Trump: Day 616
-Emoluments Lawsuit Can Proceed
-Donor with Ties 2 Russian Official
-Senate Panel Approves Kavanaugh
-Forced 2 Launch FBI Investigation
-Kavanaugh Vote Delayed One Week
-Signed Bill Averting Gov't Shutdown
-Supports McCarthy as Next Speaker
-Closing Iraqi Consulate
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Day 721 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
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Day 573 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
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Day 362 since the deadliest mass shooting on U.S soil in Las Vegas that killed 58, injured 546 and Congress has taken NO action to prevent future mass shootings. #NeverForget#NeverAgain#EnoughIsEnough
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Real-time U.S. gun violence numbers, 1/1 to 9/28:
—10,874 gun deaths
—21,220 gun injuries
—500 children killed or injured
—2,108 teenagers killed or injured
—1,514 armed home invasions
—1,345 incidents of defensive gun use
—1,209 unintentional shootings
—269 mass shootings
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Day 182 without Trump publicly offering his condolences for Master Sgt. Jonathan Dunbar, the fallen American service member who lost his life after an IED bombing in Syria. Why?
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F35 the U.S. Air Force most expensive fighter jet, crashed for the first time today, just hours after a U.S.-flown F-35 carried out its first ever combat strike in #Afghanistan. foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/28/ame…
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Day 182 Since Hope Hicks left as Trump’s 4th Communications Director after testifying to a Congressional committee that she had told "white lies" on Trump's behalf.
With Bill Shine, Trump is directing all White House messaging and communication.
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Day 161 since Trump began forcibly separating immigrant children from their families.
182 of 2,654 migrant kids separated from parents are *still* in custody.
6 still-separated kids are under 5.
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Reminder: The Trump administration is systematically locking up thousands of children at unheard of rates - now a staggering 12,800.
The government classifies these children as "unaccompanied" cbsn.ws/2p4QZZr
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Day 109 since Trump made specific commitments to end military exercises with South Korea & eventually withdraw US forces from the peninsula without NO specific commitments on timing or verification of denuclearization from Kim Jong-un.
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Day 39 since Trump was implicated as an unindicted co-conspirator in violating federal campaign finance laws to keep affairs quiet and Congress has refused to call for investigations and impeachment.
Is Trump above the law?
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A Russian-born American businessman who gave $273,000 to support Trump's 2016 campaign was in extensive contact with a high-ranking Russian official and offered to brief that official during the final months of the campaign, NBC News reports. nbcnews.com/politics/donal…
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A judge has ruled that 200 congressional Democrats have standing to sue Trump for allegedly violating the Constitution by doing business with foreign governments while in office, according to WaPo. washingtonpost.com/politics/congr…
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Here’s a key passage in the ruling: Judge says Trump has a duty to ask Congress’s permission, and he didn’t.
So Dems can sue.
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Lindsey Graham on Ford last night on Hannity: “I am more convinced than ever that he didn’t do it, that he’s the right guy to be on the court, that Ms. Ford has a problem and destroying Judge Kavanaugh’s life won’t fix her problem.”
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"I'm a single white man from South Carolina and I'm told I should shut up. But I will not shut up, if that's OK," Graham says.
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Flashback: Lindsey Graham said this during the 2012 Republican National Convention:
“We’re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term.”
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The American Bar Association called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to halt the consideration of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination until an FBI investigation is completed. cnn.com/2018/09/27/pol…
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Interesting note on the ABA urging for a postponement on Kavanaugh's vote: Lindsey Graham cited a letter from the American Bar Association yesterday at the hearing during his outburst, holding it up as proof of Kavanaugh's great character. esquire.com/news-politics/…
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Lynne Brookes, ex-Kavanaugh classmate, claims Kavanaugh mislead about his drinking at Yale.
"While at Yale, he was a big partier, often drank to excess and there had to be a number of nights where he does not remember."
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Kavanaugh repeatedly said he was legally allowed to consume beer as a prep school senior in Maryland.
In fact, he was never legal in high school because Maryland's drinking age increased to 21 at the end of his junior year, while he was still 17. apnews.com/e4a48c01f3bf40…
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Rachel Mitchell was quickly sidelined once Kavanaugh started testifying, never to be heard from again.
Politico reports Republicans stopped using her once Mitchell started doing damage to Kavanaugh closing in on July 1, 1982. politico.com/story/2018/09/…
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"As a rape survivor, I was shaking in my chair as Dr. Ford described her assault," one NYT reader wrote during the Kavanaugh hearing. nyti.ms/2OeZlvS
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"It's important to realize that the people at the party who weren't assaulted or stressed by the event are not as likely to remember it.
For her, it was a memorable event; for them, it may have just been another time hanging out with few friends." latimes.com/science/scienc…
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E-mails obtained show that Republican Senate staff stymied Kavanaugh accuser Deborah Ramirez's effort to give testimony.
Lawyers for Ramirez tell Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer she was willing to cooperate with Grassley and the Judiciary Cmte. newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
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"Ms. Ramirez's counsel have repeatedly requested to speak with the Committee, on a bipartisan basis, to determine how to proceed.
I've never encountered an instance where the Committee has refused even to speak with an individual or counsel." newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
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"I am perplexed as to why this is happening here, except that it seems designed to ensure that the Majority can falsely claim that Ms. Ramirez and her lawyers refused to cooperate. That simply is not true." newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
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Jeff Flake said he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh, NBC reports.
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Women confront Flake after he said he'd vote yes:
“You’re telling all women in America, that they don’t matter. They should just keep it to themselves because if they have told the truth you’re just going to help that man to power anyway.”
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NY Times spoke to the women who confronted Jeff Flake in the elevator.
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Maria Gallagher, one of the women who spoke with Flake in the elevator, says she never expected to relay the most emotional moment of her life to a senator. She had never told anyone before. It had just come out, right there, in front of everyone. thedailybeast.com/sen-jeff-flake…
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Led by Republicans, the committee voted down Sen. Blumenthal's motion to subpoena Mark Judge.
A senator is heard saying "the ram-job continues."
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Several Democrats walked out of the Judiciary Committee hearing usat.ly/2xZBUwe
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Protestors sat in the hallway outside the hearing room
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Mark Judge says (under penalty of felony) that he avoids public speaking engagements due to anxiety, meanwhile his publisher literally lists him as a *public speaker*.
Maybe instead of a subpoena the Senate can just book him to speak...
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Grassley moved to have the Committee vote on Kavanaugh at 1:30PM.
The vote was 11-8 along party lines.
Booker and Harris did not vote as a protest.
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Sheldon Whitehouse on Mark Judge letter: "Do you think investigator Kavanaugh would have tolerated letters like this from the 3rd person in the room, had there been one with Mr. Clinton and Ms. Lewinsky? Never ... Yet this is what we’re supposed to satisfy ourselves with."
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Klobuchar: "When I heard this santicmonious talk about some kind of political strategy, well I'll give you Exhibit A: Merrick Garland, who was delayed for 10 months.
You talk about a nominee getting off the floor when we're asking for one week for an investigation?"
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The dean of Yale Law, Kavanaugh's alma mater, called for an FBI investigation.
Add... @KellyO reported on @msnbc that there were "serious discussions" underway about a delay in the vote so that the FBI could reopen the background check.
That was the cause for the delay, she says.
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Jeff Flake: "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 to the current allegations that are there."
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Reaction of Mike Lee and John Cornyn when Flake announces what he’s doing
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Senate Judiciary advanced Kavanaugh's nomination to full Senate, Flake voted "aye" with the understanding that a floor vote could be delayed no more than a week in order to let the FBI do an investigation that is “limited in time and scope.”
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Jeff Flake says that the Democrats have been "justifiably uncomfortable" in moving ahead without an FBI investigation.
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After Flake was confronted by protesters, he was clearly distraught in committee room. And after he listened to the fiery debate in committee, he approached Coons.
It wasn't just the protesters, it was close friends calling him.
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Chris Coons gets emotional when discussing Flake's decision: "He and I do not share a lot of political views but...Senator Flake and I share a deep concern for the health of this institution and what it means to the rest of this world." (via CBS)
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Blumenthal: "This FBI investigation has to be real and penetrating so that the truth and facts and evidence are all uncovered. This FBI investigation cannot be a show or a charade. It must be real and it must go to the witnesses who are likely to produce facts."
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MURKOWSKI said she spoke with Flake before he made his decision in Judiciary committee and they are in agreement.
She says she supports having an FBI investigation that is “limited in scope”
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A lawyer for Mark Judge told CNBC that Judge "will answer any and all questions posed to him" by the FBI about serious sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. cnbc.com/2018/09/28/kav…
“I’ve ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”
So much for "FBI really doesn't do that."
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Statement from Dr. Ford's attorney via NBC News: "Dr. Christine Blasey Ford welcomes this step in the process, and appreciates the efforts of Senators Flake, Murkowski, Manchin and Collins."
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Dr. Ford’s lawyer, Debra S. Katz, on FBI probe: "No artificial limits as to time or scope should be imposed on this investigation."
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Delaying the Kavanaugh vote by a week means one more week for polls to come in, and the polling trend isn't great:
Apologies for the graphic. 😕
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Student loan forgiveness program for public servants rejected 99 percent of applicants hill.cm/Yox0KD4
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At a private fundraiser at his namesake hotel, Trump on Thursday night appeared to back Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be the next Speaker, several attendees told The Hill.
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There was no press photo op when Trump had dinner Sunday in his Trump Tower residence with Japanese PM Abe, but, WH Photographer Shealah Craighead snapped this & made it one of her Photos of the Week.
Trump supporters: "He's one of us"
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Update: @ChrisCoons comes home to a standing ovation at a Delaware City town hall after #kavanaugh hearings.
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Flake & Coons squeezed into an oversize phone booth to call the FBI to see if a probe could be done in a week. Wray wasn't available, so they called Rosenstein. Rosenstein said it could.
Trump: Day 626
-Touts "Stop and Frisk" in Speech
-Invites Rosenstein 2 Join AF1 Flight
-Prepping 4 Democratic Legal Storm
-Apologizes 2 Kavanaugh in E. Room
-Has Lost $1B in Personal Wealth
-Hope Hicks Joins Fox as PR Chief
-Ignoring Impacts of Climate Change
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Day 731 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
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Billy Bush reflects on Trump "Access Hollywood" tape two years later: "My life went from order to chaos" hill.cm/0JoFujT
Trump: Day 625
-158th Day at a Trump Golf Club
-209th Day at a Trump Property
-Picks Bag Designer 2B Ambassador
-NYC Regulators Examine Tax Fraud
-Chao Clocked 290 "Private" Hours
-Trove of Kavanaugh Docs Coming
-GOP Operative Sought HRC Emails
-EPA Will Lift Ethenol Restrictions
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Day 730 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
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Day 581 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
Trump: Day 623
-Sz Assault Victims are Soros-Paid
-Both Collins & Manchin Voting "Yes"
-Did Not Win 2018 Nobel Peace Prize
-Anti-Rape Activists Get Nobel Prize
-Replaces Federal Personnel Director
-Pompeo Travelling 2 North Korea
-Deficit Soars to $782 Billion in 2018
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Day 728 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
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Day 579 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies
Trump: Day 622
-Senators Review Limited FBI Report
-302 Kavanaugh Protestors Arrested
-Backs Off NoKo Denuke Timeline
-Cuts Refugee Cap From 45k to 30k
-Interest Rates Reach Multi-Year High
-Scotland Golf Club Lost $4.5M in 17'
-NY AG Sues the Trump Foundation
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Day 727 since Donald Trump admitted to sexual assault — yet he’s still in the Oval Office
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Day 578 of NO EVIDENCE produced by Trump that his phones were tapped by Obama.
The FISA warrant Trump referenced targeted Carter Page. #TrumpLies