1/ The Trump administration is considering new rules to separate parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border. One option is for the government to detain asylum-seeking families together for up to 20 days, then give parents a choice to stay in family detention together or allow children to be taken to a government shelter so relatives or guardians can seek custody. Some inside the White House and Department of Homeland Security are concerned about the “optics� of the so-called “binary choice� option. (Washington Post)

2/ Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discussed adding a citizenship question to the U.S. census with Steve Bannon and Kris Kobach despite previously saying he hadn’t spoken with anyone at the White House about the addition. Ross original claimed that a citizenship question would allow the government to better enforce the Voting Rights Act, which is meant to protect voters from discriminatory policies. However, emails reveal that Ross was instead concerned that not adding a citizenship question “leads to the problem that aliens who do not actually ‘reside’ in the United States are still counted for congressional apportionment purposes.� (Washington Post)

3/ Wilbur Ross shifted his explanation for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, saying he now recalls discussing it with Steve Bannon. Ross faces a court order to provide a deposition to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to remove the question from the census. (New York Times / NPR / Politico)

4/ Trump could fire Jeff Sessions and then replace him with a temporary attorney general who would then reduce Robert Mueller’s budget “so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.� Matthew Whitaker made the comments in July 2017. Trump is considering as many as five candidates to replace Sessions if he leaves as attorney general, including Whitaker. Trump declined to deny that he is considering replacing Sessions with Whitaker, but he has talked with Whitaker about replacing Sessions in the past. (Washington Post)

5/ Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Hatch Act complaint against Sarah Huckabee Sanders for using her official government Twitter account to tweet a photo of herself with Kanye West, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again� hat in the Oval Office. The Hatch Act prohibits any executive branch employee from “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.� (The Hill / CREW)

poll/ 51% of Americans disapprove of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supre...

1/ U.S. intelligence intercepts indicate that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia ordered an operation to coax Jamal Khashoggi back to the kingdom in order to capture him. Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi government, disappeared last week after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. A bipartisan group on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee invoked the Magnitsky Act to force the Trump administration to investigate the disappearance of Khashoggi, which requires the administration to respond within 120 days of potential sanctions against officials responsible for human rights violations. Trump said he is reluctant to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia, believing it “would be hurting� the U.S. economy. (Washington Post / Politico / CNN / Bloomberg)

2/ Trump pledged to “weed out� individuals inside his administration who he doesn’t like or trust. When asked if that included Jeff Sessions, Trump replied that he is focused on the midterm elections. Melania Trump, meanwhile, said Trump has people working in his administration she doesn’t trust and it is hard for the president to govern when “you always need to watch your back.� Melania added that she is “the most bullied person on the world.� #BeBest (Politico / ABC News / CNN / Washington Post)

3/ Trump spoke with Jeff Sessions’ own chief of staff about replacing him as attorney general. It is not clear whether Trump wanted Matthew Whitaker to take over on an interim basis or to be nominated in a more permanent capacity. White House officials say they expect both Sessions and Rosenstein to remain in their positions at least until after the midterms. (Washington Post)

4/ Trump is considering as many as five candidates to replace Jeff Sessions if he leaves as attorney general. The candidates include Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Transportation Department general counsel Steven Bradbury, former Attorney General Bill Barr, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and Janice Rogers Brown, a retired appeals court judge from the District of Columbia Circuit. Sessions isn’t currently planning to leave, but has privately said he expects to be asked to resign. (Wall Street Journal)

5/ Georgia’s Secretary of State is holding more than 53,000 voter registration applications – nearly 70% from black voters – due to the state’s “exact match� law, which requires that information on...

1/ Trump claimed the Democratic Party’s push for “Medicare for All� would “eviscerate� and “gut Medicare with their planned government takeover of American health care,� in a rare presidential op-ed published by USA Today. The op-ed included numerous debunked claims and factual inaccuracies while simultaneously linking to information that directly refuted his claims. Trump suggested that “Medicare would be forced to die� under the plan, devastating the health care industry, and “inevitably lead[ing] to the massive rationing of health care.� Medicare provides health care to Americans older than 65 and those with disabilities. (CNN / NBC News)

Fact-checking Trump’s op-ed. (Washington Post)

The Trump administration plans to take down healthcare.gov for maintenance during the sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act. The administration did the same thing last year and drew criticism for it, but officials say the maintenance periods are routine and intended to occur during the slowest periods. (The Hill)

2/ Trump said he will speak to Saudi officials about the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying he was “concerned.� While the Saudi government claims that Khashoggi left the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul after his visit last week, top Turkish security officials concluded that Khashoggi was assassinated in the consulate on orders from the highest levels of the Saudi royal court. Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen living in exile in the United States, was a vocal critic of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Fifteen Saudi agents had arrived on two charter flights the day Khashoggi disappeared and all 15 left just a few hours later. The Trump administration has been largely silent in part because Saudi Arabia is a close American ally and Trump has repeatedly expressed his enthusiasm for Mohammed bin Salman. (New York Times / Politico)

3/ State court judges may be able to grant custody of migrant children to American families without notifying their parents, according to a report drawing on hundreds of court documents, immigration records and interviews in the U.S. and Central America. More than 300 parents were deported to Central America without their children this summer, many of whom allege they were ordered to sign a waiver they didn’t understand, which affected their rights to reunify with their children. (Associated Press)

4/ Melania Trump: Women “need to have really hard evidence� before saying they’re victims of sexual assault. “I do stand with women,� the first lady said, “but we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody, ‘I was sexually assaulted,’ or, ‘You did that to me,’ because sometimes the media goes too far, and the way they portray some stories it’s, it’s not correct, it’s not right.� During the 2016 presidential campaign, at least 13 women accused Donald Trump of sexual harassment or sexual assault. (

1/ Rick Gates requested proposals in 2016 from an Israeli company to create fake online identities and use social media to manipulate and influence the election. Gates joined the Trump campaign along with Paul Manafort. Both have been indicted on multiple charges of financial fraud and tax evasion. One proposal from the company, known as Psy-Group, called for the creation of fake online personas to target and persuade 5,000 delegates to the 2016 Republican National Convention by attacking Ted Cruz. Another called for opposition research and “complementary intelligence activities� aimed at Clinton and her close allies. There is no evidence that the Trump campaign acted on the proposals, but Psy-Group owner Joel Zamel did meet with Trump Jr. in August 2016. (New York Times)

2/ Nikki Haley resigned as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and will leave at the end of the year. Trump said that Haley informed him about six months ago that she would “take a break� at the end of her first two years. Haley said she doesn’t plan to run for president against Trump in 2020 and will support Trump’s re-election. Trump plans to name a successor in two to three weeks (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / Axios / NBC News / CNN)

After announcing her resignation, Haley called Jared Kushner a “hidden genius that no one understands.� She added: “We’re a better country because [Jared and Ivanka Trump are] in this administration.� (The Hill / Axios)

👋 Who The Fuck Has Left The Trump Administration. A timeline of all the departures so far… (WTFJHT Community Forum)

3/ Trump said he thought there was no one “more competent in the world� than Ivanka Trump for the U.N. ambassador job. While he thinks his daughter would make for an “incredible� ambassador, he also acknowledged that he “would be accused of nepotism.� (NBC News / Axios)

poll/ 54% of likely voters say they support the Democrat in their district while 41% back the Republican in a generic ballot. 62% of Democrats say they’re enthusiastic to vote while 52% of Republicans are excited...

1/ The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court in a 50-48 vote. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted “present,� although she said she opposed the nomination. Joe Manchin was the lone “yes� vote from the Democrats. Kavanaugh is the first justice nominated by a president who lost the popular vote, confirmed by senators representing less than half of the country, while also having his nomination opposed by a majority of the country. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / The Guardian / NPR)

Chief Justice John Roberts has already received more than a dozen judicial misconduct complaints against Kavanaugh. Roberts has chosen not to refer the complaints to a judicial panel for investigation. (Washington Post)

The campaign to impeach Justice Kavanaugh has begun. A petition to impeach Kavanaugh gathered more than 125,000 signatures, but while it takes majority of the House to impeach a federal official, removing them requires a two-thirds supermajority of the Senate – or 67 votes. (Newsweek / NBC News)

2/ Trump called the allegations against Kavanaugh “a hoax that was set up by the Democrats.� He said talk of impeaching Kavanaugh was “an insult to the American public.� (The Hill / Washington Post)

Mitch McConnell called for an investigation into the leak of Christine Blasey Ford’s letter to Diane Feinstein, which alleges that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school. (Politico)

John Kelly formed a working group to prepare for the possibility of investigations if Democrats win the House. “Subpoenas flowing into a White House create paralysis,� said Neil Eggleston, Obama’s White House counsel. “The whole system stops while everyone tries to comply with subpoenas and prepare to testify.� (Axios)

Susan Rice said she’ll decide after the midterm elections on whether to run and try to unseat Susan Collins in 2020, who was the deciding vote to confirm Kavanaugh. Rice was Obama’s national security adviser. (ABC News /

1/ The Senate voted 51-49 to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. Republican Lisa Murkowski voted not to advance the nomination. She called the cloture vote “a mistake,� saying Kavanaugh is “not the best man for the court at this time.� Flake told reporters he would support Kavanaugh on the final vote, “unless something big changes.� A final floor vote is expected to take place on Saturday. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

🗳 How senators voted. (Politico)

🔥 LIVE UPDATES: The Guardian / Wall Street Journal / CNN / CBS News

2/ Susan Collins will support Kavanaugh’s nomination, effectively ensuring enough votes for his confirmation. During a lengthy speech, Collins said the confirmation process has “been in steady decline for more than 30 years,� with Kavanaugh’s nomination hitting “rock bottom.� She said it’s her “fervent hope� that Kavanaugh will “work to lessen the divisions in the Supreme Court.� Collins added that “the MeToo movement is real,� that “it matters,� is “needed and it is long overdue,� but that Christine Blasey Ford’s “allegations fail to meet the more-likely-than-not standard� and “I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.� (CNBC / NBC News / Associated Press / Washington Post)

3/ Joe Manchin will also vote “yes� on Kavanaugh’s nomination, announcing his decision immediately after Collins. Manchin is a Democrat up for re-election in a red state. Machin said he had “reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh and the temperament he displayed in the hearing,� but “found Judge Kavanaugh to be a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution and determine cases based on the legal findings before him.� (Axios /

1/ The White House is “fully confident� that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed by the Senate after receiving the FBI report. The White House said it found no evidence in the FBI report corroborating Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. Mitch McConnell scheduled a procedural vote for Friday. If the motion passes, senators will have 30 hours to debate Kavanaugh’s confirmation before making the final decision. (Washington Post / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

More than 1,700 law professors signed onto a letter opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. The letter to the Senate says “the unprecedented and unfathomable demeanor of Judge Kavanaugh� during his hearing last week displayed a lack of judicial restraint and should disqualify him from serving on the nation’s highest court. (Politico / Washington Post)

A group of 100,000 Christian churches called for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be withdrawn, saying he “exhibited extreme partisan bias and disrespect towards certain members of the committee and thereby demonstrated that he possesses neither the temperament nor the character essential for a member of the highest court in our nation.� The National Council of Churches represents 45 million churchgoers in the U.S. (Fortune)

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens doesn’t think Kavanaugh belongs on the Supreme Court, saying his performance during the Senate confirmation hearing suggests he lacks the temperament for the job. (Palm Beach Post)

A former Kavanaugh classmate at Yale said the Supreme Court nominee lied under oath about his drinking and the meaning of his yearbook entries. “Brett Kavanaugh stood up under oath and lied about his drinking and about the meaning of words in his yearbook,� writes James Roche. “He did so baldly, without hesitation or reservation.� Roche said there is “zero chance� that Deborah Ramirez made up her accusation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party. He also said Kavanaugh lied about never blacking out from drinking, and about the definition of the word “boofing.� (CNN)

2/ Sens. Susan Collins and Jeff Flake called the FBI report “reassuring� and “thorough,� adding that they see “no additional corroborating information� to back up Ford’s allegations. Democrats called the report “incomplete,� saying the FBI – at the White House’s direction – limited the investigation to protect Kavanaugh. The two Republican senators said they are still undecided about how to vote, but a “yes� vote from both would secure Kavanaugh’s seat on the Supreme Court. (

1/ The FBI hasn’t interviewed Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford because it doesn’t have authority from the White House, despite Trump’s comment Monday that “the FBI should interview anybody that they want, within reason.� The White House has indicated to the FBI that testimony from Kavanaugh and Ford is sufficient. (Bloomberg)

2/ The FBI is expected to wrap up its investigation into sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh today. Ford has not been interviewed by the FBI. Her attorneys have demanded that the FBI interview her and other witnesses to the alleged incidents. Agents completed a first batch of interviews of four individuals closest to the alleged events, including Mark Judge, and are now interviewing Tim Gaudette, a Georgetown Preparatory School classmate of Kavanaugh who lived in the home where the July 1 party marked on Kavanaugh’s 1982 calendar was held. Another friend from Kavanaugh’s high school days, Chris Garrett, has also completed an FBI interview. Mitch McConnell plans to vote later this week and has vowed that “only senators will be allowed to look at� the FBI’s final report. (Politico / Washington Post)

McConnell rejected a request to have the FBI brief all senators on its report on sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, saying “I believe it would be used to further delay this nomination. Republican Senator John Kennedy called for McConnell to either make the FBI’s report public or release an independent synopsis of its findings. (The Hill / Reuters)

If the FBI report reaches the Senate by Wednesday, McConnell will file cloture today on the Kavanaugh nomination. The cloture vote would happen on Friday and, if successful, a final vote on Kavanaugh could take place Saturday night at the earliest. (Politico)

3/ The FBI has not contacted at least 40 potential corroborators or character witnesses about the allegations made against Kavanaugh by Ford and Deborah Ramirez. Two sources, however, say more interviews are happening with a focus on Kavanaugh’s high school friends who are listed as attending a July 1, 1982, party. (NBC News / CNN)

1/ Trump inherited his family’s wealth through fraud and questionable tax schemes, receiving the equivalent today of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. Trump has repeatedly claimed that “I built what I build myself.� Trump and his siblings used fake corporations to hide financial gifts from his parents, which helped his father claim millions in tax deductions. Trump also helped his parents undervalue their real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars when filing their tax returns. In total, Fred and Mary Trump transferred more than a $1 billion in wealth to their children and paid a total of $52.2 million in taxes (about 5%) instead of the $550+ million they should have owed under the 55% tax rate imposed on gifts and inheritances. Trump also “earned� $200,000 a year in today’s dollars starting at age 3 from his father’s companies. After college, Trump started receiving the equivalent of $1 million a year, which increased to $5 million a year when he was in his 40s and 50s. Trump has refused to release his income tax returns, breaking with decades of practice by past presidents. There is no time limit on civil fines for tax fraud. [Editor’s note: This is a must read. An abstract summary does not suffice.] (New York Times)

11 takeaways from the investigation into Trump’s wealth. (New York Times)

A federal judge ruled that a group of nearly 200 Democratic senators and representatives have the legal standing to sue Trump to prove he violated the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause by doing business with foreign governments while in office. (Washington Post / USA Today)

2/ The New York State Tax officials are investigating the allegations that Trump and his family committed “instances of outright fraud� in order to transfer millions of dollars. “The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,� a spokesman from New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said. (CNBC)

3/ Paul Manafort met with Robert Mueller’s office as part of his cooperation agreement. Following his guilty plea last month to conspiracy against the U.S. and conspiring to obstruct justice, Manafort is required to cooperate “fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly … in any and all matters as to which the government deems the cooperation relevant.� (Politico)

4/ The intermediary between Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told Senate Intelligence Committee that he will plead the Fifth Amendment in response to its subpoena for testimony and documents. Randy Credico spent more than two hours last month testifying before Robert Mueller’s grand jury about stolen Democratic emails. Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, said Credico was his intermediary to Assange and WikiLeaks. (Politico)

5/ Trump directed an effort to pr...

1/ The U.S., Mexico, and Canada reached a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, which will be known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump called the agreement “historic news,� “an extraordinary agreement,� and “a new dawn,� claiming that it “solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA� and that it’s “the most important� trade deal ever agreed to by the U.S. The new trade deal leaves much of the old NAFTA deal intact. Congressional approval, however, is uncertain if Democrats retake control of the House since Congress won’t vote to ratify the agreement until 2019. The deal was reached with Canada shortly before a midnight Sunday deadline imposed by the Trump administration. (New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC / Politico / BBC)

2/ Trump said he supports a “very comprehensive� but “quick� FBI investigation into the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh as long as it’s “within reason,� because “we don’t want to go on a witch hunt, do we?� Trump, the White House, and Senate Republicans initially asked the bureau to limit interviews to four people: Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth, high school friends of Kavanaugh’s; Leland Keyser, a high school friend of Christine Blasey Ford; and Deborah Ramirez, another of the accusers. The White House, however, has reportedly authorized the FBI to expand its investigation, which Trump wants completed by the end of the week. In a letter to the White House and FBI, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee listed more than two dozen people they wanted interviewed as part of the investigation. (New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / The Guardian)

3/ Sens. Jeff Flake and Chris Coons said that if the FBI investigation finds Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee then his nomination would likely not move forward. During an interview, Flake and Coons were asked, “If Kavanaugh is shown to have lied to the committee, nomination’s over?� Flake responded, “Oh yes.� Coons added: “I would think so.� (CNN / Washington Post)

4/ Trump called the FBI investi...