--- title: This Photo of the Kavanaugh Hearing Helped Defined 2018 description: Senator Chris Coons describes the meaning behind the story of a picture of Sen. Jeff Flake deliberating over the Supreme Court Justice. canonical: https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/ author: Chris Coons article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-20T16:26:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:01:29.873Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Why This Picture of Jeff Flake at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was One of the Most Important Photos of 2018 og:description: Senator Chris Coons, who was there, describes the deeper meaning of the image og:url: https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabf688c8797ab985/698941b122fb85a403e276c1/david-butow-jeff-flake-top-10-photos-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Top 10 Photos 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why This Picture of Jeff Flake at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was One of the Most Important Photos of 2018 twitter:description: Senator Chris Coons, who was there, describes the deeper meaning of the image twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabf688c8797ab985/698941b122fb85a403e276c1/david-butow-jeff-flake-top-10-photos-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why This Picture of Jeff Flake at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was One of the Most Important Photos of 2018 ## Video: Sen. Jeff Flake Shifts and Indicates He Can Only Support Kavanaugh After FBI Investigation [Watch (HLS stream): Sen. Jeff Flake Shifts and Indicates He Can Only Support Kavanaugh After FBI Investigation](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GGPdsWNx.m3u8) (2:36)  _Published 2018-09-28. Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake requested that the Senate delay its full vote for a week to allow for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh._ by [Chris Coons](https://time.com/author/sen-chris-coons/) ## Chris Coons Dec 20, 2018 4:26 PM UTC  Jeff Flake, center, listens to fellow GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, right, on Sept. 28, moments after Flake called for a delay in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. His change of heart proved brief; eight days later he joined a slim majority to elevate Kavanaugh to the bench. Jeff Flake, center, listens to fellow GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, right, on Sept. 28, moments after Flake called for a delay in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. His change of heart proved brief; eight days later he joined a slim majority to elevate Kavanaugh to the bench.David Butow—Redux for TIME by [Chris Coons](https://time.com/author/sen-chris-coons/) ## Chris Coons Dec 20, 2018 4:26 PM UTC This is a clear reminder of just how strong the pressure is against anyone who seeks to listen to their conscience in Washington today. It’s difficult to overstate just how isolated [Senator Jeff Flake](http://time.com/5410740/jeff-flake-kavanaugh-vote-photo/) was in this moment. Every other Republican on the Judiciary Committee was determined to vote then for Judge Brett Kavanaugh and he was on his own in holding out for a weeklong delay for an FBI investigation. This shows in public the same dynamic that I saw in private, back in the anteroom when he first tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I want to talk for a minute.” Within a few minutes, Senator Amy Klobuchar joined us, and then Senator John Cornyn and Senator Thom Tillis and Senator Lindsey Graham. It turned into a very heated exchange that went on for an hour and a half. Ultimately, Jeff said, “I just want to hear from him,” and pointed at me. There was no place to go, so the two of us went into a phone booth back in the anteroom. I made a call to another Republican colleague to see if she would be willing to support him, and he made a call to leadership in the Department of Justice to make sure that they could deliver the kind of investigation we had in mind, on the timeline we had in mind. I got an up-close and personal exposure to what it was like for Jeff to be at the very center of intense lobbying. I think this photograph captures the moment in time very well. You can see in Jeff’s face how much he is struggling. He’s a conservative. He’s always been a political conservative. He wanted a conservative majority on the Supreme Court. But he found [Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony](http://time.com/5476021/christine-blasey-ford-legacy/) compelling, and he’s very concerned about the ways in which our country was being torn apart at this time. I appreciated that in this moment, Jeff listened to my urgent request for him to consider a weeklong delay and an FBI investigation. Ultimately, I was disappointed that the FBI investigation was not broader. I was disappointed that [Justice Kavanaugh was confirmed](http://time.com/5417538/bett-kavanaugh-confirmed-senate-supreme-court/). I was disappointed in Senator Flake’s vote, but there are many other things about our working partnership and our friendship that I will continue to appreciate. And I continue to respect him. The Senate will be a harder place without Senator Flake next year. It will have a lost a really important voice for principle in the Republican Party. _To see TIME’s top 10 photos of 2018, click_ [_here_](http://time.com/time-top-10-photos-of-2018/)_. To see its top 100 photos, click_ [_here_](http://time.com/2018-photos/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/"},"headline":"Why This Picture of Jeff Flake at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was One of the Most Important Photos of 2018","datePublished":"2018-12-20T16:26:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:29.873Z","description":"Senator Chris Coons, who was there, describes the deeper meaning of the image","url":"https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/","keywords":["photography","LightBox"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabf688c8797ab985/698941b122fb85a403e276c1/david-butow-jeff-flake-top-10-photos-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Coons","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sen-chris-coons/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabf688c8797ab985/698941b122fb85a403e276c1/david-butow-jeff-flake-top-10-photos-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Top 10 Photos 2018","caption":"Jeff Flake, center, listens to fellow GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, right, on Sept. 28, moments after Flake called for a delay in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation","creditText":"David Butow—Redux for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/photography/","name":"photography"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5482856/time-top-10-photos-2018-jeff-flake-brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford/","name":"Why This Picture of Jeff Flake at the Brett Kavanaugh Hearing Was One of the Most Important Photos of 2018"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sen. 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