Brett Kavanaugh is on course for the Supreme Court now that wavering GOP senators Jeff Flake and Susan Collins have signaled they will back him after reading the FBI report on sexual assault allegations against him.
Flake, whose about face on Kavanaugh triggered the supplemental FBI report, said there was "no additional corroborating information" in the report. Collins said: "It appears to be a very thorough investigation."
Neither senator said explicitly they would vote for Kavanaugh, and both said they wanted to take more time to read the FBI report. But their statements indicated they had now remaining problem with the nominee following the FBI's investigation.
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The White House had earlier sent the FBI report to the Senate, stating it was "fully confident" he would be confirmed to the Supreme Court this week with a full Senate vote due on Saturday.
Republican officials are convinced that that nothing in the supplemental report, ordered last Friday, substantiates the allegation by Christine Blasey Ford. She claims he was sexually assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh at a teenage party in the Maryland suburbs in the summer of 1982. They also believe that allegations by Deborah Ramirez about an incident at a Yale dormitory party in 1983 or 1984 remain unproven.
"With this additional information, the White House is fully confident the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court," spokesman Raj Shah tweeted. Shah said the White House has received the report and it was being sent to the Senate.
Neither senator said explicitly they were "yes" votes on Kavanaugh at this point, but their initial comments were a strong sign that they had no immediate problems with the nominee after seeing the FBI's report.
But Democrats were not impressed. After viewing the report, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called the investigation “incomplete." She said: “The most notable part of this report is what’s not in it,” she told reporters.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he “disagreed” with Grassley’s conclusion that “there was no hint of misconduct.”
Leaving the secure location where the one copy of the report is being held, Democrats said it raised more questions than it answered.
“There’s much in there that raises more questions,” Sen Cory Booker, D-N.J., told reporters after leaving the secured room.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Booker, echoed his assessment.
“This so-called investigation leaves a lot more questions than answers,” she said.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said “report isn’t quite the right word” for the documents senators are reviewing, saying they’re “agent summaries.”
Whitehouse wasn’t ready to offer comment on the details of what he reviewed because of the tight restrictions being placed on senators.
“I need to think through what I can say and what I can’t say,” he said. “The Republicans have put considerable constraints on what we’re allowed to say and I’m sure they’re going to be enforcing them rigorously, even though they appear to be breaking them themselves.”
Sen. Heitkamp, one of the remaining undecided Democrats on Kavanaugh, wouldn’t answer questions after reviewing the documents.
On the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell disparaged Democrats over their tactics. “We will not be hoodwinked by those who have tried hard to smear this good man, to drag him through the mud,” he said.
Sens. Flake, Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who have all been hesitant to support the nominee, requested the investigation last week, along with Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia who has not yet made up his mind on Kavanaugh. Each of the undecided senators have faced intense pressure from opposing sides over their votes.
Support from two of the three undecided Republican senators are all that's needed to confirm Kavanaugh.
Another GOP senator who had held out on giving a firm commitment was Machin's Republican colleague from West Virginia, Shelley Moore Capito. She said Thursday evening she she became a "yes" after reviewing “the facts as presented."
All senators will have a chance Thursday to view with FBI’s report. Grassley said the report first, and Feinstein had access to the records after him.
[Dianne Feinstein: FBI report is 'product of an incomplete investigation']
At 10 a.m., the remaining Republicans on the committee were allowed to view the report. An hour later, their Democratic counterparts had their opportunity. All remaining senators will have access to view the FBI’s findings later in the day, without their staff members.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he would vote for Kavanaugh after finding "absolutely zero corroboration of the allegations that have been made.”
Corker and fellow Republicans came out in favor of Kavanaugh following a closed-door briefing on the FBI background probe, which included interviews with two woman who leveled sexual misconduct charges against the nominee dating back 35 years.
“I plan to vote for Judge Kavanaugh and believe he will be confirmed very soon," Corker said.
Democrats say the FBI probe was too narrow and ignored people who said they had information on Kavanaugh's behavior and drinking during college.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, agreed with Corker that the report showed nothing new, and that there's no reason not to confirm him.
"The new information in the supplemental FBI report does not corroborate the allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh," he said. "I look forward to voting for his confirmation imminently."