Flake slams GOP, says he feels like he doesn't belong to any political party

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Senator Jeff Flake calls for delay in Kavanaugh confirmation

Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is defending his call to delay the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until there is an FBI investigation into the alleged assault that is ‘limited in scope.’

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake criticized the Republican Party on Monday for mistaking "opponents for our enemies," and said he sometimes feels like he doesn't belong to any political party.

"I sometimes feel like a man temporarily without a party," Flake said during a speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, the Washington Post reported

He went on to decry the Republican Party in his speech, saying members of the party have "given in to the terrible tribal impulse that first mistakes our opponents for our enemies" that lead the party to becoming "seized with the conviction that we must destroy that enemy."

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Flake's remarks came days after the dramatic showdown in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During his Monday speech, Flake reiterated his support for the FBI investigation, but stressed that it must be a "real investigation."

"It does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover," Flake said, according to the Post. "We actually need to find out what we can find out. And we have to realize that we may not be able to find out everything that happened."

"It does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover. We actually need to find out what we can find out. And we have to realize that we may not be able to find out everything that happened."

— Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake

The Trump administration has been criticized for allegedly limiting the scope of the probe, despite Trump's claims that the FBI has "free rein" to conduct the investigation as they see fit.

"They [the White House] cannot say, 'Oh hey, only interview the people in their neighborhood on one side of the street.' Or 'Only interview people from a certain period of their life,’" Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during an appearance of CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “You let the men and women of the FBI, the professionals, do their jobs.”