The Senate could be forced to delay a vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation after Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake called for up to a one-week delay so that the FBI can investigate sexual assault allegations facing President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

The Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 on party lines Friday afternoon to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Senate floor.

But the vote came after a chaotic scene in which Flake — who announced his support for Kavanaugh earlier Friday, and then appeared to have a change of heart — and other senators were involved in an hour-long, behind-the-scenes negotiation about how to proceed.

“I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week,” Flake said, so that the FBI can investigate allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. “We ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important.”

It is not immediately clear whether such an investigation would take place — or what it would entail. That, Flake said, would be up to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. The committee’s chairman, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said he would back Flake’s request for an FBI investigation, but there is no requirement for the FBI to act.

“This is all gentlemen’s and women’s agreement,” Grassley said after the vote to committee members.

Flake’s declaration that he would not vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s confirmation “until the FBI has done more investigation than they have already” is significant.

Along with Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, he is one of the three Republican swing votes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. If all Democrats and two Republicans oppose Kavanaugh, he cannot be confirmed.

“If (Flake) is joined by one or two other Republicans in that request, then they wouldn’t have the votes unless the investigation” is conducted, Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said after the committee vote.

Flake confronted by two female protesters after announcing he’ll back Kavanaugh

Friday’s events follow wrenching, partisan hearing Thursday where Christine Blasey Ford detailed her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh and he vehemently denied them. It sets into motion days of high drama on Capitol Hill, with the prospect of a conservative Supreme Court for a generation in the balance.

The committee action will be the first step in a series of votes to determine whether conservatives lock in a 5-4 majority on the court. After the committee votes, the GOP’s current plan is to hold a procedural vote on the Senate floor midday Saturday and hold the final vote early next week.

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.

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.

Grassley interrupted Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, when he read statements of Kavanaugh’s Yale classmates about his college drinking habits — including one issued last night saying he’d been lying in Thursday’s committee hearing.

Repeatedly, Grassley insisted that Democrats who kept up their calls for an FBI investigation didn’t “understand” the committee’s own probe.

Democrats also made a last-ditch effort to push Grassley to subpoena Mark Judge — the man Ford told senators was in the room with Kavanaugh when she says she was assaulted.

As senators delivered speeches in the committee — Democrats detailing their opposition to Kavanaugh and Republicans saying they support him — Flake created a stir when he tapped Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, on the shoulder and the two left the room together.

During an intense, day-long hearing Thursday, Ford, a California professor, testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were both teenagers in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh later offered a vociferous and emotional defense, alternately shouting and tearing up on national television.

On Thursday, Ford told the committee she is “100%” certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her at a party when the two were teenagers in 1982.

As the nation watched, she said she “believed he was going to rape me.” She told senators it has “haunted me episodically as an adult.”

Then, Kavanaugh denied that allegation and other accusations of sexual misconduct he has faced in recent days. He blamed Democrats for what he said was a “calculated and orchestrated political hit” designed to keep him off the Supreme Court. He also refused to support a Democratic push for an FBI investigation of the allegations.

“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.”</s>Reversing course, President Donald Trump bowed to Democrats ' demands Friday for a deeper FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake balked at voting for confirmation without it — a sudden turn that left Senate approval newly uncertain amid allegations of sexual assault. 

 

 Kavanaugh's nomination had appeared back on track earlier Friday when he cleared a key hurdle at the Senate Judiciary Committee. But that advance came with an asterisk. Flake indicated he would take the next steps — leading to full Senate approval — only after the further background probe, and there were suggestions that other moderate Republicans might join his revolt. 

 

 The abrupt developments gave senators, the White House and millions of Americans following the drama at home hardly a chance to catch their breath after Thursday's emotional Senate hearing featuring Kavanaugh angrily defending himself and accuser Christine Blasey Ford determinedly insisting he assaulted her when they were teens. 

 

 Emotions were still running high Friday, and protesters confronted senators in the halls. 

 

 "The country is being ripped apart here," said Flake. 

 

 After he took his stance, Republican leaders had little choice but to slow their rush to confirm Kavanaugh, whom they had hoped to have in place shortly after the new court term begins Monday. 

 

 Trump quietly followed suit, though he had vigorously resisted asking the FBI to probe the allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh, now being raised by three women. One day earlier, he had blistered the Senate process as "a total sham," accused Democrats of a conspiracy of obstruction and declared on Twitter, "The Senate must vote!" 

 

 The new timeline puts Trump's nominee in further peril and pushes the politically risky vote for senators closer to the November congressional elections. It also means that any cases the Supreme Court hears before a ninth justice is in place will be decided by just eight, raising the possibility of tie votes. 

 

 It was clear Republicans were still short of votes for final Senate approval after Thursday's hearing. They convened late into the evening in a room in the Capitol with various senators, including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, raising pointed questions, according to those familiar with the private meeting but granted anonymity to discuss it. 

 

 Republican leaders said — and Trump ordered — that the new probe be "limited in scope." But there was no specific direction as to what that might include. Two other women besides Ford have also lodged public sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. 

 

 Democrats have been particularly focused on getting more information from Mark Judge, a high school friend of Kavanaugh who Ford said was also in the room during her alleged assault. Judge has said he does not recall any such incident. In a new letter to the Senate panel, he said he would cooperate with any law enforcement agency assigned to investigate "confidentially." 

 

 Kavanaugh issued his own statement through the White House saying he's been interviewed by the FBI before, done "background" calls with the Senate and answered questions under oath "about every topic" senators have asked. 

 

 "I've done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate," said the 53-year-old judge. 

 

 Flake, a key moderate Republican, was at the center of Friday's uncertainty. In the morning, he announced he would support Kavanaugh's nomination. Shortly after, he was confronted in an elevator by two women who, through tears, said they were sexual assault victims and implored him to change his mind. 

 

 "Look at me and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me," said 23-year-old Maria Gallagher, a volunteer with a liberal advocacy group. 

 

 The confrontation was captured by television cameras. 

 

 Soon he was working on a new deal with his Republican colleagues and Democrats in a Judiciary Committee anteroom. 

 

 Flake announced he would vote to advance Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate only if the FBI were to investigate. Democrats have been calling for such a probe, though Republicans and the White House have insisted it was unnecessary. The committee vote was 11-10 along party lines. 

 

 Attention quickly turned to a handful of undeclared senators. 

 

 Two other key Republicans, Collins and Murkowski, said they backed the plan after they and other GOP senators met for an hour in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office in the Capitol. 

 

 West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin said he supported Flake's call for a further probe "so that our country can have confidence in the outcome of this vote." 

 

 With a 51-49 majority, Senate Republicans have little margin for error on a final vote, especially given the fact that several Democrats facing tough re-election prospects this fall announced their opposition to Kavanaugh on Friday. Bill Nelson of Florida, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Jon Tester of Montana all said they would vote no. 

 

 Flake's vote on final approval is not assured either. 

 

 Some Republicans still resisted the delay but went along with the plan that may be the only way salvage Kavanaugh's confirmation. 

 

 "I think it's overkill," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "But they have a right to request it." 

 

 The FBI conducts background checks for federal nominees, but the agency does not make judgments on the credibility or significance of allegations. It compiles information about the nominee's past and provides its findings to the White House, which passes them along to the committee. Republicans say reopening the FBI investigation is unnecessary because committee members have had the opportunity to question both Kavanaugh and Ford and other potential witnesses have submitted sworn statements. 

 

 Agents could interview accusers and witnesses and gather additional evidence or details that could help corroborate or disprove the allegations. 

 

 ___ 

 

 Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Matthew Daly, Juliet Linderman, Eric Tucker, Julie Pace and Padmananda Rama contributed to this report. 

 

 ___ 

 

 For more coverage of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination 

 

 Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has ordered the FBI to reopen Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s background investigation after several women accused him of sexual misconduct. Just what the FBI will investigate remains a mystery.

The SenateJudiciary Committee asked the White House to ask the FBI to conduct the supplemental investigation, which will be “limited to current credible allegations” and must be done by Oct. 5.

An FBI spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about the investigation, including how many agents would be assigned and whether it could be completed in a week.

A look at what a reopened FBI investigation would and wouldn’t do:

WHAT IS THE FBI‘S ROLE?

The FBI conducts background checks for federal nominees but does not make judgments on the credibility or significance of allegations.

Investigators compile information about a nominee’s past and provide findings to the agency that requested the background check; in this case, it’s the White House. The information would be added to the nominee’s background file, which is available to senators.

Typically, background investigations do not go back decades, but that’s what is needed in Kavanaugh’s case because the allegations are about incidents said to have happened during his teenage years. Kavanaugh is now 53.

COULD THE FBI INVESTIGATION BRING CLARITY TO WHAT HAPPENED?

Perhaps. The FBI has wide discretion in determining the scope of the investigation.

The committee questioned Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford during a hearing Thursday; other potential witnesses have submitted sworn statements. FBI agents could interview the other accusers and witnesses and gather additional evidence or details.

David Gomez, a former FBI counterterrorism supervisor in Seattle, said officials at FBI headquarters typically will divide up leads that get assigned to different field offices across the country for further investigation and will set a quick deadline. The local offices generally will assign as many staff as necessary to pursue those leads.

A good agent, he said, “would address Kavanaugh’s behavior and demeanor and credibility during his high school years.”

Kavanaugh’s high school friend, Mark Judge, who Ford says was in the room when a drunken Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, said Friday that he will cooperate with any law enforcement agency that will “confidentially investigate” sexual misconduct allegations against him and Kavanaugh.

Both Judge and Kavanaugh have vehemently denied any allegation of misconduct.

Lawyers for PJ Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser, two others who Ford said were in the house when she was attacked, have said their clients are willing to cooperate “fully” with the FBI’s investigation.

CAN AN INVESTIGATION BE DONE IN A WEEK?

Experts say the work can be done in a matter of days in most circumstances.

Ron Hosko, a former FBI assistant director, said background investigations done by the bureau typically have short turnaround times because the requesting agency needs the information quickly in order to make a decision on the nominee.

The FBI cannot force someone to talk to them as part of the process.

“Based on what we publicly know as far as the universe of people, I don’t see any reason why the FBI could not complete an investigation within one week,” said Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer and expert in security clearance and background investigations. “Remember, they’re not reaching a decision or recommendation. They are just compiling the investigation and reporting on it.”

WHAT DOES KAVANAUGH SAY ABOUT THIS?

Kavanaugh wouldn’t answer directly when he was asked Thursday if he would agree to an FBI investigation, but said he would do whatever the Judiciary Committee wanted.

In a statement released by the White House on Friday, Kavanaugh said he was interviewed by the FBI throughout the selection process and participated in several background calls with the Senate.

“I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.</s>Brett Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge would be willing to cooperate with an FBI investigation, Judge’s lawyer announced Friday.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) proposed that the FBI probe allegations that the Supreme Court nominee, in Judge’s presence, sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982.</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump left the door open Friday to a reopening of the FBI investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, saying he wants Republican Senate leaders to do “whatever they think is necessary" to get to a decision on whether to confirm him.

A day after an emotional hearing in which Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations against Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Trump told reporters at the White House he thought her testimony was "compelling" and said "she looks like a very fine woman to me."

However, he continued to stand by Kavanaugh. Asked if he had thought of replacing Kavanaugh, Trump said: "Not even a little bit."

Trump, when pressed on his views about a potential FBI investigation, said he would rely on what Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley and other Republican leaders wanted to.

"That’ll be a decision that they’re going to make," he said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved, along party lines, the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court – with a request that the FBI conduct an investigation into sexual assault allegations before the full Senate takes a vote. However, any FBI investigation would require Trump's approval.</s>WASHINGTON: Agreeing to the demands by Democrats, US President Donald Trump has ordered a limited FBI investigation into the allegations of sexual assault against his embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, throwing his Senate confirmation in doubt.

The FBI has been asked to complete its investigation in a week, meaning the confirmation of Kavanaugh, 53, as Supreme Court judge would be delayed by at least a week. “I’ve 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,” Trump announced Friday.

In an accompanying statement issued by the White House, Kavanaugh promised full co-operation in the investigation. “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. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” Kavanaugh said.

At least three women have now accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while drunk. On Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford, 51, during a televised public hearing before the committee recounted the alleged sexual assault by the conservative judge, which “drastically altered her life”.

The two were in high schools when the alleged incident happened in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh, making appearance before the same Senate committee after Ford, denied the allegations. Trump’s decision on a limited FBI investigation against Kavanaugh came after the Republicans agreed to it. The Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate,

“The Senate Judiciary Committee will request that the administration instruct the FBI to conduct a supplemental FBI background investigation with respect to the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court,” the committee said in a statement.

“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,” it said after Republican Senator Jeff Flake demanded the same. Flake called for a delay in the Senate vote to allow for an FBI probe into the claims leveled against Kavanaugh. While Trump continued to back Kavanaugh and said he would not change his Supreme Court nominee, he also praised Ford.

“I thought her testimony was very compelling, and she looks like a very fine woman to me. A very fine woman. And I thought that Brett’s testimony, likewise, was really something that I haven’t seen before. It was incredible. It was an incredible moment, I think, in the history of our country,” he told reporters during a media appearance with the visiting Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in the Oval Office. “Certainly, she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects,” Trump said.

Kavanaugh is the second judge to be nominated by Trump on the nine-member US Supreme Court. Trump’s first nominee, Judge Gorsuch, was confirmed by the Senate on April 7, 2017. Unlike India, where Supreme Court judges have a retiring age, the judges to the US Supreme Court are appointed for life. As a result, all nominations to the apex bench have long-term implications – mostly generational.

For instance, Judge Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by George H W Bush, has been a Supreme Court judge for nearly 27 years and Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was nominated by the then president Bill Clinton, has served on the bench for over 25 years. Judge Stephen Breyer, also nominated by Clinton, has been a Supreme Court judge for more than 24 years now. PTI</s>WASHINGTON – While re-opening an FBI background check of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump on Friday praised the testimony of accuser Christine Blasey Ford and said senators should do “whatever they think is necessary" to get to a vote.

A day after an emotional hearing in which Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, Trump told reporters at the White House he thought her testimony was "very compelling" and said "she looks like a very fine woman to me."

However, he continued to stand by Kavanaugh, saying his testimony "was really something that I haven't seen before" and "an incredible moment, I think, in the history of our country."

Asked if he had thought of replacing Kavanaugh, Trump said: "Not even a little bit."

"As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," Trump said in a statement.

Kavanaugh pledged to cooperate, saying in a statement issued by the White House: "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. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate.”

Both Trump and Kavanaugh had resisted calls in recent days for a renewed FBI investigation.

Ford testified that Kavanaugh and a friend pulled her into a bedroom at a house party when they were teenagers. She said an inebriated Kavanaugh pinned her to the bed and tried to remove her clothes but she broke free and ran out of the room. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved, along party lines, the nomination of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court – with a request that the FBI conduct an investigation into sexual assault allegations before the full Senate takes a vote.

When speaking with reporters earlier on Friday, Trump was pressed on what he thought about a possible reopening of the FBI investigation. "Well, I'm going to let the Senate handle that. They'll make their decisions and they do a good job," he said.

It was a change in tone for Trump from Thursday night, when he described Kavanaugh's testimony as "powerful, honest, and riveting." Trump did not comment publicly on Ford's testimony in a Thursday tweet but denounced Democrats for what he called a "search and destroy strategy," and urged immediate Senate action.

On Friday, the president also said he had no message for senators who are undecided about whether or not to support Kavanaugh, saying they have to do what they think is right and they "have to be comfortable with themselves."

In his comments about Ford's testimony, Trump said, "certainly she was a very credible witness. She was very good in many respects."

Trump said he didn't know how things will play out, but he expressed optimism.

"I think it will work out very well for the country," Trump said. "I just want it to work out well for the country."</s>WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leaders have agreed to delay a final vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to allow time for an investigation by the FBI of the sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican, said, "There's going to be a supplemental background investigation," which would delay a vote "no later than one week."

About two hours earlier, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to move Kavanaugh's nomination to the Senate floor.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who had been undecided, agreed to advance Kavanaugh's nomination but indicated he might oppose him if the White House doesn't agree to seek such a probe, which Democrats have demanded.

“This country’s being ripped apart here,” an emotional Flake said after a flurry of back-room negotiations outside the committee room. “We can have a short pause and make sure that the FBI can investigate.”

Only the White House can force the FBI to undertake such a probe. But if Flake and other Republicans demand it, President Donald Trump may have no choice.

Senate Judiciary Committee member Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) walks out of the room during a markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on September 28, 2018, on the nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court justice.

"Someone's got to explain this to Trump," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after the committee vote.

The president told reporters he's open to a delay and that senators should do “whatever they think is necessary" to reach a final vote on Kavanaugh.

Earlier, the Republican-controlled panel turned aside Democrats' effort to subpoena Mark Judge, a potential witness to the alleged assault of Christine Blasey Ford, who gave wrenching testimony Thursday about being attacked by Kavanaugh when she was 15.

After Friday's vote, a lawyer for Mark Judge said Judge "will answer any and all questions posed to him" if requested by any law enforcement agency.

The committee's action came less than a day after it heard from Kavanaugh and Ford, who alleges the nominee pinned her to a bed and tried to remove her clothes at a party in 1982, when the federal appeals court judge was 17. Kavanaugh, now 53, vehemently denied the allegations.

“We should not rush to judgment,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the panel. She said it was wrong to listen to "a credible, poised and brave witness and simply ignore what we heard.”

But Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Democrats simply want to "beat Judge Kavanaugh into submission."

“We can’t allow more time for new smears to damage Judge Kavanaugh," he said. "We've reached a point where it's time to end the circus.”

The nomination now goes to the full Senate, where a final up-or-down vote had been anticipated by Tuesday. Now that vote could be delayed for up to a week.

Republicans left the U.S. Capitol on Thursday evening in a state of uncertainty. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both supporters of abortion rights, have remained noncommittal. Murkowski told reporters Friday she would support Flake's proposal to push the vote back one week. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota also have not declared how they will vote but are more likely to oppose Kavanaugh.

Very few others remained undecided Friday. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., one of three Democrats who supported Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch's confirmation last year, announced he would oppose Kavanaugh.

"The allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh are disturbing and credible," he said. "In the interest of getting as much information as possible, I believe the allegations should be investigated by the FBI."

Democrats were furious that Republicans scheduled the vote so soon after the day-long hearing, at which both Ford and Kavanaugh said they were "100 percent" sure of their diametrically opposed stories. Senators pointed to people who were allegedly present at the party Ford has described, saying they have not had the chance to be subpoenaed and interviewed.

"We have done a botch of an investigation," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said. "Over time, I expect the facts to come out. They have a way of doing that. Cover-ups never last. The sand is running through Kavanaugh's hourglass."

The president of the American Bar Association, Robert Carlson, and Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, from which Kavanaugh graduated, added their voices Friday to those seeking an FBI investigation of the sexual assault allegations. But the White House has not requested one, and neither has Kavanaugh.

“Why didn’t he do it?" an emotional Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Friday. "Because they’re afraid of what they’ll find out.”

Ford offered emotional and intimate testimony before the Judiciary Committee. She told senators she was confident Kavanaugh was "the boy who sexually assaulted me." She said the sounds of his laughter during the assault have haunted her for decades.

"They were having fun at my expense," she said. "I was underneath one of them while the two laughed."

In testimony that was both fiery and at times tearful, Kavanaugh said the sexual assault allegations had harmed his family and his name. He accused Democrats of orchestrating a "political hit" and repeatedly professed his innocence.

"You will not drive me out," he said.

Democrats denounced the judge's temperament Friday, noting he blamed his predicament on Trump's election and revenge on behalf of the Clintons, presumably for his work investigating President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

“It’s hard to make this stuff up," Sen Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said. "That amounts to conspiratorial madness.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., characterized the situation as "not a partisan moment. This is a moral moment in our nation.”

Confirming Kavanaugh would be an important milestone for Republicans and the president, as it would tilt the balance of power on the high court to conservatives.</s>WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday ordered the FBI to reopen the investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s background, a stunning turnaround in an emotional battle over sexual assault allegations that has shaken the Senate and reverberated across the country.

The dramatic developments capped an extraordinary day on Capitol Hill, which began with a sense of momentum for Kavanaugh but then sharply changed when one of Trump’s fiercest Republican critics, Sen. Jeff Flake, Ariz., who at first endorsed the nominee, emerged from a private meeting with Democrats to call for a renewed inquiry into misconduct allegations.

Flake’s move puts in doubt the fate of Kavanaugh, who has in recent days drawn strong support from Trump and other top Republicans, but now faces another week of scrutiny and must watch as senators in both parties endure mounting pressure from their respective bases to either rally to his side or block his confirmation.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins also tweeted her support for an FBI investigation.

Collins was involved in the discussions of a plan Friday morning to reopen the background investigation of Kavanaugh, according to the senator’s spokeswoman, Annie Clark. She and another moderate Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, spoke with Flake before he announced the deal to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination out of the Judiciary Committee while reopening FBI investigation. They later met with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to nail down the details.

Conservatives have demanded that Republicans confirm Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, a judge who could shift the high court to the right for a generation, or face political consequences in midterm elections in six weeks, with control of Congress at stake.

The delay once again thrusts the FBI, an increasing target of Trump’s ire, into the center of a politically charged controversy in the #MeToo period.

Flake, a member of the Judiciary Committee, was confronted at one point Friday by two women who tearfully and angrily urged him to consider the pain of sexual assault survivors.

“There’s lingering doubt out there among a lot of people that we haven’t taken every measure that we should to make sure that these allegations are dealt with,” Flake told reporters Friday after the committee said it requested the White House call for an FBI probe. “That’s what this effort is about.”

The request for a supplemental FBI background check will almost certainly delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote beyond Tuesday, the tentative date eyed by Senate Republican leaders. But Trump and McConnell had no choice but to placate the small core of undecided senators whom Trump has little power to influence.

Late Friday, by voice vote, the Senate took an initial step to move ahead on the nomination. Barring no major revelations from the FBI, the Senate could vote on confirming Kavanaugh next weekend, days after the start of the high court’s session.

The FBI has already cleared Kavanaugh through six background checks for his previous public-service jobs, a point the nominee underscored in a statement Friday while adding, “I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate.”

Trump said the investigation “must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.” The Judiciary Committee said the probe would cover “current credible allegations,” although committee spokesmen did not respond to a request to elaborate on what those accusations are.

The rapid-fire events Friday came a day after dramatic, searing testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when both were in high school, and from the nominee, who denied the allegation in an emotional presentation.

Attorneys for Ford praised the decision to reopen the probe and added, “No artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation.”

The announcement followed a vote along party lines by the Judiciary Committee to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination – an 11-to-10 roll call that was left significantly in doubt amid a contentious yet odd debate as senators dashed into an anteroom behind the hearing space.

The committee fight already was tense, as several Democrats – including Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Conn., Mazie Hirono, Hawaii, Kamala Harris, Calif., and Sheldon Whitehouse, R.I., – walked out in protest. Flake often appeared conflicted and pained as senators engaged in a contentious debate over the nomination.

After Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., implored Republicans to join Democrats in calling for an FBI probe, Flake walked over and gestured to Coons to join him in the anteroom. The two close friends, as well as Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., left – prompting immediate speculation about whether they were working on a deal to delay the vote.

The curiosity inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building hearing room grew as more and more senators shuffled in and out of the back room for the discussions, which Collins called into via phone. Besieged by colleagues, Flake and Coons even sought privacy for their conversations in one of the Senate’s old-fashioned phone booths.

The senators eventually returned, and Flake announced that he would still vote to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination, on the condition that a final vote would be delayed no more than a week to allow for an investigation.

Shortly afterward, Murkowski, Collins and Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said they supported his call for a limited FBI probe. Manchin said in a statement that “the American people have been pulled apart by this entire spectacle.”

“What I’m encouraged by is that in an anteroom, back-hall conversation – first with Sen. Flake and then with Sen. (Dianne) Feinstein and then with many other senators of both parties, there was broad agreement that this committee has been too divided and too partisan with this process,” Coons said.

Senate Republican leaders have yet to lock down the minimum 50 votes to confirm Kavanaugh. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., announced late Thursday that he would oppose the nominee, and on Friday, Sen. Joe Donnelly, Ind., – one of just three Democratic senators who supported now-Justice Neil Gorsuch in April 2017 – said he would reject Kavanaugh as well.

Collins and Murkowski have not declared a position on Kavanaugh’s nomination; neither has Manchin nor Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D.

Trump told advisers in meetings Thursday and Friday that prolonging the vote doesn’t help Kavanaugh but that if an FBI check came up clean, he could use that as a cudgel to get more votes. But the biggest concern in the White House is that with more time, more women, more accusations and more stories could emerge.

“It’s not the FBI investigation that sparks the fear like it is just another week of this,” one White House official said. “How much longer is this sustainable?”

On Thursday, Trump was elated with Kavanaugh’s fiery testimony, in which he defended his character while furiously denying the allegations. Trump was “fired up” in a phone call with McConnell about Kavanaugh’s ultimate confirmation, according to two people familiar with the call, and said senators needed to take the vote.

It was a reversal from an earlier call with McConnell in which Trump was upset as Ford delivered her emotional testimony, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

McConnell, as well as White House counsel Donald McGahn, has urged Trump to hold his fire and let the confirmation battle play out, advisers to both men said. Both Trump and McGahn had told others that they did not want an FBI investigation, two senior officials said – but that it was inevitable once it became clear that Kavanaugh could not be confirmed without one.

McGahn and informal Trump judicial adviser Leonard Leo – rather than the president – have been calling senators. McGahn has told others that he has good relationships with Collins and Murkowski.

Trump is telling advisers that he wants to stick by Kavanaugh. But he also says that “Republicans have been played like a fool,” according to a senior White House official. Still, one official involved in the confirmation process said that while Trump has expressed some frustration with the timing, he generally believes that McGahn and McConnell have the Supreme Court and other judicial nomination fights figured out.

Mark Judge, a friend and high school classmate of Kavanaugh’s, is likely to be a prominent figure in any inquiry by the FBI. Ford claims he was present when Kavanaugh allegedly attacked her. Another Kavanaugh accuser alleges that Judge and Kavanaugh sought on multiple occasions in high school to drug inebriated girls for nonconsensual sex with multiple boys – an accusation Kavanaugh has strongly denied.

“If the FBI or any law enforcement agency requests Mr. Judge’s cooperation, he will answer any and all questions posed to him,” Judge’s lawyer Barbara Van Gelder said.

Judge met with his lawyer Friday morning in Washington, after returning from Bethany Beach, Del. The Washington Post found him there Monday, where his lawyer said he had fled to try to avoid an avalanche of media requests and criticism.

Judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday that he either does not recall or flatly rejects the allegations about his and Kavanaugh’s behavior in high school.

“All I can say is that next week, this will be over,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said. “I really believe, I believe he will be on the court.”</s>(CNN) — Julie Swetnick, a previously unknown, self-identified DC resident, was thrust into the national spotlight on Wednesday as she became the third woman to come forward with allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

In her statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Swetnick said Kavanaugh was present at a high school party around 1982 where she was the victim of a “gang” rape. She did not identify Kavanaugh as one of her attackers. She said further that over a series of parties, she saw Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women during the early 1980s.”

Little information was immediately available about Swetnick, outside of the information contained in her statement and released by her attorney, Michael Avenatti — who himself rose to national prominence earlier this year as the attorney for Stormy Daniels.

Kavanaugh, in a statement from the White House, denied the latest allegations and said they were “from the Twilight Zone.”

Swetnick is a resident of Washington, DC, according to her statement, and a graduate of Gaithersburg High School. The Maryland public high school is in the suburbs outside Washington and in the same general area as Georgetown Prep, the private school Kavanaugh attended.

Gaithersburg High School said that Swetnick said she graduated in 1980 and that the school would not have any other statements.

Swetnick attended Montgomery College, according to school spokesman Marcus Rosano. He said that “the Julie Swetnick that came up in” the community college’s system began attending its Germantown, Maryland, campus in fall 1979. Her expected graduation date was December 1984, although Rosano said, “We’re still trying to figure out her graduation status.”

An online resume for Swetnik lists more than 15 years of IT and web work, with experience as a contractor and subcontractor for major government agencies and private sector work.

In her statement, Swetnick listed out a long resume of government work and said she has an active “public trust” clearance for work with the Treasury Department, IRS and US Mint.

She said she previously held a “secret”-level security clearance from the State Department and the Department of Justice as well as a public trust clearance from the Department of Homeland Security.

In her statement, Swetnick said she previously worked for the Vietnam War Commemoration under the Department of Defense; the US Mint; the IRS; Customs and Border Protection; the State Department; and the DC government.
U.S. President Donald Trump orders an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.