per this tweet from Sean Sullivan at The Washington Post:

x NEWS: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tells me in an intv he that doesnÃ¢ÂÂt think the Judiciary Cmte should move ahead with its Thursday vote on Kavanaugh until they hear more from Christine Blasey Ford. Ã¢ÂÂFor me, we canÃ¢ÂÂt vote until we hear more.Ã¢ÂÂ Ã¢ÂÂ Sean Sullivan (@WaPoSean) September 16, 2018

to note

1. Flake is on Judiciary

2. The Repubs have only one more member than Dems, which means with Flake’s refusal there would not be enough votes to get Kavanaugh out of committee and to the floor

It is starting.

Now…. are there other women willing to come forward?

UPDATE 7:00 PM Washington Post now has story, co-authored by Sullivan, up here.

Here is key info on Flake:

In an interview with The Washington Post, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said the woman, Christine Blasey Ford, “must be heard” and urged the committee not to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination until it has a chance to hear more from her. “I’ve made it clear that I’m not comfortable moving ahead with the vote on Thursday if we have not heard her side of the story or explored this further,” said Flake, who is one of the committee’s 21 members. Republicans hold a 11-to-10 majority on the panel. Flake would not specify exactly what form the communication with Ford should take or how he would vote at this point in time. But he emphasized how much the allegations matter to him. “For me, we can’t vote until we hear more,” he said. The White House said Sunday that it is not withdrawing its nomination of Kavanaugh. A vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee remains scheduled for Thursday.

In Hunter’s front-page story on Flake, he reports that Grassley & Feinstein are apparently trying to set up calls with both the accuser (Ford) and the nominee (Kavanaugh). Feinstein should be insisting on public hearings.