Democrat Taking a ‘Hard Look’ at Presidential Run

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By Washington Times. Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she’ll take a “hard look at running for president” after the November elections.

The Boston Globe reports the Massachusetts Democrat spoke about her future during a town hall in western Massachusetts Saturday.

Warren, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, is running for re-election in November against GOP state Rep. Geoff Diehl, who was co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 Massachusetts campaign. (Read more from “Democrat Taking a ‘Hard Look’ at Presidential Run” HERE)

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For Warren, ‘Engaged and Enraged’ Democratic Women Strong Base for Potential Presidential Run

By Boston Globe. When Senator Elizabeth Warren told a town hall audience in Holyoke on Saturday that she’d “take a hard look” at running for president after next month’s midterm election, she further stoked talk of her national ambitions.

Political observers on both sides of the spectrum who have long speculated about the liberal Democrat’s future on Sunday had a mixed response to Warren’s surprising statement, which came in response to a question from the audience.

A favorite of progressives and the party faithful, Warren has appeared emboldened by the growing anger toward President Trump and his conservative base. That anger, particularly among women, was never more apparent than on Thursday, when Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was questioned about sexual assault allegations before a Senate panel. . .

Noting the record number of women running for Congress this year, Rachael Cobb, chairwoman of the political science department at Suffolk University, said Warren appears to be putting up a “trial balloon,” ahead of what will likely be a crowded field for Democrats running for president in 2020. (Read more from “For Warren, ‘Engaged and Enraged’ Democratic Women Strong Base for Potential Presidential Run” HERE)

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Leftist Group Claims Jeff Flake Is Suing Sexual Assault Survivors. But Here’s the Truth.

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By The Blaze. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R) twice rattled feathers Friday: Once when he announced he would vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, then again after he called for a week delay of Kavanaugh’s confirmation to allow for an FBI investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct.

But Flake went viral for a third, separate reason: When a sexual assault survivor confronted him as he entered an elevator.

“You’re telling all women that they don’t matter. Look at me when I’m talking to you!” the woman shouted as news cameras captured the encounter. “You’re telling me that my assault doesn’t matter.”

. . .

Elizabeth Jones, a Flake spokeswoman, said the Arizona lawmaker never considered pressing charges against the protesters.

“Sen. Flake is not pressing charges, nor did he ever consider pressing charges,” she said, according to USA Today. (Read more from “Leftist Group Claims Jeff Flake Is Suing Sexual Assault Survivors. but Here’s the Truth.” HERE)

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Kavanaugh Sounded Like He Was ‘Wrongly Accused’ at Hearing, Flake Says

By Fox News. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Sunday that Brett Kavanaugh’s fiery opening statement at Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing made him sound like a man who had been “wrongly accused” of sexual misconduct.

However, Flake also told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that some of Kavanaugh’s exchanges with Democratic members of the committee were “a little too sharp.”

Flake was one of six members of the judiciary committee who appeared on “60 Minutes” Sunday, along with Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; and John Kennedy, R-La. They spoke three days after Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, gave conflicting accounts about Ford’s claim that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her during a party while they were in high school outside Washington D.C., in the early 1980s.

At one point, an emotional Kavanaugh called the confirmation process “a national disgrace” and said the furor had “destroyed my family and my good name.”

“When I heard him, I heard someone who I hope I would sound like, if I had been unjustly accused,” Flake said. “If I was unjustly accused, that’s how I would feel, as well.” (Read more from “Kavanaugh Sounded Like He Was ‘Wrongly Accused’ at Hearing, Flake Says” HERE)

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Senators Vow ‘Full Scale’ Investigation to Determine Who Leaked Kavanaugh Accuser’s Letter

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By The Blaze. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) charged Sunday that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, will face an investigation over her office’s handling of a letter from Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who initially accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Weeks after President Donald Trump announced Kavanaugh’s nomination, Ford wrote Feinstein an anonymous letter outlining her allegations. She demanded she remain anonymous. But sometime after the media learned of the allegations, Ford’s letter was leaked to the press. The only people who reportedly had access to the letter were Feinstein’s office, the office of Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), and Ford’s attorneys.

How the letter leaked has been a huge source of contention, as it could prove a level of coordination to undermine Kavanaugh’s confirmation. . .

Speaking on CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Cotton also revealed that Ford’s attorneys will face a Washington, D.C., bar investigation for allegedly withholding from their client the fact that the Senate Judiciary Committee offered to take her testimony in a confidential manner by flying staffers to interview her in California. (Read more from “Senators Vow ‘Full Scale’ Investigation to Determine Who Leaked Kavanaugh Accuser’s Letter” HERE)

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Limits to FBI’s Kavanaugh Investigation Have Not Changed, Despite Trump’s Comments

By NBC News. The FBI has received no new instructions from the White House about how to proceed with its weeklong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a senior U.S. official and another source familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

According to the sources, the president’s Saturday night tweet saying he wants the FBI to interview whoever agents deem appropriate has not changed the limits imposed by the White House counsel’s office on the FBI investigation — including a specific witness list that does not include Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct in high school.

Also not on the list, the sources say, are former classmates who have contradicted Kavanaugh’s account of his college alcohol consumption, instead describing him as a frequent, heavy drinker. The FBI is also not authorized to interview high school classmates who could shed light on what some people have called untruths in Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony about alleged sexual references in his high school yearbook.

The sources said nothing would preclude the FBI from asking Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge, who is on the witness list, about Swetnick’s allegations, but the sources stressed that this is not a top priority. (Read more from “Limits to FBI’s Kavanaugh Investigation Have Not Changed, Despite Trump’s Comments” HERE)

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Committee Votes to Confirm Kavanaugh – Flake, Murkowski Demand Delay on Final Vote

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By Townhall. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Friday morning 11-10 to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. All Republicans voted for Kavanaugh and all Democrats voted against.

A procedural vote will be taken by the full Senate on Saturday afternoon. A final and full Senate confirmation vote has been scheduled by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for Tuesday, October 2.

Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announced Friday morning he will vote for Kavanaugh, solidifying his ability to make it past Committee. Friday afternoon, he called for a one week delay of the full Senate vote for an FBI investigation. He also said he is not comfortable supporting a full vote of Kavanaugh until the investigation is complete.

(Read more from “Committee Votes to Confirm Kavanaugh – Flake, Murkowski Demand Delay on Final Vote” HERE)

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Murkowski Sides With Flake on Delaying Kavanaugh Vote for Investigation

By Townhall. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told reporters Friday that she agrees with fellow moderate Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (AZ) in his call for an FBI investigation that would delay the Senate floor vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for up to one week.

Murkowski believes there should be an investigation that is “limited in time and scope.”

During the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to move Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate, Sen. Flake insisted that he did not think they should have a full vote on Kavanaugh until there has been a week-long FBI investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. (Read more from “Murkowski Sides With Flake on Delaying Kavanaugh Vote for Investigation” HERE)

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U.S. Mid-Terms: Hackers Expose ‘Staggering’ Voter Machine Flaws

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By BBC. Voting machines pose “serious risks” to US security, hackers are warning.

A report outlines major flaws in voting hardware, weeks before US mid-term elections.

One ballot machine, used in 23 US states, carries a cybersecurity flaw that was reported over a decade ago, the hackers claim. . .

In August, the Def Con conference in Las Vegas ran a “Voting Village”, where participants were encouraged to uncover flaws in US election infrastructure by hacking into various computer systems.

More than 30 voting machines and other pieces of equipment were made available to attendees of the conference, including the M650 electronic ballot scanner, which is currently used by 23 US states. (Read more from “U.S. Mid-Terms: Hackers Expose ‘Staggering’ Voter Machine Flaws” HERE)

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Voting Machines Are Still Absurdly Vulnerable to Attacks

By WIRED. WHILE RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE operations in the 2016 US presidential elections focused on misinformation and targeted hacking, officials have scrambled ever since to shore up the nation’s vulnerable election infrastructure. New research, though, shows they haven’t done nearly enough, particularly when it comes to voting machines.

The report details vulnerabilities in seven models of voting machines and vote counters, found during the DefCon security conference’s Voting Village event. All of the models are in active use around the US, and the vulnerabilities—from weak password protections to elaborate avenues for remote access—number in the dozens. The findings also connect to larger efforts to safeguard US elections, including initiatives to expand oversight of voting machine vendors and efforts to fund state and local election security upgrades.

“We didn’t discover a lot of new vulnerabilities,” says Matt Blaze, a computer science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the organizers of the Voting Village, who has been analyzing voting machine security for more than 10 years. “What we discovered was vulnerabilities that we know about are easy to find, easy to reengineer, and have not been fixed over the course of more than a decade of knowing about them. And to me that is both the unsurprising and terribly disturbing lesson that came out of the Voting Village.” (Read more from “Voting Machines Are Still Absurdly Vulnerable to Attacks” HERE)

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Here’s What Is Making Michelle Obama Depressed and Frustrated

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. . .The former first lady told the audience that she understood how many felt that there was not enough progress in politics, or worse, that the vote was “rigged” and not worth putting effort into.

“Is there any wonder why we’re so frustrated and tuned out of our politics?” she said. “When a huge chunk of the population sits out of the process, why are we surprised when our politics don’t reflect our values?” . . .

“I am tired of the daily chaos, the pettiness, the meanness that too often dominates the political discourse,” she continued.

“We all are,” she said. “It is exhausting and honestly it is depressing.”

Obama told the audience that they needed to vote because it was the “only” avenue open to them to have an effect on those on in power. She also said that if they didn’t vote that others who wanted to leave them behind would take power. (Read more from “Here’s What Is Making Michelle Obama Depressed and Frustrated” HERE)

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Educators Must Accept Students Chosen Gender Identity, Leave Parents Out

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By The Blaze. Educators in New Jersey must accept the declared gender identity of students and aren’t required to inform their parents of changes in gender identity, according to new rules issued by the New Jersey State Department of Education.

“It’s a big deal for transgender students in New Jersey,” Aaron Potenza, director of programs for Garden State Equality, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay and transgender people, told USA Today. “This is probably the strongest guidance we’ve seen out of any state.”

State Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet told the news outlet that educators are obligated “to provide a safe and welcoming school environment so all students throughout the state can achieve their full potential.”

He said teachers and other personnel should have “open yet confidential discussions” with transgender students about their chosen name and privacy matters. (Read more from “Educators Must Accept Students Chosen Gender Identity, Leave Parents Out” HERE)

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New Jersey Issues New Guidelines for Schools on Transgender Students

By American School and University. The New Jersey Department of Education has issued new guidelines for how schools should follow a 2017 law that reinforces protections for transgender students, including a provision that expressly forbids districts from keeping students out of the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.

NJ.com reports that the new rules also settle how schools should handle other hot-button issues, such as what name to call transgender students, whether birth names should be printed on school documents and how much schools should tell parents about student’s gender identity. . .

“New Jersey continues to stand with our LGBTQ community, and that includes the youngest and most vulnerable residents: our children,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says. (Read more from “New Jersey Issues New Guidelines for Schools on Transgender Students” HERE)

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Why Does the Kavanaugh Accuser Have Numerous Gofundme Accounts?

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By Daily Wire. GoFundMe donations for Christine Blasey Ford have skyrocketed since the she mentioned the campaigns during Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Just two of the 17 accounts on the crowdfunding site relating to Ford have brought in nearly $700,000.

Answering questions concerning the funding for her legal team and travel since the allegations became public, Ford mentioned that she’d be collecting money donated to her from GoFundMe accounts. “I’m aware that there’s been several GoFundMe sites,” she said. “I haven’t had a chance to figure out how to manage those because I’ve never had one.”

One such account dedicated to Ford “jumped from about $179,000 to $305,000 and counting merely 30 minutes later, according to the publicly displayed funds counter,” reported MarketWatch on Thursday.

Those numbers have since spiked further. One account has collected over $475,000 for Ford’s legal fees and another has brought in over $200,000 for the accuser’s “security costs.” (Read more from “Why Does the Kavanaugh Accuser Have Numerous Gofundme Accounts?” HERE)

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Prosecutor Who Questioned Christine Ford Says She Wouldn’t Prosecute Brett Kavanaugh

By USA Today. Rachel Mitchell, the Arizona prosecutor who questioned Christine Blasey Ford at Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee, privately told GOP senators she would not prosecute Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh based on the evidence she heard, according to the Washington Post.

That detail was spotlighted Friday by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, whose office sent out a news release Friday referring to Mitchell’s conclusion.

Mitchell was hand-picked to lead the questioning of Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when both were high school students in the posh suburbs of suburban Maryland. (Read more from “Prosecutor Who Questioned Christine Ford Says She Wouldn’t Prosecute Brett Kavanaugh” HERE)

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Think Progress Editor Tweets Republicans Should Be Confronted in Their Homes. Shapiro Issues One Hell of a Warning.

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On Friday, Ian Millhiser, justice editor at the hard-left site Think Progress, who got his law degree from Duke University, decided to wax militant regarding Republicans, tweeting they should be confronted not only where they eat, but in their own bedrooms:

(Read more from “Think Progress Editor Tweets Republicans Should Be Confronted in Their Homes. Shapiro Issues One Hell of a Warning.” HERE)

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Check out the Sign Alyssa Milano Brought With Her to the Kavanaugh Hearing

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By Daily Wire. While many noticed that actress-turned-left-wing activist Alyssa Milano landed a prime seat for the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing on Thursday so she could display solidarity with Ford and make a “power statement” by “staring down” Kavanaugh, some missed one key detail: the sign she occasionally flashed at the hearing.

Adding to the “circus” feeling of the Kavanaugh confirmation process, Milano was invited to the hearing by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee who sat on the allegations by Ford for weeks before submitting them in the eleventh hour of the proceedings to the FBI. (For that delay, Feinstein came under heavy fire from Republicans Thursday.)

Her presence at the hearing was certainly appreciated by many on the Left who have deemed Kavanaugh guilty despite no corroborating evidence and all named witnesses denying the claims, but not so much from those who felt that the Democrats had already made a mockery of the process:

(Read more from “Check out the Sign Alyssa Milano Brought With Her to the Kavanaugh Hearing” HERE)

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Alyssa Milano Describes Being in the Room for Ford-Kavanaugh Hearing: “There Was a Lot of Rage”

By Hollywood Reporter. The actress and prominent #MeToo activist, who attended Thursday’s hearing, tells The Hollywood Reporter how the mood shifted from a “feeling of hope” to one of anger during Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate testimonies.

Alyssa Milano had a unique vantage point during the riveting Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh testimonies. The actress and #MeToo activist was in the room when the Supreme Court nominee and his sexual assault accuser shared their conflicting stories before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

“I wasn’t there with any political agenda. I was there to support a survivor of sexual assault,” Milano tells The Hollywood Reporter on Friday morning. “As a survivor, it literally is all of our worst nightmares come true. This is exactly the reason why we don’t come forward, or we don’t report. Because of the scrutiny. Because a man’s word will always mean more than our word. And it’s disgusting.” (Read more from “Alyssa Milano Describes Being in the Room for Ford-Kavanaugh Hearing: “There Was a Lot of Rage” HERE)

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