memeorandum: Kavanaugh denies sexual misconduct in Fox News exclusive: 'I know I'm telling the truth' (Samuel Chamberlain/Fox News)

9:40 PM ET, September 24, 2018

Top Items:

Kavanaugh's Yearbook Page Is ‘Horrible, Hurtful’ to a Woman It Named — Brett Kavanaugh's page in his high school yearbook offers a glimpse of the teenage years of the man who is now President Trump's Supreme Court nominee: lots of football, plenty of drinking, parties at the beach.

Discussion: The Resurgent and Raw Story

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“The Strategy Was to Try and Do Something Really Big”: Trump Wanted to Nuke Rosenstein to Save Kavanaugh's Bacon — But Trump allies are privately imploring him to cut Kavanaugh loose to save Republicans' electoral chances in the midterms. — BY - GABRIEL SHERMANSeptember 24, 2018,

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:

Kavanaugh denies sexual misconduct in Fox News exclusive: 'I know I'm telling the truth' — Exclusive: Judge Kavanaugh talks to Martha MacCallum about the sexual misconduct allegations. — EXCLUSIVE - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh denied accusations of sexual misconduct …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Rod Rosenstein offered to resign — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has verbally “offered to resign” in discussions with White House Chief of Staff Kelly, according to a source close to Rosenstein, but as of now, it's unclear whether his resignation has been accepted.

The Daily Beast:

Trump Lawyers Demand Mueller Probe ‘Time Out’ if Rosenstein Is Ousted — Graham and other Republicans who sit on the judiciary committee have said Ford should be respected and heard, but they have publicly pushed back on her decades-old allegations, pointing to alleged witnesses …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Mediaite, Washington Post, One America News Network, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

New York Times:

Rod Rosenstein's Job Is Safe, for Now: Inside His Dramatic Day — WASHINGTON — When Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, headed to the White House on Monday morning, he was ready to resign and convinced — wrongly, it turned out — that President Trump was about to fire him.

The Daily Beast:

Democrats to Avenatti: You're Not Helping in the Kavanaugh Fight — Avenatti to Democrats: Don't act so weak. — On Sunday evening, just as The New Yorker revealed the identity of a second woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, attorney Michael Avenatti announced …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic, PoliticalCharge and Vox

Akhil Amar / Yale Daily News:

Second thoughts on Kavanaugh — Minutes after President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh '87 LAW '90 to the Supreme Court, I published a controversial op-ed in The New York Times endorsing the nomination. I later testified in support of Kavanaugh on the final day of his confirmation hearings.

Discussion: Law & Crime, Common Dreams, Reuters, TheBlaze and Washington Free Beacon

Brian Karem / The Montgomery County Sentinel:

Updated: Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh defends himself against accusers — UPDATE 3 p.m. - additional reporting with excerpts from Kavanaugh's letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and a letter from Dr. Ford to the judiciary committee — Embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh …

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

'I've never sexually assaulted anyone': Brett Kavanaugh offers deeply personal defense in Fox News interview — A defiant and at times emotional Brett M. Kavanaugh sat for an extraordinary television interview with his wife Monday to try to save his embattled Supreme Court nomination against charges of sexual misconduct as a teenager.

Discussion: The Atlantic, VICE News and The Root

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
Avenatti calls Kavanaugh a H.S. rapist; Kavanaugh says he was a virgin; Media pounces

Discussion: USA Today, The Federalist and Daily Wire

Steven Nelson / Washington Examiner:
Maryland police aren't reviewing second Brett Kavanaugh high school allegation, chief says

Discussion: Townhall, Althouse, The Week, Raw Story, National Review, Daily Kos, Vox, Daily Wire, Law & Crime, The Atlantic, twitchy.com, Towleroad Gay News and Liberty Unyielding

Washington Post:
'It's the culture war on steroids.' Kavanaugh fight takes on symbolism in divided era

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Mother Jones, News + Opinion, Seven Days and HuffPost

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Justice Department drafted exit statement for Rod Rosenstein

Discussion: CNBC, Political Wire, Vox, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

USA Today: Robert Mueller is playing a long game on the Russia investigation, and it's paying off

USA Today: Third Kavanaugh accuser, a former US Mint employee, ‘100 percent credible,’ Avenatti says

Montgomery County, MD Police:
Statement from the Montgomery County Police Department Regarding Victim Accusations of Supreme …

Discussion: Law & Crime, The Resurgent, Vox and twitchy.com

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Rod Rosenstein, who has been overseeing Russia probe, has offered to resign

Discussion: Washington Times, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, The Week, Raw Story and Politico

Dan Balz / Washington Post: A chaotic opening to what could be a fateful week

Dylan Scott / Vox:
The very simple reason Republicans are fighting so hard for Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, LifeZette and Breitbart

BostonGlobe.com:
Yale cancels some classes as law students protest Brett Kavanaugh nomination

Discussion: Daily Wire

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
White House grapples with dual crises over Kavanaugh and Rosenstein

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Townhall and USA Today

David French / National Review:
On Fox, Brett Kavanaugh Mounts an Aggressive, Specific Defense

Discussion: The Intercept, Above the Law and Law & Crime

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
The Supreme Court Is Coming Apart

Discussion: Politico

Sean Davis / The Federalist: Republicans Have A Simple Choice: Vote To Confirm Kavanaugh Or Get Slaughtered In November

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
With Rod Rosenstein Possibly on His Way Out at the Justice Department, Who Will Protect Robert Mueller's Investigation?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and emptywheel

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Brett Kavanaugh, Facing New Allegations, Vows He Will Not Withdraw

Discussion: Vox, News & Views …, Rewire.News, CNN, ThinkProgress, HuffPost, Mother Jones, TVNewser, Raw Story, Althouse and Daily Kos

David French / National Review:
When Evidence No Longer Matters

Discussion: The Resurgent

TMZ.com:
Judge Judy Says Don't Prejudge Sexual Assault Accusations Against Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: IJR, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and AOL

Hot Air:
Yes, Let's See The Emails That Led To Deborah Ramirez's Accusation Against Kavanaugh

Discussion: New York Post, Grabien News, checkyourfact.com and Liberty Unyielding

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
On The New Yorker's Grossly Irresponsible Story

Discussion: Politico, Media Matters for America, ABC News, The Daily Beast, New Republic, The Week, The Atlantic, Observer, POLITICUSUSA, ThinkProgress, Fox News, The Daily Signal and RedState

Kimberly Ross / Washington Examiner:
For Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, GOP needs to start acting like the majority

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo and New York Times

Jim Norman / Gallup:

Republican Party Favorability Highest in Seven Years — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Forty-five percent of Americans now have a favorable view of the Republican Party, a nine-point gain from last September's 36%. It is the party's most positive image since it registered 47% in January 2011 …

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart, Power Line, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, RedState, The Daily Caller, Daily Wire and Liberty Unyielding

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump — A meticulous analysis of online activity during the 2016 campaign makes a powerful case that targeted cyberattacks by hackers and trolls were decisive. — Donald Trump has adopted many contradictory positions since taking office …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:

Mueller Asked About Trump's Link to Billionaire Russian-Azerbaijani Family — Publicist Rob Goldstone, who arranged Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 with Donald Trump Jr., met with special counsel team in March — Special counsel Robert Mueller asked questions about the relationship between President Trump …

NBC News:
Rob Goldstone wishes he'd never set up that Trump Tower meeting with the Russians

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Times and Raw Story

Julianne Escobedo Shepherd / Jezebel:

The Next Step for #MeToo Is Into the Gray Areas — As we near the one-year mark of the public accusations against Harvey Weinstein—that he serially assaulted women; that he used his power to avoid any consequences for doing so—and the subsequent spread of the nationwide #MeToo movement, we are also facing its backlash.

more at Mediagazer »

Ginger Gibson / Reuters:

Florida Democratic congressional candidate dies at 54 — (Reuters) - A Florida Democrat running for the U.S. House of Representatives in a heavily Republican district has died a little more than six weeks before the November elections, the state's Democratic Party said on Monday.

Discussion: Political Wire

FiveThirtyEight:

We Looked At Hundreds Of Endorsements. Here's Who Republicans Are Listening To. — This story was produced in collaboration with ABC News and Ballotpedia.4 — On the afternoon of July 18, President Trump tweeted his “full and total endorsement” of Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp …

Discussion: The Week

Amnesty International USA:

Amnesty International USA Issues Rare Call for a Halt on Kavanaugh Nomination — Amnesty International USA today called on a halt to a vote on President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States unless and until any information relevant …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Maeve Reston / CNN:

Judge appears ready to toss Stormy Daniels defamation lawsuit against Trump — Los Angeles (CNN)Federal District Judge S. James Otero appears to be on the verge of dismissing Stormy Daniels's defamation case against President Donald Trump. — During a hearing in Los Angeles Monday …

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

The Evolution of Kyrsten Sinema, from Homeless Child to Senate Candidate — PHOENIX — When Kyrsten Sinema began her rise in Arizona politics in the early 2000s, she was a Ralph Nader supporter and local spokeswoman for the Green Party who worked to repeal the death penalty and organized antiwar protests after the Sept. 11 attacks.