After Trump Divorce, Is Anthony Scaramucci Now an Out-of-the-Closet Nikki Haley Supporter

Page Six reports that former Trump administration UN Ambassador Nikki Haley may have recruited Anthony Scaramucci to “the resistance.” That would be the Republican arm of”the resistance’, not the Democratic wing.

Trump’s controversial, short-lived comms chief Scaramucci officially divorced himself from his former buddy Donald Trump this weekend. The Mooch compared the US president to a nuclear reactor on the verge of melting down and suggested strongly that the GOP should run a candidate against him in 2020.

“To those asking, ‘what took so long?’ You’re right. I tried to see best in [Trump] based on private interactions and select policy alignment. But his increasingly divisive rhetoric — and damage it’s doing to [the] fabric of our society — outweighs any short-term economic gain.”

The reliable — even if it is owned by Rupert Murdoch — New York Post writes on Page Six that Scaramucci dined recently with Nikki Haley at the famed Harlem eatery Rao’s. The former governor of South Carolina, Haley has been deft in disassociating herself from Trump, while keeping her volume at low level. After Trump launched his despicable tirade against Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings two weeks ago, Haley tweeted: “This is so unnecessary.”

Haley seemingly has presidential ambitions of her own, although all bets are on 2024; Stay tuned.

Michelle Goldberg: Ilhan Omar Damaged Her Democratic Allies and Squandered Some of Her Own Hard-Won Power

Michelle Goldberg: Ilhan Omar Damaged Her Democratic Allies and Squandered Some of Her Own Hard-Won Power

Writing for The New York Times, Michelle Goldberg reminds us that when America was unsettled over a crude mail bomb being found in the mailbox of George Soros, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican who is now the House minority leader, tweeted, “We cannot allow Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg to buy this election!”  Interviewed on CNN about receiving his own mail bomb, Steyer described McCarthy’s tweet as a “straight-up anti-Semitic move.”

There was no self-reflection, then, when Kevin McCarthy became a defender of Jews, threatening to force congressional action against two outspoken new Democratic representatives, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, for their criticism of Israel. Rather than rise above Kevin McCarthy, Omar found herself in the same sewer, quoting Puff Daddy’s ode to the power of money: “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.”

Kavanaugh's Ex Yale Roommate Says He Drank Excessively, Way Beyond Intake Of Other Yale Students

The media is REALLY behind the curve on the Kavanaugh confirmation, still not reporting the fact that on Friday 49 Yale law profs and two former deans of the Yale Law School demanded a full investigation of Kavanaugh.

The so-called liberal media is also not reporting that on Monday Kavanaugh's former roommate at Yale issued a statement that "he remembered Kavanaugh as "frequently drinking excessively and becoming incoherently drunk," in a statement released on Monday.

The numbers of people around Kavanaugh who claim that they cannot say w/100% certainty that the alleged sexual attack or harassment incidents happened -- because they were not there -- are very comfortable saying that Kavanaugh drank excessively and way beyond the normal intake for other Yale students.

And his own participation and leadership in groups like the '!00 Kegs or Bust' group at Georgetown Prep does not refute these claims in any way. Rather, they enhance them.

The hearings for a Supreme Court Justice are focused on character. This is not a jury trial.

James Roche said he is inclined to believe the sexual misconduct allegations made by Debbie Ramirez, a fellow classmate at Yale University, who claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party.

Roche, who lived in a two-bedroom unit with Kavanaugh during their freshman year, described Ramirez as "being exceptionally honest, with a trusting manner," and said he believed Kavanaugh may have been "capable" of behaving in the alleged manner.

Fellow Yale professors have also alleged that Kavanaugh picked only attractive law clerks. Married Yale Law School professors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld are under intense scrutiny after The Guardian reported on Thursday that the two faculty members separately told female law students interviewing with Brett Kavanaugh ’87 LAW ’90 that the Supreme Court nominee prefers female clerks who are good-looking and attractively dressed.

Last year, Chua privately told a group of law school students that it was “not an accident” that Kavanaugh’s female clerks “looked like models,” according to The Guardian’s account, which was based on interviews with anonymous law students. She recommended that female clerks dress in an “outgoing way,” The Guardian reported.

Wynn Resorts Stock Plunges 9% on WSJ Report On Serial Sexual Misconduct By Steve Wynn, RNC Finance Chair

RNC Finance Chairman Steve Wynn hosted Donald Trump's First Year Anniversary Party at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 20, 2018

Wynn Resorts Stock Plunges 9% on WSJ Report On Serial Sexual Misconduct By Steve Wynn

Wynn Resorts stock plunged 9 percent Friday on a report by The Wall Street Journal that billionaire CEO Steve Wynn engaged in sexual misconduct for many years. The Journal reported, writes CNBC,  that dozens of current and former employees "told of behavior that cumulatively would amount to a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct." Some described being pressured into performing sex acts with him.

In the case of a manicurist, the woman's supervisor filed a detailed report to the casino's human-resources department after the woman returned from Wynn's office sobbing, explaining that she said no and explained to Wynn that she was married. Ultimately she did disrobe and they had sex. People familiar with the incident told WSJ that Wynn paid the manicurist a $7.5 million settlement, and his lawyers have admitted that the payment was made.

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Steve Wynn donated $729,217 to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has called him a "great friend." Wynn also serves as the Republican National Committee's finance chairman. 

The RNC skewered the DNC for taking campaign cash from Harvey Weinstein, demanding that the tainted contributions be returned.  Following this part of the story, The Daily Beast says that numerous Democrats ended up giving their Weinstein donations to either charities or "political groups who work to elect progressive female lawmakers. " Officials like GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the actions were insufficient, writing on Twitter: If the DNC truly stands up for women like they say they do, then returning Weinstein's dirty money should be a no-brainer. The Daily Beast writes:

The RNC, which last year chose not to distance itself from another official credibly accused of sexual harassment—Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore—did not respond to a request for comment as to whether they would now do the same. Nor did Sean Spicer, the president’s former press secretary and the committee’s former top strategist, who was particularly aggressive in criticizing Democrats after the Weinstein revelations.

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

10 Interviews Support Sexual Harassment Allegations Against PA (R) Rep. Patrick Meehan

Apparently, House Speaker Paul Ryan didn't ask Pennsylvania Republican Representative Patrick Meehan if there was any private reason outside of his position on the House Ethics committee that would prevent him from conducting an effective role in redefining how sexual misconduct claims are handled in Congress.  

Revelations that Congressman Meehan actually made a settlement with a decades younger aide in 2017 caught Speaker Ryan by surprise. AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for the said that “this is new information to us” when asked about the settlement in a brief interview on Friday.

The New York Times interviewed 10 people including friends and former colleagues of the former aide and others who worked around the office. The young woman is a family friend of the Meehan's and became so demoralized by the Congressman's antagonistic behavior when she became involved with a new boyfriend, that she filed a complaint with the congressional Office of Compliance in the summer of 2017, alleging sexual harassment. The events that followed underscore why women typically don't file complaints against members of Congress. Now Meehan is theoretically empowered to change those procedures with new ones much fairer to victims. The Times writes a Rep. Jackie Speier's playbook expose. Speier's is leading the charge in Congress to reform current procedures:

Squirming Over His Support For Roy Moore, Trump Now Suggests That His 'Access Hollywood' Tape Is A Fake

Squirming Over His Support For Roy Moore, Trump Now Suggests That His 'Access Hollywood' Tape Is A Fake

The Times reports: "He sees the calls for Mr. Moore to step aside as a version of the response to the now-famous Access Hollywood tape, in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitalia, and the flood of groping accusations against him that followed soon after. He suggested to a senator earlier this year that it was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently. "(Note that in the hours after the tape was released in October 2016, Trump acknowledged that the voice was his, and he apologized.)

Republican candidate Moore is accused by eight women of pursuing romantic relationships with them when they were teenagers. At the time he was an assistant district attorney in his 30s. Two of the women have accused Moore of assault or molestation, which he vehemently denies. 

Besides Trump's endorsement of Roy Moore for the Senate, Trump feels the need to back the popular argument among Alabama men, asking why the women didn't come forward sooner. Numerous stories confirm that Trump doesn't believe the women accusing Moore, just as he accuses all the women alleging sexual misconduct by him as being liars. 

In Private Trump Doubts Roy Moore's Accusers, Backs Alabama's Candidate

In Private Trump Doubts Roy Moore's Accusers, Backs Alabama's Candidate

Politico reports that President Donald Trump's near-endorsement of the sexually-accused Alabama Republican senate candidate Roy Moore came after intense conversations with senior Republicans and White House aides. 

The White House advisers told Politico that the president "drew parallels between Moore’s predicament and the one he faced just over a year ago when, during the final weeks of the 2016 campaign, Trump confronted a long line of women who accused him of harassment. He adamantly denied the claims."

Speaking with reporters as he departed for Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Trump couldn't have come closer to saying that he believed Roy Moore's declaration that all nine of his accusers are lying. In Trump's typically incoherent, repetitive way of speaking, he said: “Let me just tell you, Roy Moore denies it. That's all I can say. He denies it. And, by the way, he totally denies it,” 

“I mean, if you look at what is really going on, and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours, he totally denies it,” Trump said. “He says it didn’t happen. And, you know, you have to listen to him also. You're talking about, he said 40 years ago this did not happen.”

Two New Accusers Come Out Against Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore

Two New Accusers Come Out Against Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore

Tina Johnson

Two more accusers of sexual misconduct came forward tonight against Alabama Republican Senate race candidate Roy Moore. Al.com reports late Wednesday that Tina Johnson alleged that in the fall of 1999 (when Moore was married) she sat in Moore's law office with her mother Mary Katherine Cofield. 

Moore began flirting with her from the moment she walked into Moore's office, alleged Johnson.

"He kept commenting on my looks, telling me how pretty I was, how nice I looked," recalled Johnson. "He was saying that my eyes were beautiful."

It made her uncomfortable. "I was thinking, can we hurry up and get out of here?"

Johnson was in a difficult period of her life, and in the process of signing over custody of her son to her mother. As she left the office, Johnson recalled that Moore grabbed her buttocks.

"He didn't pinch it; he grabbed it," said Johnson. She was so surprised she didn't say anything. She didn't tell her mother.

Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion

Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion

There is no disputing the fact that Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Tim Murphy engaged in an extramarital affair with Pittsburgh forensic psychologist Shannon Edwards. The husband of Shannon Edwards sought to depose Murphy in his own divorce action. 

Today the Pittsburgh Gazette dropped a new bombshell about Murphy, in regard to his response to a text from Edwards taking him to task for an anti-abortion statement posted on his public Facebook page. 

"And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.

A text from Mr. Murphy’s cell phone number that same day in response says, "I get what you say about my March for life messages. I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more. I will."

Updated: Murphy Will Resign | Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion→

Updated: Murphy Will Resign | Married PA Rep. Tim Murphy (R), Anti-Abortion Zealot, Advised Mistress To Seek Abortion

Sen McCain Saved Obamacare Standing On The Unyielding Shoulders Of Collins & Murkowski

Sen McCain Saved Obamacare Standing On The Unyielding Shoulders Of Collins & Murkowski

Thankfully, most media understood that while Sen. McCain was the much-needed vote, he had two women colleagues who made his decision so critical because he could actually determine the final verdict on Obamacare. The Senator was in rare, eloquent form before returning to Arizona to commence his treatment for a seriously-advanced brain cancer. But it was Collins and Murkowski to declared their positions early on and never veered off course, in spite of numerous threats from Trump himself. Do any of those Republican white guys wonder the outcome might have been different if they had just taken Collins and Murkowski seriously, instead of treating them like pesky gnats. ~ Anne

20 Yrs After Clarence Thomas Hearing, Anita Hill Is 'Reimagining Equality'

20 Yrs After Clarence Thomas Hearing, Anita Hill Is 'Reimagining Equality'

Anita Hill has a new book ‘Reimagining Equality’. A series of talks and seminars focused on the anniversary of the Clarence Thomas hearings for supreme court justice have returned Hill to the soft flow of the limelight, if not the harsh glow of cameras confronting her during her testimony about her experiences dealing with Thomas as his subordinate at the Education Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The hearings also changed the trajectory of Hill’s life. The questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, then a panel of white men, was “hurtful,” she said, and she does not believe a white woman would have met the same reception. But she also said she does not regret her involvement.

Anita Hill will be delivering the keynote address at New York’s Hunter College Oct. 15 conference ‘Sex, Power, and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later.’

Many women like myself who watched the Anita Hill interrogation in horror — by a panel of only white men — were stunned by their questions and know that the Daily Beast article is not an exaggeration.