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| Republicans and Democrats vehemently split on Kavanaugh |
THE BIG IDEA: It's no longer he said vs. she said. Now it's he said vs. they said.
Deborah Ramirez told the New Yorker in a piece published Sunday night that Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself at a party when they were both freshmen at Yale and caused her to touch his genitals without her consent as she pushed him away. Acknowledging that she had been drinking and that there are some gaps in her memory, the 53-year-old called on the FBI to investigate what happened.
"Ramirez, who was raised a devout Catholic, in Connecticut, said that she was shaken," Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer report for the magazine. "She remembers Kavanaugh standing to her right and laughing, pulling up his pants. … She recalled another male student shouting about the incident. 'Somebody yelled down the hall, 'Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie's face,'' she said. 'It was his full name. I don't think it was just 'Brett.' And I remember hearing and being mortified that this was out there.'
"The New Yorker has not confirmed with other eyewitnesses that Kavanaugh was present at the party," the story continues. "A classmate of Ramirez's, who declined to be identified because of the partisan battle over Kavanaugh's nomination, said that another student told him about the incident either on the night of the party or in the next day or two. The classmate said that he is 'one-hundred-per-cent sure' that he was told at the time that Kavanaugh was the student who exposed himself to Ramirez. He independently recalled many of the same details offered by Ramirez, including that a male student had encouraged Kavanaugh as he exposed himself. …
"James Roche was roommates with Kavanaugh at the time of the alleged incident and is now the C.E.O. of a software company in San Francisco. 'Debbie and I became close friends shortly after we both arrived at Yale,' he said. 'She stood out as being exceptionally honest and gentle. I cannot imagine her making this up.' He said that he never witnessed Kavanaugh engage in any sexual misconduct, but did recall him being 'frequently, incoherently drunk.'"
The story added a new layer of uncertainty about Kavanaugh's prospects just hours after Christine Blasey Ford formally agreed to testify under oath before Congress this Thursday about her allegation that he sexually assaulted her when they were both in high school – and covered her mouth when she screamed for help.
Just as he did when Ford came forward the previous Sunday, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee categorically denied Ramirez's charge. He called the New Yorker story "a smear, plain and simple."
"I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name — and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building — against these last-minute allegations," Kavanaugh said in a statement.
The White House issued a statement saying Trump "stands firmly" behind Kavanaugh. Aides also circulated a New York Times story that said its reporters "interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an attempt to corroborate [Ramirez's] story, and could find no one with firsthand knowledge."
But Republicans on Capitol Hill are increasingly unsure about whether he'll have the votes to get confirmed, even with Trump's strong support. Here are 10 questions that will determine the outcome:
1) Will additional women come forward?
Republicans are privately worried more shoes will drop.
Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents adult entertainer Stormy Daniels, claimed Sunday on Twitter that he has a client with information about misconduct by Kavanaugh in high school.
2) Will Mark Judge be subpoenaed?
Ford alleges that Kavanaugh's friend and Georgetown Prep classmate was present in the bedroom at the house party when he attempted to rape her. Judge told the Weekly Standard that the professor's allegation was "just absolutely nuts" because, "I never saw Brett act that way. … I don't remember any of that stuff going on with girls."
Judge said through a lawyer that he does not want to testify, and Senate Republicans are blocking requests by both the purported victim and Democratic lawmakers to compel him to appear.
Buried low in the lengthy New Yorker story is this remarkable paragraph that shines a light on why Judge might be so reluctant to answer questions under oath:
"After seeing Judge's denial, Elizabeth Rasor, who met Judge at Catholic University and was in a relationship with him for about three years, said that she felt morally obligated to challenge his account that 'no horseplay' took place at Georgetown Prep with women. … 'I can't stand by and watch him lie.' In an interview with The New Yorker, she said, 'Mark told me a very different story.' Rasor recalled that Judge had told her ashamedly of an incident that involved him and other boys taking turns having sex with a drunk woman. Rasor said that Judge seemed to regard it as fully consensual. She said that Judge did not name others involved in the incident, and she has no knowledge that Kavanaugh participated. … (Barbara Van Gelder, an attorney for Judge, said that he 'categorically denies' the account related by Rasor. Van Gelder said that Judge had no further comment.)"
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| Collins 'appalled' by Trump's tweets about Kavanaugh's accuser |
3) What are Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski thinking?
No Democrats will vote for Kavanaugh at this point. That means that he'd go down if two of the 51 Republican senators defect.
The two senators considered likeliest to flip are the moderate women from Maine and Alaska, who have remained officially undecided and are both supportive of abortion rights. Each is holding their cards close to the vest. Remember, it was Collins and Murkowski who teamed up with John McCain to block the repeal of Obamacare last year. Because Roy Moore lost the special election in Alabama last December, the GOP now has one fewer seat than it did then.
If just one GOP senator defected, Vice President Pence would break the tie. But that's a political headache for Republicans, too, because members like Nevada's Dean Heller in 2018 and Cory Gardner in 2020 would inevitably face attack ads that accuse them of casting the deciding vote to put an accused sexual predator on the high court. Every Senate Democrat who had a tough race in 2010, 2012 and 2014 faced such messaging over their vote for Obamacare, and it was quite effective.
Also keep an eye on Jeff Flake. Retiring this year, the Arizona Republican is thinking a lot about his legacy. Is this a vote he wants to define it? Because Republicans have an 11 to 10 majority on the Judiciary Committee, which he's a member of, Flake could block Kavanaugh from being endorsed if he came out against him. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, is also retiring and could be a wildcard.
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| 'We're going to plow right through it,' McConnell says on Kavanaugh nomination |
4) Can Senate Republicans appear fair-minded during this process?
It will be much easier to confirm Kavanaugh if the American people perceive that Ford is being given a fair hearing, and that her allegations are taken seriously. But the tradeoff is that Republicans also need to express support for Kavanaugh in the face of attacks from Democrats.
"We're going to plow right through it," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) boasted during a speech on Friday to a group of conservative activists. "Don't get rattled by all of this."
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that Ford's testimony alone won't be able to sway his vote. "What am I supposed to do, go and ruin this guy's life based on an accusation? … I'm just being honest: Unless there's something more, no, I'm not going to ruin Judge Kavanaugh's life over this," said Graham, before the publication of the New Yorker story.
Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes illustrated how Graham has made up his mind:
5) Can Senate Democrats avoid show-boating?
The White House is working to portray the allegations as politically motivated, and the opposition to Kavanaugh as partisan and circuslike. It'll be easier to get Kavanaugh through if Democrats play into that narrative. Two members of the Judiciary Committee who plan to run for president in 2020, Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Cory Booker (N.J.), are most at risk of doing this. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who has drawn plaudits from the left and mockery from the right for her strong criticisms of Kavanaugh in recent days, is another wildcard.
6) Can Kavanaugh keep his cool in the hot seat?
The nominee grew frustrated during tense practice sessions at the White House last week when he was asked questions that dug into his private life, particularly his drinking habits and his sexual proclivities, three people familiar with the preparations told Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey. There were certain questions he simply refused to answer, claiming they were too personal. "I'm not going to answer that," Kavanaugh said at one point, according to a senior White House official.
7) Who will question Ford?
"Ford's attorneys said Sunday that they agreed to the hearing despite the committee's refusal to let her speak after Kavanaugh's testimony … or ask the FBI to look into her allegations in advance of her appearance," per Karoun Demirjian, Amy Gardner and Seung Min Kim. "Ford's lawyers also said they had not been told whether the Republican senators on the committee would themselves ask Ford questions or defer to staff or an independent lawyer to question her. It is customary that senators ask their own questions during public hearings. But there is a potential political risk if the all-male, all-white roster of Republicans on the panel — few of whom have any experience questioning sexual assault victims — grills Ford in a way that reminds viewers of 1991, when Anita Hill told the panel that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had repeatedly sexually harassed her."
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| Trump questions Kavanaugh's accuser's credibility |
8) Will Trump bite his tongue?
It took five days for the president to lash out at Ford. "I have no doubt that if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says," he tweeted on Friday, "charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents."
This prompted many women to share personal stories on social media of why they didn't report sexual assaults to law enforcement.
Collins, the swing vote from Maine, said she was "appalled" by Trump's comments.
McConnell called Trump a few hours later to tell him his tweets criticizing the professor were undermining his ability to shore up Republican votes. The president subsequently stayed quiet through the weekend, as he hit the links. It's hardly a safe bet, though, that he'll stay self-disciplined through the week. Imagine him live tweeting the hearing. As Graham put it on Fox, "I would advise the president to let us handle this."
9) How many Republican politicians appear to trivialize the allegations?
Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), who is challenging Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, issued a statement on Saturday to clarify comments he made about Ford the day before during a radio interview. He had said her accusation is "even more absurd" than what Hill said about Thomas because the alleged assault occurred when both Ford and Kavanaugh were teenagers. In his statement, he insisted that he was not saying sexual assault committed by teenagers is less serious. The kerfuffle highlighted the political peril even for candidates who won't be forced to cast a vote on Kavanaugh, even in one of the reddest states in the country.
Meanwhile, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said "no man will ever qualify for the Supreme Court again" if Kavanaugh is felled because of Ford's allegation. "I'm thinking, is there any man in this room that wouldn't be subjected to such an allegation? A false allegation?" the congressman said at an Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition event on Saturday, according to the Des Moines Register. "How can you disprove something like that? Which means, if that's the new standard, no man will ever qualify for the Supreme Court again."
10) Who else will get caught up in the whirlwind?
Billy Bush's career was destroyed by his comments to Trump on the "Access Hollywood" tape. But while NBC axed him from the "Today" show after the 2005 video emerged, Trump got elected president a month later. It's possible that Kavanaugh could get confirmed, but others will have their careers derailed.
Kavanaugh's friend Ed Whelan offered to resign from his position as president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, for example, after suggesting last week that Ford may have mistaken him for another student. He later deleted the tweets, and Ford said she wouldn't confuse them. "Whelan's offer [to resign] was not accepted by the board of the Washington-based center, which decided instead to place him on a leave of absence following the tweets, which he has since described as 'appalling and inexcusable,'" Tom Hamburger reports. "In an interview Friday with The Washington Post, Whelan denied talking with the White House or Kavanaugh before tweeting his thoughts on the assault complaint made by Ford."
And a communications adviser to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley resigned on Friday night as NBC was preparing to report that he'd been let go from a previous job in North Carolina for sexual harassment. Garrett Ventry denied the allegation, but he said he was leaving Grassley's office "in order to not be a distraction" during the final push for Kavanaugh.
Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 5. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
-- Read more coverage:
- Jenna Johnson and Torey Van Oot: "'It's hard to say what is real and what isn't': Women wrestle with accusation against Kavanaugh."
- Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker and Robert Costa: "The party of men: Kavanaugh fight risks worsening the Trump GOP's gender problem."
- Jessica Contrera, Ian Shapira, Emma Brown and Steve Hendrix: "Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford moved 3,000 miles to reinvent her life. It wasn't far enough."
- Marc Fisher and Perry Stein: "'100 Kegs or Bust': Kavanaugh friend, Mark Judge, has spent years writing about high school debauchery."
- Ann Gerhart and Danielle Rindler: "How #MeToo has changed the D.C. power structure — so far."
- Travis M. Andrews: "Alyssa Milano weighs in on Kavanaugh allegations as #WhyIDidntReport goes viral."
- E.J. Dionne Jr.: "The Kavanaugh confirmation is a festival of misdirection and ugliness."
- Politico: "Kavanaugh confirmation in renewed peril after second assault claim."
- Fox News: "Poll: Record number of voters oppose Kavanaugh nomination."
- New York Times: "Constrained From Fighting, Trump Is Left a Spectator With Kavanaugh in Peril."
- Wall Street Journal: "Lawyer for Kavanaugh's Accuser Faces Tough Scrutiny: Debra Katz has worked on women's rights for decades, but the political, social and legal stakes in the Kavanaugh case raise the bar."
- Daily Beast: "Republicans Fret That Kavanaugh Push Will Crush Them in Midterm Elections."
- USA Today: "Read Christine Blasey Ford's letter detailing the alleged assault by Brett Kavanaugh."
- New York magazine: "Everything to Know About the #BelieveSurvivors Walkout in Solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford."
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
Then-White House counsel Greg Craig listens as President Barack Obama addresses reporters in 2009. (Charles Dharapak/AP)
-- Former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig is under scrutiny from federal prosecutors in Manhattan for work he conducted on behalf of Ukraine at his former law firm in 2012. The effort was coordinated by Paul Manafort and is being probed as an offshoot of Robert Mueller's broader Russia investigation. Tom Hamburger reports: "Craig's case — and that of two Washington lobbyists who worked with Manafort on Ukrainian matters — was referred last April to New York prosecutors, who appear to be focused on whether the three failed to register as foreign agents while working with Manafort's Ukrainian clients. No charges have been filed, and representatives for the three men have expressed confidence that their clients did not violate the law. Still, the investigation of Craig … along with lobbyists Vin Weber and Tony Podesta, has shaken Washington's lobbying and legal community, which until recently had faced little scrutiny of its representation of foreign clients."
Indian children sit in formation to spell out "Bharat," the Hindi name of their country, as they listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the nation. (Manish Swarup/AP)
GET SMART FAST:
- India launched its vast new government health program called Modicare — expanding coverage to roughly a half-billion citizens as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks to lay the groundwork for his reelection campaign next year. Modicare has been touted as the world's largest government-funded health initiative. It's less clear, however, whether it will actually work — and who, exactly, will foot the bill. (Vidhi Doshi)
- Fentanyl accounted for nearly three-quarters of deaths in Ohio last year, according to a new report from the state's health department. In total, authorities found that more than 3,430 deaths were attributed to the powerful synthetic opioid — a 46 percent spike from the previous year. (Columbus Dispatch)
- Two former ProPublica reporters are launching a news site aimed at investigating tech companies. The project, led by journalists Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson, has been largely funded through a $20 million gift from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. (New York Times)
- PayPal announced it will stop processing payments for Infowars and its founder, Alex Jones — becoming the latest tech giant to ban the well-known conspiracy theorist from its platform. The announcement could deliver a major financial blow to Infowars since PayPal currently handles all transactions from the site's online store. (New York Times)
- A tiny clip inserted into the heart has been shown to sharply reduce death rates among those with severe heart failure. Scientists said patients who were treated with the clip reported fewer hospitalizations and improved quality of life. (New York Times)
- A new study found female employees receive a smaller share of stock compensation from their companies than their male counterparts. The new research from the Silicon Valley firm Carta shows women hold 47 cents in company equity for every $1 held by men. (Brian Fung)
- Russia is trying to lure white South African farmers to its rural countryside. The mission combines Vladimir Putin's professed admiration for a white, Christian order with some white South Africans' anxiety about possible land redistribution aimed at combating racial inequality. (Amie Ferris-Rotman)
- Thousands of dead and dying fish were left behind on North Carolina's Interstate 40 as Hurricane Florence's floodwaters recede. Firefighters used a hose to wash away the fish, which caused a horrible stench and a potential road hazard. (Reis Thebault)
- Tiger Woods won his first PGA tournament since August 2013. Woods claimed victory at the Tour Championship, his 80th PGA Tour triumph. (Cindy Boren)
Bill Cosby leaves the the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pa. (Matt Slocum/AP)
MORE FROM THE #METOO MOVEMENT:
-- Bill Cosby's sentencing hearing begins today. He was convicted in April of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. From the AP's Maryclaire Dale: "At the end of the potentially two-day hearing, Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O'Neill could sentence Cosby to as much as 30 years in prison or send him home on probation. The state guidelines for someone like Cosby, with no prior convictions, call for about one to four years behind bars."
-- A Minnesota state representative ended his reelection bid after his daughter accused him of repeatedly molesting her. Reis Thebault reports: "In a statement Friday, Jim Knoblach [R], of St. Cloud, Minn., denied the accusations but said he was ending his campaign because he was 'not willing to spend six weeks fighting with my daughter in the media.' 'I love my children more than anything, and would never do anything to hurt them,' Knoblach's statement read. 'Her allegations are false.' Knoblach's announcement came as Minnesota Public Radio News prepared to publish a lengthy report that detailed the allegations against the eight-term state representative and included interviews with his daughter, Laura Knoblach, who shared extensive documentation with the station. In that account, Laura Knoblach, who is now 23, said the abuse began when she was 9 years old and her father entered her room after she had gone to bed, got in and laid down behind her."
-- Jason Miller, who was the 2016 Trump campaign communications director, stepped down as a CNN contributor to focus on clearing his name amid new accusations. From the Hollywood Reporter's Jeremy Barr: "[Miller] has been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with A.J. Delgado, a former campaign staffer with whom he fathered a child. Miller and Delgado have battled on Twitter and in various legal motions involving custody of their child. On Friday, the website Splinter published a story detailing new allegations against Miller, put forth by Delgado. '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,' according to the report. '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.' Miller on Saturday said on Twitter that 'there is no validity to the false accusations made in the document.'"
-- An Alaska man accused of kidnapping a woman from a gas station, strangling her until she passed out and masturbating on her, will spend no time in prison. From Amy B Wang: "[Justin] Schneider was charged with one count of felony kidnapping and three counts of assault, as well as one misdemeanor count of harassment involving 'offensive contact with fluids,' according to court records. He originally faced a sentence of between five and 99 years in prison ... On Wednesday, Schneider accepted a deal in which he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree felony assault in exchange for the dismissal of his other assault, kidnapping and harassment charges. He was sentenced to two years in prison with one year suspended. However, because Schneider was given credit for a year under house arrest, he will not serve additional time in prison. He will be required to continue wearing an ankle monitor and participate in a treatment program."
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| Trump: 'U.N. has not lived up to potential' |
THE NEW WORLD ORDER:
-- Trump and other world leaders will gather this week in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly.
-- U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is expected to have a lower profile than during last year's confab. Anne Gearan and John Hudson report: "[Haley] is among a select few Cabinet aides who speak frequently and directly with the president, a sore spot for some White House officials. But [her] public role has narrowed as Trump's national security Cabinet was shuffled over the past year and advisers who advanced more nationalist agendas on trade, immigration and international engagement gained favor . . . A pair of incidents in which Haley announced policies or plans that were quickly changed also raised questions about her footing in the administration as [Secretary of State Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton] took over from more passive and ideologically moderate aides. In both cases, several senior officials said she was unfairly scapegoated. At the same time, Haley's influence at the [U.N.] has been blunted by Trump policy decisions that many other nations opposed."
Haley told reporters that Trump's speech will focus on American sovereignty and foreign aid. The speech was written largely by senior Trump adviser and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller, who clashed with Haley just days ago over the administration's new cap on refugee resettlement.
Pompeo's agenda will be largely focused on North Korea: "Pompeo will chair a Security Council session where he will lay out Trump's hopes for a peaceful dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons and warn countries that bust U.N. sanctions on the country."
Former U.S. officials say Bolton will be tempted to dictate how Haley does her job partly because he used to have the same one: Longtime Bolton aides called tensions between the two inevitable. "Bolton runs an imperial NSC," said former Bolton adviser Mark Groombridge. "Of course he's going to want to exert influence over Ambassador Haley."
-- This is the first major international gathering since Trump's exit from the Iran nuclear deal. The Wall Street Journal's Farnaz Fassihi and Michael R. Gordon report on how that will cloud proceedings: "Mr. Trump and top officials plan to use the U.N. forum . . . to denounce Iran, and mobilize international support for isolating the country through crippling sanctions. A key component of their complaint will be Iran's meddling in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and its continued financial and military support of militant groups . . . But the Europeans plan to counter the U.S. position[:] British, French and German diplomats plan to meet Monday with counterparts from Iran and other parties to the accord — Russia and China — to try to persuade Tehran to stick with the agreement as U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports take hold[.] Iran, for its part, will attempt to widen the gap between the U.S. and Europe by portraying itself as abiding by its commitments while the U.S. disregards international accords."
-- "On Sunday, Pompeo said there were no plans for a meeting between Trump and Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani … but coyly suggested a tete-a-tete with the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei could be 'an important and interesting conversation,'" per Anne Gearan and John Hudson.
-- Dozens of prominent U.S. foreign policy figures issued a public statement warning that Trump is risking a "potential war" with Iran, unless he engages with the country "using diplomacy, not just pressure tactics," Politico's Nahal Toosi reports: "The statement … is unusual in that it acknowledges the legitimacy of Trump's criticisms of Iran's overall behavior, even as it pushes the president to rethink his strategy. 'Applying pressure and unilateral sanctions without viable diplomatic options . . . could lead to a more dangerous, destructive and enduring regional conflict with Iran,' argue the more than 50 people who signed the statement. Among the signatories: former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper … former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright … and [Bush-era] Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill … The administration's approach so far, which does not include diplomatic outreach of any significance, 'has left Iran the option of either capitulation or war,' the statement declares."
China's President Xi Jinping and President Trump review Chinese honor guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty)
-- The U.N. meeting comes as global leaders appear skeptical of Trump's escalating trade war against China. David Nakamura writes: "It's one that his critics say is being played on Beijing's terms, as the president has rattled U.S. allies and undermined partners, looked the other way on human rights abuses and cozied up to authoritarian leaders. … The United States had long sought to manage China's rise by pressuring it to become a more responsible global player and engage in multilateral institutions; now it is the Trump administration that is turning away."
-- The latest round of tariffs between the United States and China hit today. From Danielle Paquette: "Trump imposed fresh levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with tariffs on $60 billion in American goods, approaching the point of running out of U.S. products to target. Neither of the world's two largest economies showed signs of backing down, and there are no further trade talks scheduled to resolve the dispute. As the new tariffs hit, the Chinese government released a report accusing the Trump administration of a foreign policy based on 'trade bullying' and 'attempting to impose its own interests on China through extreme pressure,' according to state media."
-- U.S. companies are considering moving operations and even laying off some employees because of Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports. Jeanne Whalen reports: "Cedar Electronics has been selling CB radios to American truckers since the 1960s, helping connect the workers who keep the U.S. economy rolling. But these days Cedar's business isn't exactly trucking along. The Chicago-headquartered company is racing around Asia looking for other countries to host its manufacturing, after the radios Cedar makes in China and brings to the United States were hit with one of the Trump administration's 25 percent tariffs this summer, making them more expensive to import. … The Consumer Technology Association alone has heard from hundreds of U.S. member companies hurt by the levies, many of which are small businesses ill equipped for this sort of tumult … "
-- Japan fears it will get left behind as North Korea improves its relations with South Korea and the United States but keeps up its hostile rhetoric toward Tokyo. Simon Denyer reports: "Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly expressed his determination to meet [Kim Jong Un] and 'break the shell of mutual distrust.' So far there is nothing on the horizon. Just the opposite, in fact. North Korea's propaganda machine has gone easy on the United States this year. But it has stepped up its vilification of Japan, sparing no opportunity to remind its citizens of Korea's suffering under Japanese colonial rule in the decades before World War II. … [T]he fast-moving events this year have highlighted Japan's outlier status as possible deals are cut and new relationships are formed. … Nikkei, an influential financial newspaper, painted a 'worst-case scenario' in which North Korea gives up its intercontinental ballistic missiles but retains the ones that can target Japan."
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| Fox News hosts give Trump conflicting advice on Rosenstein |
THERE'S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:
-- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he believes Trump's enemies in the Justice Department are staging a "bureaucratic coup" against the president, and he called on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint a special counsel to investigate. Graham's comments come after the New York Times reported Friday that Rosenstein once floated the idea of wearing a "wire" during conversations with Trump and that there was discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment. (His allies said the remark was made in jest shortly after the abrupt firing of FBI director James Comey.)
"Graham said he didn't favor firing Rosenstein, who has denied the report and said he never advocated for removal of the president," Tom Hamburger reports. "'He shouldn't fire Rosenstein unless you believe Rosenstein's lying,' Graham said. Instead, [he] pointed his finger at others in the department who he said have 'tried to destroy this president.' He specifically referred to former FBI officials Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page and Peter Strzok … [who have all since been fired or left the department]. 'Before the election, the people in question tried to taint the election, tip it to [Hillary] Clinton's favor; after the election, they're trying to undermine the president," Graham said. He added that he did not know 'what Rosenstein did, but I know what McCabe or Page and Strzok did. They tried to destroy this president.'" Rosenstein, Graham said, "is doing the country a disservice by not appointing a special counsel" to look into the behavior of FBI officials.
-- After the Rosenstein story broke, Trump polled his staff and monitored Fox News to determine whether he should fire the deputy attorney general. Ultimately, he decided to keep him for now. The AP's Jonathan Lemire reports: "He received mixed messages. Some urged him to fire Rosenstein. Others suggested restraint while seeing if the report was incorrect or if it was planted by some adversary. Still others believed that firing Rosenstein before the November election would further the Democratic talking point of an administration in disarray and damage the Republicans' chances of keeping control of Congress. Trump also received conflicting advice from his other team of counselors: the hosts at Fox News. While Laura Ingraham initially urged Trump to fire Rosenstein, Sean Hannity pleaded with the president not to act. 'It is all a setup,' said Hannity, seeming to directly address Trump. 'Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody.'"
-- "How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump," by the New Yorker's Jane Mayer: "Few people, including Trump's opponents, have publicly challenged the widespread belief that no obtainable evidence can prove that Russian interference changed any votes. … [B]ut a new book from, of all places, Oxford University Press promises to be incendiary. 'Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President—What We Don't, Can't, and Do Know,' by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania, dares to ask—and even attempts to answer—whether Russian meddling had a decisive impact in 2016. Jamieson offers a forensic analysis of the available evidence and concludes that Russia very likely delivered Trump's victory."
President Trump shakes hands with Missouri Attorney General and Senate candidate Josh Hawley during a campaign rally in Springfield, Mo. (Charlie Riedel/AP)
THE MIDTERMS:
-- A new Fox News poll found that Democrats hold a seven-point advantage ahead of this year's midterm elections, leading Republicans 49 to 42 percent among likely voters. Fox News's Dana Blanton reports: "Voters who backed [Hillary Clinton in 2016] are more likely than Trump voters to be more enthusiastic about voting this year compared to past midterms (by 9 points) and more likely to be extremely interested in the election (by 11 |
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