While Brett Kavanagugh’s high school buddy initially supported the Mr. Kavanagh, Mark Judge now is refusing to testify under oath that the episode did not happen.
Meanwhile, Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: reports that two sources told her that the White House has heard rumors that Ford’s account will be verified by women who say she told it to them contemporaneously.
Sherman also suggests that Trump himself has doubts. ‘He’s a Bush guy, why would I put myself out there defending him?’” Trump told people, according to a former White House official briefed on the conversations. Trump also has expressed frustration with White House counsel Don McGahn, who aggressively lobbied for him to choose Kavanaugh, a source said. “Trump wants this guy on the court, but Trump knows there are five other people he could put on the court if this falls apart,” a former official said.
Even before the Kavanaugh crisis, Trump has been worried about Republicans’ declining fortunes, and he’s been finding ways to shift the blame. Trump told a friend in the Oval Office last week that it would be Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan’s fault if Republicans lost the House and the Senate, according to a person familiar with the conversation. “This is the election about Ryan and McConnell—it’s about those guys,” Trump said. Trump referred to his 2020 campaign as “the real election.” “It’s pure Trump. He has to come up with a way he’s not responsible if Republicans lose,” a former West Wing staffer said.