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09/19/2018 08:01 AM EDT


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

FORD WANTS FBI INVESTIGATION BEFORE HEARING -- Christine Blasey Ford's attorneys are recommending an FBI investigation of her claim that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s, highlighting it in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders as what "should be the first step in addressing her allegations." The letter also hints that Ford may not testify publicly before the panel on Monday. While Ford has gotten "a stunning amount of support," her lawyers write, "her worst fears have materialized." They say she's been harassed, threatened, impersonated online, hacked and forced to relocate her family.

They note that while Ford's life has been "turned upside down," the committee "scheduled a public hearing for her to testify at the same table as Judge Kavanaugh in front of two dozen U.S. Senators on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident." "The hearing was scheduled for [five] short days from today and would include interrogation by Senators who appear to have made up their minds that she is 'mistaken' and 'mixed up,'" they write. The committee says it didn't plan to have Ford and Kavanaugh on the same panel and that staff offered her multiple dates to testify in public or private.

"The invitation for Monday still stands," Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said. "Dr. Ford's testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay." Ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), however, seconded Ford's call for a delay, calling the "rushed process" unfair and reminiscent of the committee's treatment of Anita Hill in 1991. The FBI investigated Hill's sexual harassment allegations against now-Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before her testimony.

Though Ford hasn't committed to appear, Kavanaugh has. "Still, whether and when [Republicans] move forward depends on a handful of swing vote Republicans, namely Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Bob Corker of Tennessee," Burgess, Elana, Eliana Johnson and Brent D. Griffiths report. "Those senators are either undecided or insisted upon slowing down the process in order to hear Ford. Regardless of whether Ford appears, Republicans said they could hold a committee vote on Kavanaugh as soon as next week." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca6ace6451911cd48f31acd360ff410a90172e6b7d466f7b2a7e2078132460b5f8fdfa439acd1f0b2f

Related: "How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right," by Anita Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca3b9cee03dadb1518c91e081329e6abb6530a3f94403a526321086038c8922f1bded5707c800e88ec and "When 11 men interrogate: GOP tries to head off Kavanaugh debacle," from Burgess and Elana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca25ec3d628b9728e24db28959efd1093f67d796d535a8a5675e56e8ac2dd8cfc56e0042b242066d9e

KAVANAUGH'S PREPARATION -- The White House has played a large role in coordinating and preparing for Monday's hearing. Kavanaugh met with White House counsel Donald McGahn and other officials for hours on Monday and Tuesday. They watched news coverage and talked through their strategy, and Kavanaugh personally phoned senators. "White House officials engaged in a two-hour practice session, known as a murder board, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with Kavanaugh, where he answered questions on his past, his partying, his dating and the accuser's account," The Washington Post's Seung Min Kim, Robert Costa and John Wagner report. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412caa43206b188a70ccff3bc0fc943537d592e2c64520ea10bc6dc0d4e6018ce50782007df91d2f184f0

Related reads: "Kavanaugh crisis bonds Trump with wary GOP," per Eliana Johnson, Burgess and Bres: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412cab7f42bdbdb4acbe787ec928c271a736d5b000cfcedd64b890739b3d748315b1c198ecb844a546b2b and "Dems ask McGahn if he knew of Kavanaugh assault claim," via Ramsen Shamon: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca8ac2dc8d790c6958d1ba8dc16bceb7f8d04277c91068a1b98a378b672ea0daf583adc5ecddce0342

FIRST IN HUDDLE: HUNDREDS OF STATE, LOCAL OFFICIALS BACK KAVANAUGH -- A massive group of more than 400 state and local officials are urging the Senate to swiftly confirm Kavanaugh to the high court, writing in an open letter that he is "the single most qualified person in the country to serve on the Supreme Court." The officials say Kavanaugh "has a proven track record of strict constitutionalism" and "is a consensus builder who works with all stakeholders to assess cases based on the law rather than personal preference." The letter, however, makes no mention of Kavanaugh's alleged sexual assault.

"Judge Kavanaugh's commitment to his community, to mentorship and statesmanship, is unrivaled among American jurists," the letter says. "There is no attribute of Judge Kavanaugh's character, intellect or life of public service that should preclude his immediate installment to the Supreme Court of the United States." The letter and signatories: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca9aba340bb1c3de0020fc8c765d997f95b566280e481e175540d75b5983b6c2837e1ecdef9d5bb33f

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Sept. 19.

TUESDAY'S MOST CLICKED: My report with Bres on the members poised to become committee chairmen if Democrats win back the House was the winner.

SENATE PASSES CR, BUDGET PACKAGE -- The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that would fund parts of the government at current levels through Dec. 7. "The short-term bill came attached to a massive budget package containing full-year 2019 funding for the Pentagon as well as for the Labor, Education and Health and Human Services departments," The Washington Post's Erica Werner writes. "GOP leaders designed the package to combine key Republican and Democratic priorities in an attempt to garner overwhelming bipartisan support." It passed 93-7. The House is expected to take up the legislation when lawmakers returns next week, but it's unclear whether President Donald Trump will sign it.

While it boosts military spending, it fails to provide more money for Trump's border wall. "The president has toyed repeatedly with shutting down the government to try to get more funding for the border wall, at times saying there would not be a shutdown and other times saying he would welcome one," she notes. "Congressional Republicans are convinced that a shutdown just ahead of the midterms would be disastrous." Trump has requested $5 billion for the wall, but Senate Democrats have only agreed to $1.6 billion. And Republican leaders prefer to fight over the funding after the midterms. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca8ae226913b1f66c91df64a6f8a3b3e0d654ba616523c9ec1447c92b57e1d9b330d8a9ddd53e75ed8

UNACCOUNTED FOR -- Senate investigators say HHS couldn't determine with certainty the whereabouts of 1,488 of more than 11,000 migrant children who entered the U.S. illegally that the agency had placed with sponsors this year. "The inability to track the whereabouts of migrant children after they have been released to sponsors has raised concerns that they could end up with human traffickers or be used as laborers by people posing as relatives," The New York Times' Ron Nixon reports. HHS, however, contends that the children aren't lost. "Their sponsors ... simply did not respond or could not be reached when this voluntary call was made," HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said, referencing
follow-up calls made from April 1 through June 30.

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced legislation Tuesday "to clarify the department's responsibility for ensuring the safety of migrant children, even when they were no longer in its custody," Nixon notes. "The legislation would require officials at [HHS] to run background checks before placing children with sponsors. It also would compel the department to make sure that sponsors provide proper care for the children in their custody, including making sure they appear at their immigration court hearings." It also calls for department officials to notify state governments before the children are placed with sponsors in those states and would increase the
number of immigration court judges. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412caaa3ee9364eb174fe9abfaa6df082f7eb9a6bc55dd4c453006987b6adfaa2bae6bb9602aa0ab92e4b

GRASSLEY THREATENS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) threatened congressional action over the Trump administration's failure to consult Congress before announcing a proposal to slash the number of refugees the U.S. will accept next year. "[I]t is imperative the agencies abide by their statutory mandate to consult with Congress before any number is proposed," he said. "Yet, for the second year in a row, the administration has willfully ignored its statutory mandate to inform and consult with Congress, including designated members of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, about the number of refugees to be admitted during the next
fiscal year." Much more: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412cadc0af956113a21295f7f60c88b5871c446582cf08792769290b69781c61a4228d17f446327951520

Related: "Trump shifts refugee focus away from Middle East and Africa," by Ted Hesson: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca575b1d97397a84591024075cad08beb58c88cb1409566fffb5cddfcbe8fa48349a72730146c72f88

SIMON SISTERS SPEND MILLIONS ON SENATE -- A pair of Indiana shopping mall scions who have opposed Mike Pence for years over his abortion and religious freedom laws as governor has emerged as top spenders this cycle. The Simon sisters -- Deborah Simon and Cynthia Simon-Skjodt -- "have poured $12 million into backing Democrats, making their combined contributions the seventh largest chunk of cash donated to either party this cycle," Maggie Severns reports. The sisters donated less than $50,000 to federal candidates during the last midterm elections. They spent $152,000 on federal causes and $230,500 to Indiana candidates in 2016.

"But the spring after Trump and Pence were elected, each sister donated $1 million to Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats -- a down payment on reelecting home state Sen. Joe Donnelly and helping Democrats take back the chamber, according to multiple people familiar with the donations," she writes. "The sisters have now donated a total of $5.5 million to Senate Democrats' PAC and have given millions more to the political arm of Planned Parenthood, the Democratic National Committee, American Bridge 21st Century and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, among other organizations." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca07e232d565d9f38df726d79708a1f09f70281cb0fe9b8ff67c52188ee7e045231fda08f0645d820a

Related read: "The longshots: 5 unlikely races that could tip the Senate," from Charlie Mahtesian and Steven Shepard: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca31dd00dd3a18b0723c30ab4954101ba2ae429c17fe511037a37ef8d5cceaf45578722e755310f5da

SHALALA LOSING? -- Democrats are alarmed by Donna Shalala's campaign, which is struggling to pull away from former Spanish-language TV newswoman Maria Elvira Salazar in a district Hillary Clinton won by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016. Internal polls from both campaigns show Salazar leading or only narrowly trailing Shalala. "Either way, the race is far too close for Democrats in Miami, who have been buzzing for months that Shalala's campaign appeared to run out of steam well before the Aug. 28 primary, when she squeaked by with a 4.4 percentage point win," Marc Caputo reports. "Insiders had been expecting a blowout." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca4c4775832de2c948fb4e21c6e113883b997f8ca8b7aec166123984a3b37e816c49998c7f54a233f3

DARK MONEY DISCLOSURES -- Dark money donors may soon come to light. "[T]he Supreme Court allowed a lower court decision to go into effect on Tuesday invalidating a key regulation that created a loophole for undisclosed spending," HuffPost's Paul Blumenthal writes. "As of Sept. 18, any group that runs an independent expenditure -- election ads that expressly call for the election or defeat of a candidate -- in excess of $250 will have to disclose all political donors above $200." According to the Center for Responsive Politics, dark money groups have spent $65 million on the midterms already. The ruling doesn't cover issue ads from outside groups that don't call for the election or defeat of
a candidate. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412cac96b8a43a06b489dbc62a6a4d2151fbe67a19ba8a362a25d448232796a7471ff849e9ebea0d95921

CRS REPORTS PUBLIC -- The Library of Congress announced that it has begun providing Congressional Research Service reports to the public online. "Created by experts in CRS, the reports present a legislative perspective on topics such as agriculture policy, counterterrorism operations, banking regulation, veteran's issues and much more," said Carla Hayden, the librarian of Congress. "CRS provides authoritative and confidential research and analysis for Congress' deliberative use." Users can access the reports by searching keywords at crsreports.congress.gov. "There is no obvious link to browse all the reports -- functionality that is available to staffers inside the Capitol -- though
entering a blank search will bring up a list of the reports that have been posted," The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan writes.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, applauded the new policy, which he played a role in crafting from the committee. "I am glad that the American people will finally have the same access to these taxpayer-funded reports that lobbyists and insiders enjoy," he said. "The Library of Congress and its CRS division are superb national resources. Open access to information is vital to a functioning democracy, and this rollout is long overdue." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=cf9909eae4e412ca74519a6407311df400f499cd0f4eff7b2d1614c71fb82026531fb2eb2af4cdef50d3a1b11a50f2b7

TRANSITIONS -- Valeria Sandoval is now a legislative correspondent for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). She was previously a legislative assistant for Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.).

Charlene MacDonald has joined FTI Consulting as a managing director in its strategic communications segment, focused on health care and life sciences. MacDonald was previously a senior policy adviser to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The House and Senate are out.

TUESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- No one correctly guessed that 2 years, 10 months and a day passed between Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- Which sitting senators voted on Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination in 1991? 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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