memeorandum: White House Tells F.B.I. to Interview Anyone Necessary for Kavanaugh Inquiry (New York Times)

3:55 PM ET, October 1, 2018

Top Items:

White House Tells F.B.I. to Interview Anyone Necessary for Kavanaugh Inquiry — 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 it deems necessary as long …

New York Times:

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, Salon, Chicks On The Right, CBS News, Raw Story, Townhall, CNN, New York Post, Shareblue Media, Daily Wire, 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 …

David French / National Review:

The Case Against Kavanaugh Is Collapsing — There is entirely insufficient evidence to prove even one of the terrible allegations against President Trump's Supreme Court nominee. — A very strange thing happened over the weekend: If you follow Twitter closely, you'll notice that the debate …

Discussion: NBC News, Axios and Townhall

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: Right Wing Watch, ThinkProgress and The American Conservative

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: Vox, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, CNN, New York Times, Axios, Shareblue Media, RedState, The Intellectualist, Daily Kos and Raw Story

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

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, emptywheel, Raw Story, The Resurgent, Patterico's Pontifications, NTK Network, Law & Crime, Politico, Maggie's Farm, 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

Pema Levy / Mother Jones: Rachel Mitchell's Former Colleague Slams Her Kavanaugh Memo as “Absolutely Disingenuous”

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Kavanaugh in 2015: A Judge Must Keep “Emotions in Check” and Not Be a “Political Partisan”

Discussion: Weekly Standard, USA Today, The Atlantic and New York Times

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

Matthew Choi / Politico:
Flake says FBI probe can't just give senators ‘cover’ to vote for Kavanaugh

Discussion: ABC News, Political Wire and The Hill

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

Discussion: RedState, ABC News, Washington Post and Breitbart

Washington Post:
Rachel Mitchell's analysis

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

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

Discussion: twitchy.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and New York Times

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

Discussion: The American Conservative, Instapundit, Power Line and twitchy.com

Bre Payton / The Federalist: SEX-CRIMES PROSECUTOR DETAILS 12 MASSIVE INCONSISTENCIES IN KAVANAUGH ACCUSER'S STORY

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

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

Bloomberg:
Kavanaugh Battle Expands Historic Gender Gap Before Election

Discussion: The Guardian, BloombergQuint, Raw Story and The Atlantic

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

Discussion: Observer, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Axios, National Review and Daily Wire

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: Bloomberg and 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: Washington Post, The Atlantic, BloombergQuint and Joe.My.God.

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, 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, Spectator USA, YouTube, Business Insider, Globe and Mail, TheBlaze, The Daily Beast, Townhall, The New Neo, The Daily Caller, Scared Monkeys, One America News Network, ABC News 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: Vox, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Toronto Star, New York Times, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, NBC News and twitchy.com

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 …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Right Scoop, Law & Crime and The Daily Caller

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, Talking Points Memo and 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

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

ProPublica:

After Budget Cuts, the IRS's Work Against Tax Cheats is Facing “Collapse” — Tax evasion is at the center of the criminal cases against two associates of the president, Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen. The sheer scale of their efforts to avoid paying the government has given rise …