1/ The author of the letter accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct came forward to tell her story. Christine Blasey Ford is a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California who alleges Kavanaugh and a friend sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,� Ford said. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.� Ford said she felt a “civic responsibility� to speak out about the Supreme Court nominee. (Washington Post / CBS News)

Kavanaugh says he is willing to answer questions under oath about Ford’s allegations. Both Kavanaugh and Ford have said they would be willing to testify to Congress about the alleged incident. (CNN)

Trump has told allies he believes there is a “conspiracy� by Democrats to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination process. A senior White House aide says things are still “full steam ahead� for Kavanaugh. (Daily Beast)

2/ Sen. Jeff Flake wants to delay the vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation until Ford has a chance to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Flake is part of the GOP’s one-vote majority on the committee. “For me,� Flake said, “we can’t vote until we hear more.� (CBS News / Politico)

3/ Trump’s tax cuts have resulted in the repatriation of only 3.5 percent of the cash he predicted they would bring back to the United States. By ending the practice of taxing U.S. companies when they brought home foreign profits, Trump said, “Over $4 [trillion], but close to $5 trillion, will be brought back into our country.� The latest analysis shows $143 billion has been repatriated. Two-thirds of the profits are from two companies: networking giant Cisco Systems and a drug company called Gilead Sciences. (Daily Beast / Wall Street Journal)

4/ Ted Cruz’s Senatorial campaign sent out hundreds of thousands of donation mailers disguised as official court summonses. The outside of the envelopes read “SUMMONS ENCLOSED—OPEN IMMEDIATELY� and include a return address of “official county summons.� The mailers are legal as long as they contain a clear disclaimer indicating who paid for the communication. (Newsweek)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has nearly doubled the number of promotion opportunities for top U.S. diplomats in an attempt to ease relations with the State Department workforce. State employees felt alienated under former Secretary Rex Tillerson’s leadership. (Reuters)

...

1/ Paul Manafort pleaded guilty to financial crimes, violating foreign lobbying laws, and attempting to obstruct justice. He agreed to fully cooperate with Robert Mueller, though the details surrounding what kind of information Manafort agreed to provide the special counsel remain unclear. Manafort also agreed to forfeit multiple properties and bank accounts, participate in interviews, provide documents, and testify to the grand jury. Analysts noted the plea deal is “pardon proof� and that the $47 million forfeiture pays for the entire Mueller investigation. (ABC News / NBC News / Washington Post / emptywheel)

2/ Jared Kushner defended the eviction of the Palestine Liberation Organization from its Washington offices by insisting that punishing Palestinians would not affect the chances of a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. “There were too many false realities that were created — that people worship — that I think needed to be changed,� Kushner said during an interview. “All we’re doing is dealing with things as we see them and not being scared out of doing the right thing.� (New York Times)

3/ Details emerged about the secret letter concerning Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged high-school sexual misconduct, and Republicans released a letter defending his character. The defense letter—sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee—was signed by 65 women who knew Kavanaugh in high school; it argues he always “treated women with respect.� Kavanaugh has denied the allegations. (New York Times / Associated Press)

4/ Retired Adm. Bill McRaven resigned from the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board, days after criticizing Trump for revoking John Brennan’s security clearance. McRaven led the Osama bin Laden raid in 2011. In a Washington Post op-ed last month, he wrote he would “consider it an honor� if Trump would revoke his security clearance, too, so he could add his name “to the list of men and women who have spoken up� against the Trump presidency. (ABC News)

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo defeated Cynthia Nixon and clinched the Democratic gubernatorial nomination by a 30-point margin. Cuomo spent nearly $25 million to defeat Nixon in the primary. (New York Times)

New York voters voted against six of the eight incumbent Democratic state senators. The incumbents outspent their challengers several times over during the race. (New York Times)

Bob Woodward says he’ll release audio tapes of his White House interviews if asked by his sources. Woodward says he has “boxes of recordings and documents� demonstrating the thoroughness of his sourcing. (

1/ Sen. Dianne Feinstein referred a letter to the FBI containing information about possible sexual misconduct between Brett Kavanaugh and a woman when the two were in high school. The letter is said to be from one of Feinstein’s California constituents. Feinstein did not show the letter to any of her Democratic colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Newsweek / The Intercept / NPR / BuzzFeed News)

Sen. Cory Booker released another batch of confidential documents related to Kavanaugh. The 28 new documents are from Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House and show his involvement in judicial nominations. (NBC News / Politico)

The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote until next week. (Washington Post)

2/ The Trump administration quietly redirected $200 million from various DHS programs to ICE accounts despite repeated congressional warnings of ICE’s “lack of fiscal discipline� and “unsustainable� spending habits. Of the $200 million, $93 million will go toward immigrant detention and $107 million will go toward deportation expenses. The news comes a day after a financial document showed the administration diverted $10 million from FEMA to ICE in June. (CNN / NBC News)

3/ Meanwhile, the number of unaccompanied minors detained at the southern border has risen to a record high. Since last summer, the administration has increased by more than five-fold the number of children detained at federally contracted shelters dedicated to migrant children. This month, there were more than 12,800 children in custody, compared to 2,400 in May 2017. (New York Times)

4/ The DHS inspector general is investigating whether FEMA administrator Brock Long misused government vehicles during his commutes from Washington to North Carolina. The IG’s office, which became interested in the case after one of Long’s vehicles was involved in an accident, is looking into whether he misused government resources and personnel during his regular six-hour trips home. (Politico)

5/ Trump accused Democrats of inflating Hurricane Maria’s death toll in Puerto Rico. “3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico,� Trump tweeted. “When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths.� He claimed Democrats added anyone who died for any reason to the list of hurricane-related deaths. He added: “I love Puerto Rico!� (...

1/ Trump signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against foreign countries, companies, and individuals interfering with U.S. elections, as determined by U.S. intelligence agencies. The order tasks a range of agencies—including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, the NSA, and the Department of Homeland Security—with evaluating potential cases of election meddling and requires any federal agency aware of interference to submit this information to the Director of National Intelligence. (Reuters / CNBC / The Hill)

2/ The Department of Homeland Security diverted nearly $10 million from FEMA to help ICE pay for detention and removal operations. A newly released budget document shows DHS transferred the funds—at the beginning of hurricane season—from FEMA’s operations and support budget to ICE accounts to pay for detention camps and other expenses. FEMA said the money was not meant for disaster relief. A spokesperson for DHS called reporting on the budget document “a sorry attempt to push a false agenda.� (New York Times / Axios / Maddow Blog / ABC News)

3/ Trump called San Juan’s mayor “totally incompetent� in response to her critique of Trump, who had recently boasted of federal responses to the hurricanes that ravaged Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico last year. Carmen Yulín Cruz had taken issue with him calling the response to Hurricane Maria “an unsung success.� Trump also called Puerto Rico “an inaccessible island with very poor electricity.� (ABC News)

4/ Federal investigators are looking into a series of suspicious financial transactions involving people who attended the 2016 Trump Tower meeting. The transfers reveal how Aras Agalarov, a Russian billionaire with strong ties to Trump and Putin, used overseas accounts to distribute money through a web of banks to himself, his son, and at least two people who attended the meeting. Investigators are focusing on two bursts of activity: one occurring shortly before the Trump Tower meeting and one immediately after the 2016 election. (BuzzFeed News / The Hill)

5/ Scott Pruitt is in talks to consult for a Kentucky coal-mining tycoon, months after...

1/ Trump began the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks by tweeting a defense of himself in the Russia investigation while also attacking the FBI. In a string of tweets that appeared to quote from a segment on Fox News, Trump blamed FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page for employing a “media leak strategy� to undermine his administration. He then blamed the FBI and Justice Department for doing “NOTHING� about it. Almost two hours later, Trump tweeted: “17 years since September 11th!� (NBC News / Washington Post / CNN)

A history of Trump’s comments about 9/11. For instance, in November 2015 he claimed, without evidence, that “thousands and thousands� of Muslims in New Jersey had celebrated the news of the attacks. (HuffPost)

Trump bragged that one of his buildings was now the tallest in downtown Manhattan hours after the World Trade Center collapsed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. “40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest,� Trump said during a telephone interview on the afternoon of Sept. 11 with local New Jersey television station WWOR. “And then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.� (Washington Post / HuffPost)

Trump pumped both fists after deplaning Air Force One in Pennsylvania, where Trump paid tribute to victims of crashed Flight 93. (CNN / CNBC / The Independent)

2/ The Trump administration plans to make it easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere. The EPA plans to weaken an Obama-era requirement that companies monitor and repair methane leaks, while the Interior Department wants to repeal a restriction on intentional venting and burning of methane by drilling operations. Methane is among the most potent greenhouse gases and is roughly 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. (New York Times)

3/ The number of White House aides Trump trusts is “much smaller� following...

1/ The Trump campaign team was “fully aware� of George Papadopoulos’ efforts to set up a Trump-Putin meeting. “I actively sought to leverage my contacts with the professor to host this meeting,� Papadopoulos said. “The campaign was fully aware what I was doing� and Trump was “open to this idea,� but deferred to Jeff Sessions, who was “quite enthusiastic.� (ABC News / NBC News)

2/ Trump is expected to declassify documents about the government’s surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page and the investigative actions taken by Justice Department lawyer Bruce Ohr. Republicans on the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees allege that Ohr was an improper intermediary between the Justice Department, Christopher Steele, and Fusion GPS — the opposition research firm that created the Trump-Russia dossier. (Axios)

3/ Trump won’t enforce the $130,000 hush-money nondisclosure agreement between Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, claiming he has “never taken the position that he was a party� to the NDA because he never signed the agreement. Trump’s attorney, Charles Harder, called for Daniels to “immediately dismiss� Trump from her defamation lawsuit. (ABC News / CNN / New York Daily News)

Michael Cohen agreed to tear up the nondisclosure agreement barring Stormy Daniels from discussing her alleged affair with Trump and requested that she pay back the $130,000 she received. Michael Avenatti, who represents Daniels, called it a “legal stunt� in order to avoid Trump being deposed in the case. (CNN / ABC News)

Michael Cohen is back to playing games and trying to protect Donald Trump. He is now pulling a legal stunt to try and “fix it� so that we can’t depose Trump and present evidence to the American people about what happened. He is not a hero nor a patriot. He deserves what he gets.

Stormy Daniels said she “vigorously opposes� Trump and Cohen’s offer to not enforce her nondisclosure agreement, claiming their “sudden desire to escape� the agreement is a signal that they have been “shamelessly deceiving this Court and the American public for more than six months.� (Daily Beast / Courthouse News)

4/ The Trump administration discussed plans for a coup in Venezuela last year with rebels who were rebuffed by the Obama administration. The secret meetings invo...

1/ Trump called on Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department to investigate and uncover the author of the anonymous op-ed that described an effort by members of the administration to subvert his agenda. “Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security,� Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. He added that he’s also “looking at� possible legal action against The New York Times, though he did not elaborate. (ABC News / NBC News / CNBC / CNN / New York Times)

2/ Trump tried to refute the quotes in Bob Woodword’s new book, claiming “I don’t talk the way I am quoted� in Fear: Trump in the White House. “The Woodward book is a scam,� Trump tweeted at 5:30am, claiming the “quotes are made up� because “I would not have been elected President� if they were true. Trump also denied that he called Sessions “mentally retarded� or a “dumb Southerner,� as the book reports. However, Trump is on record calling somebody “retarded� on a Howard Stern episode in 2004, and a former deputy editor at the New York Post said Trump once described his in-laws as “an entourage of dumb Southerners.� (New York Times / Washington Post)

3/ Trump will not answer Robert Mueller’s questions about obstruction of justice, according to Rudy Giuliani. “That’s a no-go. That is not going to happen,� Trump’s lawyer said. “There will be no questions at all on obstruction,� whether in person or in writing. (Associated Press)

4/ Hours later Giuliani walked back the comments, saying the possibility of answering questions about obstruction of justice are “not ruled in or out.� One person with direct knowledge of Trump’s legal strategy said that “there is no strategy� aside from PR tactics of threatening Mueller. If negotiations break down, Mueller could be forced to subpoena Trump to testify. Giuliani previously said they would fight any subpoena up to the Supreme Court, which has never definitively ruled on the question of whether a president can be forced to testify. (NBC News / Axios / Reuters)

5/ Elizabeth Warren called on White House officials to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing Trump from office. “If senior administration officials think the President of the United States is not able to do his job,� Warren said, “then they should invoke the 25th Amendment.� Warren’s comments come a day after an op-ed by an anony...

1/ Brett Kavanaugh challenged whether Roe v. Wade was “the settled law of the land� in a leaked 2003 email he wrote while serving in the George W. Bush White House. A lawyer for Bush deemed the email “committee confidential� when turning it over to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which meant it could not be made public or discussed by Democrats during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings this week. In the email, Kavanaugh wrote: “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe v. Wade as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.� Following the publication of the Kavanaugh email, two Democratic senators unilaterally released several other “committee confidential� emails. (New York Times / Washington Post)

READ: Kavanaugh’s email on Roe v Wade.

Did Kavanaugh mislead the Senate on spying and abortion? (New York Times)

2/ Senator Cory Booker released 12 pages of confidential Kavanaugh emails on racial profiling, affirmative action, and other racial issues. Booker acknowledged that he would be “knowingly violating the rules� for releasing the “committee confidential� emails, adding: “And I understand that the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate […] I openly invite and accept the consequences … the emails being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.� Booker then invited Republican Sen. John Cornyn to “bring the charges.� (The Guardian / ABC News / CNN / The Hill)

Democratic Sen Cory Booker says he will knowingly release confidential documents related to Brett Kavanaugh: “I am going to release the emails about racial profiling and I will understand that the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate� https://t.co/w6FoAXdN1x pic.twitter.com/BWp67vIM4d

Separately, Senator Mazie Hirono published a “committee confidential� email about policies for Native Hawaiians. The leak was aimed at Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, who guards the interests of Native Alaskans. In that email, Kavanaugh questioned whether Native Hawaiians should be protected like Indian tribes. (CNBC)

The records that Booker and Hirono published had already ...

1/ A senior Trump administration official published an anonymous essay in the New York Times claiming cabinet members discussed removing Trump from office early in his presidency “given the instability many witnessed.� The official criticized Trump’s “amorality� and reckless decision-making, saying “there is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first� and that “Americans should know that there are adults in the room� who “fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.� (New York Times / CNN)

2/ Trump called the unsigned op-ed a “disgrace� and “gutless.� Trump attacked the New York Times for publishing an essay by an unnamed administration official who claims the president’s advisers deliberately try to block Trump’s misguided impulses. The anonymous official wrote that Trump’s “impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.� At a White House event, Trump brought up the op-ed, saying “This is what we have to deal with� and that “they don’t like Donald Trump and I don’t like them.� He later demanded that “the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!� (CNN / Associated Press / New York Times)

TREASON?

Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official� really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!

3/ Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the author of the “resistance� op-ed a “coward� who should “do the right thing and resign.� Sanders accused the author of choosing to “deceive� Trump by remaining in the administration and called on the Times to “issue an apology� for publishing the “pathetic, reckless, and selfish op-ed.� (Associated Press / ABC News)

4/ Trump is “in the worst mood of his presidency� and frequently calls confidants to “vent about his selection of [Jeff] Sessions and [FBI Director Christopher] Wray.� Trump is criticizing Wray and painting him as another Justice Department official who refuses to protect his interests and is possibly out to undermine his presidency. (NBC News)

5/ Trump suggested that protesting should be illegal after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation heari...

1/ Bob Woodward’s book describes Trump as an “emotionally overwrought, mercurial and unpredictable leader,� his presidency as “an administrative coup d’etat,� and the executive branch as having a “nervous breakdown� where senior aides hide official papers from Trump’s desk so he won’t sign them, all in order “to protect the country.� In one instance, Gary Cohn, Trump’s former top economic adviser, “stole a letter off Trump’s desk� that the president wanted to sign that would have withdrawn the U.S. from a trade agreement with South Korea. In another instance, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to assassinate Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, saying: “Let’s fucking kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the fucking lot of them.� Mattis told Trump he would get right on it, but immediately told an aide, “We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured.� John Dowd told Trump he’d be wearing an “orange jump suit� if he sat for an interview with Robert Mueller. And Woodward also reports that John Kelly once called Trump an “idiot,� and told colleagues that the president was “unhinged,� that “he’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.� Fear: Trump in the White House will be released on September 11th. (Washington Post / CNN)

SWAMP SPEAK:

Trump called his condemnation of white supremacists and neo-Nazis following the deadly 2017 Charlottesville rally “the biggest fucking mistake I’ve made.� Trump was sharply criticized for initially saying that “both sides� were to blame for the violence. Trump bowed to pressure and gave a second speech in which he called racism “evil� and condemned hate groups. He told aides that it was the “worst speech I’ve ever given.� (The Hill)

Trump described Jeff Sessions as a “traitor� and as a “mentally retarded� “dumb Southerner� to aides, according to Woodward’s book. (ABC News)

Rudy Giuliani to critical Trump advisers: “Why don’t they go get another job? That’s the kind of disloyalty that leads to you leaving, not staying and undermining the president.� (CNBC)

👑 Portrait of a President: An ongoing collection of articles curated by the WTFJHT family that illuminate the Trump presidency.

2/ The White House called Woodward’s book about Trump “nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the President look bad.� John Kelly issued a statement denying that “I ever called the President an idiot.� (CNBC / Wall Street Journal)

Trump complained to confidants that he didn’t get to speak with Woodward before the book went to print. People close to Trump have speculated that pa...