testimony likewise was really something that i haven t seen before. it was incredible. this is what the president put out later today, quote, i ve ordered the fbi to conduct a supplemental investigation to update judge kavanaugh s file. as the senate has requested this update must be limit instead scope and completed in less than one week. then a few hours ago he said this, just started tonight our seventh fbi investigation of judge brett kavanaugh. he will someday be recognized as a truly great justice of the united states supreme court. it turns out that senator flake came around with the help of his close friend in the senate, chris coops, democrat of delaware who got emotional when talking about flake and his brave decision. i think he showed courage and determination today. senator flake is a genuine conservative. he s written a book about the conscience of a conservative. he and i do not share a lot of
for his part brett kavanaugh released a statement through the white house that reads in part, quote, i ve been interviewed by the fbi. i ve done a number of background calls directly with the senate and yesterday i answered questioned under oath about every topic. i ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate. attorneys for dr. ford responded to today s news with this statement. dr. christine blasey ford welcomes this step in the process. no artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation they add. brett kavanaugh s high school friend mark judge who dr. ford claims was also in the room watching during the alleged assault, said through his lawyer, quote, i will cooperate with any law enforcement agency that is assigned to confidentially investigate these allegations. earlier tonight the senate passed a motion to begin debate on kavanaugh, largely procedural. nothing will happen as it s now in recess until monday, and a reminder, th
a replacement for judge kavanaugh? not even a little bit. not even a little bit. president trump is firmly standing behind his supreme court selection even as he authorizes an fbi investigation into brett kavanaugh s past. we ve just learned in the last few minutes that investigation is up and running. it was, as we said, arizona republican senator jeff flake who may have changed the course of history today after huddling with democrats, he was allowed to announce the delay for the investigation. no one saw it coming. politico is reporting it this way. senate republican leaders were rattled by the arizona senator s move, and they say flake s maneuver dropped a political land mine in the lap of majority leader mitch mcconnell, i ll say, and the white house which now must keep kavanaugh s nomination on an already narrow path to approval. let s talk about all the aspects of it with mara gay, we re so
this country. jill colvin, what do you think is really going on in the white house west wing tonight and this weekend? the white house has really been forced here to play this waiting game along with the rest of us. this is something that the white house and the president did not want to happen. we know that the president now for more than a week has been deeply frustrated by the slow pace of this investigation. you know, the white house watched along with all of us yesterday, the president watching first on air force one and then in the white house yesterday as these testimonies unfolded. we know that the president and speaking to aides spoke to how he felt emotionally impacted by the testimony that dr. ford gave, but then watched judge kavanaugh and felt like he d done an excellent job. the president last night spoke at a fundraiser where he went on for more than an hour, you know, really praising kavanaugh. the white house was on this high foot really thinking this was a done de
if people don t want to cooperate? well, with regard to someone like mark judge or others, that s a place where you could run into some problems. it is not required to talk to an fbi agent. it would be purely voluntary. if mark judge or others would refuse to talk to the fbi agents, the remedy really is to go back to the senate and ask them to issue a subpoena for their testimony before the committee. in light of the short time line that has been put on this, one week, i don t know that if someone refuses to cooperate they could get them subpoenaed and appear before the committee in that short period of time or in they would have the political will to do so, so far mark judge has said he is willing to cooperate. if i were brett kavanaugh and i believed i was innocent and really wanted this confirmation, i would urge all my friends to talk with the fbi. so that s really the remedy is a subpoena, but we ll see whether the chairman has the political will to issue one. as they say the