memeorandum: GOP County Chair Shares Fake 1980s Christine Blasey Ford Picture, Suggests She's Too Ugly to Sexually Assault (Benjamin Fearnow/Newsweek)

5:40 PM ET, October 4, 2018

Top Items:

Kevin Wallevand / WDAY-TV:

EXCLUSIVE: Heitkamp reveals Kavanaugh vote and reasoning to WDAY News — FARGO — U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp will vote NO on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination. — Heitkamp sat down exclusively with WDAY News to share what she will do when the U.S. Senate votes …

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 …

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 …

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: Vox, ABC News, Washington Post, Townhall, Breitbart, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Politico, IJR, Daily Wire, Political Wire and Splinter

Dow Jones Newswires:

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 …

David Corn / Mother Jones:

The Real Reason the White House Told the FBI Not to Interview Christine Blasey Ford? — The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have a theory. … On Wednesday night, the lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford responded sharply to the news that the Trump White House had blocked the FBI …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, Common Dreams, Splinter and Daily Kos

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Republicans' misogyny will come back to haunt them — Republicans under President Trump have adopted a distinct political methodology evocative of autocratic regimes: Eschew rationality and facts, whip up hate, play to the mob. They cannot make winning, rational arguments on immigration …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Federalist, LifeZette, Raw Story and Daily Wire

Jordan Valinsky / CNN:

Time magazine puts Christine Blasey Ford on the cover — New York (CNN Business)Christine Blasey Ford is on the cover of this week's Time magazine. But it's not a photograph of Ford; it's an illustration of the words and phrases from her testimony arranged into a striking image of her taking an oath.

Discussion: TIME, twitchy.com, Axios, Mashable and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

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: Vox, The Federalist, Daily Kos, BloombergQuint, Rewire.News, The Right Scoop, The Root, Balloon Juice, Right Wing Watch, Raw Story and The Week

Lulu Ramadan / mypalmbeachpost:

Retired Supreme Court Justice: Kavanaugh does not belong on high court — Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Thursday said that high court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Stevens once lauded in one of his books, does not belong on the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Axios:
An October surprise: The Brett bounce

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Splinter, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Conservative Intelligence …, NTK Network, The Week, Roll Call, National Review and twitchy.com

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
How Jeff Flake's One-Week Delay Helped Clear Brett Kavanaugh's Name

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, Law & Crime, HuffPost, Snopes.com, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Here's a list of people the FBI did NOT interview. Okay with this, Flake and Collins?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and Common Dreams

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

Amy B Wang / Washington Post: 'I don't think their mother breast-fed them': GOP senator attacks Democrats who oppose Kavanaugh

Megan Doyle / Press Herald: Maine women, including sexual assault survivors, converge on Capitol to sway Collins

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Manchin stays on the fence during Kavanaugh battle

Discussion: The Atlantic, Vox, Townhall, HuffPost, The Week, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, The Hill and Al Jazeera English

Wall Street Journal:
The Never Conservatives — The Kavanaugh fight isn't about Trump.

Discussion: New Republic, Front Page Magazine, Outside the Beltway and Breitbart

Sinéad Baker / Business Insider:
The FBI reportedly interviewed only 9 people about the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh …

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times and The Root

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

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Common Dreams

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: IJR, twitchy.com and The Rush Limbaugh Show

Associated Press:
The Latest: Grassley says Dem criticism a ‘demolition derby’

Discussion: LifeZette, Daily Wire and Daily Kos

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Dishing up lies while proclaiming the love of facts, Trump and Sarah Sanders gaslight America

Discussion: The Guardian, Media Matters for America, The Week and Mother Jones

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
Another big Mitch McConnell Supreme Court gamble looks set to pay off

Discussion: Political Wire

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.

Fred Sainz / Apple:

What Businessweek got wrong about Apple — The October 8, 2018 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek incorrectly reports that Apple found “malicious chips” in servers on its network in 2015. As Apple has repeatedly explained to Bloomberg reporters and editors over the past 12 months, there is no truth to these claims.

Discussion: Gizmodo and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Kate Fazzini / CNBC:
Chinese spy chips are found in hardware used by Apple, Amazon, Bloomberg says; Apple, AWS say no way

Discussion: Bloomberg, Lawfare and The Verge

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.”

Discussion: HuffPost

Julián Aguilar / The Texas Tribune:

Beto O'Rourke on possible endorsement from Obama: “I don't think we're interested.” — Former President Barack Obama has endorsed nearly a dozen Texas Democrats so far this election year. But Beto O'Rourke isn't one of them. On Thursday the border Democrat said that was fine by him.

Discussion: Political Wire, Daily Wire and Off the Kuff

Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:

GOP County Chair Shares Fake 1980s Christine Blasey Ford Picture, Suggests She's Too Ugly to Sexually Assault — A North Carolina Republican leader attempted to ridicule an alleged 1982 photo of Christine Blasey Ford on Facebook, but the picture is actually just a random internet meme.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raleigh News & Observer, Jezebel and Law & Crime

Haley Sweetland Edwards / TIME:
How Christine Blasey Ford's Testimony Changed America

Discussion: Mother Jones

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 and Religion News Service

Charleston Gazette-Mail:
Local journalism makes a difference

more at Mediagazer »

Marc Fisher / Washington Post:

The rise and the reckoning: Inside Brett Kavanaugh's circles of influence — He would be, in the words of his prep school's motto, a man for others. At an age when most young people struggle to figure out their path forward, he knew he would devote his life to public service.

Fox News:

Accused doxxer of GOP senators allegedly threatened to publish their children's health information — A Democratic congressional intern accused of publishing the private information of at least three Republican lawmakers allegedly threatened to leak senators' children's health information if a witness told anyone about his activities.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Geller Report and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing — SAN FRANCISCO — “I want to apologize,” the Facebook executive wrote last Friday in a note to staff. “I recognize this moment is a deeply painful one — internally and externally.” — The apology came from Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president for global public policy.

more at Techmeme »

Lara Seligman / Foreign Policy:

Trump Considers Ousting Air Force Head Over Space Force Pushback — The president appears to be tired of Pentagon officials slow rolling his orders. — U.S. President Donald Trump is peeved with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson over her handling of his directive to stand up a separate Space Force …

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

Russian Official Linked to Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Trump Tower Lawyer, Is Dead — Russia's Deputy Attorney General Saak Karapetyan was exposed this year for running a foreign recruitment operation with Natalia Veselnitskaya. — A Russian official accused of directing the foreign operations …

Discussion: Big League Politics and Law & Crime

bellingcat:

305 Car Registrations May Point to Massive GRU Security Breach — In an unprecedented step, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) and the United Kingdom's Ministry of Justice on October 4, 2018 disclosed the identities under which four Russian individuals …

Discussion: U.S. Department of Justice, TheBlaze and The Week, more at Techmeme »

The Daily Beast:

Democrats Fear the Party's Kavanaugh Obsession Could Backfire — Sensing a bump for Republicans, some strategists want to pivot if he's confirmed. Problem is the base may not be so ready to let it go. — With Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court looking more likely …

Joshua Green / Bloomberg:

A Former Obama Operative Built a New Anti-Republican Attack Machine — One evening in September, Tanya, a consultant at a big New York firm, was on her laptop scrutinizing public records and reading posts on VKontakte, the Russian social network, involving Representative Dana Rohrabacher, the Republican congressman from California.

Discussion: Politico and Raw Story

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.

Discussion: Mediaite