Jeff Flake Confronted by Protesters in Wake of Kavanaugh Vote
*By Carlo Versano*
For a second straight day, Room 226 at the Dirksen U.S. Senate Building was the site of tension and high drama as Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee ー to the fury of Democrats, some of whom walked out in protest ー pushed ahead with Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a moderate conservative, issued a statement Friday morning indicating he was a "yes" on the nomination.
He said he found both Prof. Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh to be credible in their Thursday testimonies, but "the constitution's provisions of fairness and due process" swayed him to support the nomination.
Flake, who some thought might break from his party and oppose Kavanaugh, then voted along with the rest of the committee Republicans against a motion to subpoena Mark Judge, Kavanaugh's friend who was allegedly in the same room during the assault that Ford described during her testimony.
After Flake's vote was made public, he was confronted by sexual assault survivors in an elevator in a [video] (https://twitter.com/jiveDurkey/status/1045669527491694597?s=20) that immediately went viral on social media. Cheddar's J.D. Durkin witnessed the confrontation and spoke to one of the survivors afterward, saying it was an "incredibly raw" moment in what is rapidly becoming a flashpoint event for the country's political divide.
As the committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), held a procedural vote to set the time for its full vote, Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California refused to vote and then left the hearing room in protest.
The vote passed, 11-8 on party lines ー clearing the way for Kavanaugh's nomination to move out of committee at 1:30 p.m ET.
Meanwhile, the American Bar Association, in an unusual move, [said](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-28/american-bar-association-seeks-delay-in-kavanaugh-nomination) it supported a full FBI investigation into the alleged assault and that Kavanaugh's final confirmation vote should be postponed until such an investigation is completed. A prominent Jesuit magazine, which had previously endorsed the nomination, [rescinded](https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/09/27/editors-it-time-kavanaugh-nomination-be-withdrawn) its support in light of Ford's testimony. (Kavanaugh attended Georgetown Prep, a Jesuit high school.)
Whether Kavanaugh can muster the 51 votes needed for confirmation still relies on a small handful of moderate Senators. With Flake now in the "yes" column, the focus will shift to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Stephanie Akin, Politics Reporter for CQ Roll Call, breaks down
Senator Manchin's donation pool, and highlights what this support means for the conservative Democrat as well as the Republican party.
The global oil benchmark surpassed $90 for the first time in more than seven years. This comes as growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine add to concerns about the already-tight market. Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, joined Cheddar to discuss what this benchmark means for the oil industry, and what might happen if Russia does invade its neighbor.
With the Beijing Winter Olympics set to get underway on Friday, Dan Wolken, a national columnist for USA Today, joined Cheddar News to break down the big storylines as the pandemic and international conflicts threaten to cast a cloud over the event that is aspirationally seen as a beacon of international cooperation. Wolken noted specific issues over cybersecurity for visiting athletes and disputes over human rights leading to a diplomatic boycott have been making waves even before the opening ceremony. "So you've got sort of these barbs going back and forth already between the Americans and the Chinese, and things haven't even started yet," he said. "We don't even know what's going to happen once the games start and people actually start winning medals."
We are a week away from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and China has already faced a host of problems leading up to the opening ceremony of the Beijing games. DJ Peterson, president of Longview Global Advisors, joins Cheddar News to discuss the many concerns and controversies surrounding the event.
In 2021, QAnon, the community which traffics in conspiracy theories saw a rapid growth in its numbers. As a result of vaccine rollouts, a number of conspiracies surrounding them also began to circulate which then led to the rise of "Anti-Vaxxers". As a result, the QAnon and anti-vax communities have become increasingly intertwined and the results could be costing lives. Senior Researcher at Media Matters Alex Kaplan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Supreme Court Justice Breyer has announced that he will officially retire from his post. He has served as the senior member of the more liberal wing in recent years. Now his retirement puts pressure on President Biden to decide on who will replace Breyer. Attorney and Media Editor at SCOTUS blog Katie Barlow, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
A long awaited report in the UK looking into the alleged parties held at 10 Downing Street during lockdown finds a culture of excessive drinking and a "failure of leadership" in Boris Johnson's government. Cheddar News speaks with international journalist Thomas Cole, who is closely monitoring latest developments.
While Donald Trump stated he would be willing to pardon Capitol Hill insurrectionists should he return to the presidency, the January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to 14 individuals who cast bogus electoral votes for the former president in seven states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing congressional investigation. "It is kind of crazy that every time Trump speaks, he kind of confesses a little more of what he was up to, but you really have to have proof," said Jong-Fast.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
