Jeff Flake will support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

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Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) questions Judge Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Jeff Flake will support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, securing a critical vote for his confirmation only hours after harrowing testimony about a sexual assault accusation against the appeals judge.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on whether to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination on Friday afternoon. Flake, an Arizona Republican who will retire in January, entered Friday as the panel’s only undecided GOP member. The panel is now expected to sign off on Kavanaugh’s nomination by a party line 11-10 vote.

On Thursday, college professor Christine Blasey Ford emotionally accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in the early 1980s. The judge angrily denied the allegation later in the day.

Flake’s support gives a major boon to Kavanaugh, as it leaves only two Republican senators who have not supported the judge.

“Yesterday, we heard compelling testimony from Dr. Ford, as well as a persuasive response from Judge Kavanaugh,” Flake said in a statement Friday. “I wish that I could express the confidence that some of my colleagues have conveyed about what either did or did not happen in the early 1980s, but I left the hearing yesterday with as much doubt as certainty.”

He continued: “What I do know is that our system of justice affords a presumption of innocence to the accused, absent corroborating evidence. That is what binds us to the rule of law. While some may argue that a different standard should apply regarding the Senate’s advice and consent responsibilities, I believe that the constitution’s provisions of fairness and due process apply here as well. I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.”

Ahead of a committee meeting Friday morning, women who say they were sexually assaulted confronted him as he stood in a Capitol elevator. The exchange was captured by CNN.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you. You’re telling me that my assault doesn’t matter,” one unidentified woman tearfully said to Flake as he silently looked at the ground. “That what happened to me doesn’t matter. And that you’re going to let people who do these things into power. That’s what you’re telling me when you vote for him.”

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Republicans hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, meaning two GOP lawmakers can sink Kavanaugh’s confirmation if they and members of the Democratic caucus oppose him. Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, and a few of their red state Democratic colleagues still have not taken a public stance on Kavanaugh.

The GOP moved quickly to confirm the federal judge after Thursday’s hearing ended. If the party can confirm him, it likely assures a conservative majority on the top U.S. court for decades to come.