Flake calls on Senate Judiciary Committee to delay Kavanaugh vote

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Sunday evening said a woman who accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while they were in high school "must be heard" before the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on his Supreme Court nomination.

The panel is scheduled to vote on Thursday. Earlier Sunday, The Washington Post published the account of Christine Blasey Ford, a professor in California. She wrote a confidential letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in July detailing the alleged assault, and decided to reveal her identity on Sunday after news of the letter leaked.

Flake told the Post he's "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. For me, we can't vote until we hear more." There are 21 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Republicans holding an 11-to-10 majority. A spokesman for the committee told the Post Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is trying to arrange follow-up calls with Kavanaugh and Ford ahead of the vote.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.