President Donald Trump heaped praise Saturday on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, crediting the veteran Kentucky lawmaker’s political toughness and acumen during the ugly battle that concluded with Brett Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court justice.

“He’s Kentucky tough,” Trump declared.

Kavanaugh took his seat on the high court this week after overcoming allegations of sexual misconduct dating to his high school and college years. He forcefully denied the charges, and Trump and McConnell firmly backed Kavanaugh as part of their combined quest to populate the judiciary with conservative judges. Kavanaugh could tilt the political balance of the high court in the conservative direction for generations.

“We stuck with him all the way because we knew the facts,” Trump said, speaking of himself and McConnell, Kentucky’s senior U.S. senator.

“There’s nobody tougher. There’s nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats’ shameful campaign of personal and political destruction,” Trump said at a political rally at Eastern Kentucky University before he called McConnell to the microphone.

McConnell returned the compliment and told the president to continue nominating judges and “we’ll keep confirming them.”

​Fierce Democrat opposition

Democrats fiercely and vocally opposed Kavanaugh, opposition that hardened after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. Other women accused him of other sexually inappropriate behavior.

Protesters swarmed Senate office buildings and hundreds were arrested in a futile attempt to intimidate a handful of holdout senators into voting against confirming Kavanaugh. Trump has taken to referring to Democrats who opposed Kavanaugh as an “angry mob.”

Rally in Kentucky

The president flew to Kentucky to campaign for three-term Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, in one of the country’s most-watched House races.

Democrats are focusing on the seat in their drive to regain control of the House. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-profile Democrat to campaign for McGrath when he came to Kentucky on Friday night.

Trump told the rally that a vote for Barr “could make the difference between unbelievable continued success” or failure, and pleaded with his supporters to vote on Nov. 6 to send more Republicans to Congress.

“The only reason to vote Democrat is if you’re tired of winning,” he said. “I need you to get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your co-workers and get out and vote for Andy Barr,” Trump said.

Familiar Trump themes

The president sounded familiar themes during the hour-plus rally, touting the economy’s performance, a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, and his plan for a new military branch devoted to outer space, among a host of other issues that led the crowd to cheer him.

He again panned journalists as the “fake news media” and suggested he could live without their attention.

“I’d like to walk into a place one night and not have any of these guys,” Trump said.

With just over three weeks before Election Day, Saturday’s rally was part of an aggressive fall campaign push by Trump to energize Republicans and encourage them to help keep his legislative agenda moving forward by voting to keep the GOP in control of both houses of Congress.

In fact, even before Trump left the stage Saturday night, his campaign announced a three-state Western swing through Missoula, Montana; Mesa, Arizona; and Elko, Nevada, next Thursday through Saturday.
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President Donald Trump heaped praise Saturday on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, crediting the veteran Kentucky lawmaker’s political toughness and acumen during the ugly battle that concluded with Brett Kavanaugh becoming a Supreme Court justice.

“He’s Kentucky tough,” Trump declared.

Kavanaugh took his seat on the high court this week after overcoming allegations of sexual misconduct dating to his high school and college years. He forcefully denied the charges, and Trump and McConnell firmly backed Kavanaugh as part of their combined quest to populate the judiciary with conservative judges. Kavanaugh could tilt the political balance of the high court in the conservative direction for generations.

“We stuck with him all the way because we knew the facts,” Trump said, speaking of himself and McConnell, Kentucky’s senior U.S. senator.

“There’s nobody tougher. There’s nobody smarter. He refused to cave to the radical Democrats’ shameful campaign of personal and political destruction,” Trump said at a political rally at Eastern Kentucky University before he called McConnell to the microphone.

McConnell returned the compliment and told the president to continue nominating judges and “we’ll keep confirming them.”

​Fierce Democrat opposition

Democrats fiercely and vocally opposed Kavanaugh, opposition that hardened after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school. Other women accused him of other sexually inappropriate behavior.

Protesters swarmed Senate office buildings and hundreds were arrested in a futile attempt to intimidate a handful of holdout senators into voting against confirming Kavanaugh. Trump has taken to referring to Democrats who opposed Kavanaugh as an “angry mob.”

Rally in Kentucky

The president flew to Kentucky to campaign for three-term Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing a strong challenge from Democrat Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, in one of the country’s most-watched House races.

Democrats are focusing on the seat in their drive to regain control of the House. Former Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-profile Democrat to campaign for McGrath when he came to Kentucky on Friday night.

Trump told the rally that a vote for Barr “could make the difference between unbelievable continued success” or failure, and pleaded with his supporters to vote on Nov. 6 to send more Republicans to Congress.

“The only reason to vote Democrat is if you’re tired of winning,” he said. “I need you to get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your co-workers and get out and vote for Andy Barr,” Trump said.

Familiar Trump themes

The president sounded familiar themes during the hour-plus rally, touting the economy’s performance, a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, and his plan for a new military branch devoted to outer space, among a host of other issues that led the crowd to cheer him.

He again panned journalists as the “fake news media” and suggested he could live without their attention.

“I’d like to walk into a place one night and not have any of these guys,” Trump said.

With just over three weeks before Election Day, Saturday’s rally was part of an aggressive fall campaign push by Trump to energize Republicans and encourage them to help keep his legislative agenda moving forward by voting to keep the GOP in control of both houses of Congress.

In fact, even before Trump left the stage Saturday night, his campaign announced a three-state Western swing through Missoula, Montana; Mesa, Arizona; and Elko, Nevada, next Thursday through Saturday.
…

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, likely paid little or no federal income taxes between 2009 and 2016, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing confidential financial documents.

The documents were created with Kushner’s cooperation as part of a review of his finances by an institution that was considering lending him money, the Times reported. The Times said that Kushner’s tax bills reflected the use of a tax benefit known as depreciation that lets real estate investors deduct part of the cost of their properties from their taxable income.

The Times report said that nothing in the documents reviewed “suggests Mr. Kushner or his company broke the law.”

Paid all taxes due under law

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushner’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, told Reuters Saturday that he would not respond to the newspaper’s assumptions, which he said were “taken from incomplete documents obtained in violation of the law and standard business confidentiality agreements.”

He added, “Always following the advice of numerous attorneys and accountants, Mr. Kushner properly filed and paid all taxes due under the law and regulations.”

The records reviewed by The New York Times did not expressly state how much Kushner paid in taxes, but included estimates for how much he owed called “income taxes payable” and how much Kushner paid in expectation of forecasted taxes known as “prepaid taxes.” The paper said that for most of the years covered, both were listed as zero, but in 2013 Kushner reported income taxes payable of $1.1 million.

Kushner Cos, the family company for which Kushner previously served as chief executive, has been profitable in recent years, the Times said, citing the analysis. Kushner sold his interests in the company to a family trust last year.

The White House and Kushner Cos did not immediately comment Saturday.

Trump tax break

The newspaper noted that the 2017 tax rewrite signed by Trump includes provisions that benefit real estate investors.

Mirijanian said that on tax reform efforts, Kushner “followed his approved ethics agreement and has avoided work that would pose any conflict of interest.”

In December, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Kushner, asking whether in his talks with foreign officials he had ever discussed financing for a deeply indebted property in midtown Manhattan, citing concern he was using his position for financial gain.

Kushner Cos said previously it had more than $2.5 billion in transactions 2017 and has 12 million square feet under development in New York and New Jersey.

Documents released by the White House in June showed Kushner held assets worth at least $181 million, the Associated Press reported. The disclosures also show that Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, received at least $82 million in outside income in 2017.
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Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, likely paid little or no federal income taxes between 2009 and 2016, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing confidential financial documents.

The documents were created with Kushner’s cooperation as part of a review of his finances by an institution that was considering lending him money, the Times reported. The Times said that Kushner’s tax bills reflected the use of a tax benefit known as depreciation that lets real estate investors deduct part of the cost of their properties from their taxable income.

The Times report said that nothing in the documents reviewed “suggests Mr. Kushner or his company broke the law.”

Paid all taxes due under law

Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Kushner’s lawyer Abbe Lowell, told Reuters Saturday that he would not respond to the newspaper’s assumptions, which he said were “taken from incomplete documents obtained in violation of the law and standard business confidentiality agreements.”

He added, “Always following the advice of numerous attorneys and accountants, Mr. Kushner properly filed and paid all taxes due under the law and regulations.”

The records reviewed by The New York Times did not expressly state how much Kushner paid in taxes, but included estimates for how much he owed called “income taxes payable” and how much Kushner paid in expectation of forecasted taxes known as “prepaid taxes.” The paper said that for most of the years covered, both were listed as zero, but in 2013 Kushner reported income taxes payable of $1.1 million.

Kushner Cos, the family company for which Kushner previously served as chief executive, has been profitable in recent years, the Times said, citing the analysis. Kushner sold his interests in the company to a family trust last year.

The White House and Kushner Cos did not immediately comment Saturday.

Trump tax break

The newspaper noted that the 2017 tax rewrite signed by Trump includes provisions that benefit real estate investors.

Mirijanian said that on tax reform efforts, Kushner “followed his approved ethics agreement and has avoided work that would pose any conflict of interest.”

In December, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Kushner, asking whether in his talks with foreign officials he had ever discussed financing for a deeply indebted property in midtown Manhattan, citing concern he was using his position for financial gain.

Kushner Cos said previously it had more than $2.5 billion in transactions 2017 and has 12 million square feet under development in New York and New Jersey.

Documents released by the White House in June showed Kushner held assets worth at least $181 million, the Associated Press reported. The disclosures also show that Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, received at least $82 million in outside income in 2017.
…

The Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania threatened to stomp on the face of his Democratic opponent in a social media video Friday and then walked back his comments, saying he made a mistake in his choice of words.

Republican Scott Wagner is trailing well behind incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf in the polls ahead of the Nov. 6 election, and the video posted on Wagner’s campaign Facebook page was part of an acrimonious battle in one of the most populous U.S. states.

“Governor Wolf, let me tell you what, between now and Nov. 6, you’d better put a catcher’s mask on your face because I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes,” Wolf said in the video.

A few hours later, the video was taken down. Wagner explained: “I may have chosen a poor metaphor. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

On his Facebook page, Wolf encouraged people to share the original video if they agreed that “Scott Wagner should not be the governor of Pennsylvania.”

The video with Wagner’s threat set off a social media storm and attracted the attention of a few prominent Republicans, including Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“These comments are totally unacceptable. As I’ve said many times before, there is absolutely no place in our politics for this kind of rhetoric, said Scalise, who battled for his life after he was shot by a gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers during baseball practice in 2017.
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The Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania threatened to stomp on the face of his Democratic opponent in a social media video Friday and then walked back his comments, saying he made a mistake in his choice of words.

Republican Scott Wagner is trailing well behind incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf in the polls ahead of the Nov. 6 election, and the video posted on Wagner’s campaign Facebook page was part of an acrimonious battle in one of the most populous U.S. states.

“Governor Wolf, let me tell you what, between now and Nov. 6, you’d better put a catcher’s mask on your face because I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes,” Wolf said in the video.

A few hours later, the video was taken down. Wagner explained: “I may have chosen a poor metaphor. I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

On his Facebook page, Wolf encouraged people to share the original video if they agreed that “Scott Wagner should not be the governor of Pennsylvania.”

The video with Wagner’s threat set off a social media storm and attracted the attention of a few prominent Republicans, including Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“These comments are totally unacceptable. As I’ve said many times before, there is absolutely no place in our politics for this kind of rhetoric, said Scalise, who battled for his life after he was shot by a gunman who opened fire on Republican lawmakers during baseball practice in 2017.
…

President Donald Trump declared Friday the U.S. will uncover the truth about what happened to journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, whose possible murder at Saudi hands after disappearing in Istanbul has captured worldwide attention. Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman soon about “the terrible situation in Turkey.”

“We’re going to find out what happened,” Trump pledged when questioned by reporters in Cincinnati where he was headlining a political rally.

Khashoggi, a forceful critic of the Saudi government, went missing more than a week ago after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish officials have said they believe he was murdered there. U.S. officials say they are seeking answers from the Saudi government and are not yet accepting the Turkish government’s conclusions.

The Saudis have called accusations that they are responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance “baseless.” Widely broadcast video shows the 59-year-old writer and Washington Post contributor entering the consulate on Tuesday of last week, but there is none showing him leaving.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, the State Department said Friday. No details of the conversation were released. 

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

“He said, ‘See you later my darling,’ and went in,” she told the AP.

Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported Friday that Turkey’s government has told U.S. officials it has audio and video proof that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered. The AP has not been able to confirm that report.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially “still missing.”

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi left the consulate. He hasn’t been seen since, though his fiancee was waiting outside.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are important U.S. allies in the region. Trump said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will evaluate whether to attend a Saudi investor conference later this month. 

On Thursday, Trump had said U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia were “excellent” and he was reluctant to scuttle highly lucrative U.S. weapons deals with Riyadh. A number of members of Congress have pressed the Trump administration to impose sanctions on the country in response to the Khashoggi affair.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of an investigation into the writer’s disappearance. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Saudis welcomed the joint effort and said the kingdom was keen “to sustain the security and safety of its citizenry, wherever they might happen to be.”

Cengiz said she and the journalist would have been married this week and had planned a life together split between Istanbul and the United States, where Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile since last year.

She had appealed for help to Trump, who earlier this week said he would invite her to the White House.

Cengiz didn’t respond to a question about that, but earlier on Friday she urged Trump on Twitter to use his clout to find out what happened.

“What about Jamal Khashoggi?” she wrote in response to a tweet by Trump in which he said he said he had been “working very hard” to free an American evangelical pastor who has been held for two years in Turkey. Andrew Brunson was released late Friday.

Amid growing concern over Khashoggi’s fate, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country wanted to know “the whole truth” about the writer’s disappearance, calling the early details about the case “very worrying.”

Macron said “I’m waiting for the truth and complete clarity to be made” since the matter is “very serious.” He spoke Friday in Yerevan, Armenia, to French broadcasters RFI and France 24.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Berlin was also “very concerned” about the writer’s disappearance and called on Saudi Arabia to “participate fully” in clearing up reports that he had been killed.

Global business leaders began reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has introduced reforms but has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to The Washington Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a roundup of activists and businessmen.

 
…

President Donald Trump declared Friday the U.S. will uncover the truth about what happened to journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, whose possible murder at Saudi hands after disappearing in Istanbul has captured worldwide attention. Trump promised to personally call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman soon about “the terrible situation in Turkey.”

“We’re going to find out what happened,” Trump pledged when questioned by reporters in Cincinnati where he was headlining a political rally.

Khashoggi, a forceful critic of the Saudi government, went missing more than a week ago after entering a Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Turkish officials have said they believe he was murdered there. U.S. officials say they are seeking answers from the Saudi government and are not yet accepting the Turkish government’s conclusions.

The Saudis have called accusations that they are responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance “baseless.” Widely broadcast video shows the 59-year-old writer and Washington Post contributor entering the consulate on Tuesday of last week, but there is none showing him leaving.

Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, the State Department said Friday. No details of the conversation were released. 

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Cengiz said Khashoggi was not nervous when he entered the Saudi consulate to obtain paperwork required for their marriage.

“He said, ‘See you later my darling,’ and went in,” she told the AP.

Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported Friday that Turkey’s government has told U.S. officials it has audio and video proof that Khashoggi was killed and dismembered. The AP has not been able to confirm that report.

In written responses to questions by the AP, Cengiz said Turkish authorities had not told her about any recordings and Khashoggi was officially “still missing.”

She said investigators were examining his cellphones, which he had left with her.

Saudi Arabia says Khashoggi left the consulate. He hasn’t been seen since, though his fiancee was waiting outside.

Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are important U.S. allies in the region. Trump said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will evaluate whether to attend a Saudi investor conference later this month. 

On Thursday, Trump had said U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia were “excellent” and he was reluctant to scuttle highly lucrative U.S. weapons deals with Riyadh. A number of members of Congress have pressed the Trump administration to impose sanctions on the country in response to the Khashoggi affair.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday as part of an investigation into the writer’s disappearance. In a statement posted on Twitter, the Saudis welcomed the joint effort and said the kingdom was keen “to sustain the security and safety of its citizenry, wherever they might happen to be.”

Cengiz said she and the journalist would have been married this week and had planned a life together split between Istanbul and the United States, where Khashoggi had been living in self-imposed exile since last year.

She had appealed for help to Trump, who earlier this week said he would invite her to the White House.

Cengiz didn’t respond to a question about that, but earlier on Friday she urged Trump on Twitter to use his clout to find out what happened.

“What about Jamal Khashoggi?” she wrote in response to a tweet by Trump in which he said he said he had been “working very hard” to free an American evangelical pastor who has been held for two years in Turkey. Andrew Brunson was released late Friday.

Amid growing concern over Khashoggi’s fate, French President Emmanuel Macron said his country wanted to know “the whole truth” about the writer’s disappearance, calling the early details about the case “very worrying.”

Macron said “I’m waiting for the truth and complete clarity to be made” since the matter is “very serious.” He spoke Friday in Yerevan, Armenia, to French broadcasters RFI and France 24.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Berlin was also “very concerned” about the writer’s disappearance and called on Saudi Arabia to “participate fully” in clearing up reports that he had been killed.

Global business leaders began reassessing their ties with Saudi Arabia, stoking pressure on the Gulf kingdom to explain what happened to Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, who was considered close to the Saudi royal family, had become a critic of the current government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old heir apparent who has introduced reforms but has shown little tolerance for criticism.

As a contributor to The Washington Post, Khashoggi has written extensively about Saudi Arabia, including criticism of its war in Yemen, its recent diplomatic spat with Canada and its arrest of women’s rights activists after the lifting of a ban on women driving.

Those policies are all seen as initiatives of the crown prince, who has also presided over a roundup of activists and businessmen.

 
…

If history is any guide, Democrats should make gains in the midterm congressional elections on Nov. 6. The president’s party nearly always loses seats in midterm elections, with the average loss of House seats ranging between 20 and 30. Many analysts expect a Democratic takeover of the House, but the Senate appears to be different story. Kyle Kondik, managing editor of “Crystal Ball,” a political newsletter produced by the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, explains why.
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VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews Stuart Eizenstat, who was an aide to former President Jimmy Carter during his administration and is the author of “President Carter: The White House Years.” Eizenstat, offering an insider’s perspective, says his objective was to give a complete assessment of the mistakes and the failures of the Carter administration (1977-81), but also the successes that he says have not been appreciated.
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VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviews Stuart Eizenstat, who was an aide to former President Jimmy Carter during his administration and is the author of “President Carter: The White House Years.” Eizenstat, offering an insider’s perspective, says his objective was to give a complete assessment of the mistakes and the failures of the Carter administration (1977-81), but also the successes that he says have not been appreciated.
…

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton has vowed to further intensify the Trump administration’s tough approach to China, saying Beijing’s “behavior needs to be adjusted in the trade area, in the international, military and political areas.”

Speaking in a radio interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show recorded Thursday and aired Friday, Bolton said President Donald Trump believed China had taken advantage of the international order for far too long and not enough Americans had stood up to it.

“Now’s the time to do it” he said.

Bolton said Trump’s tough approach toward China, a country the administration saw as the “major issue this century,” had left Beijing “confused.”

“They’ve never seen an American president this tough before. I think their behavior needs to be adjusted in the trade area, in the international, military and political areas, in a whole range of areas,” he said.

“Perhaps we’ll see at the G-20 meeting in Argentina next month Xi Jinping willing to come to talk turkey on some of these issues,” he added.

Bolton’s remarks came amid a series of administration broadsides against China that goes beyond a trade war. These have included accusing Beijing of trying to undermine Trump ahead of next month’s congressional elections and of taking reckless military actions in the South China Sea.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday that Trump would go through with plans to meet Xi at the G-20 summit if it looked possible to chart “a positive direction.” But he said re-launching trade talks with China would require Beijing to commit to taking action on structural reforms to its economy.

Bolton called recent Chinese behavior in the South China Sea, where a U.S. warship had a near collision with a Chinese vessel last month, “dangerous” and said the United States was determined to keep international sea lanes open.

“This is something the Chinese need to understand,” he said, adding that allies including Britain and Australia were also sailing through the South China Sea to make this point.

“We’re going to do a lot more on that,” he said. “I think we could see more exploitation of mineral resources in the South China Sea with or without Chinese cooperation. They need to know they have not achieved a fait accompli here. This is not a Chinese province and will not be.”

Bolton did not elaborate on his remark about mineral exploitation in the strategic waterway, which China claims almost in its entirety in spite of several rival claimants.

Bolton said China’s violation of international norms in trade and business had allowed it to gain substantial economic and military strength.

“If they’re put back in the proper place they would be if they weren’t allowed to steal our technology, their military capabilities would be substantially reduced. And a lot of the tensions we see caused by China would be reduced,” Bolton said.

He indicated that Washington was prepared to take more action to restrict sensitive high-tech exports to China.

“We did this and continue to do it in terms of dual-use technology that could affect nuclear, chemical or biological weapons or ballistic-missile development,” he said. “I think in cyberspace, we’re entitled to do the same thing. … We want to do it in ways that protect our open economy, but deny others the ability to take advantage of it.”

Bolton said he expected a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “sometime in the next couple of months,” but said it remained to be seen if the diplomatic effort to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons would be successful.

“The president has held the door open for North Korea,” he said. “They need to denuclearize completely and irreversibly. And if they do that and walk through the door, the future could be very different for the North Korean people.

“The future remains uncertain on the president’s diplomacy. He’s optimistic. He presses hard. He does not have stars in his eyes about this. Neither does Mike Pompeo, neither does Jim Mattis, neither do I,” Bolton said, referring to the U.S. secretaries of defense and state.
…

In one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate contests this year, Democrat Beto O’Rourke raised a record $38.1 million during the third quarter in a bid to oust Ted Cruz, a prominent Texas Republican who made an unsuccessful run for the White House in 2016. 

O’Rourke announced on Friday his eye-popping financial haul over the last three months. It was more than three times the amount raised by Cruz and set a new quarterly fundraising record in a Senate race.

The funding was the most a Senate candidate has raised in a quarter since Rick Lazio, a onetime Republican member of Congress who hauled in $22 million in the third quarter of 2000 in a failed contest against Hillary Clinton for a Senate seat in New York, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Last week, Cruz said his campaign had raised more than $12 million during the third quarter and predicted, correctly, that his rival’s take for the period would top $30 million. During a rally in Texas where he announced his own fundraising success, Cruz said of O’Rourke: “If you wanna raise money from Hollywood liberals, there ain’t nothing better. But that’s not Texas.”

O’Rourke’s unprecedented fundraising caused a stir on social media, with many commentators noting that it outpaced what high-profile presidential candidates have raised in a quarter in the past. One noted that Republican Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful 2016 presidential campaign had raised $35.5 million in a quarter. Another pointed out that former President Barack Obama had raised $23.5 in the final quarter before the 2008 primary season kicked off.

Progressive push

The contest between O’Rourke, a three-term liberal member of the House of Representatives, and Cruz, a conservative senator, has fired up progressives around the country, drawing in large amounts of small donations from out-of-district and out-of-state donors as Democrats seek to wrest control of Congress.

O’Rourke, who has rejected receiving money from political action committees, said the latest funding came from 800,000 contributors, although he did not say how many were from outside El Paso, which is the heart of the congressional district he represents.

The Center for Responsive Politics said more than $25 million of the funds raised by O’Rourke during the latest quarter came through ActBlue, the Democratic online fundraising juggernaut. ActBlue said earlier this week that it had raised more than $385 million for 9,300 campaigns and organizations during the third quarter.

In a statement released Friday, O’Rourke said, “The people of Texas in all 254 counties are proving that when we reject PACs and come together not as Republicans or Democrats but as Texans and Americans, there’s no stopping us.”

The O’Rourke-Cruz race currently stands as the second most expensive Senate contest, with each candidate raising more than $23 million through the second quarter. The latest quarterly fundraising puts O’Rourke well ahead of his rival. 

The most expensive Senate race is being waged in Florida between Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott; more than $50 million had been raised through the second quarter. Congressional candidates must report their third-quarter fundraising and spending to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

Despite his sizable fundraising advantage,O’Rourke lags behind Cruz in most polls. In a poll conducted on Thursday by The New York Times’ Upshot newsletter and Siena College, Cruz was ahead of O’Rourke 51 percent to 43 percent.

It’s a ‘serious race’

Nevertheless, with O’Rourke emerging as a competitive challenger in Texas, Republicans are “understanding now that this is a serious race beginning to rally to Cruz’s side,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at University of Texas at Austin.

Spending on presidential, congressional and local election campaigns has been steadily rising in the United States in recent years, partly as a result of unlimited spending by outside groups.The Center for Responsive Politics expects this election cycle to set a new fundraising and spending record.

But outraising and outspending your rival doesn’t always ensure victory. In one of the most expensive and closely fought races this election cycle, Democrat Jon Ossoff lost in a special election for a House seat in Georgia last year to Republican Karen Handel despite a $20 million fundraising advantage.

Nevertheless, money does make a difference. 

To be competitive, “you need to be able to both outspend or keep up with your opponent but also have at bay, ready to deploy, a huge amount of money in case a super PAC comes in and makes a huge ad buy in your district,” said Sarah Bryner, research director for the Center for Responsive Politics.
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A Republican candidate for Connecticut’s General Assembly has withdrawn following criticism over comments he made online about victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Steven Baleshiski, a 22-year-old college student from Southington, had been challenging six-term state Rep. Joe Aresimowicz for a House seat.

The Hartford Courant reports the Republican town committees for Southington and Berlin withdrew their endorsements of Baleshiski before he resigned. The two committees said they do not condone Baleshiski’s “hurtful and dividing behavior.” Committee chairs said they are looking for a new candidate.

In a social media post in March, Baleshiski said a survivor of the Parkland shooting who turned to gun-control advocacy “can burn in hell.”

Baleshiski did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.
…

Melania Trump says she loves President Donald Trump and has “much more important things to think about” than allegations he cheated on her with a porn star, a Playboy Playmate or anyone else.

Mrs. Trump, who was interviewed by ABC while touring Africa last week, said people are just spreading rumors about her marriage.

“I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage and circulate the gossip,” she said. “But I understand the gossip sells newspapers, magazines … and, unfortunately, we live in this kind of world today.”

She insisted allegations of her husband’s infidelities are not a concern.

Trump, who during the 2016 presidential campaign was heard on an old “Access Hollywood” tape talking about groping and try to have sex with women, has been accused of having multiple affairs. Porn star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal have said they had sex with him years ago.

Trump has denied the trysts with Daniels and McDougal but has acknowledged reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels. Mrs. Trump has generally kept quiet on the subject.

Asked in the ABC interview if she loves her husband, Mrs. Trump said, “Yes, we are fine. Yes.”

She played down a suggestion the repeated rumors of his philandering had put a strain on their marriage.

“It is not concern and focus of mine,” she said. “I’m a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.”

But when she was asked if the repeated rumors had hurt her, she paused. Then she reiterated the “media world is speculating.”

“Yeah, it’s not always pleasant, of course,” she said. “But I know what is right and what is wrong and what is true and not true.”

Portions of Mrs. Trump’s interview aired Friday on “Good Morning America.” Her full interview is set to air Friday night in an ABC News special, “Being Melania – The First Lady.”

Other portions of the interview aired earlier this week featured Mrs. Trump saying she could be “the most bullied person” in the world and saying women who make accusations of sexual assault need to “show the evidence.”

Donald Trump, on the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that became public during the 2016 campaign, says when he’s attracted to beautiful women, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet.” He said when you’re a star, women let you.

“Grab them by the p—-,” Trump adds. “You can do anything.”

Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in August to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the National Enquirer tabloid were involved in buying the silence of Daniels and McDougal after they alleged affairs with Trump.
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Melania Trump says she loves President Donald Trump and has “much more important things to think about” than allegations he cheated on her with a porn star, a Playboy Playmate or anyone else.

Mrs. Trump, who was interviewed by ABC while touring Africa last week, said people are just spreading rumors about her marriage.

“I know people like to speculate and media like to speculate about our marriage and circulate the gossip,” she said. “But I understand the gossip sells newspapers, magazines … and, unfortunately, we live in this kind of world today.”

She insisted allegations of her husband’s infidelities are not a concern.

Trump, who during the 2016 presidential campaign was heard on an old “Access Hollywood” tape talking about groping and try to have sex with women, has been accused of having multiple affairs. Porn star Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal have said they had sex with him years ago.

Trump has denied the trysts with Daniels and McDougal but has acknowledged reimbursing his lawyer for a $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels. Mrs. Trump has generally kept quiet on the subject.

Asked in the ABC interview if she loves her husband, Mrs. Trump said, “Yes, we are fine. Yes.”

She played down a suggestion the repeated rumors of his philandering had put a strain on their marriage.

“It is not concern and focus of mine,” she said. “I’m a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.”

But when she was asked if the repeated rumors had hurt her, she paused. Then she reiterated the “media world is speculating.”

“Yeah, it’s not always pleasant, of course,” she said. “But I know what is right and what is wrong and what is true and not true.”

Portions of Mrs. Trump’s interview aired Friday on “Good Morning America.” Her full interview is set to air Friday night in an ABC News special, “Being Melania – The First Lady.”

Other portions of the interview aired earlier this week featured Mrs. Trump saying she could be “the most bullied person” in the world and saying women who make accusations of sexual assault need to “show the evidence.”

Donald Trump, on the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that became public during the 2016 campaign, says when he’s attracted to beautiful women, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet.” He said when you’re a star, women let you.

“Grab them by the p—-,” Trump adds. “You can do anything.”

Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in August to campaign finance violations alleging he, Trump and the National Enquirer tabloid were involved in buying the silence of Daniels and McDougal after they alleged affairs with Trump.
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New York’s most conservative congressional district is unexpectedly in play as Republican incumbent Chris Collins, one of President Donald Trump’s first supporters, fights insider trading charges while seeking re-election.

Republican leaders in a western New York district that Trump swept overwhelmingly in 2016 are counting on party and presidential loyalty, even if it means voting for someone that even they wanted off the ballot.

“This district is Trump country, and it will continue to be,” said Erie County Republican Party Chairman Nicholas Langworthy. “It’s a conservative Republican district, and I expect that when the dust settles on election night it will re-elect a conservative Republican to the seat.”

Democratic challenger Nate McMurray is still the underdog but says his volunteers and donations have surged since Collins was charged in August, and his crowds have gone from handfuls to hundreds.

“It’s like an avalanche that started out with a little snowball that’s rolling downhill and getting bigger and bigger every day,” McMurray, a Grand Island town supervisor, said recently to a roomful of supporters. They included Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairman, who dropped in to drum up enthusiasm in what had been a little-watched race.

Once considered a sure win for Republicans, Real Clear Politics now lists the race as a “toss-up,” and the Cook Political Report in mid-September moved the seat from “likely Republican” to merely “lean Republican.” McMurray said this week his internal polling showed the race to be a dead heat.

With Democrats forecast to make gains in the House, for some voters in the Republican-advantaged district, the decision will be more about keeping the challenger out than Collins in, analysts said.

“The old phrase of ‘all politics is local,’ the Tip O’Neill statement? These local races are not so local anymore,” American University political science professor Jan Leighley said.

Accusations against Collins

Collins, with a reported net worth of $44 million one of the wealthiest members of Congress, is accused of illegally leaking confidential information about a biopharmaceutical company to his son and the father of his son’s fiancee that allowed them to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock losses. The most serious charge carries a potential prison term of up to 20 years. If he wins and is later convicted and forced to resign, a special election would be held.

The 68-year-old Collins pleaded not guilty and initially vowed to continue his re-election campaign. He then agreed to be removed from the ballot “in the best interests of the constituents,” only to reverse course again and announce he would stay on the ballot — even as party leaders who had spent weeks exploring legal maneuvers to remove him were preparing to announce a replacement.

“The stakes are too high to allow the radical left to take control of this seat in Congress,” Collins said in a Sept. 19 statement. 

Collins is one of two Republican congressmen running for re-election while under indictment. Rep. Duncan Hunter, of California, has pleaded not guilty to spending campaign funds for personal expenses. Hunter and Collins were the first two Republicans to endorse Trump in the Republican presidential primaries, and their indictments drew a critical Sept. 3 tweet from Trump aimed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Tweeted Trump: “Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time.”

Since entering the race, Collins has limited his personal appearances largely to friendly gatherings like the Republican Women’s Autumn Brunch and the Newstead GOP Sportsman Extravaganza. He declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press.

“A lot of folks just happy that I’m back in the race,” he told WIVB this week. “They know what’s at stake. … Every seat matters. As you read the pundits now, it’s going to be a very close election to see who is going to be in the majority of the House come next year.”

The campaigns

Collins, a businessman who made his money by buying distressed businesses and turning them around, proudly carries an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and cites among his priorities never increasing entitlement programs, reforming the tax code and balancing the federal budget in 10 years.

He has been on the air with negative television ads, including one that was assailed by critics as racist. It showed McMurray speaking Korean as a portrait of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un floated in the background and captions falsely implied McMurray was talking about sending American jobs to Asia.

McMurray, a lawyer, studied the development of constitutional democracy in South Korea as a Fulbright scholar. His campaign has focused on health care for all, protecting Social Security, the environment and strengthening infrastructure. He said he supports gun rights but also universal background checks and a ban on bump stocks.

Out in the district, 23-year-old line cook Brett Schuman said the allegations against Collins were enough to sway him. “When there’s anything happening, criminal or otherwise, I’m going to defer to the other party.”

Retired engineer Don Lloyd said he liked McMurray’s background and education but would still vote for Collins, if only to help Republicans keep control of the House and preserve Trump’s agenda. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the chamber.

“Let’s face it, the election isn’t about Chris Collins — it’s about Trump,” said Lloyd, 70.

“So hold your nose, I guess.”
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