No Spin News Summary – September 19, 2018

Kavanaugh Latest

Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault back when they were in high school wants a law enforcement investigation of the incident before testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to her lawyer, Lisa Banks, who appeared on CNN Tuesday night. 

Ford’s attorney, Lisa Banks, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that “Any talk of a hearing on Monday frankly is premature because she just came forward with these allegations 48 hours ago. And since that time, she has been dealing with hate mail, harassment, death threats. So she’s been spending her time trying to figure out how to put her life back together, how to protect herself and her family. And there hasn’t been an investigation and these are serious allegations.”

“She’s [Christine Blasey Ford] not prepared to talk with them at a hearing on Monday,” Banks continued to tell CNN. “No investigation — any legitimate investigation is not going to happen between now and Monday. This is going to take some time and what needs to happen is there shouldn’t be a rush to a hearing here. There’s no reason to do that.” 

Mark Judge, friend of Brett Kavanaugh, told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter that he had "no memory" of the incident. And he said he won't testify. “I did not ask to be involved in this matter nor did anyone ask me to be involved,” Judge said in a statement relayed to the committee by his lawyer.

Another alleged witness denies seeing or hearing what Kavanaugh’s accuser claimed. Patrick J. Smyth attended Georgetown Prep an all-boys school in North Bethesda, Maryland alongside Kavanaugh. Both men graduated in 1983. Smyth signed a letter this summer, before the allegations against Kavanaugh were made public, testifying that Kavanaugh “is singularly qualified to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court,” along with dozen other of the school’s alumni.

“I understand that I have been identified by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as the person she remembers as ‘PJ’ who supposedly was present at the party she described in her statements to the Washington Post,” Smyth says in his statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“I am issuing this statement today to make it clear to all involved that I have no knowledge of the party in question; nor do I have any knowledge of the allegations of improper conduct she has leveled against Brett Kavanaugh.” The letter continued, “Personally speaking, I have known Brett Kavanaugh since high school and I know him to be a person of great integrity, a great friend, and I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh toward women. To safeguard my own privacy and anonymity, I respectfully request that the committee accept this statement in response to any inquiry the committee may have.”

FBI, Justice Department Plan to Redact Russia Documents Despite Trump Order for Full Declassification

The Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI and Office of the Director of National Intelligence are reportedly expected to propose redactions to a series of documents related to the Russia investigation that President Trump ordered to be declassified this week. There is no official timeline on when their evaluation of the sensitive documents will be finished. 

Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the process, noted that the FBI and the DOJ plan on submitting their proposed redactions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The office is expected to then assemble the material and turn it over to the White House, Bloomberg reported. 

Soros-backed Activists Slip Cash to Anti-Kavanaugh Protesters Before Arrests

Activists backed by left-wing billionaires like George Soros are giving cash to protesters arrested for disrupting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. The cash is for the protesters to resolve their charges after an arrest. Activists also explained how individuals could be arrested and released in order to disrupt the hearing multiple times a day.

Left-wing groups funded by George Soros and other major Democratic donors hand out cash to protesters arrested for disrupting Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, the activists revealed Monday night.

A coalition of activist organizations including Women’s March, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and Housing Works have scheduled the near-constant disruptions at the Kavanaugh hearings as part of an organized effort to derail the confirmation process in a series of meetings since he was first nominated. Billionaire George Soros is a primary source of funding for CPD.

The cash from the donor-funded groups goes toward the protesters’ post-and-forfeit payments, a small cash sum paid to resolve low-level misdemeanor crimes and avoid jail time. The left-wing organizations would provide cash for the post-and-forfeits to protesters who didn’t show up with their own money. 

ICE: More than a Quarter of Illegal Immigrant Families in Alternative to Detention Skip Court Hearings

A significant share of illegal immigrant families released from federal detention have failed to show up for their immigration court hearings this year.

Between Oct. 1, 2017 and July 31, 2018, the absconder rate for family units in ATD was 28 percent. That was significantly higher than individuals in ATD, who had an absconder rate of about 16 percent over the same time period. 

The contractor that administered the program claimed 99 percent of the families under its watch successfully attended their court appearances and ICE check-ins, according to a November 2017 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report.

Bill’s Gallstone Surgery

Waiting for treatment has become a defining characteristic of Canadian health care. Waiting Your Turn by Frasier Institute, indicates that, overall, waiting times for medically necessary treatment has been on the rise since 1993. Specialist physicians surveyed report a median waiting time of 20 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment.

This year’s wait time, the longest ever recorded in this survey’s history, is 115% longer than in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks.

Wait time breakdown by area.Ontario reports the shortest total wait: 5.6 weeks, while New Brunswick reports the longest: 38.8 weeks. 

From referral by a general practitioner to consultation with a specialist. The waiting time in this segment increased from 8.5 weeks in 2015 to 9.4 weeks in 2016. This wait time is 155% longer than in 1993, when it was 3.7 weeks. The shortest waits for specialist consultations are in Ontario (7.2 weeks) while the longest occur in New Brunswick (21.5 weeks).

From the consultation with a specialist to the point at which the patient receives treatment. The waiting time in this segment increased from 9.8 weeks in 2015 to 10.6 weeks in 2016. This wait time is 88% longer than in 1993 and more than three weeks longer than what physicians consider to be clinically “reasonable”. That would mean that the average total wait time from referral to specialist to actual treatment was approximately 20 weeks in 2016. 

Mail Time!

• As a juror on your jury you put together, I have to challenge your first two points. Maybe more information will change my mind, but based on what I have been told so far I must challenge your statement of fact that there were three people in a room. Yet you go so far as to name the three. Any proof they were there? Second, you said we can't say Ms. Ford is lying. Why not? What has she said or done to make me believe her? Nothing. What has she done to make me think this is a pure political play on her part? Lots. 

• I am a loyal supporter of yours, but you asked for feedback. Don't know why you think "something" had to happen between Kavanaugh and that left wing radical protesting professor. He says he was never at that party and she says she was nearly assaulted. Why is her line more believable to you than his? I would agree but he appears to have such a stellar rep with many women saying he behaved fine with them.


Word of the Day: Puzzlewit

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