memeorandum: The claim against Kavanaugh is not a suspicious 11th-hour bombshell. Because we're not in the 11th hour. (Margaret Sullivan/Washington Post)

2:45 PM ET, September 17, 2018

Top Items:

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 …

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: WTKR-TV, Daily Kos, Refinery29, Joe.My.God., KTLA, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, Townhall and CBS Pittsburgh

Grabien News:

'Something's Wrong with Her': Christine Ford's Students Savage Her in Reviews [STORY RETRACTED] — ‘Many dislike Professor Ford due to her dark personality’ — Editor's Note: We apologize for the error, but we've since learned there are two Christine Fords working in clinical psychology …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Raw Story, Rate My Professors, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Michael Judge / Washingtonian:

Kavanaugh's Character Witness Once Wrote About His Family for Washingtonian. Check Out What His Brother Wrote in to Rebut Him. — Brett Kavanaugh's accuser says Mark Judge was in the room. He says Kavanaugh didn't do anything. — Christine Blasey Ford says Supreme Court nominee Brett …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Raw Story, Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Axios:

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: CNN, Vox, HuffPost, demwritepress.com, Washington Post, NBC News, Politico, Power Line, The Hill, Common Dreams, Townhall, The Resurgent, CNBC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shareblue Media, Hot Air, Mother Jones, The Week and Daily Kos

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

The claim against Kavanaugh is not a suspicious 11th-hour bombshell. Because we're not in the 11th hour. — Readers of the Los Angeles Times were furious in 2003 when — only five days before the California gubernatorial election — the paper published a stunning investigation …

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary:

Grassley Statement on the Supreme Court Nomination — “Anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has deserves to be heard, so I will continue working on a way to hear her out in an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner. — “The standard procedure for updates to any nominee's background …

Discussion: The Federalist, NPR, twitchy.com and Daily Wire

Caleb Howe / Mediaite:

Brett Kavanaugh's Mother Presided Over Foreclosure Hearing Involving Accuser's Parents — The woman behind the letter accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, has naturally been herself the subject of much news since her name was made public on Sunday.

Discussion: America First Media Group and Clayton Cramer

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: nbc15.com, CNN, Politico, Associated Press, Washington Post, Power Line, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Washington Times, The Atlantic, Feeds, USA Today, The Hill, ABC News, The Guardian, Breitbart and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Tasneem Nashrulla / BuzzFeed News:
Donald Trump Jr. Instagram Post Mocks Woman Who Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: The Guardian, Townhall and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Politico:
‘I do not know this woman’: Trump allies rally to Kavanaugh's defense

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., ThinkProgress, Latest from Crooks and Liars, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Media Matters for America, CNN, twitchy.com, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Week, Shareblue Media, POLITICUSUSA and thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Kaitlin Lange / Indianapolis Star:
Joe Donnelly calls for delay on Brett Kavanaugh vote after accuser comes forward

Discussion: HuffPost

Bryan Lowry / Kansas City Star: Blunt wants to investigate Kavanaugh allegations

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Brett Kavanaugh's odd response

Discussion: National Review, Refinery29, USA Today and CNBC

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

Discussion: Washington Post and The Daily Beast

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

Discussion: CNN, Townhall, ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Megyn Kelly lays out what Kavanaugh's defenders will say: ‘Maybe he blew her off and she had an axe to grind’

Discussion: Washington Post and Vox

Billy Perrigo / TIME:
Donald Trump, Jr. Posts Instagram Apparently Mocking Kavanaugh's Accuser

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times and New Republic

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

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Instapundit and Washington Post

Politico:
What Should the Senate Do With Brett Kavanaugh?

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Reason

CNN:
Kavanaugh allegations lead to White House scramble

Discussion: Vox

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: FiveThirtyEight, CNNMoney, The Daily Caller, Vox, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Townhall, New Republic, JustOneMinute, Crooked Media, CNN, CNBC, The Nation, Raw Story, The Other McCain, Patterico's Pontifications and Above the Law

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

Discussion: Vox, ABC News, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Signal, Bangor Daily News, CBS San Francisco, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart and Political Wire

CNN:

CNN Polls: Democrats hold the upper hand in Arizona, Tennessee Senate races — WASHINGTON (CNN)Democrats hold an advantage in two states that are critical to the party's chances of taking control of the US Senate, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

Bloomberg May Run for President as a Democrat. Some of His Views May Cause Him Trouble. — 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: Hit & Run, The Week, Axios, AOL, Splinter and CBS New York

New York Times:

Reversing Course, Chris Collins Will Seek 4th House Term Despite Indictment — Representative Chris Collins, the New York Republican indicted on insider trading charges last month, reversed course on Monday and planned to announce he would seek another term, according to two Republicans familiar with his plans.

Discussion: electionlawblog.org

Robert J. McCarthy / The Buffalo News:
Collins, under indictment, to remain on congressional ballot

Discussion: Rochester Democrat …, Roll Call, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, NY State of Politics, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Beast

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post: Indicted congressman Chris Collins reverses himself, will remain on November ballot

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: RT, Politico and Task & Purpose

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: RedState, Breitbart, Greenville News and Facebook

John Frank / The Colorado Sun:

Hickenlooper forms leadership PAC — a step closer to possible 2020 presidential bid — The term-limited Colorado governor will raise money for his political work and other candidates — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper took a significant step Monday toward a potential presidential run …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

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, New York Times, Politico, The Guardian, IJR, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., The Week, Hullabaloo, Fox News Insider, NY State of Politics, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Sean Hannity, twitchy.com and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Marc Benioff Explains Why He Is Buying Time Magazine — While having a massage late Sunday, the West Coast-based tech billionaire discussed via text message why he was entering the East Coast-based media industry by acquiring Time Inc.'s flagship publication.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Joe.My.God., more at Mediagazer »

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

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Tom Arnold and Mark Burnett in Physical Altercation at Evening Before Emmy Party — The tension between Tom Arnold and Mark Burnett boiled over into a physical altercation at Sunday's Evening Before Emmy party, a fundraiser for the Motion Picture Television Fund. — Details of the incident are still unclear.