memeorandum: The GOP plan to fight “foggy memories” around Kavanaugh (Axios)

9:40 AM ET, September 24, 2018

Top Items:

Senate Democrats Investigate a New Allegation of Sexual Misconduct, from Brett Kavanaugh's College Years — As Senate Republicans press for a swift vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, Senate Democrats are investigating a new allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.

Discussion: NBC News, National Review, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, ABC News, The Dworkin Report, BuzzFeed News, Townhall, Breitbart, Weekly Standard, HuffPost, Axios, TVNewser, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, twitchy.com, Above the Law, Daily Kos, Conservative News Today, LifeZette, Splinter, Grabien News, Roll Call, Media Matters for America, KTVQ-TV, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com, Vox, The New Neo, The Moderate Voice, Full Feed, Spectator USA, Informed Comment, Althouse, Booman Tribune, Hit & Run, Mashable, Washington Times, Taylor Marsh, The American Spectator, NPR, The American Conservative, The Guardian, RedState, The Resurgent, The Daily Caller, FOX 61, Jezebel, abc13.com, Chicago Sun-Times, TMZ.com, Deadline, Power Line, The Colorado Sun, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, AOL, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Boing Boing, WPIX 11 New York, France 24, Political Wire, Hullabaloo, NWLC, ThinkProgress, Politico, Associated Press, Liberty Unyielding, Fox News and New York Post

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Kavanaugh to Give Senate Calendars From 1982 to Back Up Denial — WASHINGTON — Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has calendars from the summer of 1982 that he plans to hand over to the Senate Judiciary Committee that do not show a party consistent with the description of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford …

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Trump Stands by ‘Fantastic’ Kavanaugh as He Seeks G.O.P. Votes — WASHINGTON — President Trump called Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh a “fantastic, fantastic man” as he cast doubt on sexual misconduct allegations that have jeopardized the judge's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, Political Wire, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, LifeZette, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and POLITICUSUSA

Axios:

The GOP plan to fight “foggy memories” around Kavanaugh — Brett Kavanaugh's allies plan to aggressively contest what they call the “foggy memories” of his accusers — an approach that's likely to lead to nasty confrontations at Thursday's showdown hearing on his confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Townhall, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Grabien News and Breitbart

Kate Feldman / New York Daily News:

Brett Kavanaugh and pals accused of gang rapes in high school, says lawyer Michael Avenatti — Lawyer Michael Avenatti told the Senate Judiciary Committee late Sunday that he has multiple witnesses who can say Brett Kavanaugh participated in gang rapes of drunken women during high school.

Discussion: RedState, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Townhall, Conservative News Today and Liberty Unyielding

National Review:

Fight for Kavanaugh — The cynics — or, perhaps more precisely, the realists — believed that the Democrats were playing for time in the hopes of finding another accusation against Brett Kavanaugh. The cynics were right. — The New Yorker stooped to publish a shoddy story alleging …

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Christine Blasey Ford Reaches Deal to Testify at Kavanaugh Hearing — The woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers has reached a final agreement with the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify on Thursday, her lawyers said on Sunday.

Tamar Auber / Mediaite:

Drudge Says Ronan Farrow and Jane Meyer Set to Break Report on Kavanaugh: ‘Another Woman?’ — On Sunday, the Drudge Report ran this blaring headline at the top of their page: “Another Woman?” — The “another woman” appears to refer to a potential — yet still unconfirmed — second Kavanaugh accuser.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Deadline and RedState

Politico:
Kavanaugh confirmation in renewed peril after second assault claim

Discussion: American Prospect, National Review, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, HuffPost, The Week, Raw Story, KTVQ-TV and New Republic

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Big open questions to start this crazy week

Discussion: Conservative News Today, twitchy.com and Talking Points Memo

Steven Hayward / Power Line: I Told You So — I've been saying all week that you could …

Emily Birnbaum / The Hill:
Grassley: Dems ‘withheld information’ on new Kavanaugh allegation

Discussion: Townhall

Chris Perez / New York Post:
Avenatti says he represents woman with ‘credible information’ about Kavanaugh

Discussion: National Review, Talking Points Memo, Townhall and The Daily Caller

Alyssa Milano / Vox:
I was sexually assaulted as a teen. Here's why I didn't report.

Discussion: IJR, Daily Wire, Deadline, KTVQ-TV and Mashable

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Ed Whelan taking ‘leave of absence’ after posting Kavanaugh theory

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and Splinter

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Constrained From Fighting, Trump Is Left a Spectator With Kavanaugh in Peril

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Wire and HuffPost

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:
Kavanaugh denies 2nd accuser's sexual misconduct allegation as Avenatti claims 'evidence …

Discussion: The Week, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, LifeZette and Front Page Magazine

United States Senator for California:
Feinstein Calls for Postponement of Kavanaugh Nomination, FBI Investigation

Discussion: Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart and AOL

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump — A meticulous analysis of online activity during the 2016 campaign makes a powerful case that targeted cyberattacks by hackers and trolls were decisive. — Donald Trump has adopted many contradictory positions since taking office …

NBC News:

Rob Goldstone wishes he'd never set up that Trump Tower meeting with the Russians — Goldstone, who arranged the Trump Tower meeting at the request of a pop star, says Mueller's team wanted to know about links between Trump and Russia. — The British-born music publicist who helped arrange …

Discussion: Political Wire

Adam Smith / Tampa Bay Times:

Poll: Andrew Gillum leads DeSantis by 4, Rick Scott and Bill Nelson tied — The UNF poll finds more than seven in 10 likely voters support restoration of voting rights for many ex-felons — 20 poll by the University of Florida shows Florida being Florida, with neck and neck races for governor and U.S. Senate.

Discussion: Florida Politics

Marc Caputo / Politico: UNF poll: Gillum edging DeSantis, Nelson and Scott tied

New York Times:

Trump at the U.N.: Undiplomatic? This Time, Aides Fear the Opposite — WASHINGTON — When President Trump made his first visit to the United Nations last year, he ridiculed North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, as a suicidal “rocket man” and threatened to “totally destroy” his country.

Discussion: Bloomberg, UN Dispatch and ABC News

Associated Press:
At UN, unrepentant Trump set to rattle foes, friends alike

Discussion: One America News Network, Axios and Politico

Matthew Pritchard / Politico:

Will Democrats Regret Weaponizing the Judiciary? — Using the court system to stymie a president has backfired before. — The year was 1937. Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts had to decide which was more important: his intellectual integrity, or the integrity of the court as an institution.

Amie Ferris-Rotman / Washington Post:

Why Russia is wooing South Africa's white farmers — KOSYAKOVO, Russia — Leon du Toit slowly inhales the late summer breeze off fields belonging to a dairy farm not far from Moscow. “Smells just like home,” the 72-year-old South African said. — That's just what one Russian political figure hopes to hear.

Discussion: Althouse

Sam Thielman / Columbia Journalism Review:

Emptywheel's Marcy Wheeler knows more than she tells, but she tells a lot — Photo: Marcy Wheeler, author and editor of national security blog Emptywheel, courtesy of Wheeler. — In the sometimes murky world of national security reporters, few people are wrong less often than Marcy Wheeler.

Luz Moreno-Lozano / mystatesman:

3D gun advocate Cody Wilson posts $150,000 bail, released in Houston — 6:30 p.m. update: The Austin man at the center of the national debate around 3D-printed guns has been released from the Harris County jail on bail, jail records show. — Cody Wilson was brought back to the country …

Ali Dukakis / ABC News:

Roger Stone sought contact with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, email suggests — As the special counsel's office appears to be focusing in on President Donald Trump's longtime political ally Roger Stone, an email recently obtained by ABC News suggests Stone sought contact with WikiLeaks publisher …

Discussion: Political Wire

Caitlin Owens / Axios:

GOP's midterm health care strategy: Rally the base — With the midterm elections fast approaching and Democrats riding a clear advantage on health care, many Republicans are nevertheless doubling down on largely unpopular ideas like repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting Medicare.

Eppc / Ethics & Public Policy Center:

Statement from EPPC's Board of Directors — The board of the Ethics and Public Policy Center convened a special telephonic meeting on Friday, September 21, 2018. After the meeting, Edward Whelan, who has led EPPC with integrity and excellence for many years, offered his resignation in light …

Discussion: National Review, New York Times, AOL, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:

Putin's war is transforming Ukraine — When they first arrived in Lviv, a university rector told me, the students who came from Donetsk walked around in packs, speaking loudly in Russian. They didn't want to speak Ukrainian, as most inhabitants of this city do; they didn't want to integrate.