Jeff Flake hurls new criticism at Brett Kavanaugh

| 7:07 pm EDT October 2, 2018
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With each passing day, Jeff Flake is flexing his muscles just a little bit more when it comes to the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. First he forced an FBI investigation. Then he forced Donald Trump to expand the scope of the investigation. Then last night he hinted that he might call for a longer investigation. Now Flake is outright taking shots at Kavanaugh in public.

Jeff Flake did yet another public interview today, and he took the opportunity to criticize Brett Kavanaugh for his Senate testimony, which he called “sharp and partisan.” Then, according to The Atlantic, which was hosting the event where Flake was speaking, he said that “We can’t have that on the Court.” Wait a minute here – did Flake just say that, regardless of the results of the FBI investigation, he thinks Kavanaugh shouldn’t be confirmed?

One of the reporters for The Atlantic chased Jeff Flake down afterward and asked him precisely that. Flake’s responses didn’t make any sense. First he said “I didn’t say that.” Then he seemed to acknowledge that he did say it, when he added “I wasn’t referring to him” – even though there was no one else he could have been referring to. After that, Flake’s handlers realized he’d been backed into a corner, and they whisked him away. So where does this leave us?

As usual, even when Jeff Flake is taking a stand, he’s being a flake about it. But even though he quickly tried to walk it back, he nonetheless (perhaps unwittingly) provided some insight into what he’s really thinking when it comes to the Brett Kavanaugh vote. More than ever, Flake seems to be trying to find a way to cause the nomination to implode of its own accord, so that he doesn’t have to vote at all. But for the first time, Flake is strongly hinting that he could vote “no” for reasons that go beyond the FBI probe.