That is the headline on the Drudge Report this Friday evening, following a second day of high-stakes drama playing out on Capitol Hill over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
While the Senate has decided to move forward with Kavanaugh’s nomination, there likely won’t be any vote on the floor until the FBI completes its investigation — which by agreement can last no longer than a week — into sexual assault allegations against the SCOTUS nominee. CNN has the latest here. All things considered, it was, as the NYT characterized it, a “confusing day on Capitol Hill.” So let’s break things down…
The tick-tock
— 9:28 a.m. ET: Sen. Jeff Flake announces in a statement that he will vote to confirm Kavanaugh.
— 9:32 a.m. ET: Two female protesters who said they were sexual assault survivors confront Flake in a Senate elevator. CNN cameras were there and captured the entire moment on video.
— 9:49 a.m. ET: The Senate Judiciary Committee approves a motion to vote on Kavanaugh at 1:30 p.m. ET.
— 12:19 p.m. ET: CNN’s Manu Raju notices that during the hearing Flake had “left the hearing room and asked to speak privately” to Sen. Chris Coons in the anteroom. Sen. Diane Feinstein soon joins the duo.
— 1:45 p.m. ET: CNN’s Dana Bash reports there are “serious conversations” about Flake wanting an FBI investigation.
— 1:46 p.m. ET: Flake reenters the hearing room.
— 1:51 p.m. ET: Flake says it would be “proper to delay the floor vote” for a week “in order to let the FBI do an investigation limited in time and scope.”
— 1:55 p.m. ET: Kavanaugh’s nomination is voted out of committee and onto the Senate floor 11-10, along partisan lines.
— 2:00 p.m. ET: Sen. Chuck Grassley abruptly adjourns the Judiciary Committee based on the “two-hour rule.” Feinstein and others can be heard and seem perplexed.
— 2:16 p.m. ET: Sen. Majority Whip John Cornyn says GOP leadership is “exploring” Flake’s proposal for an FBI investigation.
— 2:36 p.m. ET: Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she supports Flake’s proposal for delay.
— 3:56 p.m. ET: The Senate Judiciary Committee formally asks the White House to instruct the FBI to do a background check.
— 4:56 p.m. ET: Sarah Sanders tweets a statement from Trump that said he had ordered the FBI to conduct a “supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file.”
— 8:27 p.m. ET: Trump tweets, “Just started, tonight, our 7th FBI investigation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He will someday be recognized as a truly great Justice of The United States Supreme Court!”
The moment that helped change history
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