Saudis are said to have lain in wait for Jamal Khashoggi  —  ISTANBUL — As Jamal Khashoggi prepared to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, a squad of men from Saudi Arabia who investigators suspect played a role in his disappearance was ready and in place.

Dina Powell tops White House list for U.N.  —  NEW YORK — Dina Powell, the Goldman Sachs executive and former senior White House official, is the top candidate to replace outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

Abrupt release of hundreds of migrants in Phoenix is ‘start of dam breaking’  —  “You'll start to see this all across the southern border soon,” a senior DHS official told NBC News.  —  WASHINGTON — Hundreds of migrant families seeking asylum in the U.S. were released from detention …

CNN poll: Democrats are fired up and maintain a strong 2018 lead  —  Washington (CNN)Four weeks out from Election Day, Democrats remain well ahead of Republicans in a generic ballot matchup, with 54% of likely voters saying they support the Democrat in their district and 41% backing a Republican …

Mitch McConnell: Forget Merrick Garland, GOP can confirm a Supreme Court justice in 2020 if it wants  —  Democrats argue that GOP rhetoric over Judge Merrick Garland's failed nomination in 2016 means that Republicans cannot try to push through a Supreme Court nominee in 2020.  Mitch McConnell begs to differ.

Administration mum on climate change report as Trump says: ‘I want to look at who drew it’  —  The day after an international panel of scientists issued a stark warning about the short window in which world leaders can act to avoid catastrophic climate change, the president of the United States …

Anger Recedes As Normalcy, Good Humor Characterize Kavanaugh's First Day On The Supreme Court  —  Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared at oral arguments for the first time Tuesday, where the bitterness attending his confirmation appeared to break, if only a little.

Trump rally crowd chants ‘Lock her up!’ about Sen. Feinstein  —  COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Chants of “Lock her up!” rang once again throughout an Iowa arena as President Donald Trump rallied supporters Tuesday night.  —  But this time, the staple of Trump's 2016 campaign …

Kavanaugh Yale classmate: The FBI investigation was a joke.  I tried to help and was ignored. … Sen. Mitch McConnell said the vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court showed the Republican Party standing up for the presumption of innocence, and he doesn't see the fight hurting his party, in fact he says it may help.

EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler Engaged With Racist, Conspiratorial Posts On Social Media  —  Exclusive: The agency head brushed off his interactions with a Pizzagater and said he doesn't remember liking a racist picture of the Obamas.  —  Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator …

Quam's mic grab creates a commotion  —  Legislative forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters Rochester are typically earnest, decorous and orderly affairs.  —  But an exception to that rule occurred Monday during a forum between incumbent GOP state Rep. Duane Quam and DFL challenger Jamie Mahlberg at Rochester Public Library.

Supreme Court Makes It Harder for Tribal North Dakotans to Vote  —  The order could hurt the reelection chances of Heidi Heitkamp, the most vulnerable Democratic senator. … The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower-court order requiring voters in North Dakota to present certain forms …

Five Teenage ‘Mean Girls’ Falsely Accused A Boy Of Sexual Assault.  They Weren't Punished.  —  Several high school girls - dubbed “mean girls” - claimed a male student sexually assaulted them because they “just don't like him.”  Now the school district and district attorney are facing heat …

Trump officials plan maintenance downtime for healthcare.gov during ObamaCare sign-ups  —  The Trump administration is planning hours-long downtimes for maintenance on healthcare.gov during the coming ObamaCare sign-up period.  —  The administration drew criticism for a similar move last year …

Infamous St. Petersburg ‘Troll Factory’ Set on Fire  —  The office of Russia's infamous troll factory believed to be at the vanguard of Russia's information war has been set on fire in St. Petersburg overnight.  —  An investigation revealed last year that the secretive troll factory …

Rand Paul on political climate: ‘I really worry that someone is going to be killed’  —  Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said lawmakers should tamp down their political rhetoric, warning that otherwise it could lead to violence.  —  Paul, during an interview with a Kentucky radio station …

Sen. Cotton Pushes Disturbing Christine Blasey Ford Conspiracy Theory  —  The assault accusations against Brett Kavanaugh can be traced back to Chuck Schumer, the senator from Arkansas claimed.  —  Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday morning told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt …

New Evidence of Hacked Supermicro Hardware Found in U.S. Telecom  —  A major U.S. telecommunications company discovered manipulated hardware from Super Micro Computer Inc. in its network and removed it in August, fresh evidence of tampering in China of critical technology components bound for the U.S. …

Beto O'Rourke May Benefit From an Unlikely Support Group: White Evangelical Women  —  In the Texas race, any small shift among evangelical voters could be a significant loss for Senator Ted Cruz — and a signal to Democrats.  —  October 9, 2018  —  Nikki Haley to Resign as Trump's Ambassador to the U.N.

Trump's Justice Department to oppose pending Chicago police consent decree  —  WASHINGTON - The Justice Department will later this week oppose a pending consent decree the city of Chicago agreed to in the wake of police misconduct allegations tied to the Laquan McDonald case, the Sun-Times has learned.

Judge calls Missouri voter photo ID advertising ‘misleading’  —  • A Cole County judge ruled Tuesday that Missouri election officials can no longer tell voters that a photo ID is required to cast a ballot.  —  With the Nov. 6 election less than a month away, Senior Judge Richard Callahan …

SoftBank Discusses Taking Majority Stake in WeWork  —  Investment could total between $15 billion and $20 billion and would likely come from SoftBank's Vision Fund  —  SoftBank Group Corp. 9984 -3.93% is in discussions to take a majority stake in WeWork Cos., in what would be a giant bet …

Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Ross Questioning in Census Suit  —  (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court late on Tuesday temporarily blocked an order forcing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to be questioned this week by lawyers for states suing over his decision to ask respondents to the 2020 census whether they are citizens.

Kavanaugh Casualties  —  In tatters: The mainstream Left, Never Trumpers, conventional wisdom, #MeToo, the media . . .  When the Christine Ford saga finally ended with the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a lot of truth had distilled out, along with the evaporation of prior pretensions and misconceptions.