BEACH WEEK! Wonkagenda For Wed., Oct. 03, 2018

Strap in, bitches, it's gonna be one of THOSE days.

Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things wemaybe talking about today.

The New York Times got its hands on a 1983 letter from "FFFFF Bart"to seven Georgetown Prep classmates warning about the dangers of eviction during"BEACH WEEK,"and questioning if they should "warn the neighbors that we're loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers." The Times also obtained a copy of Mark Judge's student 'zine that contained a running tally of the kegs drunk at senior parties, and an essay calling Holton Arms girls whores.

Lawyers for Dr. Christine Blasey Ford are demanding the FBI interview her and investigate several witnesses she has identified. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that the Senate will vote later this week on Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, and that the FBI investigation into Kavanaugh will not be made public.

Early this morning Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley asked a federal court to make Trump's White House release more than 100,000 documents hidden from senators under executive privilege. Merkley's Hail Mary doesn't ask to stop the vote for Kavanaugh, but it does ask for access to an additional 140,000 documents being squirreled away by Bush 43 lawyers.

During a rally where he was supposed to stump for Mississippi Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Trump openly mocked Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and victims of sexual assault . Trump his crowd of ravenous assholes to "Think of your sons" when looking at Brett Kavanaugh. He then took cheap shots at likely Democratic 2020 contenders. [ Video ]

Chuck Grassley is waving around a letter from a supposed former fling of Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick that claims she's a crazy whoo-re who hits on men in bars and likes orgies. Be ready, it's HORRIFYING.

Lindsey Graham slithered out from his hole to demand Sen. Amy Klobuchar apologize to Brett Kavanaugh on Hannity for making Kavanaugh dodge questions about his past as a violent drunk. This followed an appearance by Sen. John Kennedy who told Tucker Carlson that some Democratic senators weren't "breastfed" and "went right to raw meat."

Lawfare editor-in-chief Benjamin Wittes writes in the Atlantic that senators shouldnotvote for Kavanaugh. A longtime friend of Kavanaugh, Wittes writes that Kavanaugh's political theater is disqualifying and shows he has an axe to grind, not someone attempting to clear their name.

Emergency nice time!

The New York Times published a bajillion word story calling the entire Trump family tax cheats who owe the government at least $400,000 million from generations of tax fuckery. The story highlights how Trump's father, Fred Trump, routinely bailed out his son, Donald, after he constantly flushed millions of dollars down the toilet on bad investments, like casinos and an airline business. It concludes that the whole family has routinely engaged in tax dodges that are legally dubious, and potentially criminal. And in a very UN-Timesian way, it does not mince fucking words.

Forbes has an interesting chaser about how Trump's real estate empire is crumbling as people run far away from Trump's brand.

The State Department will no longer issue visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats unless they're married. In a statement, a State Department spox decreed our Lord had grown weary of godless Sodomites from "shithole countries" hailing Satan in these United States, and defended the policy as "equal treatment of all family members and couples."

 Trump's nominee to head the Census Bureau, Steven Dillingham, will face questions from the the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today. Even though Dillingham has little experience, it's not like the Trump administration has people itching to defend questions about citizenship on the 2020 Census in court.

With 21 GOP senators facing reelection in 2020, many are backing Kavanaugh in an attempt to fend off primary challengers and credible Democrats that could make their lives a living hell.

Deep within the confines of their underground lair, national Republicans are worried that Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith could lose her three-way jungle election against Democratic challenger Mike Espy and Republican Chris McDaniel. They're painting her as an establishment Trump figure, despite only serving six months in office, and urging her not debate her opponents.

A new poll shows New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez with a six-point lead. Let's be real -- it's no secret that wereally  don't like Sen. Menendez, but we also don't like his Republican challenger, Bob Hugin, either.

A Facebook user by the name of Rodney Arrington is doubling-down on death threats against Abigail Spanberger, the Democrat challenging Tea Party Republican Rep. Dave Brat in the Virginia 7th. Over the weekend Brat told reporters he was terrified after several teenagers left a note on his doorstep that read "rot in hell."

Republicans seem to be abandoning Rep. Kevin Yoder after less than stellar polls and fundraising showed Yoder getting stomped by Democratic challenger Sharice Davids. Last month Davids, Kansas's first openly gay, Native American nominee, outraised Yoder for the third straight month. 

Indicted Republican Rep. Chris Collins is hoping that the cash problems faced by his Democratic challenger, Nate McMurray, will continue, even if Collins is sent to jail. Even though national Republicans have already abandoned the race, they're playing off their refusal to give Collins money as an endorsement. [ Donate !]

 The NRA's recent popularity problem seems to be trickling down to the ballot boxes as political spending by the gun rights group isway downcompared to previous years.

Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris is screaming bloody murder after medical marijuana activists were arrested for protesting and smoking a joint in front of his office. Harris is accusing the protesters of assault after he "bruised" his wrist slamming the door on their face, though video shows Harris and his staffers attempting to slam a door on the foot of a cancer patient. Oh, the huge manatee!

Kansas City Democratic mayoral hopeful Jason Kander has suddenly dropped out of the race citing complications with PTSD and depression stemming from his time in Afghanistan and Iraq as an Army Intelligence Officer. In a lengthy Facebook post, Kander writes, "I'm done hiding this ... If you're struggling with something similar, it's OK. That doesn't make you less of a person."

Kay Bailey Hutchison, Trump's NATO ambassador, just accidentallythreatened preemptive war with Russia in an attempt to highlight Russia's violation to the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty. One foreign policy expert tells the Daily Beast, "Kay fucked up big time ... she's more used to riling up redneck votes in Republican primaries in Texas than international diplomacy, so she laid it on thick with the ol' 'take 'em out' tough talk."

Trump will send a text message to your phone at 2: 18 pm ET as a test of the "Presidential Alert" system, an offshoot of the traditional Emergency Alert System alert system he rebranded to let everyone know when he's started World War III.

 The Library of Congress has announced that it's turning its sluggish digitization effort up to 11 with a new five-year plan to give public access to 170 million items stored in its archives. Yay, nerds!

And here's your morning Nice Time! BIG KITTIES! 

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