“Riding a surge of enthusiasm in opposition to President Trump, more Democrats turned out in the primaries for House elections than Republicans this year — the first time that has happened since 2008,” Axios reports.
“2008 was the last time Democrats won a majority in the House. They lost it in 2010, when Republican primary turnout skyrocketed and Democratic turnout plummeted — the reverse of what’s happening now.”
“If Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination sinks, Democrats would turn the midterms into a referendum not just on President Trump but also women’s rights, abortion and the future of the Supreme Court,” sources tell Axios.
“In what Republicans believe is an increasingly unlikely scenario where Kavanaugh tanks, Dems believe they can juice turnout — already hitting record levels — by playing off the huge public attention to the court, and Roe v. Wade in particular.”
“They envision President Obama and Michelle Obama locking arms with the Clintons, the Bidens, and Democratic congressional leaders to crank up a presidential-election-sized campaign.”
“President Trump told Spain’s foreign minister that he had a sure-fire plan to prevent asylum seekers from Africa from flooding European shores — build a wall in the Sahara desert,” the New York Post reports.
“Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, a former president of the European Parliament, revealed that Trump told him that a border wall in the desert — like his long promised wall on the Mexican border — would work for Europe as well.”
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“The White House could order the FBI to investigate the sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, several former senior White House and Justice Department officials from both parties said Wednesday, contradicting President Trump’s claims that doing so would exceed the FBI’s mandate,” Politico reports.
“Officials who have had direct roles in the nomination and background check process said it’s common, as part of the FBI’s vetting of presidential nominees for judicial posts and executive branch jobs, to investigate matters that do not qualify as federal crimes.”
Politico: “After weeks of hand-wringing, Presiden Trump on Monday ordered the declassification of a slew of documents related to the FBI’s long-running investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential connections to Russia. The move came on the heels of top House Republicans revealing that they may also release documents related to their probes into Trump-Russia ties, as well as anti-Trump bias at the FBI and Justice Department.”
“The White House and GOP leaders have cited ‘transparency’ as their motive, and Trump has suggested the documents will show anti-Trump bias in the FBI led the bureau to supercharge its 2016 Russia probe based on flimsy evidence.”
“But Democrats see a more sinister plan: to taint special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing Russia probe, while simultaneously motivating Trump’s political base on the precipice of an election in which Democrats are favored to make gains. To Democrats, the situation has eerie similarities to 2016, when WikiLeaks’ slow-drip daily release of internal Clinton campaign emails hobbled Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and offered regular fodder for Republicans.”
The Atlantic: “In a move described as a direct shot at Nancy Pelosi, some Democrats are trying to make it more difficult for one of their own to become speaker of the House.”
“At least 10 Democrats in the lower chamber have signed onto a letter to Caucus Chair Joe Crowley seeking a change to caucus rules that would raise the number of votes required to nominate a candidate for speaker. Current rules mandate that a nominee receive support from only a simple majority of caucus members before advancing to the floor for a vote. The letter requests that threshold be changed to 218, a majority of the House.”
Playbook: “This is likely to be defeated in the Democratic Caucus soundly. Five percent of Democrats signed this letter. This is a way for Democrats to let off steam, but it underscores, in part, that they have no one else to run against Pelosi — for now. Pelosi supporters even have a mechanism to quash this before it comes up for a vote. In some ways, this could hurt the anti-Pelosi movement by showing that, at the moment, process is the only tool they have to go up against her.”
Evangelical leader Franklin Graham told the Christian Broadcast Network that the sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was just “not relevant.”
Said Graham: “It’s just a shame that a person like Judge Kavanaugh who has a stellar record — that somebody can bring something up that he did when he was a teenager close to 40 years ago. That’s not relevant.”
He added: “She said no and he respected it and walked away.”
Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) called President Trump “a great leader” who had revived Nevada’s economy, a striking departure from the arm’s-length approach Mr. Heller took with Mr. Trump in the 2016 campaign and in the first months of his presidency, the New York Times reports.
“In a private conference call with White House aides, other Nevada Republican officials and local activists, Mr. Heller — the most endangered Senate Republican up for re-election this November — offered an unqualified embrace of the president.”
Said Heller: “Our arms are wide open. We’re so thrilled to have the president.”
President Trump and Senate Republicans “took a hard line: full-speed ahead on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court despite an allegation of sexual assault decades ago,” the Washington Post reports.
“But privately, discussions about the political fallout gripped the party, with Republican lawmakers and strategists unnerved by the charged, gender-infused debates that have upended this campaign season.”
Mike Allen: “Republicans are privately worried about the risk unleashed by an explosive allegation of a teenage sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, but still hope to push ahead to a final confirmation vote next week.”
President Trump named retiring Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to head the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, “setting up what could be a contentious confirmation battle in the Senate,” Politico reports.
“As former House Oversight Committee chairman, the nine-term congressman built a name for himself by dogging the Obama Administration for years… That’s left him virtually friendless on the left, which could be problematic for his confirmation in a chamber with a very slim GOP majority.”
“President Trump’s declaration that ‘I don’t have an attorney general‘ was not merely the cry of an executive feeling betrayed by a subordinate,” the Washington Post reports.
“It was also a raw expression of vulnerability and anger from a president who associates say increasingly believes he is unprotected — with the Russia investigation steamrolling ahead, anonymous administration officials seeking to undermine him and a referendum looming in the Nov. 6 midterm elections, the results of which could potentially lead to impeachment proceedings.”
“Publicly, at least, Trump is going through the ordinary motions of being president… Behind the scenes, however, Trump is confronting broadsides from every direction — legal, political and personal.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said that she will vote against federal appellate judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Springfield News Leader reports.
She cited “dark money” in politics as the main reason for her opposition.
Said McCaskill: “I have been thorough in examining Judge Kavanaugh’s record. And while the recent allegations against him are troubling and deserve a thorough and fair examination by the Senate Judiciary Committee, my decision is not based on those allegations but rather on his positions on several key issues, most importantly the avalanche of dark, anonymous money that is crushing our democracy.”
Former FBI Director James Comey told St. Louis Public Radio that he thinks that with the plea deal and cooperation by Paul Manafort, special counsel Robert Mueller may be in “the fourth quarter” of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Said Comey: “The reason I’m hesitant to even say that is because Bob Mueller’s conducted his investigation like a pro — you know nothing about it except through his public filings, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. And so I can’t say with certainty where he is.”
President Trump “is growing more confident that his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, can weather a charge of sexual assault and will be confirmed,” Politico reports.
“The feeling is shared by some of Trump’s key Republican allies, even as controversy continues to rage over a sexual-assault allegation against the conservative judge. The White House and its allies have taken no steps to line up a new nominee, according to four people familiar with the confirmation process.”
The Fix: Republicans seem to have the votes to confirm Kavanaugh.
“The Trump administration is unable to account for the whereabouts of nearly 1,500 migrant children who illegally entered the United States alone this year and were placed with sponsors after leaving federal shelters,” the New York Times reports.
“The revelation echoes an admission in April by the Department of Health and Human Services that the government had similarly lost track of an additional 1,475 migrant children it had moved out of shelters last year.”
Indicted Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) wrote in an email to supporters that he would continue to serve in Congress if re-elected, Roll Call reports.
Said Collins: “Voters can be assured that with the recent turn of events, they can count on me to actively campaign for Congress, and to serve should voters re-elect me. The stakes are too high to allow the radical left to take control of this seat in Congress”
Cristina Miranda King, a former schoolmate of Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, wrote a Facebook post saying she recalls hearing about the alleged sexual assault involving Kavanaugh, NBC News reports.
Said King: “Christine Blasey Ford was a year or so behind me. I did not know her personally but I remember her. This incident did happen.”
She added: “Many of us heard a buzz about it indirectly with few specific details. However Christine’s vivid recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true.”
“As questions swirl about whether a public hearing will still go forward Monday if Christine Blasey Ford doesn’t show, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is continuing with prep sessions at the White House today,” a source familiar tells CNN.
“Kavanaugh wants to be prepared to give his account if Ford does decide to testify without first having an FBI investigation. He has undergone multiple, lengthy practice sessions over the last few days — detailing his teenage years and dating life to his confirmation team after Ford went public with her accusation of sexual assault.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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