Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) raised heightened concerns about Judge Brett Kavanaugh following the newest allegations of sexual misconduct against him during a private luncheon with other Republican senators on Wednesday, according to CNN.
The senator, a key swing vote on the nomination, brought in a printed out copy of the signed affidavit to the luncheon, and sources told CNN she was visibly unnerved by the latest allegations, and questioned why Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge hadn’t been subpoenaed to testify about the allegations.
Julie Swetnick wrote a sworn statement to the Senate Judiciary committee on Wednesday claiming she’d seen Kavanaugh commit sexual misconduct at more than 10 parties while they were in high school, and that he was present at a party where she was raped.
“Obviously I take it seriously and believe that it should be investigated by the committee,” Collins told reporters of the new allegation earlier in the day. “My understanding is the committee’s investigators have already made a request.”
As TPM reported earlier, GOP lawmakers were grim as they exited the meeting, and took a more subdued tone towards the upcoming hearings than they had earlier.
Republicans can’t lose more than one of their own on the Kavanaugh vote if all Democrats vote against him. Collins and Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) appear to be the most likely defectors.
