memeorandum: Ted Cruz's Campaign Marked a Fund-Raising Letter an Official ‘Summons.’ It Wasn't Against the Rules. (Liam Stack/New York Times)

12:05 PM ET, September 18, 2018

Top Items:

How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right — The Senate Judiciary Committee has a chance to do better by the country than it did nearly three decades ago. — Ms. Hill is a professor at Brandeis University. — There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better.

Discussion: NBC News, Bustle, The Week, Washington Times, Simple Justice, Daily Kos, Fox News and CBS News

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, Talking Points Memo, CNN, The Week, NPR, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, New York Times, Political Wire, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Popular Information, BloombergQuint, Wall Street Journal and National Review

The Daily Beast:

Team Trump: If We Ditch Kavanaugh, We're Signing Our Own ‘Death Warrant’ — It's Judge Kavanaugh or bust. — For Donald Trump's White House, Brett Kavanaugh is increasingly irrelevant to the politics of his own Supreme Court nomination. Instead, those close to the president view …

Discussion: Politico and Breitbart

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, New Republic, Bustle, Washington Free Beacon, The Guardian, Washington Times, TIME, Politico, Indian Country Today, CNN, The Week and The American Conservative

Deanna Paul / Washington Post:

A former sex-crimes prosecutor analyzed Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh. Here's her take. — Soon after Christine Blasey Ford was revealed as the author of a letter alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her decades ago, the responses ran along predictable lines.

Discussion: New York Post, ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller

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: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Breitbart, Political Wire, New York Times, VICE News and The Atlantic

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: Media Matters for America, New York Times, Pacific Pundit, Snopes.com and NPR

Alex Pappas / Fox News:

Kavanaugh accuser has not yet accepted invitation to testify before Congress — Much has been made of Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford's invitation to testify before an open hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee next week — but it's not yet set in stone she will actually show.

Discussion: The American Mirror, Daily Wire, Fox News Insider and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Wendy R. Sherman / USA Today:
Don't repeat Anita Hill nightmare with Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford

Discussion: Fox News Insider, CNBC and CBS Los Angeles

Talia Lavin / HuffPost:
Brett Kavanaugh Defenders Are Sending A Message: Women Aren't People

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week and CNN

Lance Morrow / Wall Street Journal:
A Spectral Witness Materializes

Discussion: Washington Post, Splinter and Raw Story

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Grassley says Monday's hearing will be limited to two witnesses: Kavanaugh and his accuser

Discussion: Political Wire, Mediaite, Breitbart and Politico

Politico:
Kavanaugh accuser has not yet agreed to attend hearing

Discussion: RedState, The Texas Tribune, MSNBC and DCist

Russ Feingold / HuffPost: We Know Brett Kavanaugh Has Lied Already

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

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

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

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Washington Post and Talking Points Memo

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Dallas Morning News and The Atlantic

Emily Tillett / CBS News:
Sen. Kamala Harris says she believes Brett Kavanaugh accuser, says she has “nothing to gain”

Discussion: twitchy.com and Political Wire

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: New York Post, Mediaite, Spectator USA, Refinery29, Bustle, AOL, Joe.My.God., Hollywood Life, Perez Hilton, CNBC, Towleroad Gay News, HuffPost, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, VICE News, Mashable, LGBTQ Nation, Political Wire, twitchy.com and The Slot

The Daily Beast:
Trump's Penis Looks Like Toad From Mario Kart, Says Stormy Daniels

Discussion: The Guardian and Joe.My.God.

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: Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Splinter, The Week, Raw Story, Political Wire and CNN

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Ted Cruz and the Death of Conservatism

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
RNC internal poll finds GOP in danger due to complacent Trump voters: report

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

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: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Raw Story

Joe McDonald / Associated Press:

China raises tariffs on $60B of US goods in technology fight — BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday announced a tariff hike on $60 billion of U.S. products in response to President Donald Trump's latest duty increase in a dispute over Beijing's technology policy.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post and New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Trump could play Scrooge this holiday season

Discussion: Axios, Hit & Run, The Week and Wall Street Journal

Keith Bradsher / New York Times:
China Once Looked Tough on Trade. Now Its Options Are Dwindling.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and CNN

Orange Wang / Politico:
U.S.-China trade war heats up as Beijing vows to hit back at Trump's new tariffs

Discussion: One America News Network and South China Morning Post

Cate Cadell / Reuters: Alibaba's Jack Ma says U.S.-China trade friction could last 20 years

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 and Daily Wire

Jordan Uhl / gofundme.com:
Anthony Torres Assistance Fund

Discussion: Gizmodo and WPIX 11 New York

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: Defense One, Raw Story, RedState, Vox, The Week, Balloon Juice, Axios, Scared Monkeys, The White House, ABC News and Splinter

NBC News:
In stunning move, Trump declassifies documents related to Russia probe

Discussion: Shakesville, Shareblue Media, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Center for Security Policy

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.

Project Veritas:

Deep State Unmasked: State Department on Hidden Cam, “Resist Everything,” “I Have Nothing to Lose” — [This post contains video, click to play] — Federal Employee for State Department: “Resist everything... Every level. F**k sh*t up.” — Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) …

Discussion: Washington Times, Breitbart, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Ethan Epstein / Weekly Standard:

Senators Shouldn't Harass Their Constituents on Twitter — That means you, Marco Rubio. — Paging @jack. Florida Senator Marco Rubio on Monday night took to Twitter to engage in what looked dangerously close to online harassment. — The target of Rubio's ire was so-called “Salt Bae …

Discussion: Washington Post, miamiherald, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Yahoo! News:

Russians could face jail for not deleting news judged ‘fake’ — Russians who refuse to take down online information that has been judged “false” by a court could be sentenced to up to a year in prison under a bill approved by MPs Tuesday in a key second reading.

Wall Street Journal:

WeWork Surpasses JPMorgan as Biggest Occupier of Manhattan Office Space — Co-working company rents 5.3 million square feet in Manhattan; flex-space operators snatching up real estate in New York City — WeWork Cos. now occupies more Manhattan office space than any other company …

Jesse Barron / GQ:

How Puerto Rico Became the Newest Tax Haven for the Super Rich — A year after the tragedy of Hurricane Maria, the 51st state has become the favorite playground for extremely wealthy Americans looking to keep their money from the taxman. The only catch? They have to cut all ties to the mainland (wink, wink).

Jonathan Tilove / mystatesman:

Searching for new wedge issue, Cruz says O'Rourke will ban barbecue — Highlights — Speaking at a campaign event in South Texas, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said his Democratic rival would ban barbecue. — Cruz has sought to portray U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, as out of touch with Texas values.

Discussion: The Week