Trump bows to pressure, agrees to FBI probe of Kavanaugh

He’d do so, Flake said, if the vote was delayed a week so the FBI could investigate “credible allegations” against the nominee.

The decision is a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh had been vetted.

The attorney representing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school, said they appreciate the efforts of the senators who have supported that the FBI investigation be completed ahead of the Senate vote.

“I think it will be better for the country that this FBI investigation occur”, Sen.

Sinema said that Ford and all Americans “deserve a full and thorough FBI investigation” of the allegations before the full Senate issues a final confirmation vote. He said they were inside jokes known to the yearbook editors and other students.

In a separate statement simultaneously released by the White House, Kavanaugh said he will continue to cooperate with further investigation.

The Delaware Democrat, also 55, afterward told reporters in the Capitol, “As I was preparing my remarks today, I at one point turned to my counsel and said: ‘Am I trying to make an argument that could possibly persuade my friend, Jeff Flake?'” They decided that he was.

Kavanaugh repeatedly cited a letter signed by 65 women who said they knew him in high school and that “he has behaved honourably and treated women with respect”, but one of the signatories has just renounced her support.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, mostly stayed out of the discussion, instead sitting awkwardly on the dais as people in the room buzzed about what might be happening behind the closed doors. Hill was booked long before Ford was scheduled to testify.

Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington.

Within moments of the eight-hour proceedings concluding, Trump tweeted his approval of Kavanaugh’s performance and called on the Senate to move swiftly to a vote.

If he is confirmed for the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh could be the deciding vote on cases involving immigration, abortion, transgender troops, gay rights and voting rights.

“He’s on trial for being basically a white conservative who went to an elite school”, said Mike Glasoe of West Fargo, North Dakota, who considers himself independent politically and said he has voted for both Democrats and Republicans.

Dolphin was aware Kavanaugh’s friends were reciting that poem, a person familiar with her thinking told the Times.

CNN has since covered the story, making sure to cast it as Kavanaugh being “hurtful” to a woman: “New York Times: Woman who signed letter supporting Kavanaugh calls yearbook revelation “hurtful”.

Without the support of Mr Flake and one other Republican senator -and assuming all Democrats vote against – the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh cannot occur. As a general matter, he said he has never had a sexual encounter with more than a single woman present.

“Drinking game”, said Kavanaugh to Whitehouse, who asked how you play. She said she can “almost guarantee” he doesn’t remember a night she witnessed where he was “stumbling drunk, in a ridiculous costume, saying really dumb things” to pledge a fraternity.

“Boofed” is also sometimes used as a vulgar slang term, usually referring to some mix of anal sex and drugs. She is running for re-election in a state that voted heavily for Trump.