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By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer, Daniel Lippman and Eli Okun

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MORE ON KAVANAUGH ... MICHAEL AVENATTI tweeted out a sworn declaration from JULIE SWETNICK, his client. She writes that she was the victim of a gang or "train" rape at a high school party in approximately 1982 at which "Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present" and she believes she was drugged.

-- She also accuses Kavanaugh, Judge and their friends of consistently drinking to excess, fondling girls without their consent, making crude remarks and trying to spike the punch at parties. And she says other witnesses can back up her claims. The full statement

-- KAVANAUGH RESPONDS ... via AP's Zeke Miller: "This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don't know who this is and this never happened."

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP tweeting on Avenatti at 12:47 p.m.: "Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesn't want people to look at his past record and relationships - a total low-life!"

KAVANAUGH'S WRITTEN TESTIMONY ... The Senate Judiciary Committee released Kavanaugh's prepared testimony that he will deliver at tomorrow's hearing.

KEY QUOTES ...

-- "Over the past few days, other false and uncorroborated accusations have been aired. There has been a frenzy to come up with something-anything, no matter how far-fetched or odious-that will block a vote on my nomination. These are last-minute smears, pure and simple. They debase our public discourse. And the consequences extend beyond any one nomination. Such grotesque and obvious character assassination-if allowed to succeed-will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country."

-- ON HIGH SCHOOL ... "Dr. Ford's allegation dates back more than 36 years, to a party that she says occurred during our time in high school. I spent most of my time in high school focused on academics, sports, church, and service.

"But I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now. But that's not why we are here today. What I've been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehavior. I never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford described." The testimony

-- TUNE IN ... SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R-ARIZ.) says he'll speak about the hearing on the Senate floor at 1:15.

BREAKING -- "Merkley to seek injunction to stop Kavanaugh vote," by Elana Schor: "Merkley's bid for an injunction 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." POLITICO

CNN'S KAITLAN COLLINS, JEFF ZELENY, KEVIN LIPTAK and DANA BASH: "Increasingly worried, Trump takes over Kavanaugh defense": "President Donald Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way Brett Kavanaugh has defended himself in wake of sexual assault allegations that have threatened to derail his Supreme Court nomination ... Trump made the decision to hold a news conference on the eve of the hearing, making it the fourth he has held as president." CNN

BIG MORNING FOR PELOSI ... HOUSE MINORITY LEADER NANCY PELOSI embarrassed a cadre of House Democrats who were trying to change the threshold by which the party nominates a candidate to be speaker.

-- THE EFFORT was led by REP. EARL PERLMUTTER (D-COLO.), and sought to change the rules to say the candidate for speaker needed 218 votes, instead of half plus one of the caucus. That threshold would've lined up with what Democrats needed on the House floor.

-- PERLMUTTER tried to punt the issue to after the election, and Pelosi sought an immediate vote. Perlmutter backed down.

-- THE CRUX: Pelosi could've defeated this measure, but ultimately didn't have to. The caucus also agreed to move its party elections from Dec. 5 to no earlier than Nov. 28.

-- AS WE WROTE WHEN THIS CAME OUT, this is good for Pelosi. It shows the opposition, for the moment, is limited and weak.

-- ANOTHER BIT OF GOOD NEWS FOR PELOSI: ROLL CALL: "Are the GOP's Pelosi Attacks Effective? Public Does Not Seem to Think So"

-- REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MICH.) threw her hat in the ring today for Democratic leadership. She is seeking co-chair the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. Her letter to colleagues

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Good Wednesday afternoon. THE HOUSE CONTINUES TO SLIP AWAY FROM REPUBLICANS ... DAVE WASSERMAN of the COOK POLITICAL REPORT: "Six weeks out, Republican ads aiming to torpedo Democrats out of the gate don't appear to be sticking. House polling - both public and private - was already tenuous for the GOP, but has become noticeably more dire since Labor Day.

"Independent polls in the last two weeks show Reps. Mimi Walters (CA-45), Leonard Lance (NJ-07) and Dave Brat (VA-07) trailing. Not long ago, they were in the Lean Republican column.

"There are a few notable exceptions. Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06) has erased his deficit, in part thanks to GOP ads hitting Democrat Amy McGrath for bragging at an out-of-state fundraiser that 'I am further left than anybody in the state of Kentucky.' And, Republicans continue to see better-than-expected numbers in significantly Hispanic districts like California's 39th CD, Florida's 26th and 27th CDs and Texas's 23rd CD.

"But both parties are seeing Republicans' numbers continuing to erode in professional suburbs, and some in the GOP fear they still haven't hit 'rock bottom.' This week, five more districts move towards Democrats. Overall, 13 GOP seats now lean to Democrats and another 29 are Toss Ups. Democrats, who only need 23 seats, remain clear favorites for the majority." Full House ratings

THE INVESTIGATIONS ... JUST POSTED -- "Revealed: What Erik Prince and Moscow's Money Man Discussed in That Infamous Seychelles Meeting," by The Daily Beast's Betsy Woodruff and Erin Banco: "Joint U.S.-Russian raids to kill top terrorists. Teamwork between an American government agency and a sanctioned Russian fund. Moscow pouring money into the Midwest.

"These are just a few of the ideas the head of a Russian sovereign wealth fund touched on during his meeting with former Blackwater head Erik Prince in the Seychelles, just weeks before President Donald Trump's inauguration, according to a memo exclusively reviewed by The Daily Beast." The Daily Beast

IN TURTLE BAY ... SOME NEWSY COMMENTS FROM POTUS -- TRUMP said upon entering the U.N. this morning that "every option is on the table with respect to Venezuela," but he "would certainly be open to" meeting with President Nicolás Maduro.

-- At a counterproliferation briefing, Trump accused China, without evidence, of interfering in U.S. elections as a result of the countries' escalating trade disputes, per pooler John Fritze of USA Today: "They don't want me or us to win because I am the first president to ever challenge China on trade." Fact-check from WaPo's David Nakamura

-- He seemed to endorse a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying, "That's what I think works best."

-- Trump also indicated he would talk about his summit with Kim Jong Un this afternoon at his press conference in New York.

CBS' EMILY TILLETT: "Pompeo says messages from Kim Jong Un 'consistent' with 'intent on denuclearizing'"

-- SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO is going next to Pyongyang next month.

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP announced that her Africa trip, which starts Monday, will include stops in Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt.

NAHAL TOOSI: "Trump gets foreign policy lashing at U.N. meeting": "As President Donald Trump sat stone-faced at the head of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, the criticisms of his foreign policy rolled in overtly and obliquely." POLITICO

MORE KAVANAUGH FALLOUT -- The POLITICO ledeall from John Bresnahan, Rachael Bade, Burgess Everett and Elana Schor: "Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges that Kavanaugh drunkenly assaulted her in high school, submitted affidavits to the Judiciary Committee from her husband and three friends who said Ford told them of the incident, in some cases several years ago. ...

"But the Judiciary Committee's Republicans ... have requested a polygraph and therapist's notes from Ford that were used to underpin her original story in the Washington Post about the 1982 incident. Those materials have not been provided to the panel as of Wednesday morning. And Deborah Ramirez ... has declined so far to speak to Judiciary Committee staffers ... Ramirez's [lawyer], though, told NBC's 'Today' show on Wednesday that his client would testify before Congress." POLITICO

-- JOSH GERSTEIN, "Feinstein: Kavanaugh misled about grand jury secrecy in Vince Foster probe": "Feinstein told POLITICO that she has now identified another area in which she believes Kavanaugh was not truthful in communications with senators. She said that by directing officials to speak to reporters during the investigation of President Bill Clinton, Kavanaugh may have violated grand jury secrecy laws -- even though he told her and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) he never broke those rules. ...

"Democrats have so far gotten little traction with their arguments that Kavanaugh was not upfront with senators during his testimony and in other official communication with lawmakers. But the latest instance could bolster their claims that his credibility is in question." POLITICO

-- "Democrats in the dark on eve of historic Kavanaugh hearing," by Elana Schor and Rachael Bade: "Ford has had no apparent contact with the people who could help her most through the ordeal: Senate Democrats. ... That lack of communication underscores the political minefield both Democrats and the 51-year-old college professor are crossing ahead of the hearing." POLITICO

2018 WATCH ... AD WARS -- "Republican Attack Ads Overwhelmed by the Democratic Wave," by National Journal's Josh Kraushaar: "In a handful of pivotal races, the [Congressional Leadership Fund's] opposition research changed the trajectory of the campaign, perhaps salvaging several seats that once looked lost. But in a sign of how challenging the political landscape is for Republicans, most of the targeted Democrats are still in a solid position to win-with the GOP's best opposition material used up.

"Republicans tracking the group's strategy argue that the aggressive approach has had the greatest effect in conservative-minded districts where voters support Trump but the Republican members are unusually unpopular. The approach has been less effective in swing suburban districts where a critical mass of voters is eager to cast Democratic ballots to place a check on an unpopular president." National Journal

TRADE WARS -- VICTORIA GUIDA: "Trump's trade wars threaten to disrupt Fed outlook for economy"

-- NYT'S JENNIFER STEINHAUER in Ottawa: "Nafta's Fate Hinges on a Four-Letter Word: Milk": "Canada's longstanding policy of managing its dairy supply with production quotas and high levies on imports has become an intractable sticking point in negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement ...

"But the melee over milk is puzzling to many trade experts. The United States supports its dairy farmers with a complex price support system that is economically similar to Canada's system of supply management. And while American dairy farmers may want to sell more milk into Canada, trade observers say access to a relatively small sector of the agricultural economy is not worth jeopardizing a trade relationship that has become critical to industries across North America." NYT

SHUTDOWN WATCH ... SARAH FERRIS, "'Unforgiving' news cycle buries GOP spending victory": "By Wednesday night, both chambers of Congress are expected to have cleared 87 percent of federal funding without a single blow-up, and with days to spare before the Sept. 30 deadline for fiscal 2019. That includes the Pentagon's first on-time annual funding bill in 22 years, a success that would normally be a selling point Republicans would be touting six weeks ahead of a midterm election. ...

"Still, key lawmakers and aides say they aren't even sure Trump will sign that legislation before the Sept. 30 deadline, leaving the possibility of a last-minute shutdown. ... The GOP victories in the package are extensive. It includes the biggest pay raise for troops in nearly a decade, billions of dollars to fight opioid addiction and more cash for the Education Department than either chamber initially approved." POLITICO

-- CLIP AND SAVE ALERT: SPEAKER PAUL RYAN (R-WIS.) said he's confident Trump will sign this bill.

RACHAEL BADE and KYLE CHENEY: "Ryan breaks with Freedom Caucus over Rosenstein's fate": "Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday said he would leave embattled Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's fate to President Donald Trump, arguing that House Republicans should stay out their dispute between the two men for now - and angering conservatives in the process." POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- "'He's going to do it ... He's got a theory,'" by David Siders: "Gov. John Hickenlooper is methodically moving toward a 2020 presidential bid that would cut against the leftward grain of the Democratic Party's base and draw on elements of John McCain's 2000 campaign blueprint. ...

"On issues such as the environment and health care, he argues, Democrats' differences are often overstated. ... If he runs, Hickenlooper is expected to place heavy emphasis on economic development, especially in rural America - an issue that appears better suited for a general election audience than the Democratic base." POLITICO

COMING ATTRACTIONS -- Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security is presenting NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller with its 2018 International Trailblazer Award at 8 p.m. in Brussels tonight. Details

SPOTTED: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) celebrating National Lobster Day at the Salt Line yesterday. Pic

BONUS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Kris Perry, president of Save the Children Action Network. A trend she thinks deserves more attention: "Two things: the increasing number of candidates running for governor who are touting the benefits of early ed and the e-bike! Glad to see there are now more e-bikes available in D.C. Nothing better than hopping on one and taking a spin around the Arboretum." Q&A


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