memeorandum: Biden: Senate must treat Kavanaugh accuser Ford better than Anita Hill (Adam Edelman/NBC News)

1:30 PM ET, September 21, 2018

Top Items:

Open Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee from Yale Law Faculty — As the Senate Judiciary Committee debates Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination, we write as faculty members of Yale Law School, from which Judge Kavanaugh graduated, to urge that the Senate conduct a fair and deliberate confirmation process.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Officials in overdrive to keep Trump from attacking Kavanaugh accuser — A source who has been talking to President Trump throughout the Kavanaugh crisis told Axios that “you have no idea” how hard it has been to keep him from attacking his Supreme Court nominee's accuser.

Discussion: Law.com, The Atlantic, New Republic, Washington Post, Vox, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Politico, HuffPost, IJR, Online NewsHour, Above the Law, Hot Air, VICE News, Mashable, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Week and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Kavanaugh ally says he did not communicate with White House or Supreme Court nominee about theory of another attacker — A conservative legal commentator and former clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia on Friday denied communicating with the White House or Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh about his theory …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and New York Times

USA Today:

Last Slide — WASHINGTON — More Americans oppose than support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Public Affairs Poll finds, an unprecedented level of disapproval for a nominee to the nation's high court. — Amid allegations of sexual assault …

Discussion: Political Wire, Axios, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and Bustle

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

What makes Cory Booker's groping incident different than the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh — (CNN)As Washington continues to play a game of wait and see on whether Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, will testify in Washington next week …

Discussion: Althouse, twitchy.com, Washington Post, TheBlaze and NY State of Politics

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:

Kavanaugh Backer Presents Bonkers Theory: Christine Ford Was Assaulted by Judge's Doppelgänger — The sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh has put Republicans in quite the jam. On the one hand, they think failing to put Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court in the next few weeks …

Discussion: Hmm Daily, The Atlantic, Vox, Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Media Matters for America and No More Mister Nice Blog

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The case for Trump to shut down the government

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Associated Press: McConnell says Senate will ‘plow right through’ to confirm Kavanaugh

Adam Edelman / NBC News:
Biden: Senate must treat Kavanaugh accuser Ford better than Anita Hill

Discussion: Politico and Splinter

Jia Tolentino / New Yorker:
After the Kavanaugh Allegations, Republicans Offer a Shocking Defense: Sexual Assault Isn't a Big Deal

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Vox and New York Times

Caprice Roberts / Washington Post:
Kavanaugh's Senate hearing isn't a trial. The standard isn't ‘reasonable doubt.’

Discussion: Breitbart, The Ringer and Townhall

CNN:
Where negotiations stand between Kavanaugh's accuser and Republicans

Discussion: Power Line

Petula Dvorak / Washington Post:
Millions of women understand Christine Blasey Ford's decades of silence

Discussion: @politifact, Refinery29 and Bustle

NBC News:
Yale Law dean: Reports that professor groomed female clerks for Kavanaugh ‘of enormous concern’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Bustle, Above the Law, WTKR-TV, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Splinter, twitchy.com, Boing Boing and The Daily Signal

Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr / New York Times:
The Case for Impeaching Kavanaugh

Discussion: Townhall, Raw Story and Politico

Jonah Goldberg / National Review: Partisan Politics Are Trampling American Ideals in Kavanaugh Saga

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Conservatives divided over Kavanaugh allegations, mostly along gender lines

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Atlantic

The Daily Beast:
They Oversaw Sex-Crime Cases, Now They'll Grill Kavanaugh

Discussion: New York Times, ThinkProgress, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Caller News Foundation, Roll Call and Outside the Beltway

John Fritze / USA Today:
Trump questions why Brett Kavanaugh's accuser waited to report alleged assault

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Weekly Standard, NPR and Raw Story

Nicole Darrah / Fox News:
Brett Kavanaugh, wife and Christine Blasey Ford all receiving death threats: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

Discussion: The Daily Caller, LifeZette, Perez Hilton, IJR, The Resurgent, New York Times and Pacific Pundit

Fox News:
Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford's team lays out terms it wants for potential Senate interview, sources say

Discussion: Townhall, RedState, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, LifeZette, Roll Call, Front Page Magazine and Bustle

Associated Press: Early voting begins as midterms season enters final phase

Brent D. Griffiths / Politico:
Trump on Kavanaugh accusations: 'Why didn't somebody call the FBI 36 years ago?'

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Splinter, Bustle and New York Times

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:

Ex-Trump Lawyer Tried to Help Pay Legal Fees for Manafort, Gates — Advisers objected to John Dowd's efforts to divert funds and solicit donors for former Trump aides, citing impropriety — WASHINGTON—A top lawyer for President Trump this year sought to help pay legal fees for Paul Manafort …

Discussion: Raw Story

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Trump ditches plans to quickly release Russia probe documents — President Donald Trump on Friday abandoned plans to quickly declassify and release sensitive documents connected to the FBI's Russia investigation, citing a “perceived negative impact” on the probe and concerns raised by “key allies” about dumping the materials.

Discussion: Vox and Talking Points Memo

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Trump walks back his plan to declassify Russia probe documents — President Trump on Friday walked back his order earlier this week to declassify information in the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying Justice Department officials and others had persuaded him not to do so for the time being.

Discussion: New Republic, Political Wire and The Daily Caller

BuzzFeed News:

Trump Tower Meeting Planners Moved Millions, Mueller Now Investigating — On June 3, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. received one of the most striking emails of the presidential campaign, offering dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government's “support for Mr. Trump.”

Discussion: Political Wire, Law & Crime and Raw Story

The Guardian:

Revealed: Russia's secret plan to help Julian Assange escape from UK — Tentative plot to whisk fugitive from London embassy on Christmas Eve was considered too risky — Russian diplomats held secret talks in London last year with people close to Julian Assange to assess whether they could help …

Discussion: RT, Talking Points Memo and emptywheel

Joshua Green / Bloomberg:

Internal GOP Poll: Pelosi Beats Trump in a Head-to-Head Matchup — The Democratic leader is a frequent Republican target, but an RNC poll shows she's more popular than the president. — President Trump likes to mock Nancy Pelosi, but a private survey conducted for the Republican National Committee finds …

Discussion: New Republic, Axios, Daily Caller News Foundation and Political Wire

Bloomberg:
Internal GOP Poll: 'We've Lost the Messaging Battle' on Tax Cuts

Discussion: Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, CNBC, The Week, POLITICUSUSA and Axios

Tim Mak / NPR:

Russia's Pro-Gun Influence Accounts Copied The NRA — And Sometimes, Vice Versa — Russian social media agitators who pushed pro-gun messages in the United States sometimes copied the language of the National Rifle Association. And sometimes, the NRA copied them.

Tim Mak / NPR:
Russia's Divisive Twitter Campaign Took A Rare Consistent Stance: Pro-Gun

Discussion: Boing Boing

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

September Senate Overview: Three Ratings Changes — As the political environment continues to favor Democrats and likely to rob Republicans of their majority in the U.S. House and a handful of gubernatorial seats, the conventional wisdom is that the fate of the GOP's Senate majority will rest …

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review and Joe.My.God.

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:

Digital Publisher Mic Network Is Considering Acquisition Offer From Media Company — Mic Network board met last week to consider offer, as financial pressures mount — Digital publisher Mic Network is considering an acquisition offer, among other strategic options, as financial pressures mount …

more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Stephen Miller wins again: Haley, other foes excluded from immigration meeting — A planned cut in the number of refugees the U.S. admits is the latest win for hard-liner Stephen Miller, who keeps beating the Trump admin's pragmatists. — WASHINGTON — Days before the Trump administration announced plans …

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Refugee Resettlement Watch and Right Wing Watch

Reihan Salam / Wall Street Journal:

A Way Out of the Immigration Crisis — The only answer to today's polarized debate is amnesty for those already here, new standards for those seeking entry and a return to the ideal of the melting pot — In 1979, shortly before I was born, my family visited Washington, D.C., in the middle of a snowstorm.

Wall Street Journal:

Google Workers Discussed Tweaking Search Function to Counter Travel Ban — Company says none of proposed changes to search results were ever implemented — WASHINGTON—Days after the Trump administration instituted a controversial travel ban in January 2017, Google employees discussed …

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, RedState, The Daily Caller, RT, Washington Free Beacon, East Bay Times, Sean Hannity, The Week, Breitbart and CNBC

New York Times:

Trump Sees a ‘Red Wave’ Where His Party Sees a Red Alert — WASHINGTON — During a discussion about his party's legislative high points this year with a small group at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, expressed a new concern about an old habit of President Trump's.

Axios:

The GOP's growing identity crisis — The Republican Party is suffering an identity crisis that poses acute short- and long-term risks: President Trump, with 38% approval in Gallup, is giving the party a constricted appeal, with the danger of continuing high-profile defections.