‘I Am Not Psychic,’ Sen. Jeff Flake Says in Advance of Kavanaugh Hearing

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a key undecided vote on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, said Wednesday that his colleagues should maintain an open mind on allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Flake (pictured above left) said most senators already have prejudged the outcome of a hearing scheduled Thursday to hear from Kavanaugh (above right) and the first of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford.

“One is tempted to ask, why even bother having a hearing?” he said. “I do not know how I will assess the credibility of these witnesses, these human beings, on the grave matters that will be testified to. Because I’ve not yet heard a word of their testimony. And because I am not psychic. I am not gifted with clairvoyance.”

Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters that he plans to press ahead with the hearing — despite sexual misconduct allegations made by two other women — and hold a vote in the committee on Friday.

All 10 Democrats on the committee, meanwhile, signed a letter imploring President Donald Trump to withdraw the nomination or ask for an FBI investigation.

“I hope tomorrow’s hearing gives us some guidance on how we are to vote,” Flake said. “But those of us on the committee have to be prepared for the possibility — indeed the likelihood — that there will be no definitive answers to the large questions before us. In legal terms, the outcome might not be dispositive.”

Ford threw Kavanaugh’s nomination into turmoil when she alleged publicly September 16 that he tried to rape her at a party they attended in the early 1980s, when both were high schoolers. Later, Yale University classmate Deborah Ramirez told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party during their freshman year.

On Wednesday, Julie Swetnick, a client of porn star lawyer and aspiring 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Avenatti, alleged in an affidavit to the judiciary committee that Kavanaugh fondled girls without their consent at high school parties and was present during “gang” rapes.

Even so, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) strongly defended the nominee.

“It is outrageous to suggest that Brett Kavanaugh at any time in his life behaved this way,” he said. “His life is inconsistent with any of these allegations. All women who have worked with and for Brett Kavanaugh when he was in a position of power have nothing but glowing things to say about the way he has conducted himself.”

President Donald Trump again voiced support for his nominee during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe.

“He’s a high-quality person,” he said. “They’re bringing people out of the woods. They can do that to anybody.”

Thursday’s hearing is taking place, in large part, because of Flake, after he said he would not vote to confirm Kavanaugh without hearing from Ford.

Related: Third Kavanaugh Accuser Identified as Pile-On Continues

“What I do know is that I do not believe Dr. Ford is part of some vast conspiracy from start to finish to smear Judge Kavanaugh, as been alleged by some on the Right,” he said during his speech. “And I do know that I do not believe Judge Kavanaugh is not some serial sexual predator, as some have alleged on the Left.”

Flake also raised the specter of Anita Hill, who alleged at Justice Clarence Thomas’ historic 1991 “high-tech lynching” confirmation hearing that he had sexually harassed her at two federal agencies.

“These people are not props for us to make our political points. Nor are they to be demolished like Anita Hill, as was said on conservative media the other night,” he said. “Nor is one of them a proven sex criminal, as has been circulating on the Left side of the internet. These are human beings. They have families and children. People who love them.”

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