Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Today’s deal: “Senate Republicans said Friday that they have asked the White House to order the FBI to investigate Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before a Senate confirmation vote is held. ‘The supplemental FBI background investigation would be limited to current credible allegations against the nominee and must be completed no later than one week from today,’ the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a statement.”
* This afternoon, the White House issued a statement from Donald Trump: “I’ve ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh’s file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week.”
* This was quite a sight: “After Sen. Jeff Flake’s announcement that he would, in fact, vote to confirm Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, the emotional debate over the confirmation spilled into the halls of Congress — on live television — as two women loudly and tearfully confronted the Arizona Republican in an elevator Friday, telling him that he was dismissing the pain of sexual assault survivors.”
* Dr. Ford’s impact: “Calls to a national hotline for victims of sexual assault surged Thursday, the day Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate, detailing allegations that she was sexually assaulted by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) announced that the number of calls to its National Sexual Assault hotline surged by 201 percent Thursday.”
* How the House spent its day: “House Republicans passed a $631 billion extension of the tax cuts they enacted in 2017, reprising their biggest legislative success of the past two years as they try to avoid losing their majority in the Nov. 6 election. The legislation, which passed on a 220-191 vote, was part of a three-bill package that Republicans dubbed ‘Tax Reform 2.0.’”
* On a related note, the House is done for a while: “With the Senate in turmoil over embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the House adjourned Friday until after the midterm elections.”
* The social-media giant probably didn’t need another controversy: “Facebook said on Friday that an attack on its computer network had exposed the personal information of nearly 50 million users. The company said it discovered the breach this week.” * A lingering controversy: “A Federal Housing Finance Agency manager leveled charges of unwanted advances and sexual harassment against Director Melvin Watt during a hearing Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee.” * The new chairman of Italy’s state broadcaster: “Marcello Foa has spread the claim that Hillary Clinton attended a satanic dinner. He broke the news on his blog of a full-scale American military mobilization that never happened. A fan of the Russian leader Vladimir V. Putin and a guest on Russia Today, he doubts the evidence that Moscow’s operatives poisoned a former Soviet spy because it is ‘too obvious.’ Mr. Foa is also now the Italian government’s most influential media figure.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
