Josh Kraushaar and Brian Darling joined WMAL on Friday!

Mornings on the Mall

Friday, October 5, 2018

Hosts: Mary Walter and Vince Coglianese

Executive Producer: Heather Hunter

5am – A/B/C Democrats Turn on The FBI

• Democratic Senators Denounce FBI Investigation After Rumors That Report Came Out Clean (Daily Caller) Senate Democrats came out in force Wednesday against the FBI investigation into Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh following rumors that the report lacked evidence to corroborate Christine Blasey Ford’s claim of sexual misconduct.Calling the report a “product of an incomplete investigation,” the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California scolded the White House for tying the FBI’s hands.
• Senator Jeff Merkley: “I read the FBI report. This whole thing is a sham. This stunted, strangled investigation was designed to provide cover, not to provide the truth.”
• Senator Bob Menendez: “Just read the FBI report on Kavanaugh – if that’s an investigation, it’s a bulls**t investigation

 5am – D/E Kavanaugh Protestors:

• • Anti-Kavanaugh protesters take over the Hart Senate Office Bldg. atrium on Capitol Hill
  • Amy Schumer and Emily Ratajkowski detained
  • Capitol Police Charge 302 Individuals with Unlawfully Demonstrating in Senate Office Buildings

6am – A/B/C Mail carrier leaves mail on side of New Jersey road; quits job (Fox News) If there were no consequences, how would you quit your job? A U.S. Postal Service worker abandoned bins of mail on the side of a road in south New Jersey before quitting, authorities said – and an image of the dumped deliveries has gone viral. The piles of trashed mail date back to Aug. 8, but were discovered on Sunday in Pennsauken, NJ.com reported.

6am – D  KAVANAUGH: I Am an Independent, Impartial Judge (Wall Street Journal) “During the confirmation process, I met with 65 senators and explained my approach to the law. I participated in more than 30 hours of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I submitted written answers to nearly 1,300 additional questions. I was grateful for the opportunity. After all those meetings and after my initial hearing concluded, I was subjected to wrongful and sometimes vicious allegations. My time in high school and college, more than 30 years ago, has been ridiculously distorted. My wife and daughters have faced vile and violent threats.”

6am – E Vote ‘no’ on Kavanaugh (Washington Post)  AS SENATORS prepare to vote this week on Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, they, and the rest of the country, must wonder: Which Brett M. Kavanaugh are they evaluating? Is it the steady, conservative jurist he was reputed to be before his confirmation saga? Or is it a partisan operative harboring suspicions and resentments about Democrats, with possible misdeeds in his past? Unfortunately — and unnecessarily; it didn’t have to be this way — too many questions remain about his history for senators to responsibly vote “yes.” At the same time, enough has been learned about his partisan instincts that we believe senators must vote “no.”

 6am – F  Retired Supreme Court Justice: Kavanaugh does not belong on high court (My Palm Beach Post) Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Thursday said that high court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Stevens once lauded in one of his books, does not belong on the Supreme Court. Speaking to a crowd of retirees in Boca Raton, Stevens, 98, said Kavanaugh’s performance during a recent Senate confirmation hearing suggested that he lacks the temperament for the job

7am – A/B/C  The Kavanaugh Hearings Have Women Fired Up … to Vote Republican (The Slate) Women, are you angry? The accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are widely perceived to be a boon to Democrats heading into the midterm elections in November. “The women of this country identify with Dr. Ford and will not forget what is happening here,” Neera Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress, told NBC News over the weekend. “They are not angry, they are furious, and I expect the largest women’s turnout in a midterm—ever.”

7am-D Rifts Break Open at Facebook Over Kavanaugh Hearing (New York Times) The apology came from Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice president for global public policy. A day earlier, Mr. Kaplan had sat behind his friend, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, when the judge testified in Congress about allegations he had sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in high school. Mr. Kaplan’s surprise appearance prompted anger and shock among many Facebook employees, some of whom said they took his action as a tacit show of support for Judge Kavanaugh — as if it were an endorsement from Facebook itself.

 7am – E Accused doxxer of GOP senators allegedly threatened to publish lawmakers’ children’s health info (Fox News) Sources familiar with the case tell Fox News Cosko was in Sen. Hassan’s office, where he was caught using a login he was not authorized to use. Cosko earlier was let go by Senator Hassan’s office. A spokesman for Hassan says she “strongly denounces the alleged actions.” According to Bell’s statement, Cosko is alleged to have been confronted by the staffer and then walked out. Hours later the witness received an email from “[email protected]” saying: “If you tell anyone I will leak it all. Emails signal conversations gmails. Senators children’s health information and socials.”

8am – A Lawyer for Clinton campaign and DNC gave FBI documents for Russia probe, sources say (Fox News) A top lawyer working with the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign contacted the FBI’s general counsel in late 2016 and provided documents for the Russia probe as federal investigators prepared a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign aide Carter Page, sources close to a congressional investigation told Fox News, citing new testimony.  The FBI official who was contacted, James Baker, revealed the exchange to congressional investigators during a closed-door deposition Wednesday. He said Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann initiated contact with him and provided documents as well as computer storage devices on Russian hacking. The sources said Baker described the contact as unusual and the “only time it happened.”

8am – B/C INTERVIEW – JOSH KRAUSHAAR – political editor for National Journal

Topic: Republican enthusiasm surges amid Supreme Court battle(McClatchy DC)

• • • Five weeks from Election Day, Republicans are seeing tangible evidence of a spike in GOP enthusiasm that has eluded them all cycle.
    • “It’s got to be Kavanaugh,” said Republican pollster Robert Blizzard, coming to the same conclusion as GOP operatives nationwide: the Democrats’ efforts to block President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee are backfiring with Republicans who were previously apathetic about the midterms but are now angry—and engaged.

8am – D INTERVIEW –  INTERVIEW – BRIAN DARLING – Founder of Liberty Government Affairs,  Former Sen. Rand Paul Communications Director and Counsel and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation

Topic: Preview of today’s Kavanaugh vote

• • • Collins emerges from SCIF. Read all interviews and tip line transcripts. Has not reached a decision
    • Senator Heitkamp explains her Yes on Gorsuch and her No on Kavanaugh: “In addition to concerns about his past conduct, last Thursday’s hearing called into question Judge Kavanaugh’s current temperament, honesty, and impartiality.”

8am – E Thirty-one percent of millennials identify as a socialists (Daily Caller) Thirty-one percent of millennials identify as a Democratic socialist or socialist, according to a study by Maru/Blue and BuzzFeed News released Thursday. Participants were first asked what description “best reflects your current political leanings,” before being given options ranging from “Strong Democrat,” to “Strong Republican” or “Independent.” A total of 22 percent identified as “Strong Democrat,” versus 10 percent as “Strong Republican.”