The Commentariat -- Sept. 28, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Flake Earns His Name. Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) on Friday brought Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination to the brink of victory, then into significant uncertainty, in a matter of hours.... [He] his support for ... Donald Trump's high court pick Friday morning. But after a dramatic series of closed-door meetings with senators from both parties, he said that he would 'only be comfortable' voting yes in the end after the FBI investigates a sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh. 'I think it would be proper to delay the floor vote for up to but not more than one week in order to let the FBI do an investigation, limited in time and scope,; Flake told fellow senators on the Judiciary Committee. The committee voted to advance Kavanaugh's nomination. The latest head-spinning twist may not stop Kavanaugh's nomination from coming to the Senate floor by this weekend. But Flake's maneuver drops a political land mine in the lap of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the White House, which now must decide whether and how to initiate the FBI inquiry Flake sought.... Key undecided senators joined Flake's calls minutes after he made his move. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said he supported Flake's call for an FBI investigation "so that our country can have confidence in the outcome of this vote," as did Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).... Soon after Flake announced his yes vote in the committee, Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) said he opposes the nomination."

Judge Wood B. Rapist Lies about Everything. Alanna Richer of the AP: "... Brett Kavanaugh has repeatedly said that he was legally allowed to consume beer as a prep school senior in Maryland. In fact, he was never legal in high school because the state's drinking age increased to 21 at the end of his junior year, while he was still 17.... The legal age in that state was raised to 21 on July 1, 1982; Kavanaugh did not turn 18 until Feb. 12, 1983. In a Fox News interview on Monday, Kavanaugh said, 'Yes, there were parties. And the drinking age was 18. And yes, the seniors were legal.' In testimony Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said all of his comments during the Fox interview were accurate and could be made part of the record." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: AND please don't tell me Preppy Boy had no idea what the legal drinking age was. If there's one thing a teenager knows about the law, it's his own & nearby states' drinking age laws.

Seung Min Kim & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Shortly after the Judiciary Committee convened, the panel voted down a motion on party lines by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to subpoena Mark Judge, a high school classmate of Kavanaugh. Ford has alleged Judge witnessed the assault. The committee then voted, again along party lines, to decide on Kavanaugh's nomination at 1: 30 p.m. The votes prompted outrage from Democrats.... Underscoring the acrimony surrounding Friday's proceedings, a a dozen House Democratic women who gathered to watch the Judiciary Committee stood up in the room in protest." ...

... Nicholas Fandos, et al., of the New York Times: "Senator Jeff Flake, the lone swing Republican vote on the Judiciary Committee, said Friday morning that he would vote to confirm Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, ensuring committee passage and bringing President Trump's nominee to the brink of confirmation...." ...

... Ronan Farrow & Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "Throughout Thursday's Senate hearing..., Republicans on the Judiciary Committee claimed that they had tried in vain to secure more information about other accusations made about the judge.... On Wednesday, several conservative-media outlets published leaks of some of the e-mail correspondence between [accuser Deborah] Ramirez's team and Republican committee staffers, which appeared to back up Grassley's characterization. But a fuller copy of the e-mail correspondence ... shows that a Republican aide declined to proceed with telephone calls and instead repeatedly demanded that Ramirez produce additional evidence in written form. Only then could any conversation about her testimony proceed."

*****

Thursday's Winner: Testosterone, Spiked with Male Privilege. There could not be a more belligerent, rude, nasty, arrogant, entitled nominee. No American should have to appear before that man. He is unbalanced & by no stretch of the imagination has the temperament to impartially judge others. Disturbed & disturbing. Someone should have asked him if he had been drinking Thursday morning. I'm serious.

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republican moderates remain undecided on how to vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after nearly eight hours of testimony Thursday before the Judiciary Committee, according to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Manchin, a swing Democrat vote, huddled with three of the undecided Republican votes, Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.), in a Capitol hideaway office before the entire GOP conference met to discuss how to proceed on the controversial nominee." ...

... Burgess Everett & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Senate Republicans are racing to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, betting that the Supreme Court nominee was persuasive enough in his denial that he sexually assaulted a high school acquaintance to counter the powerful testimony of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to vote on Friday morning to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) then plans a Saturday procedural vote to formally move to the nomination, with a potential confirmation vote as early as Tuesday. Publicly, Republicans do not have the votes yet to confirm Kavanaugh, but GOP leaders seem confident they can push him through with brute force. Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) wouldn't say whether undecided Republicans would back Kavanaugh." ...

... Chuck Grassley has scheduled a Judiciary Committee meeting for 9:30 am ET. ...

... Austin Ramzy of the New York Times: "The American Bar Association called Thursday evening for postponing a vote on Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court until sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others are investigated by the F.B.I. The request was made in a letter from the A.B.A.'s president, Robert M. Carlson, to the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman, Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the panel.... [']The bar association urged that senators vote on Judge Kavanaugh's nomination 'only after an appropriate background check into the allegations made by Professor Blasey and others is completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,' the letter said." ...

... Jesus Rodriguez of Politico: "Four Republican governors have called for the Senate to take its time with or even forgo a vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill to examine sexual assault allegations against him. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, John Kasich of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Phil Scott of Vermont are part of a small faction of Republicans who urged caution over three public allegations that have come to light since Kavanaugh's July 9 nomination, even as the majority of their colleagues in the Senate have argued for pushing through the process." ...

... Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post have a story on how pleased Trump was with Kavanaugh's & Graham's performances. ...

... Rachel Maddow did a great job of summing up the Kavanaugh half of the hearing:

According to Manu Raju of CNN, GOP Sens. Jeff Flake, Susan Collins & Lisa Murkowski met with Joe Manchin (D) directly after the Kavanaugh hearing & before the Senate Republican caucus meets. No link.

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "For almost seven hours Republicans sat silent, allowing an outside counsel to ask questions out of fear that they would look angry and insensitive toward a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) changed all that late Thursday afternoon. Waving his arms and pointing fingers at Democrats, Graham accused them of a character assassination of Kavanaugh. 'I hope the American people will see through this charade,' Graham said, shouting over and over again. From that point on, Republicans let it rip, roaring about Democrats and expressing sympathy for Kavanaugh after his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, fielded inquiries from the outside counsel about her allegations that Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were in high school." ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Twenty-seven years after Clarence Thomas followed Anita Hill and declared the hearing at which they testified to be a 'high-tech lynching,' Brett Kavanaugh delivered his own angry, defiant response under similar circumstances. While Thomas's statement was brief, Kavanaugh's was lengthy, detailed, and passionately delivered. It also took pains to decry not just the process, but Democrats' role in it, specifically. Below is the full text, with our annotations...." ...

... Hayley Miller of the Huffington Post has more of Kavanaugh's "eyebrow-raising" remarks. ...

... Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "With her voice cracking but her composure intact, an emotional Christine Blasey Ford made her first appearance in public on Thursday, telling a rapt Senate panel about the terror she felt on a summer day more than 30 years ago, when, she said, a drunken Brett M. Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, tried to rip her clothes off and clapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries for help." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... The New York Times' live updates of the Kavanaugh hearing are here. According to NBC News, Trump cancelled his scheduled meeting with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein so he could watch the teevee. ...

... Annie Karni of Politico: "White House officials were glued to their television screens throughout the building on Wednesday, watching the emotional testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- and cringing over the decision by Senate Republicans to hire a female prosecutor to question her. 'That's a disaster,' said one administration official. The official argued that Republican lawmakers had made a mistake by caving to the pressures of identity politics and hiring a woman to quiz Ford so as to avoid having an all-white male lineup of GOP Senators do the questioning. Trump allies also recognized the bad optics of a prosecutor seeming to interrogate a victim widely seen as sympathetic in a nationally-televised Senate hearing." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... New Lede: "... Donald Trump and his aides were ebullient Thursday as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh defiantly rejected charges of sexual misconduct -- a mood that reflected some relief after Trump officials conceded that his accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, offered a compelling performance in the first half of the day. Trump and senior officials were impressed by Kavanaugh's combative defense before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which the Trump nominee, alternating between fury and tears, called several misconduct charges against him a 'calculated and orchestrated political hit' and 'national disgrace' that had devastated his life and family." ...

... New York Times Editors: "What a study in contrasts: Where Christine Blasey Ford was calm and dignified, Brett Kavanaugh was volatile and belligerent; where she was eager to respond fully to every questioner, and kept worrying whether she was being 'helpful' enough, he was openly contemptuous of several senators; most important, where she was credible and unshakable at every point in her testimony, he was at some points evasive, and some of his answers strained credulity.... He gave misleading answers to questions about seemingly small matters -- sharpening doubts about his honesty about far more significant ones.... Perhaps the most maddening part of Thursday's hearing was the cowardice of the committee's 11 Republicans, all of them men.... If the committee will not make a more serious effort [to investigate the allegations], the only choice for senators seeking to protect the credibility of the Supreme Court will be to vote no. ...

... Washington Post Editors: "Mr. Kavanaugh contended that 'this whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election' and an act of 'revenge on behalf of the Clintons.' But he provided no evidence for his angry charge, and certainly Ms. Ford's testimony did not support conspiracy theories. On the contrary, she explained she tried to relay her allegations to political leaders before Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Kavanaugh, so that the president could consider another judge of equal qualifications, refuting suggestions that she is part of a Democratic plot.... His partisan conspiracy-theorizing was hardly becoming of a potential Supreme Court justice.... It would be irresponsible for Republicans to insist on an immediate vote. If they do, the responsible vote must be no." ...

... Doreen St. Félix of the New Yorker: "... what we witnessed was the patriarchy testing how far its politics of resentment can go. And there is no limit.... Alternating between weeping and yelling, [Kavanaugh] exemplified the conservative's embrace of bluster and petulance as rhetorical tools. Going on about his harmless love of beer, spinning unbelievably chaste interpretations of what was, by all other accounts, his youthful habit of blatant debauchery, he was as Trumpian as Trump himself, louder than the loudest on Fox News.... There was, in this performance, not even a hint of the sagacity one expects from a potential Supreme Court Justice.... What took place on Thursday confirms that male indignation will be coddled, and the gospel of male success elevated. It confirms that there is no fair arena for women's speech. Mechanisms of accountability will be made irrelevant." ...

... Alexandra Schwartz of the New Yorker: "'I love Kavanaugh's tone,' Donald Trump, Jr., tweeted fifteen minutes into Brett Kavanaugh's opening statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was referring to the judge's wildly emotional performance, in which he alternated between shouting, as he blamed the Clintons and the Democrats for conspiring to torpedo his nomination to the Supreme Court, and weeping, as he spoke about the pain that he and his family have experienced in the weeks since accusations of sexual assault against him became public.... Embedded in the histrionics were the unmistakable notes of fury and bullying.... What we are seeing is a model of American conservative masculinity that has become popular in the past few years, one that is directly tied to the loutish, aggressive frat-boy persona that Kavanaugh is purportedly seeking to dissociate himself from.... If Kavanaugh is trying to convince the public that he could never have been capable, as a teen-ager, of aggression or peer pressure, this is an odd way to go about it." ...

... Matt Ford of the New Republic: "Brett Kavanaugh's opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday was unlike anything in the Supreme Court's history.... [Kavanaugh] cast the [sexual] allegations, without evidence, as part of a grand conspiracy against him. Kavanaugh undermined his credibility as a fair-minded jurist by indulging in some imaginative leaps to attack Democratic senators.... His behavior on Thursday casts serious doubt on whether he has the temperament to sit on the Supreme Court." ...

... Rebecca Traister of New York: "The lesson of the United States in this moment is that misogyny and racism aren't disqualifiers. They are the qualities the right wing considers key to their larger project -- perhaps in fact, a main selling point. (Especially for their president, who today was reported to have loved Kavanaugh's blustering, aggressive attitude toward his questioners). After all, the reason that Republicans want to jam through Kavanaugh's nomination is that as a member of the Supreme Court he'll be able to help create the mechanisms that determine which kinds of Americans have rights, protections, autonomy, and power." Traister writes a devastating critique of Chuck Grassley's performance. ...

... Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: "The strongest evidence that Senate Republicans want to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the nation's highest court, regardless of what he may have done, was the conspicuous absence of Mark Judge from the hearing they held on Thursday." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "I think Brett Kavanaugh is probably lying about having sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, and many other things, and has decided from the beginning to say what he has to in order to fulfill his career ambition.... He has ... all but abandoned the posture of impartiality demanded of a judge. A ranting Kavanaugh launched angry, evidence-free charges against Senate Democrats.... He is consumed with paranoid, partisan rage. The method Republicans have used to defend Kavanaugh has consisted of suppressing most of the evidence that could be brought to bear in the hearing, and then complaining about the lack of evidence."

Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "... Donald Trump and Rod Rosenstein have postponed until next week Thursday's highly anticipated meeting to hash out the fate of the embattled deputy attorney general. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the two didn't want to distract from the Senate's monumental hearing Thursday morning examining sexual assault allegations made against Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh."

Eric Levitz introduces us to DOJ chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker, who is likely to be appointed deputy AG if & when Rod Rosenstein "retires": "Here are a few things that he has publicly claimed to believe: Robert Mueller has no legitimate authority to investigate the Trump Organization's finances, and if he does (which, he has), 'then this would raise serious concerns that the special counsel's investigation was a mere witch hunt.' Donald Trump was right to fire James Comey -- because James Comey should have prosecuted Hillary Clinton[.]... (Whitaker has never called for any investigations into -- let alone, prosecutions of -- the Trump administration's many, many, many violations of information security protocol.) All federal judges should be 'people of faith' who take 'a biblical view of justice.' The Supreme Court is 'supposed to be the inferior branch of our three branches of government,' and has claimed far too much power for itself. Specifically, Whittaker says that Marbury v. Madison... was wrongly decided.... But if there's one thing Whitaker hates more than the Supreme Court striking down laws it regards as unconstitutional, it's when 'unelected judges' refuse to strike down laws that conservatives don't like[.]... There shouldn't have been an independent counsel's investigation into Russian interference because there wasn't such an investigation into the Obama administration's many scandals[.]" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mihir Zaveri of the New York Times: "The doctors tapped by the federal government to medically screen immigrants seeking green cards include dozens with a history of 'egregious infractions,' according to a report from a federal watchdog agency. The report looked at more than 5,500 doctors across the country used by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services as of June 2017 to examine those seeking green cards. More than 130 had some background of wrongdoing, including one who sexually exploited female patients and another who tried to have a dissatisfied patient killed, the report said. The report, made public Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, said the failure to effectively screen the doctors put immigrants 'at risk of abuse.' 'USCIS is not properly vetting the physicians it designates to conduct required medical examinations of these foreign nationals, and it has designated physicians with a history of patient abuse or a criminal record,' the report states. 'This is occurring because USCIS does not have policies to ensure only suitable physicians are designated.'"

Jon Herskovitz of Reuters: "A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Louisiana provision that requires doctors who perform abortions in the state to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. In a 2-1 ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the judges said the Louisiana provision was different than one in Texas that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 because it would not put an undue burden on women. 'There is no evidence that any of the clinics will close as a result of the Act,' the appeals court said in its ruling. The Texas law, whose language is similar to the Louisiana law, led to the closure of the majority of the state's abortion clinics and the number of women forced to drive over 150 miles to seek abortions increased by 350 percent, the appeals court said." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Yep, we're looking forward to two more generations of women as second-class citizens. If that.

Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit Thursday against Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, accusing him of making false public statements with the potential to hurt investors. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, seeks to bar Mr. Musk from serving as an executive or director of publicly traded companies. Tesla, the electric-car maker of which Mr. Musk was a co-founder, is publicly traded. The suit relates to an Aug. 7 Twitter post by Mr. Musk, in which he said he had 'funding secured' to convert Tesla into a private company. The S.E.C. said Mr. Musk 'knew or was reckless in not knowing' that his statements were false or misleading. 'In truth and in fact, Musk had not even discussed, much less confirmed, key deal terms, including price, with any potential funding source,' the S.E.C. said in its lawsuit."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 27, 2018

Afternoon Update:

Mrs. McC: Kavanaugh has been speaking -- okay, shouting -- for about 12 seconds & I'm already nauseous. Update: When he isn't shouting about what a wonderful person he is, he's crying, sobbing & sniffing about what a wonderful person he was. Trump can't like this.

Sheryl Stolberg & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "With her voice cracking but her composure intact, an emotional Christine Blasey Ford made her first appearance in public on Thursday, telling a rapt Senate panel about the terror she felt on a summer day more than 30 years ago, when, she said, a drunken Brett M. Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, tried to rip her clothes off and clapped his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries for help." ...

... The New York Times' live updates of the Kavanaugh hearing are here. According to NBC News, Trump cancelled his scheduled meeting with Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein so he could watch the teevee. ...

... Annie Karni of Politico: "White House officials were glued to their television screens throughout the building on Wednesday, watching the emotional testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- and cringing over the decision by Senate Republicans to hire a female prosecutor to question her. 'That's a disaster,' said one administration official. The official argued that Republican lawmakers had made a mistake by caving to the pressures of identity politics and hiring a woman to quiz Ford so as to avoid having an all-white male lineup of GOP Senators do the questioning. Trump allies also recognized the bad optics of a prosecutor seeming to interrogate a victim widely seen as sympathetic in a nationally-televised Senate hearing."

Eric Levitz introduces us to DOJ chief-of-staff Matthew Whitaker, who is likely to be appointed deputy AG if & when Rod Rosenstein "retires": "Here are a few things that he has publicly claimed to believe: Robert Mueller has no legitimate authority to investigate the Trump Organization's finances, and if he does (which, he has), 'then this would raise serious concerns that the special counsel's investigation was a mere witch hunt.' Donald Trump was right to fire James Comey -- because James Comey should have prosecuted Hillary Clinton[.]... (Whitaker has never called for any investigations into -- let alone, prosecutions of -- the Trump administration's many, many, many violations of information security protocol.) All federal judges should be 'people of faith' who take 'a biblical view of justice.' The Supreme Court is 'supposed to be the inferior branch of our three branches of government,' and has claimed far too much power for itself. Specifically, Whittaker says that Marbury v. Madison... was wrongly decided.... But if there's one thing Whitaker hates more than the Supreme Court striking down laws it regards as unconstitutional, it's when 'unelected judges' refuse to strike down laws that conservatives don't like[.]... There shouldn't have been an independent counsel's investigation into Russian interference because there wasn't such an investigation into the Obama administration's many scandals[.]"

*****

The Kavanaugh hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 am ET today.

Nicholas Fandos & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh faced a whirlwind of new accusations on Wednesday that threatened to derail his nomination to the Supreme Court as key Republican senators wavered in their support.... On the eve of an extraordinary hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee at which both Judge Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford,... will testify, Mr. Trump said that 'some very evil' Democrats had plotted to destroy Judge Kavanaugh's reputation. And he lamented what he called 'a very dangerous period in our country' in which men are presumed guilty. But even as he described the charges against Judge Kavanaugh as 'false accusations,' Mr. Trump seemed, for the first time, to acknowledge the mounting challenges facing his nominee. Asked why he repeatedly sides with men over their female accusers, the president said hearing stories from Dr. Blasey might change his mind.... In [a] call Wednesday night [with Republican Judiciary Committee staff lawyers], Judge Kavanaugh denied the new charges leveled by Julie Swetnick.... On the Senate floor, [Sen. Jeff] Flake [R-Az.] delivered a fiery speech chastising both parties for prejudging the women's claims -- and Mr. Trump for dismissing Dr. Blasey altogether because she did not report a sexual assault as a 15-year-old."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Wednesday that the accusations against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, his Supreme Court nominee, 'are all false,' but also said that he 'can always be convinced' after watching the testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the judge of attempted rape. In a rambling and combative news conference during which he lashed out against Democratic senators, Mr. Trump said that his own opinion about Judge Kavanaugh's case is affected by the many allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against him by women in the past.... Speaking in New York, where he was attending the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Trump repeatedly refused to give a direct answer to whether he thought the three women who have accused Judge Kavanaugh of misconduct are liars." ...

     ... Here's the transcript of Trump's "rambling & combative news conference," via Time. ...

... Kate Manne, in a New York Times op-ed: "When it comes to the moral deficiencies exhibited by Mr. Trump and other supporters of the judge, many critics speak about lack of empathy as the problem. It isn't. Mr. Trump, as he has shown clearly in the Kavanaugh confirmation process, seems to have no difficulty taking another person's perspective, and then feeling and expressing a sympathetic or congruent moral emotion. The real problem is that the people Mr. Trump feels with and for are most frequently powerful men who have been credibly accused of serious crimes and wrongdoing. He felt sorry for Michael Flynn, referring to him as a 'good guy.' More recently, he felt bad for Paul Manafort. And, in the case of Judge Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump feels sorry for a man accused of sexual assault while erasing and dismissing the perspective of his female accusers.... The higher a man rises in the social hierarchy, the more himpathy he tends to attract. Thus, the bulk of our collective care, consideration, respect and nurturing attention is allotted to the most privileged in our society." ...

... Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way Brett Kavanaugh has defended himself in wake of sexual assault allegations that have threatened to derail his Supreme Court nomination, multiple sources tell CNN. It has led the President to believe that he must personally take charge of defending his embattled nominee ahead of Thursday's critical appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump made the decision to hold a news conference on the eve of the hearing, making it the fourth he has held as president.... 'The Democrats are playing this game that's disgraceful,' Trump said alongside his Japanese counterpart in New York. 'It's disgraceful to this country.' He said voters would punish Democrats in the midterm elections for their actions and trashed lawyer [Michael] Avenatti." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Remember, in Trump's view, not coming across well on teevee is the worst sin of all. ...

** Jessica Estepa of USA Today: "Julie Swetnick, a client of attorney Michael Avenatti, alleged in a signed statement released Wednesday that ... Brett Kavanaugh would drink to excess and 'engage in abusive behavior' toward teenage girls while he was in high school. In an explosive statement released by Avenatti, Swetnick said in the 1980s, she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and Mark Judge to get teenage girls 'inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys.' 'I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their "turn" with a girl inside the room,' she said in the statement. 'These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.' Swetnick alleged& she became one of the victims of 'one of these "gang" or "train" rapes.' She did not allege that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Here's a slightly easier-to-read copy of Swetnick's declaration. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post covers Swetnick's allegations & other developments today in the Kavanaugh case. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Axios publishes about a page-and-a-half of Kavanaugh's prepared testimony for Thursday hearing, ending with a note, "Additional Testimony to Follow." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The POTUS* has responded with his usual careful consideration:

Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesn't want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this afternoon

     ... Worth noting: Trump doesn't deny Swetnick's accusations, only Avenatti's.

... Philip Mattingly & Manu Raju of CNN: "Sen. Susan Collins ... raised serious concerns at a private meeting [of Senate Republican chairmen] about the newest allegations of inappropriate behavior against the nominee -- and questioned why the Senate Judiciary Committee had not subpoenaed a close friend of the federal judge. Multiple sources familiar with the private Wednesday meeting told CNN that Collins appeared unnerved by the latest allegation, citing in particular that it was a sworn statement sent to the panel, which carries with it the possibility of perjury for lying to Congress.... The sworn statement, Collins told the senators, brought the allegations to a new level and raised concerns that enough wasn't being done to address their veracity. Pointing to the affidavit, which she had printed out, Collins said given the weight of the allegations, it made sense to subpoena Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge -- an alleged witness to the incidents -- and bring him in for testimony." ...

... Addy Baird of ThinkProgress: "In a Twitter thread Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attacked [Julie] Swetnick';s attorney, [Michael] Avenatti.... 'The lawyer to porn stars has just taken this debacle to an even lower level,' Graham tweeted. 'I hope people will be highly suspicious of this allegation presented by Michael Avenatti.' Graham continued, attacking Swetnick herself, and echoing one of the president's own talking points:... '"I have a difficult time believing any person would continue to go to -- according to the affidavit -- ten parties over a two-year period where women were routinely gang raped and not report it,' the senator tweeted. 'Why would any reasonable person continue to hang around people like this? Why would any person continue to put their friends and themselves in danger? Isn't there some duty to warn others?'... Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) went so far as to insinuate Swetnick's allegation was part of a larger conspiracy.... Hatch also said he doesn't think the allegations were 'fair' to Kavanaugh. 'I don't think we should put up with it...,' he said." ...

... Charles Pierce: "It became abundantly clear as Wednesday rolled toward a monstrous Thursday that Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick caught the Senate Republicans on the wrong foot. One way you know this is because Lindsey Graham scoffed at the 'porn star lawyer.' Huckleberry neglected to mention that Avenatti was the lawyer for the porn star that the president* paid off. That Graham was willing to look so damned ridiculous was a fine measure of how completely by surprise the endless chain of explosions that the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has set off under the congressional majority. Another way you know is that some of the rhetoric from Republican senators that was aimed at Swetnick sank to the level we are accustomed to seeing occupied by that of the president*, who contented himself for the moment by sniping at Avenatti.... As of the end of the day Wednesday, with empty ridicule and clumsy innuendo as the only Republican answer to these latest charges, I don't believe they have the votes to confirm Kavanaugh in the full Senate." ...

... Elana Schor of Politico: "Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) on Wednesday announced that he's seeking an injunction in federal court designed to stop a final vote on Brett Kavanaugh, asserting an obstruction of his constitutional duty to advise and consent on nominees.... Merkley's bid for an injunction hinges on the Senate's constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on nominees and charges that he's been prevented from fulfilling that due to the withholding of records on Kavanaugh's past service in the George W. Bush administration." Mrs. McC: I heard a couple of legal pundits say that Merkley's suit would not succeed. ...

... Paige Lavender & Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: "Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, would not definitively state Wednesday that Judge Brett Kavanaugh should still be confirmed as a Supreme Court associate justice, saying allegations of misconduct should be further examined. 'I think we have to look into this further,' Severino said when asked by MSNBC's Craig Melvin whether Kavanaugh should still be confirmed.... The Judicial Crisis Network sits at the center of a network of groups and conservative legal activists behind the selection of judges by ... Donald Trump. JCN was co-founded by Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society executive who pushed Kavanaugh's nomination on Trump...." ...

... Eli Watkins of CNN: "Christine Blasey Ford will tell the Senate that ... Brett Kavanaugh's sexual assault on her in their high school years stayed with her for her whole life, according to prepared testimony for Thursday's hearing.Ford, in her testimony, is due to make clear she has no uncertainty about the identity of her alleged attacker, referring to Kavanaugh as 'the boy who sexually assaulted me.' 'I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to,' Ford said. 'But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult.'" ...

     ... Politico has Blasey Ford's prepared testimony here. I dare Lindsey Graham to smirk through her reading. ...

... Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's legal team has released a copy of a polygraph examination report regarding her sexual assault allegation against Brett Kavanaugh.... While polygraphs are not considered reliable enough for use in court proceedings, the letter is another piece of evidence submitted by Blasey's team to back her claims that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a house party in the suburbs of D.C. in the early 1980s.... The story includes the polygraph report. Mrs. McC: The cover letter from Blasey's attorney strongly suggests that the Judiciary Committee, in its request for documents, asked for Blasey's medical records. Pretty outrageous. ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Kavanaugh's ace card -- as stated in his prepared testimony & elsewhere -- is that "Dr. Ford may have been sexually assaulted by some person in some place at some time. But I have never done that to her." You know, I remember the full name of the junior-high-school kid who insulted me 60 years ago. He didn't touch me. He didn't put me in fear of physical danger. So I'm certain Blasey Ford can remember the name of the person who 36 years ago violently attacked her to the point she thought he would kill her. Kavanaugh's "defense" is an insult to every victim, male or female, of every assault. ...

... Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News: "Senate Judiciary Committee staff interviewed two men who said they believed that they, and not ... Brett Kavanaugh, had 'the encounter' with the woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, according to new information released Wednesday night by committee Republicans.... A Democratic aide told BuzzFeed News in an email that committee Democrats were not told about the allegations, which was a violation of committee rules. The aide called the release from the Republican side 'shameful and the height of irresponsibility.'"

... Opheli Lawler of New York: "Eight women who have accused ... Donald Trump of sexual assault or harassment released a joint statement in support of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, two women who accused ... Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: After the women made their statement public, Trump said in his rambling press conference yesterday that the reason he sided with Kavanaugh was, "Because I've had a lot of false charges made against me. I'm a very famous person, unfortunately. I've been a famous person for a long time. But I've had a lot of false charges made against me, really false charges. I know friends that have had false charges. People want fame, they want money, they want whatever. So when I see it, I view it differently than somebody sitting home watching television where they say oh, Judge Kavanaugh this or that. It's happened to me many times. I've had many false charges. I had a woman sitting in an airplane and I attacked her while people were coming onto the plane and I have a number one best seller out. I mean, it was a total phony story. There are many of them. So when you say does it effect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh, absolutely, because I've had it many times."

... Kasie Hunt, et al., of NBC News: "According to an anonymous complaint sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, [Brett] Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman [in a sexual manner] he socialized with in the Washington, D.C., area in 1998 while he was inebriated.... 'There were at least four witnesses including my daughter.'... Republican Senate investigators asked Kavanaugh about the new complaint ... during a phone call on Tuesday between Kavanaugh and committee staff. Sources told NBC News that Kavanaugh denied the allegation.... The committee on Wednesday released a transcript of Tuesday's call.... 'We're dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. It's ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, I've never done anything like that,' Kavanaugh said, according to the transcript. A Democratic source said the minority wasn't satisfied by the Republicans' questions about the incident during the call, calling them cursory, and believed it should be investigated more deeply." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: While the incident may have happened, this charge won't go anywhere. The writer did not give her name or other contact information to Sen. Gardner's office. There is at least one clue in the letter which could help the FBI track down the victim, but there's no reason to think investigators would bother to do so. I don't know why people send letters like this. ...

... Elana Schor & Burgess Everett of Politico: "The transcript of Kavanaugh's Tuesday interview also cited another anonymous claim of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh, dating back to 1985 and sent to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-R.I.) office, which the judge also flatly denied to investigators. A senior Senate Democratic aide said some in the minority are concerned about Republicans 'now releasing anonymous allegations in an effort to make all allegations look frivolous. We're focusing on the ones that have names attached.'" Mrs. McC: According to Fandos & Shear of the NYT [linked above], this particular anonymous accuser recanted Wednesday night. ...

     ... Also, it looks as if this accuser wasn't so anonymous. Committee Republicans knew his name, according to Peter Hasson of the Daily Caller. He sounds like an idiot.

... Greg Sargent: "The onetime girlfriend of Mark Judge ... has emerged as a pivotal if hidden figure in this whole affair -- and now she's prepared to speak to the FBI and the Judiciary Committee about what she knows, according to a letter from her lawyer.... [Elizabeth] Rasor [told the New Yorker] that Judge had confided in her about a group sex incident at the time.... In recounting this particular episode to the New Yorker, Rasor did not name Kavanaugh. But Judge's role -- and whatever Rasor is prepared to say about it -- has suddenly taken on a lot more potential significance, now that lawyer Michael Avenatti has produced a sworn statement from a third woman, which claims that Judge did conspire with Kavanaugh to get women drunk so they could be assaulted by numerous young men.... A senior Democratic aide to the Judiciary Committee told me ... that this raises further questions about why 'Mark Judge is hiding out in Bethany Beach and Republicans refuse to call him as a witness.'" ...

... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "Republicans can't claim that it is absolutely vital that Kavanaugh be seated when the court begins its new session in the first week of October when they held open a vacant seat for more than a year because they didn't want President Barack Obama's nominee to fill it.... The effort by the GOP to ram Kavanaugh's nomination through as quickly as possible is utterly unsustainable.... [Julie] Swetnick alleges that she attended 'well over ten house parties ... where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present,' and that she witnessed Kavanaugh both '"grinding" against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts' and being verbally abusive toward them. She describes him as a 'mean drunk.'... She says it was known that Judge, Kavanaugh and others would spike the punch at these parties with grain alcohol or drugs to make girls inebriated, and that the boys, including Kavanaugh, would '"target" particular girls so they could be taken advantage of; it was usually a girl that was especially vulnerable because she was alone at the party or shy.'" Waldman notes where Swetnick's allegations are consistent with those of other witnesses.

... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Confirming Kavanaugh with this series of violent criminal allegations unresolved would be, as the idiom goes, "a travesty of justice." Not only would the Senate be abdicating its Constitutional responsibility -- as Grassley, Graham, et al., seem determined to do -- but also no serious jurist (or serious president, but no one pretends we have one of those) would allow the confirmation to go to a vote under these circumstances. If John Roberts weren't a partisan hack, he would not swear in Kavanaugh until the allegations are investigated, and he would suspend Kavanaugh from the bench in the interim.

"We Didn't Call It Rape." Aleandra Lescaze, in a Slate post (Sept. 24), who was graduated from the National Cathedral School in 1988, remembers Beach Week: "A large part of my high school experience were the parties at cavernous houses with multiple bedrooms, huge dark basements with enormous sofas and yards, and lots and lots of beer. No parents ... were ever around.... Every June, we had Beach Week ... in which teenagers actually rent houses to party at the beach.... I distinctly remember being at a Beach Week party with my then-boyfriend when it dawned on us that there was a drunk girl in a room down the hall, and boys were 'lining up' to go in there and, presumably, have their way with her. We didn't know for sure, but my boyfriend and my friend's boyfriend went to interrupt it and sent her on her way down the stairs. All I remember about her is that she was in the class above us and had dark hair. My friend has told me she remembers boys saying, 'I'm next,' which was why our boyfriends went to stop it.... They happened often enough that we had a term. We didn't call it rape." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Lest you should think that young Brett, as he said in his Fox "News" interview, "was focused on academics and athletics, going to church every Sunday at Little Flower," & therefore too busy to participate in these traditional Beach Week rituals, here's the June 1982 page of his calendar (the handwritten entries are Brett's):

... Zack Beauchamp of Vox, who also grew up in the D.C. area, further illuminates Beach Week. ...

... Jonathan Chait thinks Kavanaugh is toast: "As the heady brew of threatened male prerogative ... and partisan tribalism wears off, cold calculation will soon set in. The odds that many people are conspiring to lie about Kavanaugh are growing ever more slender. And the odds are growing that Kavanaugh committed to a lie, and sunk ever deeper into it, knowing that he would either have a lifetime appointment to the most prestigious legal job in America or be disgraced, and that is why he has refused to concede even an inch. That, too, is why he dodged a question from Fox News about letting his friend, Mark Judge, testify under oath. And Republicans will realize that there are always more Federalist Society-groomed conservative lawyers without his long trail of allegations." ...

... Linda Greenhouse: "No matter what happens on Thursday and in the days to come, I hope people will remember what the Kavanaugh nomination looked like at the close of the initial hearing. Covering the first hearing for Clarence Thomas back in 1991 and listening to him explain how he had transformed himself into a blank slate, I recalled a line from the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay: 'A man no longer what he was, nor yet the thing he'd planned.' At this moment, the line fits Brett Kavanaugh, too. He and Clarence Thomas have that in common."

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "President Trump said on Wednesday that he wants to keep in place the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, amid speculation about Mr Rosenstein's future, which was thrust into doubt by revelations that he had discussed secretly taping the president and removing him from office. The two were scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss Mr. Rosenstein's comments.... Mr. Trump added: 'We've had a good talk. He says he never said it, he doesn't believe it, he gets a lot of respect from me. He's very nice, and we'll see.' Mr. Trump also said he was considering delaying their meeting because he wanted to focus on Thursday's high-stakes hearing for his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, and one of the women who has accused him of sexual assault, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford." ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course Trump said, "We'll see" and maybe he would postpone the meeting with Rosenstein, because ...

... Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "When Rod J. Rosenstein reports to the Oval Office on Thursday to be fired, resign or continue tenuously in his post, the deputy attorney general will also be cementing his status as a player in one of President Trump's favorite parlor games: White House Survivor. Though the outcomes often differ -- fired by tweet (former secretary of state Rex Tillerson), permitted to faux-amicably resign (former national security adviser H.R. McMaster) or flayed but never quite offed (Attorney General Jeff Sessions )-- one near-certainty for those navigating their departures from Trump's orbit is a prolonged and capricious public humiliation. Trump's penchant for allowing his underlings to dangle and stew in Washington's fickle swamp often seems to be a form of psychological cruelty -- and also the way he prefers to conduct business, according to the president's advisers and associates." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump accused China on Wednesday of interfering in the midterm elections to damage him politically because of his tough tactics on trade. Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, where he was presiding, Mr. Trump said, 'They do not want me or us to win, because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade.' Mr. Trump has accused the Chinese of election meddling before, but never so bluntly or in such a high-profile international setting. He offered no evidence of how China might be interfering, or of whether its tactics went beyond trying to influence an increasingly bitter trade war.... Mr. Trump said nothing in his Security Council remarks about Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election.... He did fault Russia, along with Iran, for enabling the 'butchery' of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, though he also thanked the countries for agreeing to suspend, at least temporarily, their assault on the rebel stronghold of Idlib to avert a humanitarian crisis." Emphasis added. ...

... You Can't Dump Me; I Dumped You. Jacob Pramuk if CNBC: "... Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he rejected a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week as the countries struggle to reach a new trade deal. However, 'no meeting was requested' by the Canadian government, Trudeau spokeswoman Eleanore Catenaro said."

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday said President Trump has told him he will sign a spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The House is prepared to pass the legislation later Wednesday and send it to Trump's desk." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... New Lede: "President Trump pledged Wednesday that he would not allow the government to partially shut down next week, backing down from his demand that Congress appropriate billions of dollars for new construction of a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Keeping the government open after Sunday would require Trump to sign a bipartisan spending bill from Congress, something he had resisted committing to for weeks."

They weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me. We had fun. That was not laughing at me. So the fake news said 'people laughed at President Trump.' They didn't laugh at me, people had a good time with me. We were doing it together, we had a good time. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday, on diplomats laughing during his U.N. speech ...

... Brett Samuels of the Hill: "U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley> suggested Wednesday that world leaders laughed at President Trump's speech the day before because they respect and enjoy his honesty, arguing that negative media coverage of the president has hurt America's standing in the world. Haley, in an appearance on 'Fox & Friends,' blamed the media for misinterpreting why U.N. General Assembly member chuckled when Trump boasted that his administration's accomplishments outdid those of nearly any other in American history." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Mrs. McC: In another studio, Haley would have been struck on the spot by lightning, but Fox "News" studios, of necessity, have built-in elaborate anti-lightning protection. However, Haley's nose did grow noticeably during the course of the brief interview. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Emily Tamkin of BuzzFeed News: "... diplomats have confirmed that their delegations were laughing at -- not with -- [Donald Trump]."

Trump Put a Racist in Charge of Enforcing Anti-Discrimination Laws. Robert O'Harrow, et al., of the Washington Post: "A senior Trump appointee responsible for enforcing laws against financial discrimination once questioned in blog posts written under a pen name if using the n-word was inherently racist and claimed that the great majority of hate crimes were hoaxes. Eric Blankenstein, a policy director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, expressed those and other controversial views more than a decade ago on a political blog he co-authored with two other anonymous contributors." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I know you're not even slightly shocked. That might be the saddest part.

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve’s chairman, Jerome H. Powell, said on Wednesday that the American economy was experiencing 'a particularly bright moment' as the Fed announced a widely expected increase in its benchmark interest rate and signaled that it planned to continue raising rates. Mr. Powell emphasized that the decision to raise rates to a range between 2 and 2.25 percent was not intended to get in the way of continued growth. 'My colleagues and I are doing all we can to keep the economy strong healthy and moving forward,' he said. But the Fed's decision was criticized almost immediately by President Trump, who opened a Wednesday afternoon news conference by declaring himself 'not happy' with higher rates."

The Guardian publishes an excerpt from Michael Lewis's upcoming book. In this episode, Trump fires has Jared Kushner fire his transition team. If you want a good glimpse into why the Trump administration has been in chaos since Day 1, it starts with its being in chaos well before Day 1. Mrs. McC: If, like me, you were thinking back then that maybe Trump wasn't the ignorant buffoon he played on the campaign trail, you too would be wrong. I know it's a busy day, but maybe bookmark this to read when Supreme TV is over.

The Commentariat -- Sept. 26, 2018

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Kaitlan Collins, et al., of CNN: "... Donald Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way Brett Kavanaugh has defended himself in wake of sexual assault allegations that have threatened to derail his Supreme Court nomination, multiple sources tell CNN. It has led the President to believe that he must personally take charge of defending his embattled nominee ahead of Thursday's critical appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Trump made the decision to hold a news conference on the eve of the hearing, making it the fourth he has held as president.... 'The Democrats are playing this game that's disgraceful,' Trump said alongside his Japanese counterpart in New York. 'It's disgraceful to this country.' He said voters would punish Democrats in the midterm elections for their actions and trashed lawyer [Michael] Avenatti." ...

** Jessica Estepa of USA Today: "Julie Swetnick, a client of attorney Michael Avenatti, alleged in a signed statement released Wednesday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would drink to excess and 'engage in abusive behavior' toward teenage girls while he was in high school. In an explosive statement released by Avenatti, Swetnick said in the 1980s, she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and Mark Judge to get teenage girls 'inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys.' 'I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their "turn" with a girl inside the room,' she said in the statement. 'These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.' Swetnick alleged she became one of the victims of 'one of these "gang" or "train" rapes.' She did not allege that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her." ...

     ... Here's a slightly easier-to-read copy of Swetnick's declaration. ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post covers Swetnick's allegations & other developments today in the Kavanaugh case. ...

... Axios publishes about a page-and-a-half of Kavanaugh's prepared testimony for Thursday hearing, ending with a note, "Additional Testimony to Follow." ...

     ... The POTUS* has responded with his usual careful consideration:

Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesn't want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this afternoon

     ... Worth noting: Trump doesn't deny Swetnick's accusations, only Avenatti's.

Erica Werner of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday said President Trump has told him he will sign a spending bill to avert a government shutdown. The House is prepared to pass the legislation later Wednesday and send it to Trump's desk."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley suggested Wednesday that world leaders laughed at President Trump's speech the day before because they respect and enjoy his honesty, arguing that negative media coverage of the president has hurt America's standing in the world. Haley, in an appearance on 'Fox & Friends,' blamed the media for misinterpreting why U.N. General Assembly members chuckled when Trump boasted that his administration's accomplishments outdid those of nearly any other in American history." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Mrs. McC: In another studio, Haley would have been struck on the spot by lightning, but Fox "News" studios, of necessity, have built-in elaborate anti-lightning protection. However, Haley's nose did grow noticeably during the course of the brief interview.

Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "When Rod J. Rosenstein reports to the Oval Office on Thursday to be fired, resign or continue tenuously in his post, the deputy attorney general will also be cementing his status as a player in one of President Trump's favorite parlor games: White House Survivor. Though the outcomes often differ -- fired by tweet (former secretary of state Rex Tillerson), permitted to faux-amicably resign (former national security adviser H.R. McMaster) or flayed but never quite offed (Attorney General Jeff Sessions )-- one near-certainty for those navigating their departures from Trump's orbit is a prolonged and capricious public humiliation. Trump's penchant for allowing his underlings to dangle and stew in Washington's fickle swamp often seems to be a form of psychological cruelty -- and also the way he prefers to conduct business, according to the president's advisers and associates."

Breaking News: Akhilleus has "come across a secretly recorded video of Grassley and company, and what they were doing while Deborah Ramirez and her lawyer were waiting for them on the phone. They were bringing in three crack researchers to give them a better idea of how to help them and their boy Brett deal with this woman problem":

Here's a good summary of Trump's speech before the U.N. General Assembly:

*****

Trump Attacks Kavanaugh's (Alleged) Victim. Mark Landler & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump accused Democrats on Tuesday of orchestrating 'a con game' against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh in hopes of stopping his confirmation to the Supreme Court and said that one of two women who have accused him of sexual misconduct as a student was 'messed up' and 'drunk' at the time. Dispensing again with the restraint that advisers have urged him to exercise, Mr. Trump went beyond defending Judge Kavanaugh into attack mode, saying that Democrats were 'making him into something he's not' as part of a strategy to 'delay and obstruct' his confirmation.... He went on to call it a con game a couple more times, and then spelled it out, 'C-O-N.' Mr. Trump singled out the latest accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who said in an interview with The New Yorker that Judge Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drinking party while they were students at Yale University." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Gang of Powerful Old Men Don't Have the Guts of One Woman. Elana Schor, et al., of Politico: "Senate Republicans have hired an attorney to use as a questioner of Christine Blasey Ford at Thursday's high-stakes hearing on a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh but are declining to name her. Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told Politico on Tuesday as he entered the Capitol for a weekly GOP meeting that 'we aren't announcing the name for her safety.' Asked if Republicans have received any indication of threats to the attorney they're preparing to use, Grassley said: 'I don't know, but I guess we're just being cautious.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... New Lede Plus: "The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday morning, fewer than 24 hours after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford appear before the panel to discuss Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago. According to committee rules, Judiciary must schedule a committee vote three days in advance. But the committee said the vote will only proceed if a 'majority of the members' of the 21-member committee are ready to vote on Friday. 'For Republicans to schedule a Friday vote on Brett Kavanaugh today, two days before Dr. Blasey Ford has had a chance to tell her story, is outrageous," said Sen Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee's ranking member. 'First Republicans demanded Dr. Blasey Ford testify immediately. Now Republicans don't even need to hear her before they move ahead with a vote.'"

... Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Republican Party leaders may be insisting that they will install Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, but Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is offering a blunt warning of her own: Do not prejudge sexual assault allegations against the nominee that will be aired at an extraordinary public hearing on Thursday. 'We are now in a place where it's not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified,' Ms. Murkowski, a key swing Republican vote, said in an extended interview in the Capitol Monday night. 'It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.' One of two Republican women in the Senate who supports abortion rights -- Susan Collins of Maine is the other -- Ms. Murkowski was always expected to be a critical vote in Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation process. But she is making clear that, beyond matters of abortion, she is deeply troubled by Christine Blasey Ford's story of a sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh when she was 15 and he was 17." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: Here's an uplifting thought: if Mitch McConnell had the votes to confirm Kavanaugh, Chuck Grassley would not be doing any of this stuff. The downer: once the committee has pulled off its little show trial, the few GOP holdouts likely will get in line as they usually do, satisfied that Kavanaugh deserves to spend the rest of his natural life judging the rest of us.

... Rebecca Shabad, et al., of NBC News: "In a letter to a lawyer for Ford on Monday, Mike Davis, who handles nominations for Republicans on the committee -- all of whom are men -- said that the GOP had hired a woman whom he described as 'an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor to serve as an investigative staff counsel for the hearing.'... Asked by NBC's Kasie Hunt Tuesday what message it sends to the nation that the entire GOP side of the panel lacks women, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said, "... we have hired a female assistant to go on staff and to ask these questions in a respectful and professional way...." Emphasis added. ...

     ... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Sure, this mystery woman is "an experienced prosecutor," but to the Boys in the Chamber, she a female assistant. I wonder if Chuck will ask her to get coffee during the hearing. As Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) "said Tuesday it would not be wise for Republican senators to ask questions themselves during the hearing. 'Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7 and inadvertently somebody will do something that's insensitive,' he told reporters." Is calling a professional woman a "female assistant" insensitive enough for you, Bob? ...

     ... Update. Mystery Female Assistant ID'd. Sean Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell has emerged as Senate Republicans' choice to question Brett M. Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, according to two people familiar with the decision. Mitchell, the sex crimes bureau chief for the Maricopa County Attorney's office in Phoenix, is the leading candidate to query the two at Thursday's highly anticipated hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the individuals. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it on the record. A registered Republican, Mitchell has worked for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for 26 years." ...

... Rachel Maddow was wondering out loud how come Judiciary Committee Republicans think they don't need the FBI to help them "investigate" claims of violent sexual attacks yet they don't have the chops to even question a witness, something that apparently an "assistant" must do for them. Maybe it's kinda like when the boss has to get his assistant to run the copy machine. MEANWHILE, Maddow interviewed John Clune, Deborah Ramirez' attorney, who said staff Republicans failed to show up for several scheduled phone appointments Tuesday. ...

     ... Here's a Denver Post story, by Elise Schmelzer, on the Grassley crew's failures to pick up the phone. ...

... Steve Kiggins & Richard Wolf of USA Today: "The attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford have sworn and signed declarations from four people who corroborate her claims of sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. In documents sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee..., Ford's attorneys present declarations from Ford's husband, Russell, and three friends who support the California college professor's accusation that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her and attempted to pull off her clothes while both were high school students in 1982.... Kavanaugh has flatly denied all accusations, including during a national television interview on Fox News Monday night. In her declaration, Adela Gildo-Mazzon said Ford told her about the alleged assault during a June 2013 meal at a restaurant in Mountain View, California, and contacted Ford's attorneys on Sept. 16 to tell them Ford had confided in her five years ago.... In another declaration, Keith Koegler said Ford revealed the alleged assault to him in 2016, when the two parents were watching their children play in a public place and discussing the 'light' sentencing of Stanford University student Brock Turner. In another declaration, Rebecca White, a neighbor and friend of more than six years, said Ford revealed the alleged assault against her in 2017." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wow! Blasey has been planning to "smear" Kavanaugh for a long time. Very clever the way she started laying the groundwork way back in 2013. ...

     ... Axios has copies of the sworn declarations here. ...

... Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Three former Yale Law School classmates who endorsed Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh called Tuesday for an investigation into allegations by two women that he engaged in sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Kent Sinclair, Douglas Rutzen and Mark Osler were among roughly two dozen of Kavanaugh's law school classmates who in an Aug. 27 letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Their support for an investigation came as Yale Law professor Akhil Amar -- who taught Kavanaugh and testified on his behalf before the committee this month -- also called for a probe into what he described as 'serious accusations' from the women." ...

... Maya Salam & Niraj Chokshi of the New York Times: "Survivors of sexual assault and their supporters stood shoulder to shoulder on the steps of New York's City Hall on Monday, holding signs that read 'I believe Christine,' 'Misogyny bores me' and 'Block InJustice Kavanaugh.' In Washington, over 100 protesters were arrested after gathering in front of the Supreme Court and inside Senate office buildings. They were part of a series of protests across the country to show solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, women who have publicly accused Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, of sexual assault and misconduct." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Lara Bazelon in a New York Times op-ed: "Republican senators have no problem trying Dr. Blasey in the court of public opinion. Senator [Orrin] Hatch has already made up his mind: Judge Kavanaugh is telling the truth and Dr. Blasey is simply 'mixed up.' Lindsey Graham, another Republican committee member, told The Washington Post, 'I'll listen to the lady,' then immediately implied the opposite. 'We're going to bring this to a close,' he said and called the accusation 'a drive-by shooting.' And yet, they are apparently too afraid to speak to her face to face.... Come on, gentlemen. Man up." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him. I watched him drink more than a lot of people. He'd end up slurring his words, stumbling. There's no medical way I can say that he was blacked out.... But it's not credible for him to say that he has had no memory lapses in the nights that he drank to excess. -- Liz Swisher, friend of Kavanaugh at Yale & a medical doctor

He's trying to paint himself as some kind of choir boy. You can't lie your way onto the Supreme Court, and with that statement out, he's gone too far. It's about the integrity of that institution. -- Lynne Brookes, former pharma executive who remembered "a drunken Kavanaugh" at a Yale fraternity event

Nearly a dozen people who knew him well or socialized with him said Judge Kavanaugh was a heavy drinker in college. -- New York Times, yesterday

... Aaron Rupar of ThinkProgress: "During his interview on Fox News that aired Monday evening..., Brett Kavanaugh cited his college reputation as evidence he's been falsely accused by former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez, who told the New Yorker Kavanaugh once thrust his genitals into her face at a party. 'The women I knew in college and the men I knew in college say it's inconceivable that I could have done such a thing,' he said.... But around the same time Kavanaugh was making that claim on Fox News, his former Yale roommate, James Roche, told the Bay Area ABC affiliate that he believes Ramirez. 'I concluded that although Brett was normally reserved, he was a notably heavy drinker, even by the standards of the time, and that he became aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk,' Roche told ABC 7. 'I did not observe the specific incident in question, but I do remember Brett frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk.'" ...

Perhaps Brett Kavanaugh was a virgin for many years after high school. But he claimed otherwise in a conversation with me during our freshman year in Lawrance Hall at Yale, in the living room of my suite.... [I remember it] because it was the first time I had had such a conversation with an acquaintance who was not a friend. -- Stephen Kantrowitz, dormmate of Kavanaugh in their freshman year at Yale

... John Harwood of CNBC: It's hard to believe Kavanaugh's denials about sexual attacks because he has lied a lot about other things. ...

... ** "Toxic Homosociality." Lili Loofbourow in Slate: "... I believe Brett Kavanaugh's claim that he was a virgin through his teens. I believe it in part because it squares with some of the oddities I've had a hard time understanding about his alleged behavior: namely, that both allegations are strikingly different from other high-profile stories the past year, most of which feature a man and a woman alone. And yet both the Kavanaugh accusations share certain features: There is no penetrative sex, there are always male onlookers, and, most importantly, there's laughter. In each case the other men -- not the woman -- seem to be Kavanaugh's true intended audience. In each story, the cruel and bizarre act the woman describes ... seems to have been done in the clumsy and even manic pursuit of male approval. Even Kavanaugh's now-notorious yearbook page ... seems less like an honest reflection of a fun guy than a representation of a try-hard willing to say or do anything as long as his bros think he's cool. In other words: The awful things Kavanaugh allegedly ... appear to .. fit into a ... category -- a toxic homosociality -- that involves males wooing other males over the comedy of being cruel to women." Read on. Mrs. McC: This is the smartest piece I've read by way of an explanation of who Kavanaugh was -- and is. ...

... Caitlin Flanagan of the Atlantic on Georgetown Prep, circa 1982. "There was ... -- as there always is in top Catholic schools that wish to be considered on the same intellectual and social plane as the great Protestant schools -- a constant, grinding, and not misplaced sense of inferiority among many of the students.... In a boys' school in the '80s, sexual frustration was combined with a casual misogyny -- if not of deed then of word -- that the authorities were in no way concerned about.... In the midst of it all (the Georgetown Prep way, the frat-boy tradition, the Irish problem -- who knows) seems to lie an ocean of alcohol." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alabama Evangelicals Counting on Kavanaugh to Oppose Separation of Church & State. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "More than a decade after Roy S. Moore was ousted as Alabama's chief justice for defying federal court orders to remove a 5,280-pound stone slab of the commandments from the state judicial building, voters [in Alabama] will consider a constitutional amendment in November that would allow the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools and other public property across Alabama.... Those campaigning for it now say their goal is to get a case before Supreme Court, where they hope -- if a Justice Kavanaugh is on the bench -- a conservative majority will rule in favor of such displays." ...

... Aaron Rupar: "Minutes after Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in a state prison for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, his publicist read a statement to reporters linking Cosby with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.... Ignoring the difference between consensual sex and sexual assault, publicist Andrew Wyatt claimed that both Cosby and Kavanaugh are victims of America's 'sex war.' 'What is going on in Washington today with Judge Kavanaugh is part of that sex war that Judge O'Neill is a part of,' Wyatt said, referring to the judge who presided over Cosby's case."

Trump Gets Laughed off World Stage. John Bennett of Roll Call: "Other world leaders laughed Tuesday when ... Donald Trump began his UN General Assembly address by saying his administration has accomplished more than perhaps any in U.S. history. Trump smiled wide and looked around the hall as the laughter continued. 'Didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK,' he said. The laughter returned later when Trump turned to global energy prices. 'The United States stands ready to export our abundant, affordable supply of oil, clean coal and natural gas. OPEC -- and OPEC nations -- are, as usual, ripping off the rest of the world,' Trump said. 'And I don't like it. Nobody should like it.'" Mrs. McC: That's what happens when your audience isn't larded with handpicked nincompoops. Thanks to forrest m. for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump has long argued that the United States has been taken advantage of by other nations -- a 'laughing stock to the entire World' he said on Twitter in 2014.... But at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump got a comeuppance on the world's biggest stage. Delivering a speech that aimed to establish U.S. 'sovereignty' over the whims and needs of other nations, the president's triumphant moment was marred in the first minute when he was met by laughter -- at his expense. The embarrassing exchange came when Trump boasted that his administration had accomplished more over two years than 'almost any administration' in American history, eliciting audible guffaws in the cavernous chamber hall.... At the United Nations, Trump's claim to have done more in less than two years than most of the 44 previous administrations defied any bounds of reality -- or hubris. The difference was that he was not talking to a room full of excited, red-hat-wearing 'MAGA' supporters who cheer him on." ...

... David Nakamura & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "President Trump declared Tuesday that his administration will reject attempts from other nations to impose constraints on the United States, vowing to take action in world affairs based on his judgment over how it would benefit Americans. In a speech before world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Trump issued sharp warning to the leaders Iran, Syria, Venezuela and China over what he described as their rogue behavior. But the president also made clear that the United States under his leadership would not be bound in its affairs by the consensus among traditional allies and partners." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Vox publishes a transcript of the full speech, as delivered, which the White House provided.

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Rod J. Rosenstein's departure seemed so certain this week that his boss's chief of staff told colleagues that he had been tapped by the White House to take over as second-in-command of the Justice Department, while another official would supervise the special counsel probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said. But by Monday afternoon, the succession plan had been scrapped. Rosenstein, who told the White House he was willing to quit if President Trump wouldn't disparage him, would remain the deputy attorney general in advance of a high-stakes meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of his employment. The other officials, too, would go back to work, facing the prospect that in just days they could be leading the department through a historic crisis. Inside the Justice Department on Tuesday, officials still struggled to understand the events that nearly produced a seismic upheaval in their leadership ranks -- until it didn't -- and they braced for a potential repeat of that chaos later in the week.... While it remained possible that Rosenstein could still resign or be fired imminently, people inside and outside the department said it seemed increasingly more likely that Rosenstein would stay in the job until after November's elections and then depart, probably along with the attorney general. Two White House officials said Tuesday that Trump is unlikely to fire Rosenstein until after the midterms."

Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News: "Raj Shah, a deputy press secretary who has stepped behind the podium for numerous daily briefings, has told multiple people he plans to leave the West Wing following the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Shah has been leading the communications efforts in support of the confirmation process since Kavanaugh's nomination in July. Two sources familiar with Shah's thinking said he thought that helping to shepherd the successful confirmation would allow him to end his White House tenure on a high note." Mrs. McC: Ha ha. The best laid plan of Mister Shah gang aft a-gley.

Adolfo Flores of BuzzFeed News: "A memo signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen contradicts statements she made at the height of the family separation crisis last spring that the administration did not have a policy of separating children from parents. Nielsen signed off on the option to prosecute all adults who crossed the border illegally, including those with kids, knowing it would lead to family separations.... 'DHS could also permissibly direct the separation of parents or legal guardians and minors held in immigration detention so that the parent or legal guardian can be prosecuted,' the memo said. When the administration was under fire for the family separations Nielsen told reporters 'This administration did not create a policy of separating families at the border.' Yet, the memo she signed states the effect of attempting to prosecute every adult at the border would result in children being separated from their parents." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: We knew she was lying then; we have proof now.

Khorri Atkinson of Axios: "An internal investigation has found that the head of FEMA, Brock Long, used unauthorized government vehicles and employees to drive him to his home in North Carolina and his family around Hawaii during a business trip that coincided with his family's spring break last year, costing taxpayers $151,000, per the WSJ."

About Those $52,000 Curtains. Brett Bruen in a Politico Magazine opinion piece: The New York Times, in a correction to its original story, blamed the Obama administration for the purchase of curtains for the United Nations ambassador's residence in New York City. But the contract was let in April 2017. Nikki "Haley was responsible for the purchase." More importantly, the contract was signed while the Trump administration was cutting off "many other essential services," like security for embassies in dangerous areas of the world. "What kind of public leader pursues costly upgrades to their residence even as their employees lack basic support?"

AP: "His Hollywood career and good-guy image in ruins, an 81-year-old Bill Cosby was sentenced Tuesday to three to 10 years behind bars for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, becoming the first celebrity of the #MeToo era to be sent to prison." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

     ... The New York Times story, by Graham Bowley & Jon Hurdle, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)