Flake Gets Cold Feet on Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has signaled that he may be getting cold feet on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of allegations that the nominee sexually assaulted a woman when they both were in high school some 35 years ago.

Flake (pictured above left) told The Washington Post on Sunday that he supports postponing a vote scheduled for Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I’ve made it clear that I’m not comfortable moving ahead with the vote on Thursday if we have not heard her side of the story or explored this further,” he told The Post.

A few other Republican senators have expressed apprehension.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he supports a delay — and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told CNN that it is something the committee should consider.

But Flake’s views carry greater weight because is a member of the Judiciary Committee, where Republicans have only a one-vote advantage.

Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, told LifeZette that the woman’s allegations should be weighed against the many attestations to Kavanaugh’s character that have been voiced by a wide range of people who have interacted with him over the decades.

“We have an incredible amount of information about the kind of person he is,” said Severino.

Kavanaugh (pictured above right) has served as a federal appeals court judge in the nation’s capital for a dozen years.

His nomination to the high court appeared to be on track when the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, said she was referring information about a possible crime to the FBI.

The accuser, Palo Alto University clinical psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, eventually stepped forward and talked to The Washington Post.

She told the paper that a drunken Kavanaugh held her on a bed during a Maryland house party back in the 1980s, tried to pull off her clothes, and held his hand to her mouth when she tried to scream.

Kavanaugh has categorically denied those allegations, and the White House on Monday reiterated that denial.

Severino said Ford should be able to make her case.

“The White House and Sen. [Charles] Grassley have been clear that there will be an opportunity for Ms. Ford to testify and give her side of the story,” she said.

But Severino said Democrats lack credibility.

Related: 10 Reactions to ‘I Thought He Might Inadvertently Kill Me’ from Kavanaugh Accuser

“Many of the Democrats have opposed this nomination, frankly, before it was made,” she said.

Liberal Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe tweeted his support for Flake on Monday, writing that he was “right to recognize that it would be wrong to move ahead without at least hearing directly from Judge Kavanaugh’s accuser.”

The White House so far has been treading cautiously.

“This woman should not be insulted and she should not be ignored … This woman will be heard,” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told “Fox & Friends” on Fox News Monday morning.

Check out this video: