I posted this on
v/theawakening yesterday, so a repost here for anyone interested.
I know this is long ... but there's no TLDR version. What happened
yesterday was Shakespeare, so I'm hoping a few of you make the effort.
Almost every post on the boards is attacking Flake. He's a swamp
creature, but what he, Grassley, and Reps pulled off in that hearing
room was genius.
When they returned after recess .... every Republican Senator was
sitting in their seat except Cruz ... nearly all of them. Only one of
the Dems was in their seat, the rest were standing in the doorway or
were in the hallway. A staffer whispers in Grassley's ear and he looks
around, first right ... Reps all seated, then left, Dems still standing
around. Then he hits the gavel, Cruz enters and takes his seat, Dems
still standing around. Grassley stares at the door for a while ...
knocks the gavel a few times, but much quieter than before. Flake
enters, whispers something to Grassley in passing and takes his seat.
Then ... "As a point of personal privilege, I'm going to invite
Senator Flake to speak. Normally we would start the vote right now." ...
Dems still standing around the entrance ... and it's no big deal, no
hurry, Senator Flake is speaking, it's not the vote.
Flake "I've been speaking to the other side and I think it would be
proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week to
allow the FBI to conduct an investigation." The other side were aware
that Sen. Flake was only going to vote "yes" based on an FBI
investigation. The "one week" was probably news to them. They are still
making their way to their seats.
Senator Flake "I will vote to advance the vote to the floor with that
understanding." Then he compliments the chairman and the committee. He
already knows it's over!
Grassley IMMEDIATELY calls roll (vote) you can hear some Dems say
"wait ... " they are still making their way to their seats, only 3-4 of
them are seated. Feinstein interrupts and grabs Sen. Grassley's arm ...
"What are we voting on? Can we have a description" ..... The Dems are in
complete disarray. They do not know what's happening. Sen. Grassley
raises his voice, pulls away from Feinstein and says "We are voting on
the motion to report the nomination to the floor .... Call the role!"
Sen. Feinstein ... "but that's not my understanding" (she thought she
had a different deal with Flake) Flake responds "Well my understanding
is the deal that the Democrats would accept a one week investigation
limited in time and scope." ... Feinstein starts to argue "Well ... "
... Then Sen. Grassley jumps in .... "we'll decide that and if there's
any further discussion we'll have it after the roll .... CALL THE ROLL!"
As the roll starts .... some of the Dems are still making their way
to their seats. As the 11 Reps vote yes, Sen. Feinstein grabs Grassley
again ... "This is on the nominee?" she's still confused. He says "Yes",
she votes "On the nominee, No." Noise in the room increases as the Dems
are asking what is happening and taking their seats. Some still asking
"On the Nominee?" Finally, the Chairman votes "Yes." and on hearing the
roll was 11/10 declares "The nominee will be reported to the floor."
It's over and the Dems are still trying to figure out what just
happened, some still haven't made it to their seats. Sen. Coons (who did
make it to his seat) realises that the nomination and investigation
were separate and proposes that the investigation over the coming week
is bi-partisan and is thanked. Feinstein then admits she was confused
and thought the two were linked and seconds the bi-partisan motion for
the investigation. (She has no choice)
Then Senator Graham sums it all up. "I love this committee but we're
not the majority leader. Sen. Flake has said what it would take for him
to support the vote, but it really doesn't matter what we say here ...
because it's up to Schumer and McConnell." (In other words, any further
discussion/motions regarding the investigation are pointless because
it's out of our hands now) ... Next up is Leaky Leahy asking for a
commitment that there is no movement on the nomination on the Senate
floor ... and before Grassley can speak, Sen Flake, the guy you are
hating on, jumps in and says "Let me say again, I cannot make that
commitment for the Leadership ... but I would only be comfortable moving
forward on the floor when the FBI has done more investigation than they
have done already! It may not take them a week ... " so he's saying
that he'll vote as soon as the FBI have done something, but is not
committing to the week, just that he'll vote after they do something.
After a few back and forths ... Feinstein asks Flake if his
"amendment includes continuing the investigation through this period of
time." She is still confused. Flake responds "There is no amendment."
and he's just saying that he wants the Democrats to feel comfortable as
they move forward knowing an investigation has occurred and will heal
the divisions. He is willing to contact the WH personally to request the
investigation and it would be short and limited in scope ... sound
familiar? President Trump echoes Flake and made a statement shortly
after, "be limited in scope and completed in less than one week." ...
Anyhow, immediately after Sen. Flake said this, Sen. Grassley bangs his
gavel, invokes the 2 hour rule. The meeting is over .... no more
discussion, no more delays, no threats to walk out of the room before
voting .... oh, and some of the Dems are still standing and wondering
wth just happened. ....
So if you want to hate on Flake, you can, but not for this. This was
5D chess. This was the plan. The Republicans all knew there was going to
be an investigation. It was worked out with Flake beforehand, but it
was going to be done on their terms, not the Dems. No more delays.
You can watch it all play out ... start at 4.41.00
HearingYouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=aeyzYkisuws
Blogger's note: This was posted on Voat
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