September 30, 2018

Tapper Calls Kavanaugh, Conway Out For Inventing Others' Denials Of Blasey Ford

https://twitter.com/TPMLiveWire/status/1046397999079993344

September 30, 2018

Trump, White House Offer Partial Denials Of Reports Of Limiting Kavanaugh Probe

By Matt Shuham
September 30, 2018 9:43 am

President Donald Trump and a senior White House staffer, Kellyanne Conway, offered limited denials Saturday and Sunday to reports that the White House has placed limits on the FBI’s background investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.


Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday, Conway said the President “respects the independence of the FBI, and feels, as he said last night, that they should be looking at anything they think is credible within this limited scope.”

The definition of “limited scope,” Conway said when pressed, would be “up to the FBI.”

Did White House Counsel Don McGahn say “you can interview these witnesses but don’t interview these witnesses?” Tapper asked.

“I don’t think Don McGahn would do that, but I have not talked to him about it,” Conway responded, not answering the key assertion of recent reports from NBC News and The New York Times.

Trump offered a more firm denial of NBC News’ breaking report Saturday, but, as the Times noted, “the White House can order investigators to further examine the allegations if their findings from the four witness [Mark Judge, Leland Ingham Keyser, P.J. Smyth and Deborah Ramirez] interviews open new avenues of inquiry, and Mr. Trump seemed to stress that part of the plan in a tweet late on Saturday”:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1046230634103025664

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-white-house-offer-limited-denials-of-reports-of-limiting-kavanaugh-probe

September 30, 2018

'Please Do Not Remain Silent': Georgetown Prep Alumni Issue Call to Action on Behalf of Christine...

‘Please Do Not Remain Silent’: Georgetown Prep Alumni Issue Call to Action on Behalf of Christine Ford

by Colin Kalmbacher | 9:46 am, September 30th, 2018

Alumni from Georgetown Prep are calling on their fellow graduates of the elite preparatory school to come forward with information about Brett Kavanaugh if they have it.

The self-described “call to action” comes in light of the FBI’s re-opened background investigation into the embattled Supreme Court nominee–which is reportedly only focused on two sexual assault allegations leveled against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and former Yale acquaintance Deborah Ramirez.

Posted to the Medium and Google Docs platforms late Saturday morning, the open letter takes aim at Georgetown Prep’s by-now-infamous principles of service and notes:



The letter also explicitly calls for anyone with knowledge of Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assaults to provide that information to the FBI on their own volition–perhaps particularly relevant in light of NBC News’ bombshell report that President Donald Trump personally intervened to severely limit the scope of the FBI’s inquiry into Kavanaugh.

more
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/please-do-not-remain-silent-georgetown-prep-alumni-issue-call-to-action-on-behalf-of-christine-ford/

September 30, 2018

Trump meeting with Rosenstein could be delayed further, Sanders says

https://twitter.com/FoxNewsSunday/status/1046396817720643584

September 30, 2018

Graham defends Kavanaugh against criticism over temperament: He was 'rightly offended'

BY MICHAEL BURKE - 09/30/18 09:38 AM EDT

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday defended Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh against criticism that he was too angry in testimony last week on Capitol Hill, saying that Kavanaugh behaved like someone "who was innocent."

“I’m offended by the fact that anybody would hold it against Brett Kavanaugh to be upset by the way he was treated. Words were put in his mouth that he didn’t say," Graham said on ABC's "This Week."

“I find it offensive that if somebody defends themselves against wholesale character assassination, trying to destroy him and his family. The temperament I saw was a man who was innocent, who was rightly offended by being destroyed for a political purpose," Graham added later in the interview.

Graham also said he has a problem "with the people who did this to him, not how he responded."

Kavanaugh has drawn criticism from Democrats for his emotional testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday as he defended himself against accusations that he sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in the 1980s.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/409121-graham-defends-kavanaugh-against-temperament-criticism-he-was-rightly

September 30, 2018

Conway: 'We're not trying to interfere' in FBI investigation

Source: The Hill



BY MEGAN KELLER - 09/30/18 09:45 AM EDT

White House counselor Kellyane Conway said Sunday that the Trump administration is not going to interfere in the FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

"We're not trying to interfere," Conway said of the White House on CNN's "State of the Union."

"The White House is not getting involved in the FBI investigation in that way," Conway said when asked if the president had directed the FBI to look only at some of the women accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

She added that the president "very much respects the independence" of the FBI.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/409119-conway-were-not-trying-to-interfere-in-fbi-investigation

September 30, 2018

Kellyanne Conway: 'I'm a victim of sexual assault'

https://twitter.com/CNNSotu/status/1046389562119843843

September 30, 2018

UPDATED: Sarah Sanders accuses Dems of exploiting Ford, Kavanaugh

Source: The Hill


BY BRETT SAMUELS - 09/30/18 09:36 AM EDT

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Sunday blasted Democrats for their "disgraceful" and "disgusting" handling of the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Sanders asserted on "Fox News Sunday" that Senate Republicans will dictate the terms of the FBI investigation into allegations from Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her at a high school party in the 1980s. Sanders claimed Democrats have "exploited" both Ford and Kavanaugh in recent weeks.

"I think that we cannot allow the people that have acted in bad faith to determine and allow this to become a total fishing expedition by the FBI," Sanders said.

"Senate Republicans are going to lay out and dictate those terms, and we look forward to this wrapping up so we can see what we’ve seen in the last six background investigations that Judge Kavanaugh’s been a part of," she continued.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/409122-sanders-accuses-dems-of-exploiting-ford-kavanaugh

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UPDATE:

The original headline as published by The Hill was:

Sanders accuses Dems of exploiting Ford, Kavanaugh

The Hill edited the headline to read:

Sarah Sanders accuses Dems of exploiting Ford, Kavanaugh

September 30, 2018

Third annual Women's March set for January in DC

Source: The Hill



BY AVERY ANAPOL - 09/30/18 08:35 AM EDT

The third annual Women’s March is set to take place this January in Washington, D.C., returning to the site of the first demonstration in 2017.

March organizers told The New York Times that the main demonstration will be on Jan. 19, 2019, in Washington.

Linda Sarsour, an activist and one of the Women’s March founders, told the Times that the confirmation proceedings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh prompted women to send emails inquiring about the next march.

“Our email inboxes were full: ‘Women’s March, where are you? When are we marching? Tell us when? Tell us where?’” Sarsour said.



Read more: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/409114-third-annual-womens-march-set-to-take-place-in-dc-in-january

September 30, 2018

Republicans accelerate efforts to overhaul Endangered Species Act

Source: The Hill


BY MIRANDA GREEN - 09/30/18 08:30 AM EDT

Republicans are moving full speed ahead with their goal of overhauling the Endangered Species Act (ESA), with legislation that would mark the biggest changes to the landmark law in decades.

GOP lawmakers on a key House committee rammed through several bills this past week that would each lower or remove protections for animals and plants listed as endangered or threatened.

Republicans argue the changes are much needed improvements to the decades-old law. Environmentalists and some Democrats counter that the GOP proposals are an assault on the landmark statute.

The House Natural Resources Committee advanced five ESA-related bills that aim to strip all protections for Gray Wolves in the contiguous United States; give priority to the science submitted by state and local governments over the federal government’s when determining whether a species needs protection; and let the administration more easily de-prioritize certain petitions for protection.
Taken as a whole, the bills represent the most significant effort to rewrite the ESA in decades.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/409039-republicans-accelerate-efforts-to-overhaul-endangered-species-act