Inside the anteroom, Flake had huddled with Coons and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the committee, as other Republicans and Democrats came in and out. The senators crowded in the back corridor of the room as staff filled the main area.
"At one point there were 14 senators jammed into a corner," said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat on the Judiciary panel.
Talking to his colleagues, Flake voiced discomfort with the accusation against Kavanaugh and said he was leaning toward asking for an FBI investigation, according to two people in the room granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
Other Republicans entered, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, to make their case to Flake. Coons said afterward that Flake's fellow Republicans tried "vigorously" to get him to drop his concerns. According to one person in the room, Flake tried to reach FBI Director Christopher Wray on the telephone, but ended up talking to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
https://www.wftv.com/news/national-news/ap-top-news/how-sen-flake-brought-the-senate-back-from-the-brink/843450109