The Commentariat -- Sept. 22, 2018
Autumnal Equinox. The View from My Window.
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Judiciary Committee. Story to follow. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: So I take back & apologize for slamming her earlier this week for her then-apparent refusal to speak to the Committee. Good for her. ...
... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Christine Blasey Ford has agreed to testify before the Senate next week, her lawyer said Saturday. The exact terms and timing of her testimony remain unclear, as negotiations between Ford's lawyers and staff for the Senate Judiciary Committee remain ongoing. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had given Ford's lawyers until Saturday afternoon to decide on whether she would proceed with testifying next week. Her lawyers said she 'accepts the Committee's request to provide her first-hand knowledge of Brett Kavanaugh's sexual misconduct next week.'" ...
... Jake Sherman of Politico has the full text of Blasey Ford lawyer Debra Katz's e-mail to the Committee.
Oh, Oops, I Forgot. Shane Harris & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "A former top White House official has revised her statement to investigators about a key event in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, after her initial claim was contradicted by the guilty plea of former national security adviser Michael Flynn..... K.T. McFarland, who briefly served as Flynn's deputy, has now said that he may have been referring to sanctions when they spoke in late December 2016 after Flynn's calls with Russia's ambassador to the United States.... When FBI agents first visited her at her Long Island home in the summer of 2017, McFarland denied ever talking to Flynn about any discussion of sanctions between him and the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, in December 2016 during the presidential transition. For a time, investigators saw her answers as 'inconsistent,' putting her in legal peril as the FBI tried to determine if she had lied to them.... Eventually, McFarland and her lawyer Robert Giuffra were able to convince the FBI that she had not intentionally misled the bureau but had rather spoken from memory.... Just days after Flynn talked to Kislyak, however, McFarland said that her memory was clear, and [told a Washington Post reporter] the two had never discussed sanctions.... McFarland withdrew her nomination [as U.S. ambassador to Singapore] in February 2017, after the Republican chairman of the committee made clear that she couldn't be confirmed without explaining the discrepancies between her written statements and the emails that showed McFarland knew Flynn was talking to Kislyak." Mrs. McC: Funny how the threat of jail time refreshes the memory.
Grassley Hires Accused Sexual Harasser to Shepherd Accused Sexual Abuser through Confirmation. Heidi Przybyla of NBC News: "A press adviser helping lead the Senate Judiciary Committee's response to a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has stepped down amid evidence he was fired from a previous political job in part because of a sexual harassment allegation against him. Garrett Ventry, 29, who served as a communications aide to the committee chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, had been helping coordinate the majority party's messaging in the wake of Christine Blasey Ford's claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her 36 years ago.... In a response to NBC News, Ventry denied any past 'allegations of misconduct.' After NBC News raised questions about Ventry's employment history and the sexual harassment allegation against him, Judiciary Committee Spokesman Taylor Foy replied in a statement: 'While (Ventry) strongly denies allegations of wrongdoing, he decided to resign to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee.'... While doing work for the Judiciary Committee, Ventry was employed by CRC Public Relations, a prominent GOP firm helping to promote Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court.... Politico reported Friday that CRC was behind conservative activist Ed Whelan's suggestion that he had evidence that a classmate of Kavanaugh had been the perpetrator of the attack on Blasey Ford.... On Twitter, Ventry said the Judiciary Committee had 'no knowledge or involvement' in the incident involving CRC." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Uh-huh. We're talking about three generations of sexist pigs here: Ventry, Kavanaugh & Grassley. Here's a chicken-and-egg question: are these guys Republicans because they're sexist pigs or are they sexist pigs because they're Republicans? And, as Patrick points out in today's thread, CRC's claim to fame infamy is the Swiftboating of decorated Vietnam war veteran John Kerry.
Ted Cruz Plays His Racist Dogwhistle on a Low Frequency. Jonathan Chait: A Dallas policewoman murdered Botham Shem Jean in his own apartment, which she entered without cause (she said she mistook it for her apartment). "Dallas police subsequently leaked the claim that Jean possessed a small amount of marijuana in his home.... Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has denounced this incident as an example of racial injustice in policing.... Ted Cruz ... tweeted a short clip of O'Rourke denouncing Jean's murder during a town hall at the Good Street Baptist Church in Dallas[.]... It is not clear precisely what part of O'Rourke's argument he disagrees with.... Cruz ... has tended to dissolve the issue into a broader question of respect for the police, which he displays with his characteristic smarm. Nowhere in this clip does O'Rourke attack the police in general, dispute the need for effective policing, or insist that all or most officers are racist. The element that Cruz considers damning is O'Rourke campaigning against police injustice ... before a heavily-black audience.... This is ... old-fashioned conservative wink-and-nod Willie Horton racism, leading the audience toward the desired conclusion without shouting it out for them like Trump does."
Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "China has scrapped trade talks with the United States days before President Trump is set to escalate the commercial battle with a new round of tariffs, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Chinese officials canceled the planned negotiations after Trump announced he would impose new levies of up to 10 percent on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, effective Monday. Beijing vowed to strike back, slapping duties of up to 10 percent on an additional $60 billion in American products." ...
... MEANWHILE, Steve Bannon sez "Donald Trump's strategy is to make the trade war with China 'unprecedentedly large' and 'unbearably painful' for Beijing, and he will not back down before victory." Mrs. McC: That's not a strategy as much as it is sadism.
*****
** Adam Goldman & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit. Mr. Rosenstein made these suggestions in the spring of 2017 when Mr. Trump's firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director plunged the White House into turmoil. Over the ensuing days, the president divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide. Mr. Rosenstein was just two weeks into his job. He had begun overseeing the \ Russia investigation and played a key role in \ the president's dismissal of Mr. Comey by writing a memo critical of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. But Mr. Rosenstein was caught off guard when Mr. Trump cited the memo in the firing, and he began telling people that he feared he had been used.... Mr. Rosenstein disputed this account [in the statement below]. (Also linked yesterday.)
The New York Times's story is inaccurate and factually incorrect. I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me be clear about this: Based on my personal dealings with the president, there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment. ...
... (Conservative) Jack Goldsmith of Lawfare: "Companion stories with different emphases are now appearing, but I have not seen anything in these stories that changes the basic story in the Times: Rosenstein discussed recording Trump and the 25th Amendment, and one or two people who were present suggest he was joking about the wire, but others (and seemingly more people) insist he was serious. No one has yet cast doubt on the Times' claim about Rosenstein and the 25th Amendment.... This story gives President Trump plenty of legitimate reasons to fire Rosenstein.... The revelations deepen the puzzle that I and others long ago noted about Rosenstein's conflict of interest in supervising the Mueller investigation. The main issue is that Rosenstein appears to be a central witness to Trump's motivation for firing Comey, which appears to be an issue under investigation by Mueller.... This story will lend enormous credibility to the president's claim that the Mueller investigation is hopelessly compromised.... The Rosenstein revelations are akin to the text messages between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. They demonstrate bad judgment expressed in what the participants mistakenly thought was a private setting." ...
... On the Other Hand. digby: "All of this is based upon second and third-hand information from anonymous sources who say they saw notes of the meetings --- no direct participants spoke either on or off the record. We don't even know if any of them aside from McCabe (whose notes seem to be what some of these people are basing their gossip on) work in the Justice Department. On the other hand, the Washington Post reports, (NBC confirmed as well) that their sources say the meeting took place but that Rosenstein was being sarcastic responding to McCabe by saying 'what do you want me to do Andy, wear a wire?' which sounds a lot more plausible. Nobody has reported on why Rosenstein would have said he would talk specifically to Kelly and Sessions about the 25th Amendment since Kelly at the time wasn't the Chief of Staff but rather the Director of Homeland Security and both men were known to be loyal Trumpers even if Sessions had recently recused himself. Let's just say this is a very weird story. The point of it is obviously to give Trump cause to fire Rosenstein, although I don't know exactly how he can prove anything based upon a 'failing New York Times' story." ...
... Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post have updated their story: "Speaking at a rally in Springfield, Mo., on Friday evening, Trump said, 'Look at what's being exposed at the Department of Justice and the FBI. We have great people in the Department of Justice ... but we have some real bad ones. You see what's happening at the FBI, they're all gone, they're all gone. But there's a lingering stench and we're going to get rid of that, too.'... In a second statement hours later, Rosenstein said: 'I never pursued or authorized recording the president and any suggestion that I have ever advocated for the removal of the President is absolutely false.'... That statement came after White House officials pressured the Justice Department to issue a more forceful denial, according to an adviser who spoke to the president. The president asked advisers Friday if he should fire Rosenstein, and some of those around Trump sought to sway him not to make any decision Friday night. During those discussions, the president said he did not trust Rosenstein or McCabe, the adviser said." ...
... Pete Williams, et al., of NBC News: "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was joking when he discussed wearing a wire to secretly record ... Donald Trump and does not believe Trump should be removed from office through the use of procedures outlined in the Constitution's 25th Amendment, according to Justice Department officials who requested anonymity to discuss the conversation." ...
... AND Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel: "... in a week where Trump is desperate to release documents that will discredit the investigation closing in on himself,Andrew McCabe's attorney, Michael Bromwich raises real questions about how the NYT might get memos McCabe wrote documenting Rosenstein's behavior. '... A set of those memos remained at the F.B.I. at the time of his departure in late January 2018. He has no knowledge of how any member of the media obtained those memos.' The insinuation is clear: in an attempt to accuse Rosenstein of things known to set off the President (notably, being recorded), someone took memos McCabe wrote and read them to people who would then leak them to the NYT." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I will add here that Michael Schmidt, one of the lead reporters on the Rosenstein story, broke the initial story about Hillary Clinton's private email server. The Times had to make four major corrections to the story & change the headline, eliminating the central assertion that her use of private email was the subject of a "criminal inquiry." It was generally believed that Schmidt's source was Trey Gowdy. Several months ago, the DOJ gave Gowdy access to the documents Trump had ordered declassified this week (and has now backtracked on -- story linked below), and Gowdy went over to the DOJ & read them. (Devin Nunes also received access, but he didn't bother to read the documents.) Those docs included Andy McCabe's note. Just saying. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "It is difficult to evaluate this story outside the context of an impending threat to the rule of law and the crisis it may well trigger. Numerous sources have described Rosenstein as having been engaged in idle black humor. 'I remember this meeting and remember the wire comment. The statement was sarcastic and was never discussed with any intention of recording a conversation with the president,' one source tells Politico. The Washington Post has even more detail that seems to cast doubt on the earnestness of the remark[.]... The Times has been spun by sources before -- most infamously, in its 2016 preelection report declaring that the FBI saw no link between Russia and Trump, and that Russia was not trying to help Trump win.... In ordinary circumstances, a report like this would constitute a legitimate firing offense, regardless of how seriously the remarks were intended. But these are not ordinary circumstances. Normal presidents do not habitually inspire members of their administration, including ones they appointed, to whisper about declaring them mentally unfit for office and removing them through the 25th Amendment (as an anonymous official revealed.)... Rosenstein is nobody's conception of a hero chosen by history.... But Rosenstein is what we have right now, and with the rule of law hanging by a thread, his defense is vital."
... Alex Ward of Vox: "Mueller has to run major investigative decisions past the deputy attorney general. A Rosenstein replacement could simply refuse to approve any of Mueller's requests, effectively slowing the whole investigation to a crawl, or even fire Mueller outright if he felt there was a reason to do so. Rosenstein, however, has made it clear that at this point, he sees no reason to fire Mueller. This has irked Trump for months. He continues to tell some of his advisers that he thinks Rosenstein is 'a Democrat' (even though he is actually a lifelong Republican)...." ...
... (Conservative) Matt Lewis of the Daily Beast: "Trump says crazy things all the time. He appears erratic and capricious.... And -- this is my strong hunch -- people like Rosenstein wouldn't feel tempted to explore such extreme measures if our other checks and balances were in place.... Part of the problem is that the Founders envisioned a system that would prohibit someone like Trump from ever making it to the presidency. Ironically, the very electoral college that made Trump president was designed as one such check -- a way for local elites to override the will of the people and prevent a demagogue from taking the White House.... ... There are other contributing factors. For generations now, Congress has abdicated authority and responsibility as a coequal branch of government (we can rightly heap scorn on Republicans like Devin Nunes for being a Trump toady, but the erosion of congressional authority began long before either of them came along)."
What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep. -- Brett Kavanaugh, in a speech in March 2015 ...
... all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. -- Akhilleus, yesterday
** Rachel Maddow is reporting (at about 9:40 pm ET) that Christine Blasey Ford's attorneys asked the Judiciary Committee for one additional day for Blasey Ford to make her decision inasmuch as she had been meeting all day with FBI agents re: death threats made against her & her family. Maddow read the letter on-air; it was a scathing takedown of Committee Republicans -- and specifically Chuck Grassley. Mrs. McC: Real reports, plus Upchuck Grassley's Twitter responses now linked below. ...
... The Washington Post has a breaking story here, which will be updated: "An attorney for Ford, Debra Katz, replied to Republican staff on the Judiciary committee in a letter decrying the 'aggressive and artificial deadlines,' and asking that Ford 'be given an additional day to make her decision.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe Grassley thinks it's only important to get a vote out of the Judiciary Committee, but he might want to give some attention to Susan Collins' comment that Wednesday or Thursday would be fine. See the Portland Press Herald's story, linked below. ...
... UPDATE: Here's Grassley's response to Blasey Ford's attorneys, via Twitter: "Five times now we hv granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one wk ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u." @11:27 pm ET Friday ...
... UPDATE 2: Grassley's second tweet: "Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand. It's not my normal approach to b indecisive" @11:42 pm ET
... AND FINALLY: "With all the extensions we give Dr Ford to decide if she still wants to testify to the Senate I feel like I'm playing 2nd trombone in the judiciary orchestra and Schumer is the conductor" @11:55 pm ET ...
... Elana Schor & Burgess Everett of Politico: "The Senate Judiciary Committee is giving Christine Blasey Ford attorney's until the end of the day Friday to work out terms of next week's proposed hearing on Ford's allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, according to a Republican senator. The GOP is offering to hold the hearing on Wednesday after Ford sought Thursday and is meeting some of her requests but not others, the senator said. The senator added that Republicans are not inclined to agree with Ford's lawyers that she should only be questioned by lawmakers -- not an outside counsel." Mrs. McC: Grassley's deadlines & threats are getting old. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... The story has been updated: "[Grassley] said if he doesn't hear back by 10 p.m. on Friday evening or Ford decides not to appear, the committee will vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Monday. If he and Ford's attorney can agree to hear her testimony next week, Grassley will postpone the Monday vote." Mrs. McC: I'm writing this at 9 pm so don't know what will happen. ...
... The story has been updated again: "Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford sought an additional day to respond to Republicans over whether she'll testify about her sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, calling a GOP-imposed Friday night deadline 'arbitrary.' In response, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley late Friday appeared to extend a previous 10 p.m. cutoff for Ford to reply to a GOP offer sent earlier in the day for her to appear on Wednesday to testify about her decades-old allegation against Kavanaugh."
John Wagner & Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Friday pointedly questioned the credibility of the woman who has accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers, contending that she or her parents would have reported the attack to law enforcement at the time if it were as bad as she has said." The full tweets are cited in yesterday's Commentariat. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Lawrence O'Donnell is the only pundit I've heard or read all day who has pointed out the same thing I did yesterday: that Trump, in his tweets, admitted Kavanaugh had attacked Blasey Ford, but claimed the attack couldn't have been all that bad. ...
... Eric Russell of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: "Maine Sen. Susan Collins said she was 'appalled' by President Trump’s tweets Friday morning that criticized Christine Blasey Ford for not coming forward sooner with her allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Speaking at an event in Portland, Collins appeared to offer support for Ford, who has said Kavanaugh tried to sexually assault her 36 years ago when they were both in high school. The senator stopped short, though, of saying whether she believed Ford.... Collins said she would be comfortable allowing Ford to testify later in the week and said the committee should make reasonable accommodations to allow her to speak. Collins also said the committee should be able to use its discretion to structure the hearing as it sees fit, including using outside counsel, a step she called 'not at all unusual.'... To me, Monday is the preferred date but I don’t see a problem with delaying to Wednesday or Thursday.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... #WhyIDidn'tReport A.J. Willingham & Christina Maxouris of CNN: "In response, people on Twitter have been sharing their reasons for not speaking up about their own assaults." The reporters cite numerous responses. ...
... NOW that Our Ignormus President* has weighed in, let's hear from some of the other assholes responsible for the #WhyIDidn'tReport explanations. ...
... Patti Davis, daughter of Ronald & Nancy Reagan, in a Washington Post op-ed, on what she remembers -- and what she doesn't -- about a sexual assault that occurred some 40 years ago. "I don't remember what month it was. I don't remember whether his assistant was still there when I arrived. I don't remember whether we said anything to each other when I left his office. I never told anyone for decades -- not a friend, not a boyfriend, not a therapist, not my husband when I got married years later.... That's what happens: Your memory snaps photos of the details that will haunt you forever, that will change your life and live under your skin. It blacks out other parts of the story that really don't matter much." ...
... AP: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is telling evangelical activists the Senate will 'plow right through' and move to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. McConnell told the annual Values Voter conference Friday 'in the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court.' He urges the Republican-leaning activists to 'keep the faith' and predicts senators will do their jobs." Mrs. McC: I listened to a clip of McConnell's remark & the "good Christians" in the audience cheered his assurances. As we learned earlier today, sex abuse is A-OK with the good Christians; of course if the victims get pregnant, she'll have to bring the fetus to term. God's will, I guess. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... It's a Socialist Plot! Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson told an audience of conservative activists on Friday that the sexual assault allegations facing ... Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court are part of a plot by socialists to take over America that dates back more than a century. 'If you really understand the big picture of what's going on, then what's going on with Kavanaugh will make perfectly good sense to you,' Carson said at the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington. 'There've been people in this country for a very long time, going all the way back to the Fabians, people who've wanted to fundamentally change this country.' [He goes on to describe the plot.]... There is no basis for Carson's claim that socialists are plotting to take over American civic institutions." The Fabians were a 19th-century British socialist organization. Talk about your sleepers! The Amerikans have nothing on the Fabians. ...
... It's No Big Deal! Andrew Kaczynski & Christopher Massie of CNN: "North Dakota GOP Senate nominee Kevin Cramer said on Friday that the accusation against Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh was 'even more absurd' than Anita Hill's accusation against Clarence Thomas because Kavanaugh and his accuser were drunk teenagers when the alleged incident occurred. Cramer added that Ford's allegations were less legitimate than Hill's in part because the assault she describes 'never went anywhere.'... Ford alleged that Kavanaugh was 'stumbling drunk,' but only said she had one beer at the party." Cramer is North Dakota's only U.S. Representative." ...
... Eliana Johnson of Politico: "It turns out that the Keystone Cops detective work by conservative legal activist Ed Whelan -- which set Washington abuzz with the promise of exonerating Brett Kavanaugh, only to be met by mockery and then partially retracted — was not his handiwork alone. CRC Public Relations, the prominent Alexandria, Virginia-based P.R. firm, guided Whelan through his roller-coaster week of Twitter pronouncements that ended in embarrassment..., according to three sources familiar with their dealings.... t is unclear to what extent Whelan was coordinating with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other Republicans on Capitol Hill. He was in communication with at least one Republican member of the committee this week, and that member told associates he was aware Whelan's theory involved the home of a Kavanaugh classmate.... Matt Whitlock, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), directed people to Whelan's Twitter feed on Wednesday in a tweet of his own and later deleted his tweet." ...
... Mark Stern of Slate: "... what's most shocking about [Whelan's conspiracy Twitter thread], which Whelan has since deleted, is that Kavanaugh's defenders appear to have genuinely believed that it would exculpate the nominee. Whelan ... is a Federalist Society power broker who has played a major role in the selection of Donald Trump's judicial nominees -- including his good friend Kavanaugh. He and his allies teased out the mistaken-identity theory for days, hyping it on Twitter and apparently in a weirdly credulous Politico article.... It is no surprise that Republican operatives who've conducted trench warfare against progressives for years would be willing to sink this low. But it is shocking to realize that the GOP has nothing else up its sleeve to save this nomination." ...
... New York Times Editors: "Poor Republicans. They've tried so hard to be subtle, to seem respectful of Christine Blasey Ford, even as they've maneuvered to undermine her. They would hear her accusations that the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school, they wanted us to know, if only she'd testify on their terms. They wanted Americans to think they had evolved in the 27 years since Anita Hill accused another Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas, of sexual misconduct. Leave it to Donald Trump to strip away the mask and reveal the troglodyte beneath. Administration officials reportedly labored to keep him from going on the attack against Dr. Blasey, but after a few days, the presidential id once again rose up and overwhelmed them and their message.... So what Mr. Trump is charging here, complete with a snide slap at Dr. Blasey's parents, is straightforward: The woman is lying." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND here's something I didn't know: Jed Rubenfeld, the husband of Amy Chua, the Yale law professor who grooms female students set to interview for clerkships with Kavanaugh to look "model-like" because that's what Brett wants, is "another prominent YLS professor..., is currently under investigation for his conduct with female law students...." ...
... Emily Peck & Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: "At Yale Law School, the embattled Supreme Court nominee’s alma mater, a growing number of students are denouncing administrators for their rote support of Kavanaugh and are demanding changes to a culture that enables powerful elites to get away with sexual misconduct. At a Yale Law Women event on Thursday, students confronted faculty over statements Yale put out over the summer in support of Kavanaugh's nomination and the school's silence since Dr. Christine Blasey Ford alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teens. Students also demanded to know if the school was aware of the conduct of Alex Kozinski, a high-profile judge many alumni clerked for [Mrs. McC: including Kavanaugh] who resigned late last year amid accusations of sexual harassment.... But when a student asked faculty about what changes they planned to make following those reports, they didn’t have much to offer....Some Yale Law School faculty, however, appear to be listening to students' complaints. A majority of professors, including the past two deans, Harold Koh and Robert Post, signed a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday urging it to 'conduct a fair and deliberate confirmation process' and allow the FBI to first investigate allegations against Kavanaugh before there's another hearing." ...
... Amanda Arnold of New York: Friday "morning, protest signs appeared across the [Yale Law School] campus.... 'YLS is a model of complicity,' reads one in the school's courtyard. 'Is there nothing more important to YLS than its proximity to power and prestige?' demands another. A photograph of Kavanaugh that hangs inside the school is flanked by a pair of signs as well: 'We still believe Anita Hill,' one says. 'We believe Dr. Christine Ford,' reads another...."
Trump Blinks. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Donald Trump on Friday abandoned plans to quickly declassify and release sensitive documents connected to the FBI's Russia investigation, citing a 'perceived negative impact' on the probe and concerns raised by 'key allies' about dumping the materials. Trump instead announced that he would defer to a Justice Department watchdog -- Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who he once derided as an 'Obama guy' -- to finish a review of whether anti-Trump bias affected the FBI's handling of its 2016 Russia probe." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ali Dukakis of ABC News: "Another associate of political operative Roger Stone met Friday with a federal grand jury convened to hear testimony in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling, appearing at the U.S. District Court House in Washington, D.C., a source with direct knowledge tells ABC News.... Jerome Corsi, who until recently served as the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the controversial far-right news outlet Infowars, is one of at least 11 individuals associated with Stone who have been contacted by the special counsel."
Anthony Cormier & Jason Leopold of BuzzFeed News: "On June 3, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. received [an e-mail] offering dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government's 'support for Mr. Trump.' The very day that email was sent..., $3.3 million began moving ... between two of the men who orchestrated the meeting: Aras Agalarov, a billionaire real estate developer close to both Vladimir Putin and ... Donald Trump, and Irakly 'Ike' Kaveladze, a longtime Agalarov employee once investigated for money laundering. That money is on top of the more than $20 million that was flagged as suspicious, BuzzFeed News revealed earlier this month, after the money ricocheted among the planners and participants of the Trump Tower meeting. Special counsel Robert Mueller's team ... is examining the suspicious transactions, four federal law enforcement officials said.... Many of the transfers seemed to have no legitimate purpose, bankers noted." (Also linked yesterday.)
Stephanie Kirchgaessner, et al., of the Guardian: "Russian diplomats held secret talks in London last year with people close to Julian Assange to assess whether they could help him flee the UK, the Guardian has learned. A tentative plan was devised that would have seen the WikiLeaks founder smuggled out of Ecuador’s London embassy in a diplomatic vehicle and transported to another country. One ultimate destination, multiple sources have said, was Russia, where Assange would not be at risk of extradition to the US. The plan was abandoned after it was deemed too risky." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Alexandra Valencia of Reuters: "Ecuador in 2017 gave Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a diplomatic post in Russia but rescinded it after Britain refused to give him diplomatic immunity, according to an Ecuadorean government document seen by Reuters. The aborted effort suggests Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno had engaged Moscow to resolve the situation of Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy for six years to avoid arrest by British authorities on charges of skipping bail."
Frances Robles & Jugal Patel of the New York Times: A year ago, on Sept. 20, the deadliest storm to hit Puerto Rico in over 100 years slammed into the island's southeast coast, just 14 miles south of ... Punta Santiago.... Times journalists visited 163 homes in o neighborhoods in Punta Santiago to cover what progress had been made in the last 12 months.... It looks like the hurricane just hit. In neighborhoods where residents live on meager pensions and disability checks, there were gutted kitchens and electrical wires running randomly along unfinished walls. Roofs were covered with plywood or plastic, many near collapse. Some houses still had no running water. A number of families lived in single rooms in unfurnished houses, sleeping on the floor.... Hundreds of thousands of people across the island are still living in homes in desperate need of repair.... All told, FEMA spent nearly twice as much for housing repair grants in Texas as it did in Puerto Rico, though the money went to 51,000 fewer people." (Also linked yesterday.)
Our Ignoramus President*, Ctd. Ted Mellnik & Aaron Williams of the Washington Post: "On a recent campaign trip, Trump said Canada was 'ripping us off' and threatened a tariff on cars from Canada that 'would be the ruination of the country.' It would be a massive escalation of the trade hostilities that began this year with U.S. tariffs on washers, solar cells, aluminum and steel. But the auto trade with Canada doesn't look one-sided, if you take into account where the parts to make the cars came from. Yes, car imports from Canada far exceed cars shipped the other way. But those cars assembled in Canada are often made up of engines, bodies and parts imported from the United States. Add up the trade in all automotive goods with Canada, and it comes out about even. The United States exports 99 cents' worth of automotive goods to Canada for every dollar of imports." Thanks to Marvin S. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.)
Ted Hesson & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal court ruled that a Cabinet secretary must provide, for the first time in 19 years, a deposition in a civil case. The Cabinet member, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, must answer questions about the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said.... The state of New York is leading a coalition of states, cities, counties and mayors in a lawsuit against the inclusion of a citizenship question in the upcoming census. Opponents of the question argue it will depress responses in immigrant-heavy areas and distort the Census results."
Nick Miroff & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "FEMA Administrator William 'Brock' Long has been ordered to reimburse the government for his misuse of federal vehicles, but he will be allowed to remain in his job, according to statements from Long and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen released late Friday. The statements appeared to be aimed at overcoming a tense feud between Long and Nielsen that has distracted staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- where Long is well liked -- right at the moment that the agency is coping with flooding from Hurricane Florence. A person familiar with Long's case said he will not be referred for criminal charges, a possibility that left him rattled this week and on the verge of quitting right as Florence hit his home state, North Carolina. President Trump has told advisers he likes Long and wants him to stay in the job, according to a senior administration official...."
Michael Biesecker & Alan Suderman of the AP: Hurricane "Florence’s floodwaters breached a dam holding back a large reservoir at a Wilmington [N.C.,] power plant Friday, and coal ash from an adjacent dump could be flowing into the nearby Cape Fear River. Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said the utility doesn't believe the breach at the L.V. Sutton Power Station poses a significant threat of increased flooding to nearby communities. Floodwaters breached several points overnight in the earthen dam at Sutton Lake, the plant's 1,100-acre (445-hectare) reservoir. Lake water then flooded one of three large coal ash dumps lining the lakeshore."
All the Best People, Ctd. Katherine Krueger of Splinter: "The ongoing custody battle between former Trump campaign operatives Jason Miller and A.J. Delgado has taken another nasty turn: In an explosive new court filing, Delgado-s legal team alleges that Miller — prior to their own high-profile extramarital romance -- carried out an affair with a woman he met at an Orlando strip club. Additionally, the court documents claim, when the woman found out she was pregnant, Miller surreptitiously dosed her with an abortion pill without her knowledge, leading, the woman claims, to the pregnancy’s termination and nearly her death. With these allegations entered into the court record, Delgado is asking the court to order Miller — whom the filing says has 'unsupervised time' with their child -- to undergo a psychological evaluation. The filing says that she fears for her and the child's safety.... Shortly after the 2016 election, Trump named Miller as his White House communications director. But just two days later — after Delgado tweeted about the news, referencing Miller as 'the baby-daddy' -- Miller announced he would no longer be taking the job in order to focus on his family." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is a custody battle, so allegations may be exaggerated or false, but I do want to congratulate CNN for keeping this blowhard on-air; it's so embarrassing to watch their "round tables" because most of CNN's Republican pundits -- like Miller -- do little more than yell lies. Every CNN "round table" is an opportunity to change the channel.
Election 2018
Texas Senate. Patrick Svitek & Brandon Formby of the Texas Tribune: "U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, took a newly aggressive tack against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in their first debate Friday evening. Appearing at Southern Methodist University, the candidates exchanged rhetorical blows on just about every single question, showing off sharp differences that have long been evident in the race. But what stood out was O'Rourke's combative posture toward Cruz after spending his campaign until this point largely ignoring the incumbent and his attacks.... 'This is why people don’t like Washington, D.C. -- you just said something that I did not say and attributed it to me,' O'Rourke told Cruz at one point. 'This is your trick and the trade, to confuse and incite based on fear and not to speak the truth.'" ...
... Video of the full debate is here.
Arizona Congressional Race. Joseph Flaherty of the Phoenix New Times: "[David Brill,] a Democrat running against Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, unveiled a powerful series of ads on Thursday that feature six people who denounce Gosar and endorse his rival. They're Gosar's siblings.... Six of Gosar's siblings -- Tim, Jennifer, Gaston, Joan, Grace, and David -- say that their brother's positions on immigration, the environment, and health care have effectively torn their family apart. They condemn their brother in striking terms. In one video, Grace Gosar says, 'It would be difficult to see my brother as anything but a racist.' The Gosar siblings have grown estranged from their brother, a four-term congressman, because of his frequent conspiracy theorizing and hair-raising comments about immigrants. Gosar is the eldest son of a family of 10 children who grew up in Wyoming. Many of his siblings don't share their brother's hardline views. One of his brothers, Pete Gosar, ran for governor of Wyoming as a Democrat in 2014. Paul Gosar, on the other hand, is one of President Trump's most loyal defenders." ...
Minnesota State Senate Race. Nina Moini & Briana Bierschbach of Minnesota Public Radio: "Republican state Rep. Jim Knoblach abruptly ended his re-election campaign Friday as MPR News prepared to publish detailed accusations from his daughter [Laura] of inappropriate behavior toward her since childhood.... Knoblach, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, declined to be interviewed after being approached more than a week ago. In a written statement, Knoblach called the allegations 'indescribably hurtful' and said he would work toward healing his family.... The timing of his exit could make his St. Cloud-area seat, already a top target for Democrats, impossible for Republicans to hold.... Knoblach was seeking a ninth term and was being challenged by Democratic candidate Dan Wolgamott, also of St. Cloud. Knoblach plans to serve out his term.... Laura alleges that the prominent legislator inappropriately touched her for most of her life, behavior she confided to close friends, family and authority figures at her school and church for more than a decade.... She provided MPR News with extensive documentation about her attempts to get help." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Laura Knoblach is 23 years old. Her (alleged) experiences, IMO, are far more horrible than what Christine Blasey Ford, now 53, endured decades ago. While each abuse victim is different, I'd say if Laura Knoblach can come forward, so can Blasey Ford.
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