters blocked Flake's elevator. By voting to confirm Kavanaugh, "you're telling me that my assault doesn't matter," one tearfully told him live on CNN, as Flake listened and nodded.
Inside the committee room an hour from Friday's scheduled 1:30 p.m. vote, Flake tapped his friend Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, on the shoulder, and the two retreated to a private anteroom. It set off an hour of frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations, as questions about whether Flake had changed his mind hovered.
"Jeff said, 'I'm concerned that we are tearing the country apart,'" Coons told CNN. "That the powerful testimony of Dr. Ford did not seem to be taken seriously and investigated -- and that Judge Kavanaugh and his family were distraught by allegations that weren't credible."
When Flake emerged, he announced his position: He'd vote for Kavanaugh Friday -- giving the committee an 11-10 majority to send him on to the Senate floor -- but wouldn't vote for him in the full Senate unless the FBI could investigate first.
"We ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important," he said.
There was no guarantee at the time an FBI probe would happen, however.
"This is all gentlemen's and women's agreement," Grassley said after the vote to committee members.
Before Flake's maneuver, Senate Republican leaders appeared Friday morning to have 49 solid yes votes, one shy of the 50 they need to confirm Kavanaugh -- meaning they could lose one Republican and have Vice President Mike Pence break a potential tie.
Dramatic committee meeting
Shortly after the vote time was set by committee Republicans on Friday in a meeting that started at 9:30 a.m. and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley began reading a statement praising Kavanaugh, California Sen. Kamala Harris led several Democrats in walking out of the hearing room. She was joined by Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal, Hawaii's Mazie Hirono, Rhode Island's Sheldon Whitehouse, and later, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy.
"From top to bottom this has been about bullies," Harris told reporters outside the committee room. "Dr. Ford came in and she poured out her heart. She cooperated with the process. She gave the process dignity and respect. The least we could do is give her the dignity and respect of a process that has credibility."
"I'm not going to participate in this charade anymore," Hirono said.
Republicans responded angrily, saying they believed Kavanaugh's denial of Ford's allegation.
"I'm a single white male from South Carolina, and I'm told I should just shut up, but I will not shut up," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Friday.
He said he feels sorry for Ford, "but I don't believe it was Brett Kavanaugh" who assaulted her.
"Everything I know about Judge Kavanaugh screams that this didn't happen," Graham said.
Wrenching hearing
"From top to bottom this has been about bullies," Harris told reporters outside the committee room. "Dr. Ford came in and she poured out her heart. She cooperated with the process. She gave the process dignity and respect. The least we could do is give her the dignity and respect of a process that has credibility."
"I'm not going to participate in this charade anymore," Hirono said.
Republicans responded angrily, saying they believed Kavanaugh's denial of Ford's allegation.
"I'm a single white male from South Carolina, and I'm told I should just shut up, but I will not shut up," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said Friday.
He said he feels sorry for Ford, "but I don't believe it was Brett Kavanaugh" who assaulted her.
"Everything I know about Judge Kavanaugh screams that this didn't happen," Graham said.
Wrenching hearing
"I've never done this," Kavanaugh said of Ford's assault charge. "It's not who I am. I am innocent."
Late Thursday night, the American Bar Association took the extraordinary step of recommending the Senate Judiciary Committee pause on Kavanaugh's nomination until a FBI probe into the allegations is completed. The association had previously given Kavanaugh a unanimous "well-qualified" rating, its highest rating.
"The basic principles that underscore the Senate's constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI," said Robert Carlson, president of the organization, in a Thursday night letter.
"Each appointment to our nation's Highest Court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote," Carlson wrote. "Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate's reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court."
Source: cnn.com, Eric Bradner, Manu Raju, Phil Mattingly and Dana Bash, September 28, 2018
GOP leaders delay Kavanaugh confirmation for one-week FBI investigation
The move came as multiple senators, including GOP Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), called for the FBI to be given a chance to investigate, raising questions about if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be able to move the nomination without a deal.
“There’s essentially going to be a supplemental FBI background investigation,” Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters.
Asked how long the FBI would have to investigate, Cornyn said not more than a week.
The Judiciary Committee said in a statement that it will ask the administration to instruct the FBI to conduct the investigation.
"The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today," the committee said in a statement.
President Trump said in a statement on Friday afternoon that he had ordered the FBI to conduct "a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file."
"As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," he added.
Senators are still expected to hold a procedural vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Saturday. But a vote to end debate on Kavanaugh on Monday and hold a final vote on his nomination Tuesday are expected to be pushed back to allow the FBI investigation to wrap up.
Flake said that he expected that as part of the agreement Democrats would let Republicans do the Saturday vote as a voice vote instead of forcing the Senate to hold a rare weekend session. Cornyn also noted he thought that Saturday could be a voice vote.
The decision is a u-turn for Republicans and the White House, who have repeatedly dismissed the need for having the FBI reopen Kavanaugh’s background check investigation. The bureau, they argued, had already done six background checks and would not reach a conclusion about the allegations.
Trump's order for a new FBI investigation came hours after the Judiciary Committee sent Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate after Flake's agreement.
"I'm a conservative. I would love to see Judge Kavanaugh confirmed and I would hope to be able to do that, but I want a better process,” Flake told reporters after a meeting in McConnell’s office.
Flake alone can’t hold up Kavanaugh’s nomination. But he was quickly backed by multiple undecided senators, signaling Kavanaugh’s nomination will likely be delayed.
Murkowski, a key swing vote, told reporters that she supports Flake’s request to delay a vote for up to a week
"I support the FBI having an opportunity to bring some closure to this," she said.
Murkowski and GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) are the two Republicans who remain undecided on Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Collins told reporters on Friday afternoon that asking for the one-week delay to let the FBI investigate was an “important development” that she hoped would let the Senate “go forward.”
Flake pointed to Collins and Murkowski as "pivotal" and "very much involved" in the negotiations inside McConnell's office. Asked if he knew they had his back when he made the decision to ask for a delay, Flake added: "I assumed. We've talked. I knew that ... people needed to be more comfortable moving ahead."
Democrats quickly lauded Flake for his effort to let the FBI investigate the current allegations.
“I applaud Senator Jeff Flake’s decision to rise above the partisan circus on display during this entire process. It took courage to take a stand and call for a one-week FBI investigation to get to the bottom of the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh. ... It is what is right and fair for Dr. Ford, Judge Kavanaugh, and the American people,” said Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), a potential swing vote.
Flake noted that he had talks with Democrats, including Sen. Chris Coons (Del.), but said most of the momentum came from talks with his Republican colleagues “who feel more comfortable moving ahead to a final vote once the FBI has done a supplemental background check."
Several GOP senators, including Orrin Hatch (Utah) and John Kennedy (La.), declined to comment, citing a pending statement from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).
Kennedy said Republicans had reached an “accord,” but declined to provide details.
The decision comes a day after Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh testified publicly before the Judiciary panel in a rollercoaster hearing about the sexual assault allegations.
Ford delivered gripping testimony accusing Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed and trying to remove her clothes at a house gathering while the pair where in high school in 1982.
Kavanaugh has flatly denied the allegations and blasted the confirmation process as a "national disgrace" during the hearing Thursday.
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