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Author: Mary Chastain

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Mary Chastain

Mary is the resident libertarian. She covers stories in every vertical, but her favorite thing to do is take on the media. She saw its bias against the right when she was a socialist.

Mary loves the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, tennis, cats, Oxford comma, Diet Coke, and needlework.

Richard Vinneccy, the ex-boyfriend of Julie Swetnick, a woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, told Laura Ingraham last night that she threatened his family and never spoke of any incidents involving Kavanaugh. He also said:
He added that while he was not aware of Swetnick's political tendencies, "She always wanted to be the center of attention. . .. She was exaggerating everything. Everything that came out of her mouth was just exaggerations."
If you missed Professor Jacobsen's write-up of Swetnick's awful NBC interview, you need to read it.

The drama surrounding Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will continue for at least another week due to an investigation into the sexual assault claims against him. But it also means that every aspect of his life will now fall under the microscope, even if it has nothing to do with the sexual misconduct claims. Now people have materialized out of the woodwork to claim that Kavanaugh lied about his heavy drinking, yet it's nothing he denied in front of the committee. Also, Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, tweeted on Sunday night that one of Kavanaugh's classmates from Yale sent a tip to the Senate Judiciary Committee that a fraternity brother may have exposed himself to Deborah Ramirez, the second woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

NAFTA is now called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, after the three countries reached a new deal late Sunday night. From The Wall Street Journal:
The biggest impact is expected to be on the region’s largest industry, autos, requiring a greater portion of vehicles to be made in North America and with high-wage labor in the U.S. and Canada. The new deal for the first time sets rules for financial-services and digital businesses that have emerged since the bloc was created, aimed at pleasing sectors from drugmakers to Wall Street.

After a wild and crazy Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh today. Chairman Chuck Grassley said debating will begin at 9:30AM ET. Procedural vote in the Senate will occur on Saturday with the final confirmation vote by Tuesday. Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona sex crimes prosecutor who questioned Christine Blasey Ford, said she would not have prosecuted Kavanaugh or had the ability to obtain a search warrant.

At 10:00AM ET, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford will testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault back in high school. I will update this thread as it goes. You can follow along and watch a livestream.

President Donald Trump held a live press conference from New York today and took some questions on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. From Fox News:
In response to a question from Fox News' John Roberts about why the White House did not ask the FBI to investigate allegations made against Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford, the president responded that "there was nothing to investigate." "They didn't know the location, they didn't know the time, they didn't know the year. They didn't know anything," Trump said.

The Wall Street Journal has released an article about a VA National Suicide Data Report that concluded the rise in suicides among young veterans has continued to climb even though the Department of Veteran Affairs has taken action to stop it. Overall veteran suicides has gone down, though.

Christine Blasey Ford's team sent another letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley with concerns about the hearing that should take place on Thursday with her and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Her lawyer, Michael Bromwich, told Grassley they have a problem with the hiring of an "experience sex crimes prosecutor" since neither of them are on trial. He also doesn't think she can get a fair hearing due to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling her allegations a "smear campaign."

Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein that he will not withdraw. He wrote:
These are smears, pure and simple. And they debase our public discourse. But they are also a threat to any man or woman who wishes to serve our country. Such grotesque and obvious character assassination—if allowed to succeed—will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from service.

The Cook Political Report changed its ratings in three Senate races, including Texas. The map still tends to favor the GOP keeping its majority, but it's looking like incumbent Democrats Joe Tester from Montana and Joe Manchin from West Virginia will keep their seats. However, incumbent Republican Ted Cruz from Texas is in slight trouble as his race now has the label Toss-Up.

Earlier this morning, Axios has reported that "Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has verbally resigned to Chief of Staff John Kelly in anticipation of being fired by President Trump, according to a source with direct knowledge." Other reports indicate that Rosenstein is headed to the White House and "expecting to be fired" and he will not resign. Now it has emerged that Rosenstein will meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday.