memeorandum: The single copy of the FBI's Kavanaugh report is behind closed doors. Here's what senators have to do to see it (Phil Mattingly/CNN)

12:40 PM ET, October 4, 2018

Top Items:

White House Finds No Corroboration of Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Kavanaugh in FBI Report — It is unclear whether White House had finalized its review of FBI interview reports — WASHINGTON—The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct …

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:

As FBI background check of Kavanaugh nears its end, probe appears to have been highly curtailed — The FBI background check of Brett M. Kavanaugh appeared to remain curtailed in its scope Wednesday even as agents neared the end of their work, opening up the possibility that the bureau …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Splinter, The Week, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, Media Matters for America, Political Wire and Jezebel

New York Times:

The Senate Should Not Confirm Kavanaugh, Signed, 1,700+ Law Professors (and Counting) — The following letter will be presented to the United States Senate on Oct. 4. It will be updated as more signatures are received. — Judicial temperament is one of the most important qualities of a judge.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Times of San Diego, Lawyers, Guns & Money, BloombergQuint, Shareblue Media, Associated Press, Althouse, Common Dreams, Daily Wire, Roll Call, Politico, Axios, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, The Week and Outside the Beltway

Wall Street Journal:

The Never Conservatives — The Kavanaugh fight isn't about Trump. We're all deplorables now. — The Editorial Board — Donald Trump didn't help Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation with his crude mockery of Christine Blasey Ford on Tuesday night in Tennessee, but then this Supreme Court moshpit isn't about this President.

Discussion: Breitbart

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Flake: No corroboration for Ford's claims in FBI report — Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), a key swing Republican vote, said Thursday that a new FBI report on Brett Kavanaugh has failed to corroborate Christine Blasey Ford's allegation of sexual assault against the Supreme Court nominee.

Discussion: Townhall and Political Wire

NBC News:
FBI confidential Kavanaugh report handed to White House, Senate

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, HuffPost, CNN, Chicks On The Right, IJR, The Right Scoop, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Joe.My.God., LifeZette, Daily Wire and Daily Caller News Foundation

CNN:
Collins: “It appears to be a very thorough investigation”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams and The Intellectualist

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
What's going on with that FBI investigation?

Discussion: ThinkProgress and USA Today

Brandon Morse / RedState:
It's Over: Flake And Collins Agree Kavanaugh FBI Report Is Good As Democrats Leave Chuck Schumer's Office “Stone-Faced”

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:
Key Republicans signal satisfaction with FBI report, increasing confirmation odds for Kavanaugh

Discussion: Vox, Politico, The Hill, ABC News, CNN, Breitbart, Daily Wire and IJR

CNN:
Flake: “We've seen no additional corroborating information”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Phil Mattingly / CNN:
The single copy of the FBI's Kavanaugh report is behind closed doors. Here's what senators have to do to see it

Discussion: The Root and Talking Points Memo

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
In 2:30 a.m. tweets, White House says FBI report supports Kavanaugh confirmation

Discussion: HuffPost, Townhall and Talking Points Memo

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
McGahn's last stand: The White House counsel has been working feverishly to get Kavanaugh confirmed

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Raw Story

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

For Once, I'm Grateful for Trump — In the president, one big bully stands up to others. — For the first time since Donald Trump entered the political fray, I find myself grateful that he's in it. I'm reluctant to admit it and astonished to say it, especially since …

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, HuffPost, Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog, RealClearPolitics, The American Conservative, ThinkProgress, Instapundit and The Daily Beast

New Yorker:

The F.B.I. Probe Ignored Testimonies from Former Classmates of Kavanaugh — Frustrated potential witnesses who have been unable to speak with the F.B.I agents conducting the investigation into sexual-assault allegations against Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh …

James Roche / Slate:

I Was Brett Kavanaugh's College Roommate — There's Nothing Like Seeing a Headline About the President Inheriting a Fortune via Fraud and Knowing He'll Definitely Get Away With It — In 1983, I was one of Brett Kavanaugh's freshman roommates at Yale University.

Discussion: The Guardian, CNN, Raw Story, Common Dreams, NBC News, Splinter and Jezebel

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Republicans Have Decided to Ignore All of Brett Kavanaugh's Lies — The FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh has turned out to be a fig leaf. Multiple reports tell the same story: The White House has controlled the probe, ignoring the attempts by multiple witnesses to reach investigators …

Discussion: Gothamist, The Week and Washington Post

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
In The New Yorker, Ronan Farrow Disgraces Himself Once Again

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

Sohrab Ahmari / New York Post:
Democrats' Kavanaugh assassination is re-uniting the right

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, MacIver Institute, The Resurgent, The Right Scoop and IJR

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
Democratic staffer arrested in doxxing of GOP senators during Kavanaugh hearing

Discussion: United States Capitol Police, Politico, Roll Call, Patterico's Pontifications, Townhall, Heavy.com, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, Chicks On The Right, TheBlaze and Breaking911

Bloomberg:

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies — In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video.

Discussion: New Republic, CNBC, Washington Post, The Guardian, VentureBeat, GeekWire, Mashable, Gizmodo, Boing Boing, The Verge and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Is Kavanaugh Helping Republicans' Midterm Chances? — In midterm elections, with different candidates on the ballot in every state and district, it's rare to see the sort of sharp, turn-on-a-dime shifts in the polls that we frequently saw during the 2016 presidential election, for example.

Discussion: USA Today, The Root, Raw Story and Bearing Drift

Axios:

An October surprise: The Brett bounce — Top Republicans tell Axios that they're seeing a surprising and widespread surge in GOP voter enthusiasm, powered largely by support for Brett Kavanaugh and his Supreme Court nomination. — What they're saying: “The Kavanaugh debate has dropped …

Discussion: National Review, The Federalist, Fox News, NTK Network, twitchy.com, Roll Call, The Week, Breitbart and Politico

James Arkin / Politico: GOP struggles to put away vulnerable Dems in Senate battlegrounds

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: How Senate Republicans could win the battle and the war on Kavanaugh

Discussion: New York Times and Mediaite

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
Poll: Amid Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle, Democratic Enthusiasm Edge Evaporates

The Daily Beast:

Russia's Global Hacking Op Busted, Seven Agents Indicted — Four GRU operatives who targeted the chemical weapons watchdog publicly outed while the DOJ indicts seven operatives. — Western governments joined forces to lay bare the inner workings of Russian military intelligence Thursday …

Discussion: Politico, consilium.europa.eu, One America News Network and GOV.UK

Associated Press: The Latest: US charges 7 Russian intel officers with hacking

The Guardian:
Russia accused of cyber-attack on chemical weapons watchdog

Discussion: Politico, GOV.UK, Joe.My.God. and One America News Network

Jennifer E. Duffy / The Cook Political Report:

Senate: Rating Changes in Four Races — Two things tend to happen in the final weeks of an election cycle: a few races that we've been watching become more competitive while others that had the potential to become very close recede to safer columns for the party holding the seats.

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

Republicans face big risks in contested California races as Democrats fight for control of the House … Republicans are at risk of a wipeout in California's six most hotly contested congressional races, a new poll shows — a result that could radically reshape the state's political map, with major consequences nationally.

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times: How the Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll of congressional races works

Andrew Seidman / Philly.com:

Alex Trebek apologizes for his performance as moderator of Pa. Gov. debate — Alex Trebek, the Jeopardy! host roundly criticized for his Monday night performance as moderator of the lone Pennsylvania gubernatorial debate this fall, apologized Wednesday, saying he had “failed to recognize the seriousness of the event for the voters.”

Los Angeles Times:

L.A. County deputies stopped thousands of innocent Latinos on the 5 Freeway in hopes of their next drug bust — The team of Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies cruises the 5 Freeway, stopping motorists on the Grapevine in search of cars carrying drugs. — They've worked the mountain pass …

Kelley Paul / CNN:

My husband, Rand Paul, and our family have suffered intimidation and threats — Sen. Paul's injuries worse than first reported — Kelley Paul is the wife of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers. — (CNN)An open letter to Senator Cory Booker:

Discussion: RedState, Townhall, The Resurgent and Washington Free Beacon

Daily Mail:

Latest From MailOnline … - A weary-looking Leland Keyser was seen for the first time since Christine Ford named her as a corroborating witness to claims Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her — Keyser, 52, whom Ford described as her ‘best friend’ at Holton-Arms preparatory school in Bethesda …

Discussion: twitchy.com

John Solomon / The Hill:

Russia collusion bombshell: DNC lawyers met with FBI on dossier before surveillance warrant — Congressional investigators have confirmed that a top FBI official met with Democratic Party lawyers to talk about allegations of Donald Trump-Russia collusion weeks before the 2016 election …

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, The Last Refuge and Columbian

Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times:

The busboy who tried to help a wounded Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 dies. His life was haunted by the violence — Juan Romero struggled for decades with a memory he could not escape. — He left Los Angeles and moved to Wyoming, later came back west and settled in San Jose, raised a family and devoted himself to construction work.

Colin Dwyer / NPR:

Here Are The Winners Of The 2018 MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants — What could possibly bring together a painter, an economist, a pastor and a planetary scientist? If you ask the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the answer is simpler than you may think: They've all shown creativity …

Discussion: New York Times

Brett T. / twitchy.com:

BUSTED: University of Southern Maine offered 1-credit ‘pop-up’ course to harass Sen. Susan Collins — We all know that Sen. Susan Collins is a possible swing vote when it comes to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and the University of Southern Maine was busted …

Discussion: WAGM-TV, National Review, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

John Culhane / Politico:

What Happens if a Democratic House Votes to Impeach Kavanaugh? — It's a likely possibility, given the questions swirling about the FBI investigation. — The FBI's supplemental background check of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has just been completed.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and The Hill

CNBC:

US weekly jobless claims drop to a near 49-year low — The data pointed to sustained labor market strength, which should continue to underpin economic growth. — Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week ended Sept. 29, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation