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| © Provided by The Hill |
By Megan Kellr, The Hill
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that there's "not a chance" he would have called for an FBI investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh if he were running for reelection.
"Not a chance," Flake said when asked on CBS's "60 Minutes" if he would have asked for the investigation if he were up for reelection in the November midterms.
"There's no value to reaching across the aisle," Flake said. "There's no currency for that anymore. There's no incentive."
After announcing earlier Friday that he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, Flake said he wanted a week-long FBI investigation into the allegations against the nominee.
Before calling for the FBI investigation on Friday, Flake was confronted by a woman in an elevator who said she was a victim of sexual assault. The video quickly went viral.
The senator said Sunday that that moment, along with the testimony he heard on Thursday, made him think the hearings are "tearing the country apart."
Both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, testified Thursday regarding Ford's allegations that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her at a party in the summer of 1982.
The other people Ford has named as other party attendees have denied or cannot recall attending an event similar to what she described.
Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegation and provided his calendars from the period, which do not show that he attended such a party.
Since Ford came forward, Democrats have been advocating for an FBI investigation into Ford's allegations, which Republicans have called a tactic to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation until after midterms.
Two other women have gone public with allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
Last Sunday, The New Yorker reported Deborah Ramirez's claim that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in college.
The New Yorker said they could find no other eyewitnesses to the alleged event except for Ramirez, who was unsure if Kavanaugh was the perpetrator until she reflected on the matter and spoke with her attorneys across six days.
Attorney Michael Avenatti brought forward allegations from a woman named Julie Swetnick, who claims that Kavanaugh appeared at parties in which high school girls were drugged and sexually assaulted.
The Wall Street Journal reported that it could find no one to corroborate Swetnick's story, after scouring for anyone who could support her claims.
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