Jeff Flake: 'We Simply Can't'

Sen. Jeff Flake—the Republican who made a last-minute stand for the FBI to investigate Brett Kavanaugh—sounded more notes of caution Tuesday about the embattled Supreme Court nominee, Newsweek reports. "I was very troubled by the tone of the remarks" at his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing testimony, Flake said at The Atlantic Festival in Washington, DC. "The initial defense that Judge Kavanaugh gave was something like I told my wife: 'I hope that I sound that indignant if I was unjustly maligned.' But then it went on, and the interaction with the members was sharp and partisan, and that concerns me." Flake also said, "We can't have this on the court. We simply can't." In related news, including a possible Kavanaugh re-nomination:

• "I would appeal": If the Senate votes no on Kavanaugh? "Here's what I would tell the president: I would appeal the verdict of the Senate to the ballot box," Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday on Hannity, per Fox News. "... So what would I do? I would re-nominate him and I would take this case to the American people and I’d ask voters in Indiana, in Missouri, in North Dakota and other places where Trump won—saying who he would nominate if he got to be president—and see if the voters want to appeal the verdict of their senator."
• Lame ducks: If that doesn't happen? President Trump could name another nominee, but confirmation by election day seems unlikely: Since 1980, the average length of time for a Supreme Court nominee to get confirmed was 72 days, the Washington Post reports. If Republicans hold the Senate, they would have two years to confirm someone else; otherwise they could try ramming through a nominee during the "lame duck session."
• Deciding votes: Five moderate senators will likely determine Kavanaugh's fate, and none have publicly said yay or nay. Two are Democrats trying to stay alive in red states—Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota—and three are Republicans who aren't facing re-election pressure: Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine, the New York Times reports. And their decisions may not all hinge on the FBI probe: Other pressing issues include indigenous rights, ObamaCare, and Roe v. Wade.
• Harvard: The Ivy League university announced Monday that Kavanaugh won't be teaching at Harvard Law School in January, per the Harvard Crimson. No reason was given, but CNN notes that more than 800 alumni have signed a letter asking the school to cut ties with him. "HLS must send a clear message that it takes sexual violence seriously," says the letter, calling Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault allegations "credible and grave."
• Hanging sheets: More than 40 people have hung sheets outside their homes in Covington, Kentucky, with messages of support for Ford, USA Today reports. Designed in opposition to sheets with misogynistic messages that have hung outside frat houses, they include the words "Bravery is contagious," "These Kentuckians Believe Dr. Ford," and "Believe Women."

(More Brett Kavanaugh stories.)