One key to getting to the bottom of this is the private-wealth office of Deutsche Bank. @NatashaBertrand

tinyurl.com/y8vhvm68

Let’s try to clear up some confusion here.

We need to be clear about terms like “investigation,” “inquiry,” and “background check.”

Let’s begin with a relatively unloaded term: “inquiry.” 1/16 Here’s the question: Should the INQUIRY re #Kavanaugh have been conducted as a standard FBI BACKGROUND CHECK or as an FBI INVESTIGATION? 2/16

(THREAD) Collins votes YES, so Kavanaugh’s confirmed.

This is the finale of the confirmation VOTE, but it is NOT the end of the #Kavanaugh ISSUE. 1/14 The FBI “investigation” was a sham, and that makes Collins’ special pleading for her YES vote a sham. It was a sickening performance. 2/14

A subjective impression, admittedly, but in the pics and videos I have seen, Senate Rs look grim and worried--even, on occasion, angry.

D claim that this was a cover-up (20+ witnesses not called) is getting traction. No adequate push back from Rs yet. McConnell saying on the floor that the Senate must vote to confirm b/c “in this country you’re not guilty until proven innocent” has this whole matter so wrong (it’s a job interview, Mitch, not a trial) that he must be feeling a little desperate.

(THREAD) The predicted early conclusion of the FBI background check on #Kavanaugh that has been reported by Politico and the WSJ is surprising and cause for anxiety and concern, but let’s look try hard to look on the (possibly) bright side. 1/8 We must keep in mind that this investigation is essentially a background check on #Kavanaugh, in light of newly surfaced allegations of belligerent drunkenness and sexual violence alleged against him by Ford and others. 2/8

THREAD: THIS JUST OCCURRED TO ME. HOW DID I MISS IT? WHY HAS NO ONE ELSE NOTICED IT?

CHRIS GARRETT MUST BE INTERVIEWED ASAP 1/ Dr Blasey: The party where the assault occurred was attended by Smyth (P.J.), Judge, Kavanaugh, another boy she can’t recall…

Either NBC & the WSJ have gotten this wrong or Trump is lying (unlikely, given that the truth is bound to come out).

Or is Trump overruling McGahn?

“They can do whatever they have to do. They'll be doing things we have never even thought of.” #kavanaugh
tinyurl.com/ycmn33ko Or Trump has been assured by the Sens. who count--Collins, Murkowski, Flake--that they will vote to confirm no matter what (not very likely).

Third possibility: Trump is an idiot who is once again improvising and careening around the curve.

Kavanaugh’s story is a Jekyll and Hyde story, but one that doesn’t require a strange chemical serum to explain it. It’s a psychological--maybe even a neurological--“story.” 1/9 Kavanaugh says he is mystified and even outraged by the allegations against him, and to some extent--but only to some extent--we must acknowledge that this is indeed the way it all seems to him. 2/9

#Kavanaugh comes across as completely sincere in his denials in this transcript (9/25/18)--no question about it.

Yet the incidents he denies undoubtedly occurred.

The likely--and reconciling--explanation is: alcoholic blackouts. 1/4
tinyurl.com/y9no6pnt Here are two links that help make this understandable--and entirely plausible.

Note that brain research has shown that some people are much more susceptible to blackouts than others.

2/4

tinyurl.com/yc74n5rt

tinyurl.com/y9w83pka

Prediction: #Kavanaugh will withdraw his nomination tomorrow, claiming he was smeared and is completely innocent, but must withdraw out of consideration for his family yada yada yada. 1/4 Of course he has denied everything so far: that is what he must say as long as his nomination stands. But what he is saying privately to the WH and Rs in Congress must be quite different. 2/4

Rs are throwing shade on the NYT story on #Rosenstein.

They’ve gone all out to keep Trump from going ballistic and firing anybody.

It’s all about concern about the midterms.

(Even Ingraham has deleted her tweet.) #rosenstein 1/5
tinyurl.com/yb8wfq69 In an absolutely incoherent monologue last night, #hannity tried to spin the NYT story as a setup by the Left! (How confused can he get??!) 2/5

#Rosenstein’s remarks (about exercising the Fifth Amendment and wiring Trump) were clearly facetious. But it just occurred to me that this isn’t the point. 1/5 All the saboteurs on the Right might need to get Trump to stop #Rosenstein & the #Mueller investigation is the disclosure that there was a discussion that showed agency concern about Trump AT ALL. 2/5

I am posting 3 items from Mediate on the #Kavanaugh nomination, which continues to be in real danger of going down. The letter by Cristina King. If there is an FBI background check investigation (which CAN happen if Grassley requests it), her testimony in an FBI report would be devastating for Kavanaugh. READ THIS LETTER. 1/3 tinyurl.com/yb997ets

“It remains unclear whether Manafort has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors or is simply conceding to a guilty plea, which would allow e him to avoid the stress and expense of trial.” tinyurl.com/y7tbrlyb 1/ Mueller doesn’t leak, so the three sources must be on the Manafort-Trump side of the fence. (Manafort is in a Joint Defense Agreement with 37 other people.)

This from ABC News 2 hours ago re #Mueller and #Manafort: tinyurl.com/ya4thzgd

But the big news isn’t in the headline. It’s this:

(THREAD) The very conservative RCP, which has held out for a long time, seems to be finally conceding that a blue wave is forming. (This snuck up on me; I’m not sure when RCP shifted.) 1/ RCP is now predicting that Ds will take the House:

Trump: “There was no talking to Russia. There was no phone calls. I didn’t make phone calls to Russia. I didn’t receive phone calls. I didn’t have meetings. I didn’t have texts. Anything. I have nothing to do with Russia.” #mueller tinyurl.com/yahwud9s 2/ It’s very telling that this is the way Trump thinks collusion has to work to be collusion. But no one in his or her right mind has ever supposed that the collusion would be that ham-fisted. #mueller

#Papadopoulos says that Trump’s response at the March 31 meeting was “non-committal interest” (my wording, not his), and that he looked to see what #Sessions’ response would be. tinyurl.com/y9gup3xo 1/ This is beyond odd. There is absolutely no reason why Trump would have deferred to Sessions on this matter.

Trump’s threat to pardon Manafort must be taken seriously. Trump wouldn't pardon Manafort for anything Manafort did in connection with the campaign #manafort 1/ (that would strip Manafort of his Fifth Amendment protection for those matters): only for the financial crimes involved in the two court cases. #manafort

Carter Page has stoutly denied on many occasions that he held “secret talks” in Moscow on his infamous trip there on 7-8 July 2016. But a high ranking Russian official and economist, Mikhail Delyagin, said that he did. #steele #carterpage #russiagate

https://twitter.com/ScottMStedman/status/1026634788201947136

1/ Here’s the link to the Russian web page, which is dated 11 July 2016, a few days after Page’s trip to Moscow. It is headlined: “Counselor Trump [Carter Page] and Gazprom held secret talks in Moscow - and sat on the podium.” tinyurl.com/ya56z4kc

The whole Republican Party is deranged. (The sane Rs have already jumped ship, or declared they are about to do so.) But the South Carolina GOP may be the wackiest of them all. McKinnon is the former Exec Dir of the SC GOP. tinyurl.com/ybbne3h4