memeorandum: Collins knocks Democrats over handling of Kavanaugh assault allegation (Jordain Carney/The Hill)

11:25 AM ET, September 17, 2018

Top Items:

Scoop: GOP plans to play hardball on Kavanaugh — Strategists advising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh plan to use aggressive tactics this week in response to the public accusation of a “stumbling drunk” sexual assault in high school that instantly imperiled his confirmation, top sources tell Jonathan Swan:

Discussion: Power Line, Mother Jones, CNN, HuffPost, CNBC, CBS News, Shareblue Media, National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, twitchy.com, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and NPR

The Daily Beast:

Trump Believes There Is a ‘Conspiracy’ to Torpedo 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: Politico, The American Spectator, Lawyers, Guns & Money, POLITICUSUSA, LifeZette, NPR, Axios, Mediaite, Splinter, HuffPost, The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

CNN:

Brett Kavanaugh is willing to answer questions on allegations, has hired an attorney — (CNN)Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said Monday that he would be willing to speak with lawmakers to refute an allegation of physical and sexual assault by a woman who has come forward publicly with the accusation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KTLA and CBS Pittsburgh

Billy Perrigo / TIME:

Donald Trump, Jr. Posts Instagram Apparently Mocking Kavanaugh's Accuser — Donald Trump, Jr., son of President Donald Trump, posted an image to his Instagram account on Sunday appearing to mock the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Discussion: Townhall, CNBC and New York Times

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Collins knocks Democrats over handling of Kavanaugh assault allegation — (R-Maine), a key swing vote in the Supreme Court fight, is knocking Senate Democrats for their handling of a sexual assault allegation against nominee Brett Kavanaugh. — Collins questioned why Democrats had waited …

HuffPost:

Alumnae Of Christine Blasey Ford's High School Circulate Letter Of Support — Ford's allegations against Brett Kavanaugh are “all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton,” they wrote. — A group of women who went to Christine Blasey Ford's high school …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Politico:

‘I do not know this woman’: Trump allies rally to Kavanaugh's defense — The president needs a Supreme Court win to show his core supporters in the November midterms. — President Donald Trump was counting on being able to deliver on one core promise to his supporters ahead of November's crucial midterms …

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Daily Kos, Raw Story, The Week and Breitbart

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 …

Tasneem Nashrulla / BuzzFeed News:

Donald Trump Jr. Instagram Post Mocks Woman Who Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Brett Kavanaugh — Donald Trump Jr. posted an image on his Instagram account that appeared to mock the woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the president's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Discussion: The Guardian, Townhall and The Federalist

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Kavanaugh's Nomination in Turmoil as Accuser Says He Assaulted Her Decades Ago

David French / National Review:
Weighing the Allegations against Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, NBC News and The Other McCain

Washington Post:
Kavanaugh accuser willing to testify, her attorney says; judge offers fresh denial

Discussion: Fox News, VICE News, The Week, Mediaite, Breitbart, Popular Information and thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Megyn Kelly makes case against Kavanaugh's accuser: ‘Maybe he blew her off and she had an axe to grind’

Discussion: Vox and Washington Post

CNN:
Read the letter Christine Blasey Ford sent accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct

Discussion: LifeZette, Daily Wire, emptywheel, The Slot, Fox News Insider, RedState, The Daily Beast, Betsy's Page, Instapundit, Breitbart, Vox, Mediaite, KTLA and Outside the Beltway

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Can Kavanaugh hang on?

Discussion: American Prospect, The Week and Law & Crime

CNN:
Two Republican senators urge committee to hear out Kavanaugh accuser before vote

Discussion: demwritepress.com, Hit & Run, The Hill, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, SCOTUSblog, Axios, LifeZette, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller and Roll Call

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Murkowski: Committee ‘might’ need to consider delaying Kavanaugh vote

Discussion: Splinter, Washington Post, Vox and CNN

Axios:
Kavanaugh accuser willing to testify before Senate Judiciary Committee

Discussion: Political Wire, Weekly Standard and CNN

Grant Stern / The Dworkin Report:
This is what you need to do today to #PostponeTheVote on Kavanaugh

Discussion: The Slot and CNN

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
The power of a named accuser: Kavanaugh's future now hangs in the balance

Discussion: Axios, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Political Wire and Breitbart

John F. Harris / Politico: Why God Is Laughing at Brett Kavanaugh

Eli Watkins / CNN:
Lawyer: Kavanaugh accuser willing to testify publicly

Discussion: Townhall, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., KTLA, TheBlaze and Talking Points Memo

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Confirmation in turmoil as Kavanaugh accuser agrees to testify

Discussion: TheBlaze, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Beast and Mediaite

John Fund / National Review: Democrats Want Their Pound of Kavanaugh Flesh

David Frum / The Atlantic:
Delay the Kavanaugh Vote

Discussion: Politico, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Axios and Talking Points Memo

David Lat / New York Times:
Delay the Vote — for Kavanaugh, for His Accuser and for the Court

Discussion: The Resurgent, HuffPost, Washington Post, Media Matters for America, BloombergQuint and Above the Law

New York Times:

Bloomberg May Run for President as a Democrat. His Views on Policing and #MeToo Could Be a Problem. — SEATTLE — Michael R. Bloomberg is actively considering a campaign for president as a Democrat in 2020, concluding that it would be his only path to the White House even as he voices stark disagreements …

Discussion: Splinter and Eschaton

Hillary Rodham Clinton / The Atlantic:

American Democracy Is in Crisis — It's been nearly two years since Donald Trump won enough Electoral College votes to become president of the United States. On the day after, in my concession speech, I said, “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” I hoped that my fears for our future were overblown.

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., The Week, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, NY State of Politics, HuffPost and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Raphael Satter / Associated Press:

New leak shows Julian Assange sought Russian visa in 2010 — LONDON (AP) — Julian Assange had just pulled off one of the biggest scoops in journalistic history, splaying the innards of American diplomacy across the web. But technology firms were cutting ties to his website, WikiLeaks …

Discussion: Politico

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

Noah's Ark except it's a school bus: Truck driver rescues 64 dogs and cats from floods of Hurricane Florence — There is nothing like a meal at the Waffle House after driving more than 60 animals from the South Carolina coast to southern Alabama inside of a school bus. Tony Alsup can attest.

Discussion: Greenville News

Washington Post: Florence has made Wilmington, N.C., an island cut off from the rest of the world

Wall Street Journal:
Florence Washes Away Portion of Coal-Ash Landfill in North Carolina

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Daphne Merkin / Vulture:

Introducing Soon-Yi Previn As controversies tumbled around her, the daughter of Mia Farrow and wife of Woody Allen stayed silent for decades. No more. — Once, she was seen as a victim, her youth and relative innocence taken advantage of by a powerful, much older man who sucked her into his vortex.

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Paige Williams / New Yorker:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump's Battering Ram — What does the press secretary believe in—other than defending the President's every word? — Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, says that she never set out to be “the face of anything.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and BloombergQuint, more at Mediagazer »

Windsor Mann / The Week:

You'll miss Trump one day — I'm going to miss President Trump when he's gone. If you want his presidency to end as badly as I do, you probably will, too. The day he leaves office, I will be overjoyed. The day after he leaves office, I will be bored. — The post-Trump era will be less frightening but more dull.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Nicole Goodkind / Newsweek:

Ted Cruz Campaign is Mailing Donation Requests Disguised as Legal Summonses — Ted Cruz's Texas Senatorial campaign has sent hundreds of thousands of mailers seeking donations that are meant to look like official county summons, a high-ranking campaign official confirmed to Newsweek.

Discussion: Above the Law, The Week and Shareblue Media