Outside the Beltway

Republicans have set a Judiciary Committee vote for less than a day after hearing from Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

After forty years, a sexual predator finally gets at least some of what he deserves.

In what appears to be a first, Judge Brett Kavanaugh took to the media to defend his nomination. Not surprisingly, he chose a friendly venue.

Why a much-cited analogy in the Brett Kavanaugh controversy is problematic.

Based on their own rhetoric, it seems clear that Republicans don’t really care what Christine Blasey Ford has to say regarding what happened to her in 1982.

Despite what seems to be the prevailing mythos, most nominations fights are nothing like the current one.

New allegations of sexual misconduct mark the start of a crucial week for the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

We’ll likely never know whether the Supreme Court nominee is a sexual assaulter. But it really doesn’t matter.

I spoke too soon…

My last post on this subject for the weekend (I think).

Thinking about the political calculus.

Some details still need to be worked out, but it looks as though Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will be testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

The Bork hearings have come up in the context of the Kavanaugh confirmation, Some thoughts ensue.

A new report from The New York Times is likely to cause President Trump’s war on the Justice Department to heat up.

The status of a potential hearing in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination regarding the charges made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remain unclear, but the likelihood is that she will testify in the end.

Prominent supporters of the embattled Supreme Court nominee, including the President, are doing him no favors.

This morning, President Trump took to Twitter to attack Dr. Christine Blasey Ford over her allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Monday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the charges made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh is still on as scheduled, but the details are still being negotiated.

The status of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains up in the air, as does the question of whether or not Christine Blasey Ford will appear for a hearing on Monday morning.

I’m not the only one confused on what to do about the allegations against President Trump’s nominee to replace Anthony Kennedy.

Several days after detailed sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee, I’m not fully sure what to believe.

Attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford want the F.B.I. to investigate the charges she has made against Judge Kavanaugh before she testifies, but it’s entirely unclear what such an investigation would accomplish.

After a day of political pressure, Senate Republicans have agreed to hold a hearing regarding the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh next week.

Cracks are beginning to show in the previously united Republican front on the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation notwithstanding what appear to be credible allegations of sexual assault.

A woman accusing Brett Kavanaugh of having assaulted her when he was 17 and she was 15 has come forward. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment has been in the news a lot lately, but what would it actually take to use it to remove a President from power?

The shooting of Botham Jean by off-duty Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger earlier this month seems like a clear cut murder. So why is she only charged with manslaughter?

Another day, another plea agreement in the Mueller investigation. This one could prove to be problematic for the President.

Some last minute dramatics in the Kavanaugh nomination fight, but it seems unlikely to impact the outcome of the nomination fight.

With a new trial set to start in Washington at the end of the month, reports are circulating that President Trump’s former campaign manager is looking to cut a plea deal.

Several states are opening new investigations of the Catholic Church abuse scandal. It’s about time.

Kevin Drum makes an important point.

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh is, effectively, assured. Democrats should be careful about how much further they push their opposition.

A significant advance for LGBT rights in the world’s most populous democracy.

President Trump wants Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department to investigate the anonymous Op-Ed published earlier this week even though there doesn’t appear to have been a crime committed.

Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos received a very generous sentence in return for his guilty plea.

After four days of hearings, the fate of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court seems assured.

A Federal Court has ruled that North Carolina can use its current Congressional District map for this year’s midterms notwithstanding a ruling that it is an impermissible gerrymander.

The second day of questioning for Judge Brett Kavanaugh was a bit rockier than the first, but nothing happened that seriously threatens his eventual confirmation.

Donald Trump is a bad, inept, and potentially dangerous President. That doesn’t mean that a ‘soft coup’ inside the White House is the answer to the problem he presents to our democratic republic.

British authorities have charged two members of Russian military intelligence in connection with a poisoning attack on British attack.

Day One of questions for Judge Brett Kavanaugh went about as you’d expect.

Donald Trump spent part of Labor Day engaged in yet another unhinged attack on his own Justice Department.

The first day of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings was much ado about pretty much nothing, but then that can be used to describe a process whose outcome is pretty much foreordained.

Chicago won’t have Rahm Emanuel to kick around anymore.

An Oregon state agency is suggesting that Walmart’s decision to restrict arms sales to bar people under 21, but over 18, from being able to purchase firearms violates state law.

The confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh begin today, but the outcome seems foreordained.

The military regime in Myanmar has sentenced two reporters to prison for reporting on the repression of the Rohingya Muslims.

Author Sam Anderson puts forward a rather strange hypothesis in Politico.

A good excuse to consider reform.