INTERVIEW — SUSAN FERRECHIO — chief congressional correspondent for the Washington Examiner

• KAVANAUGH/FORD HEAD TO THE HILL THURSDAY: Discuss what Thursday’s hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford will look like. Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation could be on the line as he and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct, will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday
• SENATE SHOWDOWN FOR KAVANAUGH, FORD: As an extraordinary series of uncorroborated, lurid last-minute allegations threatens to derail his confirmation to the Supreme Court, nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford, the California professor accusing him of sexually assaulting her more than three decades ago, are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning …  The stakes for Kavanaugh could not be higher:  Key swing-vote senators have said Thursday’s hearing, which will begin at 10 a.m. ET, presents a pivotal opportunity to assess Ford’s credibility and determine whether to advance Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court. It will also be a chance for the public to see Ford, in person, explain in detail what she claims happened at the Maryland house party in 1982 where Kavanaugh allegedly jumped on top of her and tried to muffle her screams — and why she didn’t tell anyone about the episode until 2012. The proceedings will commence with opening statements from Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. After taking an oath, Ford will deliver the prepared remarks she has already provided publicly, according to a schedule provided by the committee. Each senator on the committee will then be afforded a single five-minute round of questions, with the opportunity to ask questions alternating between Democrats and Republicans.  Thursday’s hearing is supposed to focus solely on Ford’s allegations, not the others that have surfaced against Kavanaugh in recent days.
• President Trump is standing by Kavanaugh, calling Democrats ‘con artists’ and predicting that their attempts to block his Supreme Court confirmation will backfire
• Senate Judiciary hires female outside counsel to question Kavanaugh accuser on Thursday.  Republicans have retained Rachel Mitchell, an experienced sex-crimes prosecutor, to handle some of their questioning, saying it will help avoid an overtly political atmosphere. . Mitchell, according to a news release from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, is on leave from her role as deputy county attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. There, she also is the chief of the special victims division.
• Murkowski, key vote in Kavanaugh confirmation, signals support for accuser, FBI probe. Just days before Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to hold a critical vote on whether to recommend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the full Senate, a key swing vote Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, seemed to suggest that her support for the nominee is wavering. “We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified,” Murkowski said in an interview on Monday night. “It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed.”