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09/27/2018 07:59 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

MAKE OR BREAK -- Whether Brett Kavanaugh will become the ninth justice to sit on the Supreme Court hinges on what happens in this morning's high-stakes hearing with Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to publicly accuse the conservative jurist of sexual assault. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will begin the hearing with their opening statements. Then Ford will be sworn in and deliver her own opening statement before taking questions. Senators will have one five-minute round for questioning, which will alternate between Republicans and Democrats. Staff counsel or another committee member may ask
questions on another senator's behalf. Following Ford's testimony, Kavanaugh will be sworn in, deliver his opening statement and answer questions in an identical process.

"I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified," Ford will say. She will tell senators she's testifying out of civic duty and share her account of how she got here. She will reject accusations that she's a partisan pawn but acknowledge she doesn't have all the answers to what happened in the early 1980s. "I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget," she will say, while concluding: "It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr. Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth." Ford's opening statement:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b5c6edb599353d9ac94d7a63e12a24aa7cc78d57015c595be82397b9f09d3ef66323becc193861444

Kavanaugh will remind the committee that he "immediately, unequivocally, and categorically" denied Ford's allegation and decry "other false and uncorroborated accusations." "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process," Kavanaugh will say. "And the truth is that I have never sexually assaulted anyone--not in high school, not in college, not ever." He will condemn sexual assault and sympathize with victims. But he will also argue that he can't be the assailant Ford has made him out to be. "The allegation of misconduct is completely inconsistent with the rest of my life," he will say. Kavanaugh's opening statement: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b122d6c367acb9d69dbc8e012800cf53328b417c994264118ac2829508143ca48ee741c6b8a505292

Related: "Kavanaugh's GOP defenders on the hot seat at hearing," by Burgess and Bres: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b3eef83b5ba4836fe61ea50ab9f540cbd9c66341dd41585cac19d850c0c3e3cd1bf18975ccb5d1e1a "Career prosecutor brings wild-card element to Kavanaugh hearing," from The Washington Post: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b933bff2724de4f60db99a97980b84fd3b9cdf16a99c630cef887185324d6b9e3f50cf6a8e20efa02 and "Partisan camps will wage real-time battle during Ford-Kavanaugh hearing," per Christopher Cadelago: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b0db5d4c89d1de4763b80b5cf40755ebe1e0637b6e17607a9a7c8dc63a32476f894a365b615b8677c

WHERE THINGS STAND -- Kavanaugh is denying a third and fourth allegation, the former from Michael Avenatti client Julie Swetnick and the latter from an anonymous woman who accuses Kavanaugh of "very aggressively and sexually" shoving a woman against a wall in a bar in 1998. Kavanaugh told GOP investigators the anonymous charge is "ridiculous. Total twilight zone." "The transcript of Kavanaugh's Tuesday interview also cited another anonymous claim of sexual misconduct involving Kavanaugh, dating back to 1985 and sent to the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), which the judge also flatly denied to investigators," Elana and Burgess report.

"And GOP investigators said late Wednesday they received an additional anonymous claim of rape passed along by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)," they continue. "Republicans also said they have spoken to a man who believes he had an encounter with Christine Blasey Ford in 1982, not Kavanaugh." A senior Democratic aide expressed concern over Republicans' release of anonymous allegations "to make all allegations look frivolous." "We're focusing on the ones that have names attached," the aide said. Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b4f8c223e2c7566c4ad08fdaa2d656a82f788a086760be9fa543095bc41af3ba87e9edfc0e0fbe39e

Related reads: "Senate probed new allegation of misconduct against Kavanaugh," by NBC News: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b6d51c3e3351430779cab8dfecb0cbd72f5509f82b2ada93979f6f14d6939c3e9cb01f44f8ff22fff "Two Men Told Senate Staffers They Had 'The Encounter' With Christine Blasey Ford, Not Brett Kavanaugh," from BuzzFeed News' Zoe Tillman: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b7a37551c945916999da88942437db3557514ddadc8ce5f1ac8a56278e3ee13a7d35b89660fcce8dd and "How the Kavanaugh fiasco may change vetting forever," via Andrew Restuccia: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781ba3226f0b02a95ecaf2f946b50f0c9d401fc9caf1f382450ae5c2b36f4ac248e1dc9d2269154c988a

DEMS CONSIDER SLOWING KAVANAUGH'S CONFIRMATION -- Democrats know they can't stop Kavanaugh from ascending to the high court. His fate will likely be determined by a trio of undecided Republicans who will watch Thursday's hearing before making a decision: Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. But Democrats can try to slow the process. Republicans have scheduled a Friday committee vote, aiming to confirm Kavanaugh next week. "Liberal senators are hinting that someone in their caucus may mount a theatrical talking filibuster to draw attention to what they say is a rushed process as Kavanaugh faces ... accusations of misconduct as a teenager and young
man," Burgess reports. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b24cc561fb524f7fd90958ecb6f9612861d40c3dd736737314e432a6559dafb82b824cc2063c7209f

One Democrat is even seeking an injunction to stop the final floor vote. Sen. Jeff Merkley's (D-Ore.) push "hinges on the Senate's constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on nominees and charges that he's been prevented from fulfilling that due to the withholding of records on Kavanaugh's past service in the George W. Bush administration," Elana writes. His effort, of course, is unlikely to succeed in stopping the vote. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b1b8db83ffd42199e8f33a9148ed4048f10f8739521b264dc9a01bf20594857c29be81bf4d2e171c4

Related: "Flake: Kavanaugh vote will be 'forever steeped in doubt,'" by Burgess: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bb3577191c5c8b3ec7ecf409589ff36792e0444600b837de691b7670653802f5f81afd4c26eee98b5 "Collins privately raises concerns about new allegations, lack of subpoena for Kavanaugh friend," from CNN's Phil Mattingly and Manu Raju: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bab0b58831eb09cec911909d6d704a6917470cddb22f565e3073f93a860a16a6370588198006111e3 and "Alaska Republican under pressure on Kavanaugh vote -- and not just because of new allegations," via CNN's Daniella Diaz: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bfa15ccf4127c2a6989e31b667d9b04736992c2fc7ee5d8d93c7f7936781182be12fea2136ad8de68

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, Sept. 27.

** A message from the Free & Fair Markets Initiative: The Cambridge Analytica scandal rightfully set off alarms regarding data privacy, but Amazon is the prime example of a company stockpiling consumer data without accountability. Yesterday's Senate hearing was just the beginning - Amazon should share what they are doing with stockpiles of your sensitive data. Click here to learn more. **

WEDNESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: The Hill's report on Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) saying an election security bill won't pass Congress before the midterms was the winner.

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NO SHUTDOWN -- President Donald Trump indicated that he will sign legislation that funds the departments of Defense, Labor, Education and HHS and keeps the rest of the government running until Dec. 7. The House passed the funding bill 361-61, sending the measure to the president's desk. Trump pledged during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to "keep the government open," delaying a fight with Democrats over border security funding until after Election Day. The bill's boost in defense spending "is a win for Trump and congressional Republicans, but without the border-wall money Trump wanted, his support for the spending package had been in doubt," The Washington Post's Erica
Werner and Damian Paletta note. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b2b9563a6f8d92d8605e8f2a5f23ed96de86173347bb2bf37f3fbf4cedba0dc91c94c705a556f0d69

HOUSE PANEL TO VOTE ON RELEASE OF RUSSIA TRANSCRIPTS -- The House Intelligence Committee will vote tomorrow to publicly release dozens of transcripts it conducted in its now-closed Russia investigation. "The transcripts, from interviews primarily conducted between June 2017 and March 2018, include testimony from Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks, Roger Stone and other longtime Trump allies and associates, as well as his current campaign manager, Brad Parscale and former campaign leaders Corey Lewandowski and Steve Bannon," Kyle reports. Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) says the transcripts should be released before the election. "The Friday vote won't result in the immediate
release of the transcripts," Kyle cautions, noting that the intelligence community will have to review and redact them to protect classified information. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b48a2fac1d7028ee0999e3403be836333d07166c0e6b4cf171e86d23290bfeef428e1b157bd899f58

Related Russia read: "Rand Paul's Push to Lift Some Russia Sanctions Fizzles," by The Daily Beast's Andrew Desiderio: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b20e7453f31c95d9ac90521ad04c42c449ea4998a980d702c8ccfba7b9bcb3017feee9b484a6c5385

HOUSE GOP PASSES SYMBOLIC RESOLUTION -- House Republicans passed a resolution condemning voting by undocumented immigrants in local elections. "The measure ... could give House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) a degree of cover with immigration hard-liners within his caucus" as he seeks to become the top Republican in the next Congress, Ted Hesson writes. "If you are an American citizen in one of these cities, your vote in local elections counts less now than it did before," McCarthy said on the House floor. "You can thank your local politicians for that." While only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections, parents in San Francisco who aren't citizens will be allowed to vote
this year in local school board elections. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bdb260d8416e0aace3826fd7f308e68680ec39511ab2f13a083478390443efedb9f2bd72141d7a068

ANTI-PELOSI EFFORT FOUNDERS -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) challenged a small group of anti-Pelosi Democrats seeking to change caucus rules to make it harder for the California Democrat to become speaker, calling for an immediate vote on the proposal led by Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) and Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.). The two withdrew their motion but will call it up after the election. "The key for Pelosi at that time will be how many members Democrats can elect in the midterms, and who they are," Bres and Rachael report. House Democrats also moved the date of their leadership elections up a week. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b399db36e0871893bfc0fa257043c6344de29ec751d10e0ab7a0376c0d1f34c9347781f785ea86540

Related: "Centrist lawmakers band together to demand House reforms from next speaker," from The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b2a4dc83b2b924dbc01354b0f042d544130ee2f1dff42cf9929a2413ed7923e963873d51389921fab

DINGELL, CARTWRIGHT EYE DPCC CO-CHAIR -- Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) have announced their intention to serve as a co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee in the next Congress. Both declared their interest in the post in a "dear colleague" letter before members recess until after the midterms. Dingell highlights her district's diversity and says the Heartland should be represented as one of the three co-chairs, while Cartwright maintains that it's important to have a Rust Belt representative, someone who can connect with and win back rural and small-town voters. Dingell's letter: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b14f85c07cb9e2cdd2a09eb3eea0e0d92acac34ff46ad55150432d934ea7a890b06bef1d5d1787b6b and
Cartwright's letter: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781b5d5ad32eee42744d45b8e81eba23324f73481e1856596432b4c1cf46218cf4ea3380a191cc95cf8a

ELLISON ASKS FOR ETHICS INVESTIGATION -- Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who is running for state attorney general, said he will request that the House Ethics Committee investigate domestic abuse claims against him. Ellison denies abusing his ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan, who accused him of abuse in August. "I am taking this step now because I am innocent and eager to see this entire matter resolved," Ellison said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. The likely reality, however, is that nothing will happen, as Ellison is leaving Congress in January. "It probably should be [investigated], but you know, they won't get it started and then he will be gone," Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said prior to
Ellison's statement. "It's going to be a gesture more than anything else." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bf0c686283c0723bf1c861acaa6dcf53ac60f4c5f8979405df691ede6511a6328c2799f83a94bab67

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House gavels in at 10 a.m. with first votes expected between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and last votes expected between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Today's agenda: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b01e6b8bc27a781bbf3f2766bc63aae9bab11c9d736b2eff62c40063ab6a85f66492cb485d106f60b05a8e46b8aefa73 The Senate meets at 12 p.m. to resume consideration of Lisa Porter to be deputy under secretary of defense. At 12:40 p.m., the chamber will vote on Porter's confirmation.

AROUND THE HILL -- Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will hold a news conference to discuss how traumatic experiences like sexual assault can affect a survivor both mentally and physically and how Republicans ignored a trauma-informed approach in favor of protecting their Supreme Court nominee at 9 a.m. in S-207.

Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) will hold a hearing on the evolving human rights crisis in Nicaragua at 9:30 a.m. in 2200 Rayburn.

Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on allegations of sexual assault in the early 1980s at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.

Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) will hold a news conference on the state of public education and recovery efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at 11:30 a.m. in the House Triangle.

Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) will announce their commitment to only vote for a House speaker who will support their "Break the Gridlock" in Washington House rules reform package at 12:30 p.m. in HVC-Studio A.

Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-V.I.) will hold a forum to examine whether recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are meeting the needs of local students, parents and educators at 1:30 p.m. in 2360 Rayburn.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) will hold a hearing on findings from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' report on the assessment of minority voting rights access in the U.S. at 2:30 p.m. in 2226 Rayburn.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will join survivors of sexual assault and harassment, including Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), at a news conference where survivors will share their stories at 4 p.m. in S-211.

WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- Richard Costello was first to correctly guess that Rafael Caldera was the last president of Venezuela to address a joint meeting of Congress.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From Richard: Who became the first Supreme Court nominee to be successfully filibustered by the Senate, which justice created that vacancy and which president made the nomination? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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** A message from the Free & Fair Markets Initiative:

BIG TECH & THEIR BIG DATA HAD THEIR DAY ON CAPITOL HILL

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Amazon is the prime example of a company stockpiling consumer data with hardly any oversight or accountability. Yesterday's hearing was just the beginning. Click here to read our memo. **

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