Top Items:
New York Times:
Top Trump Adviser Says Ted Cruz Could Lose Texas Senate Race — President Trump's budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, expressed confidence to Republican donors on Saturday that the party would overcome a Democratic “movement of hate” in November, but he acknowledged Republicans could lose races …
Discussion:
CNN, Raw Story, Political Wire and Mediaite
RELATED:
Mike Allen / Axios:
The 60 days of rage leading into the midterms — Today is exactly 60 days till midterms. Yesterday's personal, venomous face-off between President Obama (who went after his successor by name in Illinois) and President Trump (who attacked Bob Woodward and threatened the New York Times aboard Air Force One) …
Discussion:
The White House, Taylor Marsh, Raw Story and Breitbart
Politico:
Obama vs. Trump: The clash everyone's waited for arrives
Obama vs. Trump: The clash everyone's waited for arrives
Discussion:
Associated Press and Raw Story
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
White House aide tells donors GOP can win midterms despite Trump's unpopularity
White House aide tells donors GOP can win midterms despite Trump's unpopularity
Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
The Banality of Barack — Capping off a week where Senate …
The Banality of Barack — Capping off a week where Senate …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Gateway Pundit and Quartz
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Lisa Murkowski's Biggest Reason To Oppose Brett Kavanaugh May Not Be Abortion Rights — Alaska Natives are urging the senator to vote no. She owes her re-election to them. — WASHINGTON For all the speculation about Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and whether she'll vote …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Associated Press and Tlingit & Haida
RELATED:
Joe Lawlor / Press Herald:
As Kavanaugh's hearing concludes, Collins says she's still undecided on Supreme Court nominee — The moderate Republican wields a key vote and says she won't make a decision until she has a chance to review Brett Kavanaugh's paperwork and testimony. — SCARBOROUGH — Sen. Susan Collins …
Discussion:
Bustle
CNN:
Kavanaugh ‘abortion-inducing drug’ comment draws scrutiny
Kavanaugh ‘abortion-inducing drug’ comment draws scrutiny
Discussion:
Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com
Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:
Kamala Harris Tweets Out Deceptively Edited Video to Smear Brett Kavanaugh
Kamala Harris Tweets Out Deceptively Edited Video to Smear Brett Kavanaugh
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and New York Times
New York Times:
Trump Administration Discussed Coup Plans With Rebel Venezuelan Officers — The Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers from Venezuela over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro, according to American officials …
David Shortell / CNN:
Government erred in claiming accused Russian spy Maria Butina offered to trade sex for political access — (CNN)Prosecutors said Friday that they misunderstood text messages used as the basis of a claim that Maria Butina offered to trade sex for access — an extraordinary admission that threatens …
Discussion:
UPI, The Guardian and Axios
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Prosecutors back off claim that accused Russian agent Maria Butina traded sex for access — U.S. prosecutors have acknowledged they misunderstood text messages they used to claim in court that a Russian woman traded sex for access and should be jailed pending trial on charges …
Patterico's Pontifications:
I Am an Idiot: Zina Bash's OK Sign Was Completely Innocent After All — There's no sugar-coating this. I was wrong about this. Badly, badly wrong. Laughably wrong. Zina Bash, the former clerk of Kavanaugh's who made the OK sign did it for an innocent reason.
Discussion:
twitchy.com and Hot Air
Los Angeles Times:
Pentagon sends reinforcements to remote Syria base after Russia threatens attack … More than 100 U.S. Marines were sent as reinforcements to a remote coalition outpost in southern Syria on Friday after Russia threatened to attack militants in the area, the Pentagon said.
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Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:
Va. state senator who met with Assad says British are planning fake chemical attack
Va. state senator who met with Assad says British are planning fake chemical attack
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Steve Keating / Reuters:
Osaka claims U.S. Open title after Serena meltdown — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Naomi Osaka became Japan's first ever Grand Slam champion after she thumped a raging Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in a controversial U.S. Open final on Saturday, with the American suffering a meltdown after being handed a game penalty.
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Forget the House. It's the battle for the Senate that could provide the most drama on election night. — For months now, the focus of Campaign 2018, rightly, has been on control of the House. All the metrics continue to point to a midterm election in which Democrats could seize control of that chamber.
Discussion:
Politico
Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Ex-Mistress Accuses Longtime RNC Leader Elliott Broidy Of Physical, Sexual Abuse, Complaint Shows — The former Playboy model also says in the complaint that the major Republican donor thought Donald Trump was “an idiot.” — Shera Bechard, a former Playboy Playmate who had a four-year affair …
Discussion:
IJR, Splinter and BloombergQuint
RELATED:
Sara Sidner / CNN:
Accusations by ex-mistress of GOP mega donor Elliott Broidy go public
Accusations by ex-mistress of GOP mega donor Elliott Broidy go public
Discussion:
Axios
Justin Miller / The Daily Beast:
Elliott Broidy's Mistress Shera Bechard Says He Demanded She Get Abortion
Elliott Broidy's Mistress Shera Bechard Says He Demanded She Get Abortion
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite
Mike Kordenbrock / Billings Gazette:
plaidshirtguy at Trump rally is ... a Billings high schooler — Billings West High School senior Tyler Linfesty learned Thursday morning during first period that he had been selected for VIP treatment at President Donald J. Trump's rally at MetraPark. — Linfesty had applied for tickets to the rally earlier in the week.
Discussion:
Washington Post, KTVQ-TV and The Daily Beast
Daniel Dale / Toronto Star:
According to Donald Trump, a lot of people are crying around Donald Trump — WASHINGTON - Something remarkable happened, according to Donald Trump, when Donald Trump arrived at his campaign rally in Evansville, Indiana last week. — Nine “miners” greeted him backstage.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Aaron Patrick / Financial Review:
NYT columnist Maureen Dowd explains why Donald Trump isn't as bad as Dick Cheney — Share via Email — Post on facebook wall — Post to Linkedin — Maureen Dowd, I have a confession. I know the “scheduling conflict” you used at the last minute to push our lunch back one hour was a hair appointment at your hotel.
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Bannon Said He ‘Sucked Reince Priebus’ D*ck' to Get RNC Help, Woodward Book Claims — It's the latest revelation from Bob Woodward's bombshell book, “Fear,” about Donald Trump's campaign and administration. — Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon had so much disdain for former Republican …
Discussion:
Raw Story, NPR and The Intercept, more at Mediagazer »
Associated Press:
Echoes of Watergate in Trump tumult — WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House seethes with intrigue and backstabbing as aides hunt for the anonymous Deep (state) Throat among them. A president feels besieged by tormentors — Bob Woodward is driving him crazy — so he tends his version of an enemies list …
Matthew Haag / New York Times:
Dallas Police Officer Kills Her Neighbor in His Apartment, Saying She Mistook It for Her Own — A Dallas police officer fatally shot a neighbor inside the man's apartment late Thursday night, claiming that she mistook his apartment for her own and believed he was an intruder, the police said.
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News, Law & Crime, The Root, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and NPR
Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
They Killed Their Abusive Husbands. Their Acquittals Shocked Russia. — MOSCOW — When Yana Gurcheva and Galina Katorova were arrested for stabbing their husbands to death with kitchen knives after suffering years of domestic abuse, the murder cases stirred hardly a ripple in Russia's national news media.
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
Many lawmakers and aides who crafted financial regulations after the 2008 crisis now work for Wall Street — Ten years after the financial crisis brought the U.S. economy to its knees, about 30 percent of the lawmakers and 40 percent of the senior staff who crafted Congress' response have gone …
Robert Kagan / Wall Street Journal:
The Cost of American Retreat — The world order that the U.S. built after World War II required sacrifice and commitment, but it brought unprecedented benefits. What happens if it disappears? — The liberal world order established by the United States a little over seven decades ago is collapsing.