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NBC News reports: The Democrat running to unseat powerful Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan has unleashed a campaign video that accuses him of actively working to limit the rights of women — and that is inspired by “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Titled “Before It’s Too Late,” the campaign ad by the Democrat, Janet Garrett, begins with footage of Jordan adamantly denying …

The Palm Beach Post reports: Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on Thursday said that high court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who Stevens once lauded in one of his books, does not belong on the Supreme Court. Speaking to a crowd of retirees in Boca Raton, Stevens, 98, said Kavanaugh’s performance during a recent Senate confirmation hearing …

The Washington Post reports: North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D), in a tough reelection race in her deep-red state, announced today that she would vote against Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. She told local TV station WDAY that “the process was bad” and she’d be voting no. The reaction on Twitter and social media ranged from …

The Hill reports: New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez (D) unloaded on the FBI investigation into Brett Kavanaugh’s background on Thursday, calling it a “bullshit” investigation that failed to speak to corroborating witnesses. In a video posted from his Twitter account, the senator slammed both the FBI and Senate Republicans, who he said “restricted” agents from speaking to necessary individuals about …

Already underway: Senate Republicans on Thursday will hold a news conference following the release of an FBI report about allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. Senators who have already seen the report said earlier in the day that the FBI did not find evidence corroborating the sexual assault allegations against him.

NBC News reports: The White House is trying to make the case that China is taking new and more aggressive steps aimed at influencing U.S. elections, political debates and policies, even suggesting that Beijing wants to oust President Donald Trump. Vice President Mike Pence, in a speech Thursday, bluntly accused China of “meddling in America’s democracy” to an extent that …

The Associated Press reports: Leon Lederman, an experimental physicist who won a Nobel Prize in physics for his work on subatomic particles and coined the phrase “God particle,” died Wednesday at 96. Lederman directed the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory near Chicago from 1978 to 1989. He’s described as a giant in his field who also had a passion for sharing …

Well, this is totally unsurprising. Democratic leaders in the Senate called the FBI’s report on Brett Kavanaugh a “limited investigation,” noting that the bureau failed to interview both Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. “The investigation was very limited,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said. “I disagree with Sen. Grassley’s statement that there was no hint of misconduct,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck …

CNN reports: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released a statement Thursday claiming the FBI’s report on SCOTUS justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh found “no hint of misconduct.” Grassley added that the report contained nothing that “we didn’t already know.” Grassley was reportedly briefed by aides that read the report in a secure room in the …

The Washington Examiner reports: Just a third of Americans can pass a multiple choice “U.S. Citizenship Test,” fumbling over such simple questions as the cause of the Cold War or naming just one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for. And of Americans 45 and younger, the passing rate is a tiny 19 percent, according to a survey done for the …

Axios reports: The Department of Justice announced indictments Thursday against seven Russian military intelligence officers for alleged malicious cyber activities against the U.S. and its allies, including retaliation against officials and organizations that exposed state-sponsored doping by Russian Olympic athletes and the hacking of a lab investigating Russia and Syria’s use of chemical weapons. CNBC reports: The indictment announced at …

The Guardian reports: Dutch military intelligence disrupted a Russian cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the Dutch defence minister has said. The attack, which was thwarted with the help of British officials, came after the cybercrime unit of the GRU Russian military intelligence directorate had also attempted a remote attack on the Porton Down chemical weapons …

Politico reports: The Senate is set for a critical Friday vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, teeing up a final vote by the weekend, with an FBI report on the sexual misconduct allegations against the judge expected in the chamber by Thursday morning. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday night set up the critical procedural vote for Friday, …

Politico reports: Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that preparations are being made to review the report on Thursday. Republicans are putting strict limits on the viewing. Only one copy is being made available to senators, and each party will take turns viewing it in one-hour increments, Durbin said. “Get this — one …

ABC News reports: Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of President Trump, is set to campaign in Texas on Wednesday with GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, a former political foe of his father during the 2016 presidential election who now finds himself in an unexpectedly close race for re-election this midterm cycle. Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, former Fox News host …

The Daily Beast reports: A neoconservative foreign policy group appeared to try and get audio recorded claiming erroneously that Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) Senate campaign was endorsed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “Hello, I am Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the script read. “Today, it is my pleasure to endorse Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate. As …

The New York Post reports: It’s official: Toys R Us will live on. The iconic retailer’s debtholders are forming a new company, Geoffrey LLC that will control the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands, including e-commerce assets and data associated with the brands, the debtors said late Tuesday night. They also plan to open stores in the US …

The Washington Examiner reports: A Washington, D.C., audience booed Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday after he said Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been treated poorly by those who oppose his confirmation. “I thought Kavanaugh was treated like crap,” the Republican South Carolina senator said at the Atlantic Festival. The audience booed Graham’s comments. “Well, boo yourself,” Graham shot back. …

Business Insider reports: The amount of information about individual users stored online and on their phones is enormous, Cook said in an interview with Vice News Tonight on Tuesday. The tech industry hasn’t done a good job of respecting and protecting that data, he said. “I’m not a pro-regulation kind of person, I believe in the free market deeply,” Cook …

Politico reports: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ security detail is projected to cost up to $7.74 million from now through the end of September 2019, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service told POLITICO on Tuesday night. The Marshals Service said the final cost of protection for DeVos in fiscal 2018 was $6.79 million. That’s more than the $6.54 million officials …