How can anyone not see this "accusation" as a coordinated political hit job is beyond me.

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Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin's campaign listed Brett Kavanaugh accuser's attorneys as headliners at a Washington fundraiser slated to take place next month, according to a copy of the invite obtained by CNN.

Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, is being represented by attorneys Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, both of whom are listed as headliners in a "cocktails and conversation" event for Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat who is facing re-election this fall. People are asked to contribute up to $1,000 to attend the October 1 event, and a source familiar with the matter said it is slated to take place at their law firm Katz, Marshall & Banks.

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The accuser's lawyers are leveraging their clients publicity to raise money for Dems.

Typical libs

Isn't this guy a fairly well placed lawyer in DC? If so, what a complete moron. Talk about stepping in it in a major way. Of course I won't be surprised if the media plays it as, "Republican strategist makes unfounded accusation against Kavanaugh classmate". They won't see the irony in this at all.

Tom Hagen said:

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Trump breaks his silence.

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He was so close to not ****ing this up.

Tom Hagen said:

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Trump breaks his silence.

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Oh dear god. Buckle up buttercups

amercer said:

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Tom Hagen said:

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Trump breaks his silence.

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He was so close to not ****ing this up.

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Trump gonna Trump......

Damn it Trump. You were doing so damn good. This does not help.

You can't blame him for being upset. Libs have turned this into a joke.

WelchAg said:

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amercer said:

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Tom Hagen said:

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Trump breaks his silence.

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He was so close to not ****ing this up.

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Nothing he said was out of line. People are afraid to state the obvious. Nothing happened (even if it was actually tried). It was not bad enough that she reported it to authorities. Kavanaugh has made his way up the ranks as a circuit court judge, yet it wasn't bad enough for her to bring it up then...only now that he is a SCOTUS candidate.

People are too afraid to call out the obvious BS in this whole story.

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Yeah well, get out of here with your logic. This is a post-logic world. Now people are gonna claim Trump is downplaying the seriousness of sexual assault, we'll get a bunch of people trotted out by the press talking about how traumatic it is to report these incidents, Trump is victim blaming/shaming, etc...

Just let Grassley put this to bed on Monday. Grassley has handled this perfectly this week. This isn't gonna help.

He should tweet that he respects the professor and that she has a lot of tiger in her.

At this point its all about giving cover to the fence sitting Republican senators. Grassley was in the process of doing this. Trump wading in at this point does not help Grassley in this. He should have gotten on Air Force One today and headed off to Florida for a weekend of golf and stayed out of it.

PanzerAggie06 said:

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At this point its all about giving cover to the fence sitting Republican senators. Grassley was in the process of doing this. Trump wading in at this point does not help Grassley in this. He should have gotten on Air Force One today and headed off to Florida for a weekend of golf and stayed out of it.

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I don't think I agree with you. Trump stepping into the fray now is a calculated move. He's fading all the pressure on the senators and letting it be about him. Predictable Trump. And what's amazing about Trump being predictable Trump is that he's so predictable that the media in general will have literally no clue what to do about it besides exactly whatever Trump wants them to do.

techno-ag said:

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Trump is just saying out loud what everybody else is thinking.

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Agreed. But he should not have tweeted that.

Unsure if it will change anything, but it makes him sound uncaring about the accuser/victim. IMO.

PanzerAggie06 said:

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At this point its all about giving cover to the fence sitting Republican senators. Grassley was in the process of doing this. Trump wading in at this point does not help Grassley in this. He should have gotten on Air Force One today and headed off to Florida for a weekend of golf and stayed out of it.

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Bull*****..if the last 2-years have taught us anything it's that, regardless of past precedents in politics, Trump plays by his own rules, and his own rules play well with the electorate...

Like I said in my post above, Trump is just making it about Trump.

aginlakeway said:

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techno-ag said:

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Trump is just saying out loud what everybody else is thinking.

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Agreed. But he should not have tweeted that.

Unsure if it will change anything, but it makes him sound uncaring about the accuser/victim. IMO.

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There are a lot of things everyone claims Trump "shouldn't do", but he does them anyway, and it works well for him...

Folks are going to need to learn to accept that the political paradigm has experienced a tectonic shift with Trump, and it has been good for him...

Reality is that a lot of sexual crimes which are legit are not reported. Wading in with that comment just opens a can of worms that doesn't involve Ford's ridiculous accusation. It allows the possibility for the focus to change to something that is legitimate vs. her claim which is completely illegitimate.

blindey said:

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PanzerAggie06 said:

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At this point its all about giving cover to the fence sitting Republican senators. Grassley was in the process of doing this. Trump wading in at this point does not help Grassley in this. He should have gotten on Air Force One today and headed off to Florida for a weekend of golf and stayed out of it.

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I don't think I agree with you. Trump stepping into the fray now is a calculated move. He's fading all the pressure on the senators and letting it be about him. Predictable Trump. And what's amazing about Trump being predictable Trump is that he's so predictable that the media in general will have literally no clue what to do about it besides exactly whatever Trump wants them to do.

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At least now this destroys the narrative that Trump will drop Kavanaugh and sink any future capital Trump could spend on SCOTUS nominees

Old Tom Morris said:

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Reality is that a lot of sexual crimes which are legit are not reported. Wading in with that comment just opens a can of worms that doesn't involve Ford's ridiculous accusation.

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Agree 100%. Just because someone doesn't report it doesn't man it didn't happen.

He should have stayed out of this. But that's not him ...

Instead of keeping his mouth shut and letting the story play out (a strategy that was actually working pretty well for republicans) he blows the whole thing up. Expect wall to wall coverage all weekend with experts and rape victims explaining why most rapes go unreported.

This was a really dumb move by trump.

Excellent observation. I think his tweets may have been authored in response to the insanity in the WaPo calling for him or Kavenaugh to withdraw the candidate and to start impeachment against him as a member of the D.C. Circuit. Basically a big **** You to the crazy/frothing leftists.

There was noise that Trump being silent meant he didn't fully back Kavanaugh.

The tweet before that was that he had spent four days meeting with the guy this week at the WH and has no questions about his character or what happened.

Trump's trying to take the heat off the Senate and let the media come after him. He's done this pretty regularly since he got into office (stir things up, media chases the ball down the street, and meanwhile others are getting work done).

Feels the same.

The Republicans were winning this week. They were at the 2 yard line about to score. Why? Because they took the charges seriously, but demanded corroboration and offered to hear the story of the accuser in a setting that she was comfortable with. Now the President chimes in that the charges must be fraudulent because she didn't report them at the time. Massive own goal. He can't stay out of his own way.

amercer said:

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Instead of keeping his mouth shut and letting the story play out (a strategy that was actually working pretty well for republicans) he blows the whole thing up. Expect wall to wall coverage all weekend with experts and rape victims explaining why most rapes go unreported.

This was a really dumb move by trump.

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It has already been Wall to Wall and we have already seen rape victims be interviewed, not sure that it mattered that Trump said anything.

I think a tweet supporting Kavanaugh would be great. I think a tweet that basically says if you were really sexually assaulted, you would report it is moronic.

The risk is that he puts some of these weak-willed Senators on the spot as having to appear to agree with him on that latter assumption (which is a bad point and assumption) and they'll decide they don't want to do that.

amercer said:

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Instead of keeping his mouth shut and letting the story play out (a strategy that was actually working pretty well for republicans) he blows the whole thing up. Expect wall to wall coverage all weekend with experts and rape victims explaining why most rapes go unreported.

This was a really dumb move by trump.

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It was already wall to wall.

I still would bet money Kavanaugh gets confirmed. And that's the goal.

amercer said:

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Instead of keeping his mouth shut and letting the story play out (a strategy that was actually working pretty well for republicans) he blows the whole thing up. Expect wall to wall coverage all weekend with experts and rape victims explaining why most rapes go unreported.

This was a really dumb move by trump.

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I wish I had a nickle for every time someone claimed "Oh!!! Trump ****ed up bigly this time!!! He's DOOOOOOOMED!!!", only for his approach to work...

Again, the political paradigm has experienced a historical shift, and all assumptions about political correctness should be thrown into the garbage...

Its not about playing well with the electorate. Its about playing well with the people that vote on Collins and Murkowski. They need cover to vote for Kavanaugh. Grassley was in the process of doing this. Trump wading in at this point throws a cog into the process that is unnecessary. This process is about getting another conservative on the court. Trump has ample opportunity to placate the electorate without getting involved here.

AG 2000' said:

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There was noise that Trump being silent meant he didn't fully back Kavanaugh.

The tweet before that was that he had spent four days meeting with the guy this week at the WH and has no questions about his character or what happened.

Trump's trying to take the heat off the Senate and let the media come after him. He's done this pretty regularly since he got into office (stir things up, media chases the ball down the street, and meanwhile others are getting work done).

Feels the same.

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I honestly think this is right. The Senate leadership will denounce the tweet and come off looking like they are taking the accusation seriously.

I'm taken aback at most of his tweets but his effectiveness is demonstrable so I've come to believe it's all part of the playbook.

FireAg said:

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amercer said:

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Instead of keeping his mouth shut and letting the story play out (a strategy that was actually working pretty well for republicans) he blows the whole thing up. Expect wall to wall coverage all weekend with experts and rape victims explaining why most rapes go unreported.

This was a really dumb move by trump.

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I wish I had a nickle for every time someone claimed "Oh!!! Trump ****ed up bigly this time!!! He's DOOOOOOOMED!!!", only for his approach to work...

Again, the political paradigm has experienced a historical shift, and all assumptions about political correctness should be thrown into the garbage...

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It's not about political correctness, it's about strategy. He has given the media an excuse to turn the story away from Ford and onto rape victims in general.

I think most people are skeptical of Ford because of the timing of the allegations and the lack of evidence. Rape victims in general though are about the most sympathetic people you could put on tv. Trump has now picked a fight with that group.

It's not so much about political correctness. It's just not being dumb about how you back your guy by making the basis of your tweet on a false assumption.

"I support Brett Kavanaugh. He's a man of upstanding character, as witnessed by a long list of people who have come out in support of him. I do not believe this accusation against him has any merit whatsoever. The US Senate needs to move forward with confirming him."

That's how you back your guy, shoot down her claim, and push the Senate to do the right thing.