Politics

The New York Times reports: President Trump broke with his own intelligence agencies on Friday, appearing to accept Saudi Arabia’s explanation that the journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by accident during a fistfight, while the United States’ spy agencies are increasingly convinced that he was assassinated on high-level orders from the Saudi royal court. Mr. Trump, who has cultivated Crown …

The Guardian reports: Saudi Arabia has said the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared after visiting the country’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, is dead. The news, which cited preliminary findings from an official investigation, was announced on state television on Friday. It said a fight broke out between Khashoggi and people who met him in the consulate, leading to …

From the editorial board of the Houston Chronicle: With eyes clear but certainly not starry, we enthusiastically endorse Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate. The West Texas congressman’s command of issues that matter to this state, his unaffected eloquence and his eagerness to reach out to all Texans make him one of the most impressive candidates this editorial board has encountered …

CNBC reports: A Russian woman has been charged with trying to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections, authorities said. Elena Khusyaynova of St. Petersburg, Russia, is accused of using using social media platforms to create thousands of social media and e-mail accounts that purported to be from Americans, to “amplify divisive social media and political content.” Prosecutors claim Khusyaynova is …

Glorious Leader is parroting last week’s line from the same man who once called him a “compulsive liar” and a “sniveling coward.” Today’s attack was surely spawned by what Beto said last night. NBC News reports: Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso congressman giving up his seat to challenge Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, had previously suggested that he’d support impeaching the …

CNN reports: Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer, pleaded with the American public on Friday to head to the polls and vote against the President and the Republican Party, predicting that if they did not, there would be two or six more years of “craziness.” “Listen, here’s my recommendation. Grab your family, grab your friends, grab your neighbors, and get …

Politico reports: “It’s curious why Hillary Clinton’s name isn’t in the mix—either conversationally or in formal polling—as a 2020 candidate,” said Philippe Reines, her longtime gatekeeper in the Senate and at the State Department. “She’s younger than Donald Trump by a year. She’s younger than Joe Biden by four years. Is it that she’s run before? This would be Bernie …

The Washington Post reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has decided to take part in an anti-terror finance meeting with Saudi security officials and their Middle Eastern counterparts in Riyadh later this month, opting to attend despite growing global outrage over the suspected murder of a U.S.-based journalist at the hands of Saudi operatives, according to three people familiar with his …

From Atlanta’s WABE and APM Reports: Even by Georgia standards, the voter purge of late July 2017 was remarkable. In a single day, more than half a million people — 8 percent of Georgia’s registered voters — were cut from the voter rolls. Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, an avid supporter of President Donald Trump who has described himself …

The Washington Post reports: Hard-line Republicans and conservative commentators are mounting a whispering campaign against Jamal Khashoggi that is designed to protect President Trump from criticism of his handling of the dissident journalist’s alleged murder by operatives of Saudi Arabia — and support Trump’s continued aversion to a forceful response to the oil-rich desert kingdom. In recent days, a cadre …

The Huffington Post reports: Carly Fiorina said on Thursday that President Donald Trump has reached “a new low” with his recent attacks on Stormy Daniels, a porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and has sued him for defamation. “I think the habit of insulting one’s political enemies is unfortunately long standing in this country, …

Heavy.com reports: Beto O’Rourke will be on CNN for a nationally televised town tonight, appearing without opponent Ted Cruz. Just two days earlier, Beto and Cruz faced off in a local debate. CNN originally intended the town hall to involve both candidates, but now Beto will be on CNN by himself. CNN had originally offered the town hall to both …

The New York Times reports: President Trump said on Thursday that he believes the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, and he expressed confidence in intelligence reports from multiple sources that strongly suggest a high-level Saudi role in Mr. Khashoggi’s assassination. Mr. Trump stopped short of saying the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for Mr. Khashoggi’s death. …

CNN reports: A heated argument in the West Wing between chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton over a recent surge in border crossings turned into a shouting match Thursday, two sources familiar with the argument told CNN. The exchange lay bare a bitter disagreement that has existed between two of President Donald Trump’s top aides …

You can bet this wouldn’t have happened if the counties were in the blue parts of the state. Via press release: Governor Rick Scott is in constant communication with federal, state and local emergency management officials and state agency leaders to ensure that communities impacted by Hurricane Michael are receiving the resources they need. Governor Scott has surveyed damage from …

TIME Magazine reports: Residents of Trump Place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan have joined three other buildings in the neighborhood in stripping the president’s brassy five-letter name from their 46-story building in another sign that the brand is losing some of its appeal. In May, a judge ruled that the Trump Organization was wrong in asserting a contract …

Agence France-Presse reports: Russians will “go to heaven” as martyrs in the event of nuclear war because Moscow will only ever use nuclear weapons in retaliation, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. “We have no concept of a preemptive strike,” Putin told a forum of international experts in the southern city of Sochi in response to a question from the audience. …

Politico reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday appeared to hold the United States partially accountable for the case of Washington Post journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and is believed to have been killed. “As far as I know, the journalist who went missing used to live in the USA. …

The New York Times reports: This summer, Saudi Arabia promised the Trump administration $100 million for American efforts to stabilize areas in Syria liberated from the Islamic State. That money landed in American accounts on Tuesday, the same day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for discussions with the kingdom’s leaders about the fate …

Talking Points Memo reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Thursday that he will not attend an upcoming conference in Saudi Arabia amid the fallout from the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mnuchin has been facing mounting pressure to pull out of the conference following the disappearance of Khashoggi, a U.S..-based Saudi journalist, after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul …