Coons: Bet on « narrowly confirmed. »
Forget for a moment what Senate Democrats or even the media think about the FBI’s report on Brett Kavanaugh. The supplemental background check had three customers, and three only: Jeff Flake, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins, who at one time appeared to be the toughest of the undecideds on Kavanaugh. While Democrats and invested media outlets are gnashing their teeth over its scope, Collins says that it looks pretty comprehensive, at least at first impressions:
JUST IN: “It appears to be a very thorough investigation,” key Republican Sen. Collins says of FBI report on Kavanaugh, “but I’m going to go back to personally read the interviews.” – @CharlieGileNBC
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 4,2018
Flake gave an even more specific take, saying that the report turned up no additional “corroborating information” on the allegations. He also plans to read the full report to get a sense of the interviews, but that seems unlikely to deviate from the FBI summary:
“No additional corroborating information » in FBI report on Judge Kavanaugh, Sen. Flake says, but adds that he plans to review the report further.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 4,2018
At least two out of the three customers appear satisfied with the report, which gives McConnell at least 50 Republican votes for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. CNN’s Manu Raju calls it for Kavanaugh:
With Collins and Flake both satisfied with the investigation, it’s hard to see them voting against the nomination since that would be an obvious red flag to raise right now. Kavanaugh appears, at the moment, headed to the Supreme Court
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 4,2018
Interestingly, so does Senate Democrat Chris Coons. He predicted earlier that Kavanaugh will win confirmation, but “narrowly”:
Sen. @ChrisCoons says if he had to guess, Judge Kavanaugh “will be narrowly confirmed” pic.twitter.com/vYeYkXW4VZ
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) October 4,2018
We’ll have more as this develops. No one has yet heard from Murkowski, who has been very reticent to state her mind on the upcoming vote even with an FBI report. But if Collins is on board, it seems very likely that Murkowski will come along, too. If Republicans get to 51, expect to see Joe Manchin and one or two other red-state Democrats climb on board the bandwagon. It might go 54-46 on Saturday.
Update: You don’t need a strong light to read between these lines.
NEW: Asked by ABC News’ @caphilltrish if he is leaning on voting « yes » on Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Jeff Flake says, « Can’t say anything but you can say that I was a ‘yes’ before this… thus far, we’ve seen no new, credible corroboration » https://t.co/0BPmB2PaCq pic.twitter.com/d75eBPSqoW
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 4,2018
Update: More of a side note, since Lee was assumed to be an aye on Kavanaugh already, but still worth noting:
The new information in the supplemental FBI report does not corroborate the allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh. I look forward to voting for his confirmation imminently
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) October 4,2018
