memeorandum: Biden Is Preparing for 2020. Can He Overcome the Hill-Thomas Hearings? (New York Times)

2:35 PM ET, October 1, 2018

Top Items:

Chad Ludington's Statement on Kavanaugh's Drinking and Senate Testimony — Chad Ludington, a Yale classmate of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's who said he often drank with him, issued a statement on Sunday saying the Supreme Court nominee was not truthful about his drinking in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Axios, Townhall, CBS News, Daily Wire, CNN, Shareblue Media, New York Post, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

New Yorker:

The Confusion Surrounding the F.B.I.'s Renewed Investigation of Brett Kavanaugh — As the F.B.I. began its investigation this weekend into allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, several people who hope to contribute information …

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Another Trump coverup? Former FBI agents question limits on probe of Kavanaugh. — The White House appears to be playing all kinds of crafty rhetorical games to obscure the answer to a simple question: Has it deliberately placed limits on the scope of the FBI's renewed background check …

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, CNN, NBC News, checkyourfact.com, National Review, The Intellectualist, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Jason Lemon / Newsweek:

Kavanaugh Said He Had ‘No Connections’ to Yale. He Was, in Fact, a Legacy Student — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said underoath that he had “no connections” to Yale prior to attending, arguing that hard work and ambition were the sole factors leading him to study at the prestigious institution of higher education.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The American Conservative and The Intercept

Daily Mail:

Donald Trump Jr. on DailyMailTV: He-said she-said cases harm boys too — Donald Trump Jr. says he-said, she-said sexual assault claims make him fear more for his sons than his daughters. Don Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle gave DailyMailTV their first joint broadcast interview.

Discussion: ABC News, HuffPost, The Root, The Week, Chicks On The Right, Conservative News Today, Joe.My.God., The Daily Beast, Axios, Washington Times, Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller and Jezebel

Washington Post:

Rachel Mitchell's analysis — Rachel Mitchell, the outside prosecutor Senate Republicans hired to lead the questioning in last week's hearing about the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, outlined in a memo Sunday to GOP senators why she would not bring criminal charges against the Supreme Court nominee.

Discussion: The Federalist, Vox, Breitbart, The Daily Signal, CNN, ThinkProgress, Splinter, Betsy's Page, Washington Free Beacon, HuffPost and Talking Points Memo

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

In memo, outside prosecutor argues why she would not bring criminal charges against Kavanaugh — The outside prosecutor Senate Republicans hired to lead the questioning in last week's hearing about the sexual assault allegations against Brett M. Kavanaugh is arguing in a new memo …

Discussion: Althouse, Law & Crime, emptywheel, Raw Story, NTK Network, The Resurgent, Patterico's Pontifications, The Week, Political Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Michael Ginsberg / The Federalist:
WHY THERE'S A GOOD CASE FOR SANCTIONING CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD'S LAWYERS

Discussion: Raw Story

NBC News:
Kavanaugh classmate to tell FBI of nominee's ‘violent drunken’ behavior in college

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Heavy.com, Common Dreams and Joe.My.God.

CBS News:
Brett Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford hearing spurs more division - CBS News Poll

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Political Wire

Megan Kellr / The Hill:
Flake: If I were running for reelection ‘not a chance’ I'd call for Kavanaugh investigation

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, Townhall, twitchy.com, CBS News, One America News Network, Washington Post, Chicks On The Right, The Federalist, The Week, The Atlantic and The Guardian

Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Trump: I want FBI to do a ‘very comprehensive’ probe of Kavanaugh allegations

Discussion: ABC News, Breitbart, Daily Kos and Axios

Jessica McBride / Heavy.com:
Rachel Mitchell Memo Lists Weaknesses in Ford Claim: READ

Discussion: The American Conservative, Instapundit and Power Line

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
In Kavanaugh fight, Democrats move goalposts far, far away

Discussion: twitchy.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Bloomberg:
Kavanaugh Battle Expands Historic Gender Gap Before Election

Discussion: Raw Story, The Atlantic and BloombergQuint

CNN:
Yale classmate says Kavanaugh has “not told the truth” about his drinking

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Axios, Daily Wire and Raw Story

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Limited FBI investigation of Kavanaugh offers road map for how Trump could try to constrain Mueller

Discussion: Vox, Axios, New York Times and Raw Story

Annie Karni / Politico:
‘This is march or die’: Kavanaugh urged to hit back hard

Discussion: Hot Air, The Week, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Axios and New York Times

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:

The Washington Times settles lawsuit with Seth Rich's brother, issues retraction and apology for its coverage — The Washington Times on Monday issued a lengthy retraction and apology for an editorial it published in March about Aaron Rich, the brother of the slain Democratic National Committee …

Discussion: Vox and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Times:

Retraction: Aaron Rich and the murder of Seth Rich — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — The Washington Times published an op-ed column titled, “More cover-up questions: The curious murder of Seth Rich poses questions that just won't stay under the official rug,” by Adm. James Lyons (Ret.) (the “Column” …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Snopes.com and Joe.My.God.

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Kavanaugh's recusal problem

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, more at Techmeme »

David Fickling / Bloomberg:

Globalists Will Love Trump's New Nafta Deal — Despite the fanfare, the agreement doesn't change much. — For the group of people meant to be enemies of President Donald Trump's trade agenda, the revised North American trade deal reached shortly before the stroke of midnight Sunday looks pretty good.

Discussion: The Atlantic and BloombergQuint

Heather Long / Washington Post:
U.S., Canada and Mexico just reached a sweeping new NAFTA deal. Here's what's in it.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, Bloomberg, TheBlaze, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Reuters

Doug Palmer / Politico:
U.S. reaches trade deal with Canada and Mexico, providing Trump a crucial win

Discussion: Vox, Weekly Standard, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Globe and Mail, New York Times, Townhall, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, Scared Monkeys, One America News Network, Breitbart and Political Wire

David J. Lynch / Washington Post:
Canada agrees to join trade accord with U.S. and Mexico, sending new NAFTA deal to Congress

Discussion: The Rush Limbaugh Show, Vox, Toronto Star, Reuters, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, NBC News and twitchy.com

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump touts US-Mexico-Canada trade deal as ‘historic news’

Discussion: The Daily Beast, twitchy.com and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:

Trump Calls for ‘Comprehensive’ F.B.I. Inquiry of Kavanaugh Accusations but ‘Within Reason’ — WASHINGTON — The White House has authorized the F.B.I. to expand its abbreviated investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh by interviewing anyone …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Popular Information, The Week and CBS Denver

Ryan Lizza / Esquire:

Devin Nunes's Family Farm Is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret — Rep. Devin Nunes is head of the House Intelligence Committee and one of President Trump's biggest defenders. For years, he's spun himself as a straight talker whose no-BS values are rooted in his family's California dairy farm.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Politico:

Where is Elaine Chao? — ‘Private’ time fills long stretches of the Transportation secretary's daily calendar, according to POLITICO's review of 14 months of records. — Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao's day-to-day calendars are filled with large swaths of time blocked out as “private …

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump takes (early) victory lap on new trade deal

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times:

Biden Is Preparing for 2020. Can He Overcome the Hill-Thomas Hearings? — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — At a Democratic rally in a downtown ballroom Sunday evening, Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island spoke vividly about the Senate hearings on the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh …

Discussion: Vox, MySanAntonio.com, Shakesville and Talking Points Memo

Kyle Potter / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Attorney: Ellison abuse claim unsubstantiated — ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An ex-girlfriend's allegation that Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison once physically abused her could not be substantiated because she refused to provide video she said she had of the incident …

Justin Rohrlich / Quartz:

That sign telling you how fast you're driving may be spying on you — The next time you drive past one of those road signs with a digital readout showing how fast you're going, don't simply assume it's there to remind you not to speed. It may actually be capturing your license plate data.

Discussion: Shakesville

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Texas governor calls Beto O'Rourke ‘cult-like’ figure — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Monday described Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) as “cult-like” in the way that he's garnered attention in his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). — “He's been a cult-like, very popular figure …

Discussion: RedState, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., The Week and twitchy.com

Kristine Marsh / NewsBusters:

ABC Misleads Viewers by Not Mentioning ‘Hero’ Who Cornered Flake Is Soros-Funded Democrat Operative — Monday morning ABC and CBS reported on the two women who cornered Republican Senator Jeff Flake on an elevator as he was going to the Judiciary Committee vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.