“The White House has authorized the FBI to expand its abbreviated investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh by interviewing anyone it deems necessary as long the review is finished by the end of the week,” the New York Times reports.

“The new directive came in the past 24 hours after a backlash from Democrats, who criticized the White House for limiting the scope of the bureau’s investigation into President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. The FBI has already completed interviews with the four witnesses its agents were originally asked to talk to.”

“That’s OK. I know you’re not thinking. You never do.”

— President Trump, calling on a female reporter at a press conference at the White House.

President Trump claimed that he had “somewhat compromising” information on an unidentified Democratic senator as he eviscerated the party for its handling of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, CNBC reports.

Said Trump: “I’ve seen that person in very, very bad situations. Somewhat compromising. And you know, I think it’s very unfair to bring up things like this.”

Asked later who the senator is, Trump declined to name the lawmaker and said he would “save it for a book like everyone else.”

A new Pew Research poll finds President Trump’s overall job rating stands at 38% and remains deeply divided by gender, race and educational attainment. While men are divided in views of Trump’s job performance (46% approve, 47% disapprove), more than twice as many women disapprove (63%) than approve (30%).

“As has been the case since he became president, Trump’s job approval ratings are divided along partisan lines; Trump’s job ratings are more polarized than any president dating to Dwight Eisenhower.”

“Similarly, there are large partisan divides in evaluations of Trump’s personal traits and characteristics, though the gaps are not as wide in views of Trump’s temperament and whether he stands up for his beliefs.”

“I can honestly say I never had a beer in my entire life. It’s one of my only good traits. Can you imagine if I had, what a mess I’d be?”

— President Trump, quoted by The Hill.

Washington Post: “If Rosenstein leaves, whoever replaces him could theoretically limit the scope of what Mueller can explore or who he can indict while also scaling back the amount of resources available.”

“And the public wouldn’t necessarily find out because such moves are not required to be immediately disclosed, according to several experts familiar with the special counsel law from both parties. Sources on the inside might leak that Mueller’s investigation was being undermined, but Trump and White House press people could vehemently deny these reports. The result might be the kind of confusion about what’s really going on that we’re left with this morning vis-a-vis Kavanaugh.”