RIYADMEDIA

From Florida to California, Democratic candidates for Congress are campaigning on gun control in the midterm elections. They’re betting that growing public support for tighter gun laws in the wake of recent mass shootings will help them win votes. Masood Farivar reports on changing voter attitudes in the current election cycle.
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The White House said Sunday that it is not “micromanaging” the new FBI investigation into Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh..

“The White House counsel has allowed the Senate to dictate terms and what the scope of the investigation is,” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News Sunday, referring to the FBI’s probe of sexual assault allegations against the judge by Dr. Christine Blassey Ford.

Both Kavanaugh and Ford testified separately before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday. Ford told the Committee she was “100 percent” sure Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both high school teenagers in 1982, while the Supreme Court nominee angrily denied the allegations.

Trump ordered the new probe into Kavanaugh Friday at the request of the committee. The consent for a fresh probe was a concession by the Trump administration and Republicans who had strongly contended that Kavanaugh had been thoroughly vetted numerous times.

Amid the new probe, Trump has maintained his support for Kavanaugh, saying that “hopefully at the conclusion, everything will be fine.”

Trump, speaking to reporters Saturday, noted that the FBI “is all over, talking to everybody” — including women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault and “I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge.”

News reports had said the White House may be limiting the scope of the FBI’s investigation — such as not permitting scrutiny of the claims of another woman, Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at parties while he was a prep school student

“Look at the end of the day the FBI is going to go through this process… the Senate is going going to have to make a determination to vote for Brett Kavanaugh or not,” Press Secretary Sanders said while not commenting specifically on the claims on Swetnick.

Late Saturday, Trump tweeted: “NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh, and witnesses, only to certain people. Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion. Please correct your reporting!”

FBI is reported to have reached out to the second woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Deborah Ramirez. But it is not immediately clear if FBI agents have yet interviewed her. She alleged in a report published on September 23 by The New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, shoved his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it while pushing him away.

Ramirez said the assault occurred during the 1983-84 school year at Yale University, where they both were students. Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday voted to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a party line vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination from Republican Jeff Flake, who requested a delay and investigation.

“This country is being ripped apart here and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said she agreed with Flake in wanting an FBI investigation. Because Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate, they had little choice now but to slow the confirmation process.

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he will continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate.

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of “background” calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the Senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed by the 100-member Senate. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate is evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would also have to do the same to block his confirmation.

Also watch:

Steve Herman contributed to this report.

 
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When a Democrat with Palestinian-Mexican ancestry who had never before run for office was elected to challenge a Republican incumbent in a staunchly conservative southern California congressional district, few gave him much of a chance.

But five-term U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter, who has been criminally charged with misusing campaign funds, is concerned enough about Ammar Campa-Najjar to issue a YouTube ad accusing his Democratic rival of trying “to hide his family’s ties to terrorism.”

It was a reference to his Palestinian grandfather, who was involved in a 1972 plot to kill Israeli athletes at the Olympics and was killed the following year by Israeli commandos.

The ad, released Wednesday, shows Hunter, a former U.S. Marine who followed his father into Congress, dressed in camouflage and saying he approved the message.

​Democrat responds

Campa-Najjar told Reuters on Saturday Hunter’s ad was “racist, xenophobic and rooted in lies.”

He noted he had security clearances to work in the White House and the Labor Department under former President Barack Obama.

“If Hunter applied for that clearance under indictment, he would be denied, which is why (House of Representatives Speaker) Paul Ryan stripped him of his seat on the Armed Services Committee, because he would have access to confidential materials. That’s the irony of this,” Campa-Najjar said.

“I think he’s trying to tap into dark emotions and I don’t think people will rise to that,” Campa-Najjar said.

Hunter’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Hunter’s once-safe seat

Democrats need to pick up 23 House of Representatives seats in the Nov. 6 congressional elections if they wish to take a majority and serve as a more effective counter to U.S. President Donald Trump. Republicans can ill afford to lose normally safe seats like Hunter’s, in a district including San Diego, as they look to keep control of that chamber.

Polls show Hunter maintaining a comfortable lead over Campa-Najjar, though not as wide as his 27 percentage point margin of victory in 2016.

A Monmouth University Poll of 401 voters conducted between Sept. 22 and 26, found 53 percent of likely voters supported Hunter versus 38 percent for Campa-Najjar. The poll had a 5.3 percentage point margin of error.

Campa-Najjar’s campaign says its polling shows a much closer race.

Family blame game

The 29-year-old Democratic challenger is the son of a Mexican-American mother and a Palestinian father who immigrated from the Middle East. He stresses his Christian faith on the campaign trail and has tried repeatedly to distance himself from his Palestinian grandfather.

He responded to Hunter’s ad by pointing to the Republican’s own family troubles: “He knows I’m not responsible for my family’s actions, just like his wife isn’t responsible for his.”

Hunter, 41, and his wife pleaded not guilty Aug. 23 to charges of misusing $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for their children’s private school tuition, lavish travel including a trip to Italy and restaurant meals that cost hundreds of dollars. He has said the charges were politically motivated.

Criminal charges

Hunter is not the only Republican congressman running for re-election while fighting criminal charges. U.S. Representative Chris Collins is also campaigning in a normally solidly Republican western New York state district while awaiting trial on insider trading charges that he has denied.

Both Hunter and Collins were early supporters of Trump, who early this month criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for allowing federal prosecutors to charge Republican candidates in an election year.

Campa-Najjar’s fundraising has outpaced Hunter’s, according to Federal Election Commission data through June 2018. Hunter’s campaign had reported contributions of $854,787, while Campa-Najjar had reported nearly $1.1 million
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The FBI has reached out to the second woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault as part of its new investigation into the Supreme Court nominee, The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing people familiar with the investigation.

It was not immediately clear whether the FBI had yet interviewed Deborah Ramirez, who alleged in a report published Sept. 23 by The New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a drunken dormitory party. She said he shoved his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it while pushing him away. 

Ramirez said the the assault occurred during the 1983-84 school year at Yale University, where they both were students.

The Post said the FBI was also following up on accusations by Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman who accused Kavanaugh. Her story dated to 1982, when they were both teenagers. She said he sexually assaulted her at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington. Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation.

Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately Thursday in lengthy hearings.

President Donald Trump ordered the additional FBI investigation Friday at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump posted on Twitter Friday night:

​Trump said in a statement that the additional investigation “must be limited in scope” and “completed in less than one week.”

The decision was a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh already was vetted.

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch 

Earlier Friday, the Judiciary Committee voted to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a party-line vote in favor of the nod, but Arizona Republican Jeff Flake requested a delay in the floor vote and the additional investigation.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said Friday that she agreed with Flake’s call for additional FBI investigation.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate. Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to have his nomination confirmed. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate was evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would have to do the same to block his confirmation.

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he would continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate.

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, said he was willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI, because Ford contends he was present when Kavanaugh assaulted her at the suburban Washington party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.
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Amid a new investigation of his Supreme Court nominee, U.S. President Donald Trump maintained his support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday, saying that “hopefully, at the conclusion, everything will be fine.” 

Trump, speaking to reporters on the White House South Lawn prior to his departure for a political rally in nearby West Virginia, noted that the FBI “is all over, talking to everybody,” including women who have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, and “I would expect it’s going to turn out very well for the judge.” 

The president also accused opposition Democrats of acting terribly and dishonestly during the Kavanaugh confirmation process. He expressed anger about the leak of Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation against Kavanaugh, which she sent to a congresswoman but had previously requested remain confidential. 

Despite what Trump told reporters, news reports indicated the White House might be limiting the scope of the FBI’s investigation — such as not permitting scrutiny of the claims of another woman, Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at parties while he was a prep school student. 

Trump administration officials also denied they were restricting areas of inquiry.

“The scope and duration has been set by the Senate,” according to a statement by White House spokesman Raj Shah. “The White House is letting FBI agents do what they are trained to do.”

News reports said the FBI had contacted Deborah Ramirez, the second of Kavanaugh’s accusers. The Associated Press reported that Ramirez’s lawyer, John Clune, said she had agreed to cooperate with agents. 

Ramirez alleged in a report published Sept. 23 by The New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party and shoved his penis in her face, forcing her to touch it while pushing him away. She said the the assault occurred during the 1983-84 school year at Yale University, where they both were students.

The FBI was also following up on accusations by Ford, the first woman who accused Kavanaugh. Her story dated to 1982, when they were teenagers. She said he sexually assaulted her at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington. Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation.

Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately Thursday in lengthy hearings.

Trump ordered the new investigation Friday at the request of the Judiciary Committee. The consent for a fresh probe was a concession by the Trump administration and Republicans, who had strongly contended that Kavanaugh was thoroughly vetted numerous times. 

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch 

The Judiciary Committee voted Friday to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a party-line vote in favor of the nod, but Arizona Republican Jeff Flake requested a delay in the floor vote and the additional investigation.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, said Friday that she agreed with Flake’s call for additional FBI investigation.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate. Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to have his nomination confirmed. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate was evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would have to do the same to block his confirmation.

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he would continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate.

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, said he was willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI, because Ford contends he was present when Kavanaugh assaulted her at the suburban Washington party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.
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The FBI has launched a new investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

President Donald Trump ordered the investigation at the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump posted on Twitter Friday night:

Trump said in a statement the updated investigation, which follows sexual misconduct allegations, “must be limited in scope” and “completed in less than one week.”

The decision is a reversal for the administration, which had argued that Kavanaugh had been vetted.

WATCH: Kavanaugh Moves Step Closer to Confirmation, But With a Hitch

​Due diligence

Earlier Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court to the full Senate after securing a vote in favor of Kavanaugh’s nomination from Republican Jeff Flake, who requested a delay and investigation.

The committee of 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats voted along party lines to move the nomination forward.

“This country is being ripped apart here, and we’ve got to make sure that we do due diligence,” Flake said.

Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said Friday she agrees with Flake in wanting an FBI investigation. Because Republicans hold a slim 51-49 margin in the Senate, they have little choice now but to slow down the process to confirm Kavanaugh.

Republican leaders said Friday they still plan to move ahead with a procedural vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination Saturday.

​Kavanaugh to cooperate

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House that he will continue to cooperate with the FBI and the Senate. 

“Throughout this process, I’ve been interviewed by the FBI, I’ve done a number of ‘background’ calls directly with the Senate, and yesterday, I answered questions under oath about every topic the senators and their counsel asked me. I’ve done everything they have requested and will continue to cooperate,” he said.

The developments come one day after dramatic testimony by Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, a woman who has accused him of sexual assault when they were teenagers in 1982. Both told their stories to the Senate Judiciary Committee separately in lengthy hearings.

Kavanaugh has angrily denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a gathering at a home in suburban Washington.

Kavanaugh needs at least 50 votes to be confirmed by the 100 member Senate. Vice President Mike Pence would cast the deciding vote if the Senate is evenly split. If all Democrats vote against Kavanaugh, two Republicans would also have to do the same to block his confirmation.

In another development Friday, a high school friend of Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, says he is willing to cooperate with any FBI investigation. Judge is likely to figure prominently in any inquiry by the FBI as Ford claims he was present when Kavanaugh allegedly attacked her at a party. Judge has denied being at any party with Ford when an attack took place.

WATCH: Personal and Political Debates Collide in Emotional US Supreme Court Fight

How key senators will vote

Also Friday, several Democrats from states that Trump won announced they would vote against Kavanaugh.

Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly from Indiana said he would vote against the appellate court judge. Donnelly said Ford’s sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh was “disturbing and credible” and repeated a Democratic call for the FBI investigation.

Senator Doug Jones, a first-term Democrat from Alabama, a state in which President Donald Trump won by a wide margin, said Thursday he is voting ‘no’ on Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court. 

“The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning,” he said, adding that Ford was credible and courageous.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of swing state Florida also said Thursday he would vote against Kavanaugh. Republicans are trying to gain the vote of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a state that Trump won comfortably, along with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Murkowski of Alaska.

Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, also said she needs time to decide how she will vote. She is running for re-election in a state that voted heavily for Trump.

​Bar association request

The American Bar Association late Thursday called on the Judiciary committee and the full Senate to delay the vote until the FBI has time to do a full background check on the claims made by Ford and other women.

“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law,’’ the ABA letter to committee leadership said. “Each appointment to our nation’s highest court [as with all others] is simply too important to rush to a vote.”

Earlier Friday, committee Chairman Charles Grassley flatly dismissed the ABA’s request, saying, “I’ve explained many times an FBI investigation is not necessary. The ABA is an outside organization like any other that can send us letters and share their advice, but we’re not going to let them dictate our committee’s business.”
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The trial of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, is sending shockwaves across the multibillion dollar lobbying industry in Washington. Many lobbyists in Washington fear his guilty verdict on bank and fraud charges and his guilty plea on obstruction charges will make lobbying a much more risky business. Daria Dieguts has the story.
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The Republican chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Friday subpoenaed a U.S. research firm founder to give a deposition on his hiring of a former British spy to compile a dossier on alleged links between U.S. President Donald Trump’s associates and Russia.

Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia, announced the move on Twitter a day after receiving a letter in which lawyers for Glenn Simpson, the founder of Fusion GPS, said that their client “will not agree to an interview” requested earlier this week.

“As part of our joint investigation into decisions made by DOJ in 2016, today I subpoenaed Glenn Simpson to appear for a deposition,” Goodlatte posted on Twitter.

Goodlatte said in a separate Twitter post that former FBI Director James Comey, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other former Justice Department officials have been invited “as witnesses. Will subpoena them if necessary.”

Simpson’s lawyers also sent their letter to House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy, who is conducting with Goodlatte a probe into the Justice Department’s decision to investigate possible collusion between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

The top Democrats on the committees, Elijah Cummings and Jerrold Nadler, in a statement accused the Republicans, who control Congress, of continuing “to abet the president as the walls close in around him.”

Fusion GPS was hired by lawyers for the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to conduct research on Trump, her opponent.

The firm in turn hired Christopher Steele, a former officer of MI6, the British foreign intelligence agency, to produce a dossier that outlined alleged Russian financial dealings with Trump, a longtime real estate developer, and included salacious personal details that remain unconfirmed.

The dossier was sent to the FBI, which already had launched an investigation into whether Russia interfered with the election and whether Trump campaign officials worked with Moscow to try to sway the outcome.

The Kremlin denies meddling in the election. Trump, who denies his campaign colluded with Russia, has called Steele’s work an “unverified and Fake Dirty Dossier” and has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia.

In their letter, seen by Reuters, Simpson’s lawyers said Simpson already had been interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee, of which Gowdy is a member, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which like all committees are led by Trump’s fellow Republicans.

“Part and parcel of this concerted effort by the president’s congressional allies has been a campaign of retaliation against the government’s whistleblowers, including our client Mr. Simpson, for their willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement and for their exercise of their constitutional rights to free speech and political activity as American citizens,” the lawyers wrote.

 
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A federal judge Friday cleared the way for a lawsuit to go to trial. It accuses Harvard University of discriminating against Asian-American applicants, a closely watched case that could influence the use of race in college admissions decisions.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston rejected dueling motions by Harvard and a nonprofit group suing the Ivy League university to rule in their favor ahead of a nonjury trial set to begin Oct. 15.

The ruling came after the U.S. Justice Department, which has been investigating Harvard for potential civil rights violations over its affirmative action policy, threw its support behind the 2014 lawsuit by Students for Fair Admissions Inc.

Burroughs said that rather than presenting her with undisputed facts and evidence that would allow her to rule without overseeing a trial, Harvard and SFFA had filed motions that were “essentially mirror images of one another.”

“There are disputed material facts based on Harvard’s fact witnesses, the statistical evidence, and the expert opinions presented by each side that cannot be resolved before trial,” Burroughs wrote.

Representatives for the group and Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Affirmative action

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that universities may use affirmative action to help minority applicants get into college.

Conservatives have said such programs can hurt white people and Asian Americans.

SFFA, which is headed by a prominent anti-affirmative action activist, alleged that evidence showed that Harvard’s admissions process, which factored in race, significantly disadvantaged Asian Americans compared with other groups.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Harvard has denied the allegations and has criticized the lawsuit as an effort to attack the right of colleges to consider race as an admissions factor.

Trump administration

After President Donald Trump, a Republican, took office last year, the Justice Department began investigating whether Harvard’s policies are discriminatory because they limit Asian-Americans’ acceptance.

In court papers, SFFA claimed an Asian-American male applicant with a 25 percent chance of admission would have a 35 percent chance if he were white, 75 percent chance if he were Hispanic and 95 percent chance if he were black.

A Harvard research division found in 2013 that over a decade, Asian-American admission rates were lower than those for whites annually even though whites outperformed Asian-American applicants only on a subjective “personal” rating, SFFA said.
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The House intelligence committee voted Friday to release transcripts of more than 50 interviews it conducted as part of its now-closed investigation into Russian election interference during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Among those to be released are interviews with President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his longtime spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, and his former bodyguard Keith Schiller. The committee also will release dozens of other transcripts of interviews with former Obama administration officials and numerous Trump associates, including Roger Stone, currently the subject of a grand jury investigation.

The move to release the materials by the committee chairman, GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California, a close Trump ally, will provide the public with 53 transcripts spanning thousands of pages of raw testimony as special counsel Robert Mueller continues his Russia investigation. But not all interviews conducted by the committee are being released, and there wasn’t a firm timetable Friday for when they will ultimately be made public.

The interviews form the basis for the GOP-authored report released this year that concluded there was no coordination between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russian efforts to sway the election. Committee Democrats, who voted against approving the report, have disputed its findings. They say the investigation was shut down too quickly and that the committee didn’t interview enough witnesses or gather enough evidence.

Republican Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, who led the investigation in place of Nunes, said he “wanted to declassify or release as much of the underlying data as we could so that not only would they have my conclusion, but they could look at what I was looking at to make up their own mind.”

But Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee’s top Democrat, said some of the most important transcripts — six in total — are still being withheld.

The withheld transcripts include separate interviews with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., who has attracted attention for his pro-Russian statements, and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who headed the Democratic National Committee when court papers say its computer systems were hacked by Russia.

Conaway said those transcripts were being withheld as a “professional courtesy” extended to members of Congress who participated in the interviews with the understanding they would be confidential.

Democrats say Wasserman Schultz has agreed to the release of her transcript. And on Friday, Rohrabacher told The Associated Press that he hasn’t objected to the release of his. Asked if he would agree to its release now, Rohrabacher said, “I’ll think about it.”

Also being withheld are transcripts of closed hearings with former CIA Director John Brennan, former FBI Director James Comey and former National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers as well as the transcript for the committee’s business meeting when GOP members approved their final report.

None of the transcripts, including those set for public release, has been provided to Mueller as part of his investigation, a move Democrats unsuccessfully pushed for on Friday.

“We have suspicions that people testified before our committee falsely and committed perjury, and the special counsel is in the best position to determine, on the basis of the additional information he has, who might have perjured themselves,” Schiff said.

But Conaway said Mueller hasn’t asked for access to the transcripts, and Republicans don’t want to be accused of trying to “skew” the investigation or obstruct justice by sending him materials he didn’t request.

“He’ll ask for it if he wants to. He’s a big boy,” Conaway said, noting the special counsel will be able to review them once they’re public.

The 53 transcripts approved for release will now go to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for a declassification review.

Conaway and Schiff said they didn’t know how long the review would take or when the transcripts would be released to the public. Schiff said Republicans made clear that none of the transcripts, which largely don’t contain classified information, will be released until the declassification review is completed for all of them.

 
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Women demonstrated on Capitol Hill Thursday while the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to testimonies by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of a sexual assault 36 years ago. Many women came out in support of professor Christine Blasey Ford. But Kavanaugh has supporters among women, as well. The case reminds many of one in 1991, when attorney Anita Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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As global leaders digest the fallout from a stormy United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, China has strongly denied accusations from U.S. President Donald Trump that Beijing is trying to interfere in the U.S. midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, the diplomatic tussle has intensified between the United States and other signatories over the future of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as the U.S. prepares to hit Tehran with fresh sanctions. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court went before a Senate committee Thursday, with dramatic testimony over almost nine hours from Kavanaugh and from a woman who has accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students in Maryland in 1982.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which heard from Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, was expected to vote Friday on his nomination.

If approved by the committee, the nomination would then go before the full Senate, where confirmation could hinge on a handful of key senators.

​Republicans

Jeff Flake. A frequent Trump critic who will retire from the Senate in January, Flake was complimentary toward Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing earlier this month. On Thursday, Flake, who is a Judiciary Committee member and sat through the hearing, said he was still processing his position on the nominee.​

Susan Collins. A moderate who sometimes breaks from party ranks, Collins earlier said she wanted both Ford and Kavanaugh to testify under oath to the committee and told reporters that if Kavanaugh had lied about allegations of sexual misconduct, “that would be disqualifying.”

​Lisa Murkowski. An occasional party renegade, she has not said how she will vote. Murkowski met privately late Thursday with Collins, Flake and Democrat Joe Manchin. Earlier in the day she told Reuters: “I find Dr. Ford’s testimony to be credible.” 

Democrats

Heidi Heitkamp. Facing a re-election campaign in North Dakota, a heavily pro-Trump state, she had called for further investigation of Ford’s allegations. She said late Thursday she needs to “fully digest” the committee hearing. 

​Joe Manchin. Also up for re-election, in the pro-Trump state of West Virginia, he met with Republicans late Thursday.

Joe Donnelly. Donnelly is up for re-election in the red-leaning state of Indiana. He has said the allegations against Kavanaugh “merit further review.”

Doug Jones. The first Democratic senator elected from Alabama in more than 20 years, he must show he can be independent-minded to stay in office. The Kavanaugh vote could be a test.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump strode up to the lectern and took stock of the world’s press in a five-star New York hotel.

“This is quite a gathering. Wow!” he crowed.

And so began 1 hour and 22 minutes with the world’s most powerful man, pumped by days of U.N. diplomacy and seething over Democratic opposition to his Supreme Court nominee, now fighting multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior while a student.

Standing before a large row of American flags, the 45th president of the United States dealt with everything from China, Iran and the Kurds, to socialism, Justin Trudeau, women, the Supreme Court and Middle East peace.

Without notes and clearly relishing the occasion, he dished out compliments and made digs where he saw fit.

WATCH: Trump Accuses China of Meddling in US Elections at Press Conference

“You do a very good job,” he told a Fox reporter who asked about NAFTA.

“Say ‘thank you, Mr. Trump,’” he mocked when a New York Times journalist said the newspaper was thriving rather than failing, with circulation figures up under the Trump presidency.

From the Lotte New York Palace on Madison Avenue, a brisk seven-minute walk from his old penthouse home and real-estate company headquarters at Trump Tower, the 72-year-old president appeared ready to go on all night. 

Here is a sampling:

On Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh:

“If we brought George Washington here,” said an exasperated Trump of America’s first president and founding father, “the Democrats would vote against him, just so you understand, and he may have had a bad past, who knows.”

On sexual assault:

“I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges!” he said as journalists pointed out that he had been the accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the past. “So when you say ‘does it affect me in terms of my thinking with respect to Judge Kavanaugh?’ Absolutely. Because I’ve had it many times.”

On women:

“I’ve always said, women are smarter than men.”

On the Kurds:

“They’re great people, they’re great fighters, I like them a lot,” he said, later calling on a journalist as “Yes please, Mr. Kurd.”

On U.N. laughter:

“They weren’t laughing at me, they were laughing with me,” he insisted of the laughter that broke out in the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday after Trump boasted that his administration had done more than any other in U.S. history.

On Xi Jinping:

“I will, tomorrow, make a call to him and say ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Trump said with a smile after admitting that Xi “may not be a friend of mine anymore.

“They are doing studies on Donald Trump, they are trying to figure it all out,” he said in reference to apparent Chinese interest in an American president so different to his predecessors.

Ending on a high:

“Elton John said when you hit that last tune and it’s good, don’t go back,” he said, taking the last question and pondering on what happens when a performer doesn’t deliver a good encore after a rousing concert.

“They don’t hit it and … everyone leaves and they say ‘that wasn’t a very good concert, was it?’”
…

U.S. President Donald Trump said “Iran has to come back and they have to talk” if it wants to avoid a new round of economic sanctions.

Speaking to reporters in New York Wednesday, the president defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 six-nation agreement for Tehran to give up its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling economic sanctions.

“Here’s the thing: they have rampant inflation,” Trump said. “They have rampant inflation, their money is worthless. Everything is going wrong.

“At some point I think they are going to want to come back and say can we do something. Very simple, I just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons,” he added.

​Taking on Iran, nuclear deal

Taking the gavel of the United Nations Security Council earlier in the day, Trump used most of his remarks on the theme of nuclear nonproliferation to criticize Iran, labeling the government the “world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.”

He claimed that “Iran’s aggression only increased” after the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Agreement (JCPOA) was signed. The Trump administration withdrew from the deal earlier this year.

Trump repeated his frequent assertion that the JCPOA, which was signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, was a “horrible, one-sided” deal benefiting Iran.

“They needed cash,” Trump said. “We gave it to them.”

Trump added that Iran, “a regime with this track record, must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon,” and warned that Washington will pursue even tougher sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking immediately after Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron said there needs to be a long-term strategy to manage the Iran issue and it cannot be done with just sanctions and containment.

Macron added that all countries share the same objective of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

​Rouhani reacts

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the Security Council session, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the meeting, which he did not attend, showed how isolated the United States is in its decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

“And today in the U.N. Security Council it became clear that America is alone,” Rouhani told reporters. “All the countries that spoke in the U.N. Security Council supported the JCPOA, either directly or indirectly, and referred to the American action as an incorrect action.”

Rouhani dismissed additional sanctions President Trump said would go into effect in early November, saying there was “not much left” for the U.S. to do. He urged nations to “trample upon” the sanctions and ignore them, because they are “illegal” and contradict the U.N. Security Council resolution that endorsed the nuclear deal as international law.

“The most important substance of the discussion is that nearly all other council members reiterated their commitment to preserving the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, despite U.S. opposition, while several members (notably UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden) expressed their strong concern about Iran’s other destabilizing activities,” said Thomas Countryman, former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation and now chairman of the board for the Arms Control Association.

In addition to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons, Trump, in his remarks on the stated theme of the council’s meeting, said, “We must never forget the risk posed by biological and chemical weapons.”

The U.S. president noted action he has taken to respond to Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians during that country’s protracted civil war and said, “The Syrian regime’s butchery is enabled by Russia and Iran.”

But Trump expressed gratitude to Iran, Russia and Syria for slowing attacks in Idlib, saying, “Get the terrorists, but I hope the restraint continues.”

​US, North Korea

Trump told the Security Council that “many things are happening behind the scenes” between the United States and North Korea as they pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump predicted that very good news will be coming out of North Korea “in coming days and years.”

Earlier Wednesday, Trump said his administration is planning a second summit with Kim and details will be announced soon.

“I’ll be meeting with Chairman Kim,” Trump told reporters arriving at the United Nation’s General Assembly. He said a date and location would be announced soon.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is planning the summit and that it may take place after October. The State Department announced Pompeo will visit Pyongyang next month.

“We’re working diligently to make sure we get the conditions right so that we can accomplish as much as possible during the summit. But we hope it will be soon,” Pompeo told the program CBS This Morning. “It may happen in October, but more likely sometime after that.”

Pompeo’s remarks came one day after Trump touted his relationship with North Korea, telling the United Nations General Assembly it has helped ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

“The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped; some military facilities are already being dismantled,” Trump said.

Trump added that “much work remains to be done” with North Korea and said, “The sanctions will stay in place until denuclearization occurs.”

His comments about North Korea were in sharp contrast from those he delivered at the assembly last year, when he threatened to “totally destroy” the country and ridiculed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man” who was on a “suicide mission.”

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, personally relayed a message to Trump on Monday, telling him that Kim wants to meet him again soon to make progress on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, with a U.S. president taking the gavel for only the third time (Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama did it twice), comes one day after Trump called on world leaders during his address before the U.N. General Assembly to “isolate Iran’s regime as long as its aggression continues.”

VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer, Wayne Lee and Richard Green​ contributed to this report.
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VOA’s Greta Van Susteren told a congressional panel Tuesday that Rohingya refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking, exploitation and violent extremism. Van Susteren and Stephen Pomper, U.S. program director for the International Crisis Group, gave their testimonies on Myanmar’s persecuted Muslim group to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing on “Genocide Against the Burmese Rohingya.” VOA’S Zlatica Hoke has more.
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Forty-five-year-old Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke is challenging 47-year-old Republican incumbent Ted Cruz for a Senate seat in the historically Republican state of Texas. VOA’s Esha Sarai spoke with the candidates and young voters and volunteers energized by their campaigns.
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The challenger skateboards in fast-food parking lots and wears his shirttails over scruffy jeans. He sang in a punk band. Some of his campaign events feature bounce houses.

The incumbent usually wears a dark blue suit with a red tie. The word “liberty” is liberally sprinkled in his campaign materials.

Both candidates are courting young voters in the red state of Texas that, as support for Democrats strengthens, could be turning purple.

But will Democrat Beto O’Rourke, 45, a three-term U.S. congressman, defeat Republican Ted Cruz, 47, the junior U.S. senator, in November?

Millennials only recently elbowed baby boomers to become the largest generation of voters in the United States, according to a Fact Tank study by the Pew Research Center published in June.

O’Rourke has energized a young generation of Democratic voters in the once staunchly Republican state by focusing on topics and behaviors relevant to them. The race has tightened in recent weeks after Cruz, who ran for president in 2016, enjoyed an early lead. 

Last week, a Quinnipiac University poll found Cruz leading O’Rourke by 9 percentage points among likely voters. An online poll by Reuters- Ipsos showed O’Rourke 2 points ahead. Last Friday in Dallas, Cruz and O’Rourke engaged in the first of three planned debates. Political analysts are calling the race a toss-up.

O’Rourke, a former businessman, is a different candidate in many ways. His campaign does not accept money from political action committees (PACs) and has raised $26 million in individual donations between Jan. 1 and June 31 — $8 million more than his opponent. 

“Not taking PAC, not taking corporate money, is really appealing to people,” Houston campaign volunteer Clara Goodwin, 25, told VOA. “A lot of people my age feel like we don’t have much of a voice, and that’s partly because politicians are listening to corporate interests more than us.”

That admission was a revelation for O’Rourke.

“I was surprised to hear time after time from young people that the fact that we don’t take political action committee money — no corporate help, no special interest contributions — is the reason that they are part of this campaign,” O’Rourke told VOA at the opening of his Houston campaign headquarters, a festive event packed with 20-something volunteers eating barbecue and registering voters.

Put simply, PACs are financial contributions pooled from donors that are used to elect and defeat candidates or legislation. Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, corporations, which are banned from directly donating to campaigns, are allowed to contribute through PACs. 

‘Showing up’ for young people

O’Rourke said the fact that he is “showing up where young people are” is more important than how he raises campaign funds.

“I would never ask any young person to vote for anyone if no one has shown up to ask what’s on their mind, what’s important to them, to hear about the most important issues in the country from their perspective,” he said, noting that his campaign has done many events at universities across the state.

Cruz, too, has attracted young supporters who are showing up to hear his message. 

Karl Schmidt, a 19-year-old Cruz volunteer, said he has supported the incumbent senator since he spoke at his high school in 2014.

“The first time I met him, he came to my high school, and he just felt like a really real guy, you know?” Schmidt told VOA, after controlling a post-rally crowd of Houston supporters waiting to get their photo taken with Cruz. 

Schmidt said he cares most about tax reform and health care, specifically opposing the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, because those issues have affected his family the most. He said Cruz’s plan to address tax policy and health care most closely aligns with his views.

Deep divide on taxes, health care, economy

Cruz supported the Republicans’ trillion dollar tax cut, and drafted a bill that would make those tax cuts permanent. He championed Republican efforts to repeal the ACA, popularly known as Obamacare, and has called for “meaningful reforms” of the U.S. health care system, including expanding health care savings accounts and permitting the sale of health insurance across state lines.

O’Rourke opposed the tax cut, and has focused on creating jobs through increased spending on infrastructure and apprenticeship programs, government deregulation, and expansion of rural broadband service. He favors strengthening the ACA, extending Medicaid to more low-income Texans and eventually creating a universal health care program throughout the U.S.

Despite Cruz’s reputation as a divisive politician who is unpopular on Capitol Hill, some younger voters say they like his proposal to increase economic growth through a bill he introduced in 2015 called the American Energy Renaissance Act. The legislation seeks to remove federal restrictions on energy production and create jobs.

Cruz’s young supporters also applaud his calls for spending cuts in Washington, which they say take precedence over social issues.

Max Louman, 21, a student at New York University, said he’s “more of an economic voter” and would support Cruz in the midterm elections, even though he doesn’t agree with all of Cruz’s positions on social issues.

“I believe the Republican policies for economics help encourage growth more,” Louman said, after attending a Cruz town hall meeting.

According to Pew Research, the top voting issues for all voters in 2016 were the economy, terrorism, foreign policy and health care, in that order.

Like Louman, Cruz said he believes his and Republican economic policies are ultimately better for young people.

“The agenda of the left wing, the agenda of socialists, is absolutely devastating to young people,” Cruz told VOA.

O’Rourke cited a number of issues that he said young people have told him are important to them.

“Making sure that the internet is open and works for everyone, regardless of your ability to pay,” he said, referring to net neutrality. “Making sure that we have universal health care. Or making sure that we deliver on our promise for leading the conversation on immigration. Or ending gun violence in our schools and in our communities.”

Power of the vote

Regardless of political party, many young people advocate open discussion and voting. Just 51 percent of millennials — born between 1981 and 1996 — voted in the 2016 elections, compared to 61 percent of the general electorate, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Houston resident Elvonte Patton, 29, created “The Young and the Politics,” a nonpartisan political organization that encourages young people to register to vote. 

“Go exercise your right to vote. That’s all that matters to me,” he told VOA at a local O’Rourke rally where his organization registered new voters. In March, Patton ran for a seat on the Harris County Board of Education and was defeated in the Democratic primary. 

Cruz supporter Schmidt said his friends were too young to vote in the most recent elections in 2016. This time, he said, he’s “definitely going to make sure all my friends go out and vote.”

 “I think the young people are going to predict this race,” said Patton, who said he is confident that voter turnout, particularly among young people, will grow in the 2018 midterm elections. “Honestly, whoever the young people go and vote for, that’s who will win this race,” he said. 
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Senate Republicans have hired an Arizona prosecutor to question a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

A press release from committee chairman Chuck Grassley’s office described woman attorney Rachel Mitchell as “a career prosecutor with decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes.” Mitchell worked in the Maricopa County Attorney’s office in Phoenix as the chief of the Special Victims Division, which covers sex crimes and family violence.

Republicans have been keen to hire a woman to question Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh sexually assaulting her when both were teenagers, to avoid the appearance of bias by the all-male group of Republicans on the Senate panel.

The U.S. Senate’s partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s embattled Supreme Court nominee intensified Tuesday, fewer than 48 hours before Judge Kavanaugh and Ford were expected to give contradictory testimony on the alleged incident. 

Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky accused Democrats of rushing to convict Kavanaugh and “destroy his good name” with unproven allegations, abandoning any presumption of innocence — a bedrock principle of American jurisprudence.

“Justice matters. Evidence matters. Facts matter,” McConnell said. “This is America here. … Everyone deserves better than this, not just Judge Kavanaugh.”

Senate Democrats countered that, if Republicans wanted to learn the facts about the nominee’s past behavior, they would not have rejected calls for an FBI investigation of the allegations against him.

Democrats also accused Republicans of treating Ford dismissively at a time when victims of sexual crimes are speaking out across the nation. Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the 1980s, a charge the nominee has repeatedly denied.

“Labeling this a partisan smear job demeans not only the senators in my caucus,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “It demeans many, many women who have come forward … to share their stories.”

Schumer added, “Leader McConnell should rethink what he said in the heat of the moment and apologize to Dr. Ford.”

The sharp exchanges on the Senate floor came one day after Kavanaugh appeared on U.S. cable television — an unprecedented move for a Supreme Court nominee — to refute all allegations of sexual misconduct.

“I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school. Not ever,” Kavanaugh told Fox News, adding that he has no intention of bowing out of the nomination.

In New York, President Trump accused Democrats of mounting “a con game” and heaped scorn on a second accusation leveled against Kavanaugh, that he exposed himself at a college party decades ago.

The new allegation by Deborah Ramirez, reported Sunday by The New Yorker magazine, prompted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, to call for a postponement of Thursday’s highly anticipated hearing where Kavanaugh and Ford are to testify.

Ramirez’s lawyer told NBC’s Today Show that she is willing to testify publically to Congress.

Republicans have rejected any further delays in the confirmation process. Instead, they scheduled a judiciary committee vote for Friday, which will be followed by consideration by the full Senate.

Kavanaugh, a judicial conservative and Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement.

His confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate had seemed all but assured until allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced nearly two weeks ago.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead U.S. military operations in Latin America said on Tuesday there is no planning under way for any kind of military option to address the economic and political crisis in Venezuela.

Navy Vice Admiral Craig Faller, the nominee to lead the U.S. Southern Command, was asked at his Senate confirmation hearing whether there had been suggestions from Trump or other top U.S. officials that preparations should be made for “surgical or other” military action.

“We are not doing anything other than normal prudent planning that a combatant command would do to prepare for a range of contingencies,” Faller said in a response to a question from Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill.

Venezuela accused the United States this month of seeking an intervention and supporting military conspiracies following a New York Times report that the Trump administration held secret meetings with rebellious military officers over the last year to discuss a plan to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Faller also spoke during the hearing of the military’s plans to support Venezuela’s neighbors Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as they deal with migrants fleeing Venezuela due to the country’s economic crisis, including plans to send a U.S. Navy hospital ship, the Comfort.
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The U.S. Senate’s partisan brawl over President Donald Trump’s embattled Supreme Court nominee intensified Tuesday, fewer than 48 hours before Judge Brett Kavanaugh and one of his accusers were expected to give contradictory testimony on whether the nominee committed sexual assault as a teenager.

Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky accused Democrats of rushing to convict Kavanaugh and “destroy his good name” with unproven allegations, abandoning any presumption of innocence – a bedrock principle of American jurisprudence.

“Justice matters. Evidence matters. Facts matter,” McConnell said. “This is America here … Everyone deserves better than this, not just Judge Kavanaugh.”

Senate Democrats countered that, if Republicans wanted to learn the facts about the nominee’s past behavior, they would not have rejected calls for an FBI investigation of the allegations against him.

Democrats also accused Republicans of treating Christine Blasey Ford dismissively at a time when victims of sexual crimes are speaking out across the nation. Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the 1980s, a charge the nominee has repeatedly denied.

​“Labeling this a partisan smear job demeans not only the senators in my caucus,” Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said. “It demeans many, many women who have come forward … to share their stories.”

Schumer added, “Leader McConnell should rethink what he said in the heat of the moment and apologize to Dr. Ford.”

Standing firm

The sharp exchanges on the Senate floor came one day after Kavanaugh appeared on U.S. cable television – an unprecedented move for a Supreme Court nominee – to refute all allegations of sexual misconduct.

“I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school. Not ever,” Kavanaugh told Fox News, adding that he has no intention of bowing out of the nomination.

In New York, President Trump accused Democrats of mounting “a con game” and heaped scorn on a second accusation leveled against Kavanaugh, that he exposed himself at a college party decades ago.

The new allegation, reported Sunday by The New Yorker magazine, prompted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, to call for a postponement of Thursday’s highly-anticipated hearing where Kavanaugh and Ford are to testify.

Republicans have rejected any further delays in the confirmation process, which includes a committee vote followed by consideration by the full Senate.

Kavanaugh, a judicial conservative and Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement.

His confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate had seemed all but assured until allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced nearly two weeks ago.
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Most of the attention on this year’s midterm elections is about which party will control Congress after the results are known on November 6. In addition to races for the Senate and House of Representatives, U.S. voters also will elect 36 state governors, and Democrats appear poised to make gains.

Republicans control 26 of the state governorships at stake in November, while Democrats currently hold nine seats, and there is one independent governor, Bill Walker in Alaska.

Democrats see opportunities for gains in some larger states like Florida, Michigan and Ohio, where Republican incumbents are term-limited and barred from running again. They also have targeted vulnerable Republican incumbents in Illinois and in Wisconsin, though, where Governor Scott Walker is making a bid for a third term.

In Florida, progressive Democrat Andrew Gillum is in a close race with Republican Ron DeSantis, an avid supporter of President Donald Trump.

Another close race is expected in Ohio where Republican Mike DeWine hopes to succeed Governor John Kasich, a once and possibly future presidential contender, but must fend off Democrat Richard Cordray.

Republicans believe their best chances to pick up seats previously held by Democrats are in Connecticut and Colorado. Republicans also are confident about holding governorships in two heavily Democratic states, Maryland and Massachusetts, where popular GOP incumbents have distanced themselves from President Trump.

The outcome of the 36 governor’s races have implications for the next presidential election in 2020 and beyond. Control of the governor’s mansion in a given state can help the party’s presidential contender in 2020. In addition, governors in most states play a crucial role in approving how congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years based on population shifts reflected in the national census.

Republicans were successful in redrawing House districts to their advantage after the 2010 census in large part because of the gains they made in governors’ races and state legislatures, which also have a key role in the process.

The political process often leads to what is known as “gerrymandering,” when one party has an advantage in how congressional districts are redrawn that results in an electoral advantage that can last for years.

Both parties have done it throughout history, and now Democrats are counting on gains at the gubernatorial level to create a more level playing field after the 2020 census.

 
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Thousands of scientists joined on Monday to accuse the Trump administration of trying to erode the Endangered Species Act in favor of commercial interests with a plan to revamp regulations that have formed a bedrock of U.S. wildlife protection for over 40 years.

The extraordinary critique of the administration’s proposal, which was unveiled in July, came in an open letter addressed to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross from three associations representing 9,000 professional biologists.

A separate letter similarly condemning revisions proposed to endangered species policies was signed by 273 leading university scientists from around the country.

Both came as the 60-day public comment period drew to a close for what would be the most sweeping overhaul in decades of the rules implementing the landmark environmental law.

The 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) currently protects more than 1,600 species of U.S. animals and plants listed as either endangered — on the brink of extinction — or threatened — deemed likely to become extinct in the foreseeable future.

The ESA is credited with a number of high-profile success stories, including the comeback of the American bald eagle, the California condor and the grizzly bear.

But the act has long been controversial for requiring the government to designate “critical habitat” deemed essential to a listed species’ survival and limiting commercial activities there, such as construction, mining, energy development or logging.

Developers and other critics argue that such restrictions pose an unfair and overly burdensome intrusion on property rights and economic activity.

Under the administration’s proposal, the government would end the practice of automatically treating endangered species and threatened species essentially the same.

The plan also calls for initially evaluating a species’ critical habitat on the basis of its current range, rather than according to the larger area it could be expected to occupy once recovered.

The administration has argued its proposal would enhance wildlife protection by building greater support for a statute that has become outdated and by streamlining the regulatory process.

Scientists, however, said the planned revisions would undermine the ESA and drive some wildlife closer to extinction.

One proposed change, they said, to allow consideration of economic factors when assessing a species’ status, would violate the law’s requirement that safeguards hinge solely on science.

“This is completely disastrous for efforts to save species from extinction,” said Stuart Pimm, a conservation ecology professor at Duke University.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Brian Hires, said the agency encourages “input on our proposed ESA regulatory changes from all stakeholders as part of a robust and transparent public process.”
…

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is denying allegations of sexual misconduct and says he will not withdraw his name from consideration for the top court.

Appearing Monday on Fox News for his first television interview on the allegations, Kavanaugh said, “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school. Not ever.”

Kavanaugh appeared on the news program with his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, who said Kavanaugh’s nomination process has been “incredibly difficult.” She said, “at the end of the day, our faith is strong. We know we are on the right path.”

Kavanaugh’s television appearance comes one day after new allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against him.

The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday that two U.S. senators are investigating a charge Kavanaugh exposed himself at a Yale University dormitory party during the 1983-1984 academic year.

Deborah Ramirez described the incident in an interview after being contacted by the magazine.  She admitted she had been drinking and has gaps in her memories.  But after consulting a lawyer, Ramirez said she felt confident in her recollection.

Speaking in New York on Monday, President Donald Trump labeled the new charges “totally political.”

Kavanaugh has also denied allegations by a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her when they were both high school students in 1982.

The woman, Christine Blasey Ford, is expected to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Kavanaugh is also expected to respond to the allegations on Thursday.

The new allegations that were reported Sunday have prompted a key senator to call for “an immediate postponement” of any further proceedings by the committee, which is considering Kavanaugh’s nomination.

California’s Diane Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, sent a letter Sunday to Republican committee chairman Chuck Grassley, urging him to refer the new allegations to the FBI in order to ensure “a fair, independent process that will gather all the facts.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed Monday that the chamber will vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, promising the vote will come “in the near future.”

McConnell, who was visibly angry, accused Democrats of attempting to destroy an honorable jurist on the basis of “decades-old allegations that are unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said if Republicans believe in Kavanaugh, then they, too, should want the accusations investigated by the FBI.

“Leader McConnell is afraid of what might come out (about Kavanaugh), what the truth is,” Schumer said.

Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party in the 1980s when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh vehemently denied the charge.

Kavanaugh, a judicial conservative and Trump’s second Supreme Court pick, was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement.

His confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate had seemed all but assured until allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced last week.

Capitol Hill correspondent Michael Bowman contributed to this report.
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