memeorandum: Flake plans to support Kavanaugh after FBI investigates ‘unless they turn up something’ (Tal Axelrod/The Hill)

1:35 PM ET, September 29, 2018

Top Items:

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

Jeff Flake Explains Himself — Jeff Flake barely slept the night before he upended the battle for the Supreme Court. — The Arizona senator had spent days agonizing over what to do with the explosive allegation that Judge Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted a young woman when he was in high school.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Axios, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and CNN

New York Times:

At Times, Kavanaugh's Defense Misleads or Veers Off Point — On Thursday, the adolescent jottings of Brett M. Kavanaugh in his high school yearbook were being scrutinized under the searing lights of a Supreme Court confirmation hearing, where he sat accused of committing a drunken sexual assault when he was 17.

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, The Intercept, Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Christine Blasey Ford's friend is not refuting Ford's allegation, will cooperate with FBI, lawyer says — (CNN)Leland Ingham Keyser, a friend of the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were at a party in high school, does not refute the veracity of the allegation …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Online NewsHour, twitchy.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Times, Bustle, The Week and The Gateway Pundit

Jim VandeHei / Axios:

The miscalculation haunting Trump, Kavanaugh — Imagine if Brett Kavanaugh had offered his emotional, tearful, you-ruined-my-life opening speech to the Judiciary Committee — and then called for a quick FBI probe to clear his name and perhaps find the true assailant.

Carlos Garcia / TheBlaze:

Journalists made a damaging Kavanaugh story go viral - but it was too good to be true — Mainstream media reporters and commentators appeared to be much too zealous in spreading a false story on social media Friday that was very damaging to Brett Kavanaugh, the president's nominee to the Supreme Court.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

In Plain Terms, Judge Brett Kavanaugh Lies About Everything — He lied about his days as a Republican operative, about the drinking age in Maryland, about the “Devil's Triangle.” All of it. — WASHINGTON— Stars and Stripes — had a damn fine Friday morning, one of which any newspaper would have been proud.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Erik Brady / USA Today:

Is Brett Kavanaugh right that he can no longer coach girls basketball? — Brett Kavanaugh testified the other day that he might never coach girls' basketball again. — He shouldn't - at least not until further investigation has concluded. — The U.S. Senate may yet confirm Kavanaugh …

Discussion: Vox, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The College Fix, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit and The Nation

Jim Joyner / Baltimore Sun:

Montgomery officials ‘prepared to investigate’ Kavanaugh allegations — if an alleged victim comes forward — Montgomery County police Chief J. Thomas Manger. (Doug Donovan / Baltimore Sun) — Montgomery County's chief of police and the county state's attorney said Friday they have not launched …

Discussion: Montgomery County, MD Police, LifeZette and JONATHAN TURLEY

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

Kavanaugh fight shows us that Washington is sick. Very sick. — Analysis: The Kavanaugh confirmation process will end with no winners. — WASHINGTON — The nation's capital is critically ill. — “D.C. is truly disgusting right now on both sides,” a top Trump ally told NBC News shortly …

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

A Bitter Nominee, Questions of Neutrality, and a Damaged Supreme Court — WASHINGTON — In the first round of his Supreme Court confirmation hearings early this month, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh kept his cool under hostile questioning, stressed his independence, and exhibited the calm judicial demeanor …

Discussion: electionlawblog.org

Sara Boboltz / HuffPost:

Christine Blasey Ford's Friend Doesn't Deny Assault Claim, Lawyer Says — Brett Kavanaugh tried to use an initial statement from Leland Keyser in his own defense this week. — An attorney for Leland Keyser stated plainly in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that his client …

Discussion: Political Wire, TheBlaze, AOL and Washington Post

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

Flake plans to support Kavanaugh after FBI investigates ‘unless they turn up something’ — Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) says he plans to support Brett Kavanaugh's nomination unless the FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee reveals wrongdoing.

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Atlantic

New York Times:

A Tumultuous 24 Hours: How Jeff Flake Delayed a Vote on Kavanaugh — WASHINGTON — Surrounded by his colleagues in a cramped corridor behind the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Flake was in agony, getting pounded on all sides. — He had already released a statement that he would vote …

Discussion: Politico, HuffPost, IJR, Refinery29, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Week, Washington Post, AOL, CNBC, Sputnik International and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:
'I Don't Think People in the U.S. Know How Closely We're Watching This'

Discussion: Jezebel

New York Times:
How the F.B.I. Will Investigate the Kavanaugh Accusations

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Sam Baker / Axios:
How to impeach a Supreme Court justice

Discussion: Law & Crime, Raw Story, Breitbart and Politico

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:
America Is Finally Listening to Women. It's Sparking a National Crisis.

Discussion: Vox

Ana María Archila / USA Today:
I confronted Jeff Flake over Brett Kavanaugh. Survivors like me won't stand for injustice.

Discussion: IJR, Washington Post and Vox

Emma Dumain / The State: Graham's defense of Kavanaugh has conservatives applauding. How long will that last?

New York Times:
Women Are Watching — Which should make Republican lawmakers very, very nervous.

Discussion: Refinery29, Outside the Beltway and Law & Crime

Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
Former FBI agents say there are clues to follow from dramatic Kavanaugh hearing

Discussion: Politico

Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:
Harvard Law School Dean Won't Say If Brett Kavanaugh Still Has A Job

Discussion: Fox News Insider and Reuters

Roger Cohen / New York Times:
An Injudicious Man, Unfit for the Supreme Court

Discussion: ThinkProgress, LifeSiteNews, The Week and Raw Story

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Details in Kavanaugh's 1982 calendar entry could be scrutinized in FBI investigation

Discussion: Washington Examiner, POLITICUSUSA and Townhall

Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:
Was I the only one who shuddered at Brett Kavanaugh's belligerent comments about beer?

Discussion: Raw Story

Jennifer Haberkorn / Los Angeles Times:
Flake and Murkowski join Democrats in calling for FBI inquiry of sex assault allegations against Kavanaugh

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, AOL, Telegraph and Raw Story

Newt Gingrich / Gingrich Productions: Next for Judge Kavanaugh: Are There Any Honorable Senate Democrats?

Marina Pitofsky / USA Today:
‘Your life and family are not ruined’: Parkland father slams Kavanaugh

Discussion: Bustle and IJR

Julia Jacobo / ABC News:
Ford welcomes reopening of FBI investigation into Kavanaugh, attorney says

Discussion: Axios, American Greatness, Breitbart, National Law Journal and FiveThirtyEight

Politico:
Scenes from Jeff Flake's Supreme Court rebellion

Discussion: HuffPost, CBS News, American Digest, Vox, CNN, Breitbart and Big League Politics

We Are UltraViolet:
Senator Jeff Flake Potentially Pressing Charges Against Sexual Assault Survivors & UltraViolet Members …

Discussion: TheBlaze, twitchy.com, RedState, Gothamist, VICE, Bustle, VICE News, YouTube, CNN and New York Times

David Mack / BuzzFeed News:
Here's Exactly What Happened As Jeff Flake Chose To Delay The Kavanaugh Vote

Discussion: The Guardian, HuffPost and Media Matters for America

John Bowden / The Hill:

Bannon predicts ‘three-way race’ in 2020 — Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon is predicting that the 2020 presidential race could become a three-way contest. — Bannon said on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday night that the race could involve a three-way battle between President Trump …

Discussion: Political Wire, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Katrina Brooker / Fast Company:

Exclusive: Tim Berners-Lee tells us his radical new plan to upend the World Wide Web — Last week, Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, asked me to come and see a project he has been working on almost as long as the web itself. It's a crisp autumn day in Boston, where Berners-Lee works out of an office above a boxing gym.

more at Techmeme »

Neil Irwin / New York Times:

The Most Important Least-Noticed Economic Event of the Decade — A localized recession in manufacturing-heavy areas can explain a lot of things. — Sometimes the most important economic events announce themselves with huge front-page headlines, stock market collapses and frantic intervention by government officials.

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

The train will continue, and you will be crushed — “I was ... wondering whether I would just be jumping in front of a train that was headed to where it was headed anyway, and that I would just be personally annihilated.” — I am so tired. — The train is very, very urgent.

Discussion: Raw Story