memeorandum: Republicans fear reversals in November due to accusation against Supreme Court nominee (Michael Scherer/Washington Post)

8:15 AM ET, September 18, 2018

Top Items:

Julia Prodis Sulek / Mercury News:

MeToo spurred Christine Blasey Ford to open up about alleged attack year before Kavanaugh nomination, friends say — 'I've been trying to forget this all my life,' she told friend, 'and now I'm supposed to remember every little detail' — PALO ALTO — The fog was just lifting at Capitola beach …

Discussion: Politico and Popular Information

Caitlin Flanagan / The Atlantic:

I Believe Her — “Dear Caitlin,” an inscription in my 12th-grade yearbook begins. “I'm really very sorry that our friendship plummeted straight downhill after the first few months of school. Really, the blame rests totally on my shoulders. To tell you the truth, I've wanted to say this all year.

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Conservative, HuffPost, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, New York Post, Media Matters for America, Vox and The Daily Signal

Russ Feingold / HuffPost:

We Know Brett Kavanaugh Has Lied Already — This nation is suffering a significant breakdown of civility, bipartisanship and ethical behavior. For the Trump administration and the Republican leaders who enable it, truth is no longer a cherished value. To them, lying seems to be part of the strategy …

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:

Republicans fear reversals in November due to accusation against Supreme Court nominee — Republicans are bracing for political aftershocks from the sexual assault accusation against Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, with some expressing fear that the coming investigation will refocus …

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Breitbart, ABC News and Axios

Lance Morrow / Wall Street Journal:

A Spectral Witness Materializes — The passage of time sometimes causes people to forget, sometimes to invent or embellish. — The Salem witch trials turned on what was called “spectral evidence.” That was testimony from witnesses—either malicious or hysterical—who claimed the accused …

Politico:

McConnell works feverishly behind the scenes to save Kavanaugh — The Senate leader's legacy on the judiciary is on the line. — Mitch McConnell, preeminent cut-throat political tactician, is going with a softer touch to salvage Brett Kavanaugh's suddenly endangered Supreme Court confirmation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Washington Post, The Atlantic and Breitbart

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:

Attorney Sent Letter to Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein Claiming Federal Court Employees Willing to Speak About Brett Kavanaugh — The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee were both approached in July by an attorney claiming to have information relevant …

Discussion: CNBC, Hot Air, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Bustle, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, New Republic and Daily Kos

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:

No, Brett Kavanaugh's mother didn't foreclose on his accuser's parents' house — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman, Christine Blasey Ford, when they were both in high school in the early 1980s. Kavanaugh has now twice denied the allegations …

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, Simple Justice, CBS News and Snopes.com

San Francisco Chronicle:
Kavanaugh accuser, a Palo Alto professor, is respected among academic colleagues

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Politico

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
With Trump muted, White House leans on Kavanaugh to defend himself

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Politico, Breitbart and Fox News

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:
Every man should be worried. At least, I'm worried.

Discussion: The Week, Politico, Bustle, ABC News, Daily Kos, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Media Matters for America

Wall Street Journal:
The #MeToo Kavanaugh Ambush

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, National Review, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller and CNN

New York Times:
Echoes of Anita Hill, but in a Different Era for Women

Discussion: HuffPost, Bustle and Law & Crime

Nancy Cook / Politico:
Trump sticks with Kavanaugh as scandal escalates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Refinery29

Bloomberg:
White House Hasn't Asked FBI to Vet Kavanaugh Allegations, Sources Say

Discussion: Raw Story and BloombergQuint

Jia Tolentino / New Yorker:
Jian Ghomeshi, John Hockenberry, and the Laws of Patriarchal Physics

Discussion: HuffPost, The Daily Beast and Bustle

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Conservatives Suddenly Realize Juvenile Offenders Deserve Leniency

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and New Republic

CNN:
GOP senator calls for public hearing

Discussion: Political Wire, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, The Root, Daily Kos, RedState and Breitbart

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
Orrin Hatch Defends Brett Kavanaugh: 'Somebody's Mixed Up,' I Think Christine Ford is ‘Mistaken’

Discussion: New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Splinter, Shareblue Media and The Federalist

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Democrats Have Made Sure That Brett Kavanaugh Will Never Get A Fair Hearing

Discussion: Instapundit, Washington Free Beacon, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and twitchy.com

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Elizabeth Warren fundraises off sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh

Discussion: Breitbart

HuffPost:
Alumnae Of Christine Blasey Ford's High School Circulate Letter Of Support

Deepti Hajela / Associated Press:

Man caught shaving on train in viral video says don't judge — NEW YORK (AP) — A man who was mocked online after he was recorded shaving at his seat on a commuter train headed out of New York City said he was just trying to clean up after days spent in a homeless shelter.

Discussion: CBS New York

Jordan Uhl / gofundme.com:
Anthony Torres Assistance Fund

Discussion: Gizmodo and WPIX 11 New York

Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:

Probe of FEMA Chief Brock Long Referred to Prosecutors — Investigators asked U.S. attorney's office to look into whether criminal statutes were violated by Long and two aides — WASHINGTON—An investigation targeting President Trump's top emergency-management official has been referred …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Raw Story, Political Wire and Mediaite

New York Times:

Trump's Growing Legal Team Has a Problem: It's Operating Partly in the Dark — WASHINGTON — Nearly a dozen lawyers now assist President Trump in contending with two federal investigations, one in Washington and one in New York, that could pose serious threats to his presidency and his businesses.

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
Legal team still confident that Manafort will not implicate Trump, Giuliani says

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire and Feeds

Politico:

Trump orders declassification of surveillance application, release of Comey texts — President Donald Trump has moved to immediately declassify 20 pages of the surveillance application that authorized the FBI to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Axios, Balloon Juice, RedState, One America News Network, The Week, ABC News and Splinter

The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary

Discussion: NBC News, HuffPost, Raw Story and Hit & Run

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Jordan says FBI used ‘crushing power of the state’ to probe Trump campaign based on dossier

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Reuters:

Russia says a military aircraft vanishes near Syria during Israeli, French strikes — MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday that one if its military aircraft with 14 people on board disappeared from radar screens over Syria at the same time that Israeli …

RT:
Russia detects missile launches from French frigate off Syria's coast in Mediterranean

Discussion: RedState

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Anderson Cooper Lights Up Don Jr. For ‘Idiotic’ Misleading Photo of CNN Host: He's ‘Tweeting Lies’ — On Monday night, Anderson Cooper ripped into Donald Trump Jr. for spreading a misleading photo of the CNN host in order to falsely claim that Cooper was trying to make a political statement against his father — President Donald Trump.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and Daily Wire

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Ronan Farrow has the long-rumored Donald Trump tapes from The Apprentice: report — Investigative journalist Ronan Farrow reportedly has possession of Donald Trump tapes from when he started on NBC's “The Apprentice,” Page Six reported Monday. — The tapes reportedly document Trump using …

Discussion: Page Six

Tom McCarthy / The Guardian:

Stormy Daniels' tell-all book on Trump: salacious detail and claims of cheating — Exclusive: pornographic actor says Trump 'didn't want to be president' in her book Full Disclosure — In a tell-all memoir, the pornographic actor Stormy Daniels details salacious descriptions of her time with Donald Trump …

Discussion: HuffPost, VICE News and Raw Story

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

GOP Edge in CD39 — Kim seen as more in touch, better liked than Cisneros — West Long Branch, NJ - Republican Young Kim holds a slight edge over Democrat Gil Cisneros in the open seat contest for California's 39th Congressional District, according to the Monmouth University Poll.

Joshua Green / Bloomberg:

Internal RNC Poll: Complacent Trump Voters May Cost GOP Control of Congress — A private survey shows many Republican voters “don't believe there is anything at stake” in the midterm elections. — A private survey conducted for the Republican National Committee and obtained …

Discussion: Political Wire

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

Trump to Cap Refugees Allowed Into U.S. at 30,000, a Record Low — The move is the latest in a series of efforts that President Trump has made to clamp down on immigration in the United States. — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the further cuts to an already scaled-back program reflected a “daunting operational reality.”

Discussion: New Republic, Vox, Bustle and Splinter