memeorandum: Flake opposes quick vote on Kavanaugh, putting confirmation in doubt (Burgess Everett/Politico)

9:45 PM ET, September 16, 2018

Top Items:

California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault — Earlier this summer, Christine Blasey Ford wrote a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted …

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Flake opposes quick vote on Kavanaugh, putting confirmation in doubt — Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court hit a serious roadblock Sunday night, as GOP Senate Judiciary Committee member Jeff Flake said he is uncomfortable voting to advance Kavanaugh's nomination later this week …

Discussion: Axios, Power Line, RedState, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Vox, The Daily Beast, Law & Crime, The Slot, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos and Mediaite

CNN:

Read the letter Christine Blasey Ford sent accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct — Washington (CNN)The following is the text of the letter Christine Blasey Ford wrote to Sen. Dianne Feinstein detailing an event in which she accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

Robby Soave / Hit & Run:

Brett Kavanaugh's Sexual Assault Accuser Has Come Forward, and Her #MeToo Story Might Disqualify Him — The anonymous woman who accused Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has come forward. Her name is Christine Blasey Ford, and her allegation deserves to be taken seriously.

Discussion: Power Line, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Roll Call and HuffPost

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:

GOP senator: Hold off on Kavanaugh vote until accuser is heard — The White House on Sunday stood by Brett M. Kavanaugh after a woman publicly accused him of sexual assault decades ago, an allegation that triggered the most concrete signs yet of Republican resistance to President Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Roll Call, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Law & Crime, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and Axios

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Delay the Kavanaugh Vote — This Senate is singularly ill-equipped to assess the allegations against Trump's Supreme Court nominee. — Staff writer at The Atlantic — I worked for a president who was arrested for driving under the influence at age 30.

Discussion: Breitbart and Axios

The Daily Beast:

Trump Believes There is a ‘Conspiracy’ to Submarine the Kavanaugh Nomination — The president and his team are not deterred by the sexual assault allegations being made against their Supreme Court nominee. If anything, their back is up even more. — In the hours after a 51-year-old …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Kavanaugh faces his #MeToo test to reach Supreme Court — Long before the assault allegation emerged, the White House sought to inoculate Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with a strong pro-women stance. — Brett Kavanaugh and the Trump White House had prepared for a moment like this.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Woman Alleging Misconduct by Kavanaugh in High School Steps Forward — Senate minority leader Charles Schumer called for a halt to the confirmation proceedings in response, but a spokesman for Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley said a committee vote this week had not been delayed.

Discussion: Washington Post

Emily Stewart / Vox:
Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, comes forward in the Washington Post

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, CNN, RedState, Splinter and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Brett Kavanaugh's Nomination in Turmoil as Accuser Comes Forward

Discussion: HuffPost, CNN and KTLA

Wall Street Journal:
Brett Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward About Alleged Sexual Assault

Discussion: RedState, Townhall and CNN

Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
Kennedy says Kavanaugh vote will continue as planned on Thursday

Discussion: Breitbart

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Bill Maher dismisses Kavanaugh sexual misconduct allegation: ‘I think it makes us look bad’

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart and RedState

Dianne Feinstein / Los Angeles Times:
Why I'm voting ‘no’ on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination

Discussion: Washington Times and Mother Jones

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Time Magazine Sold to Salesforce Founder Marc Benioff for $190 Million — Benioffs won't have day-to-day operational role at Time Magazine — Time magazine will have a new home. — Nearly eight months after Meredith Corp. MDP -0.57% completed its purchase of Time Inc. …

Discussion: CNNMoney and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:

Grim warnings for White House, Republicans ahead of election — WASHINGTON (AP) — The prognosis for President Donald Trump and his party was grim. — In a post-Labor Day briefing at the White House, a top Republican pollster told senior staff that the determining factor in the election …

Percy Allen / The Seattle Times:
Storm not expecting a White House invitation, and it won't go even if one is extended

Discussion: IJR and Daily Wire

Nikki Schwab / New York Post:

Biden: I wish I had spoken out against Trump sooner … Former Vice President Joe Biden Saturday night told the audience at the Human Rights Campaign's National Dinner that he wished he trashed President Trump sooner. — “Barack and I agreed we would be quiet for the first year …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Nikki Schwab / New York Post:
Anne Hathaway denounces white privilege in award speech

Discussion: Breitbart

Washington Post:

Alarm grows inside FEMA as administrator Brock Long fights for his job — As the Federal Emergency Management Agency heads into peak hurricane season, an internal investigation has imperiled its top official, sparking a growing backlash within the agency where career officials …

Discussion: The Atlantic, AOL, Splinter, NBC News and Joe.My.God.

Meridith McGraw / ABC News:
FEMA administrator defends President Trump's comments about Puerto Rico death toll …

Discussion: Politico

Tovah Lazaroff / Jerusalem Post:

ARI FULD, ISRAELI-AMERICAN TERROR VICTIM, ‘LIVED AND DIED A HERO’ — Fuld was assistant director of Standing Together, an organization that supports IDF soldiers, according to his personal website. — Ari Fuld, who was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist in a stabbing attack …

Discussion: The Times of Israel, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Ari Fuld / Arutz Sheva:
Man murdered in Gush Etzion attack

Discussion: Breitbart and Christians United for Israel

Associated Press:
Palestinian stabs American-Israeli man to death in West Bank

Discussion: Reuters and Breitbart

John Solomon / The Hill:

Lisa Page bombshell: FBI couldn't prove Trump-Russia collusion before Mueller appointment — To date, Lisa Page's infamy has been driven mostly by the anti-Donald Trump text messages she exchanged with fellow FBI agent Peter Strzok as the two engaged in an affair while investigating the president …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RealClearPolitics

Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:

Trump's foreign policy has devolved into chaos — It sounds unlikely, but the record shows that the most effective foreign policy adviser to President Trump since his election has been Barack Obama. — In their sole meeting, on Nov. 10, 2016, Obama managed to focus Trump …

Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:

Manafort deal with Mueller ‘really good for the country,’ Ken Starr says: ‘We should want the truth’ — Former Independent Counsel Ken Starr, who led federal investigations of President Clinton, said special counsel Robert Mueller's striking a deal to win the cooperation …

Discussion: Politico, Joe.My.God., Breitbart and Political Wire

emptywheel:
Paul Manafort's Modus Operandi: Accuse the Female Politician of Crimes She Didn't Commit, Then Dodge Sanctions

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Chloe Melas / CNN:

Michael Moore believes ‘evil genius’ Trump will be a two-term president — (CNN)Michael Moore believes President Donald Trump is an “evil genius” who will be re-elected. — The documentary filmmaker spoke to CNN while promoting his upcoming film about the impact of Trump's 2016 victory, “Fahrenheit 11/9.”

Discussion: Townhall and HuffPost

Daily Mail:

Britain's oldest person is celebrating her 112th birthday, she said secret to long life is whisky — Mrs Jones, a Liverpudlian by birth, was born on September 16, 1906 - only five years after the death of Queen Victoria. — She has lived through 26 prime ministers and survived both world wars.

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

In Georgia, a legal battle over electronic vs. paper voting — ATLANTA — Logan Lamb, a cybersecurity sleuth, thought he was conducting an innocuous Google search to pull up information on Georgia's centralized system for conducting elections. — He was taken aback when the query turned …