Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers a statement on Iraq and Iran as well as his upcoming trip to North Korea.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Good morning, everyone. I want to update you on three issues, four if you want to count the – my upcoming trip to Asia, including North Korea.
First, the situation in Iraq; the second, a statement about the ruling this morning from the International Court of Justice; and finally, I want to talk about my effort to put America’s diplomatic corps back on the field.
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In a letter released last night from a former boyfriend of Christine Blasey-Ford, there was a name curiously not redacted. The name of Monica L McLean was revealed as a life-long friend who Ms. Ford helped with polygraph preparation.
The media has begun to focus on the letter as outlining a lie told by Ms. Ford during recent congressional testimony… But the backstory to Ms. Monica Lee McLean is an even bigger story.
First the letter from the boyfriend:

In addition to boyfriend noting Ms. Monica L McLean in the current letter, Ms. Monica Lee McLean was also one of the signatories of another letter from the Holton-Arms class of 1984 bolstering the credibility of Ms. Blasey-Ford.
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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Donald Trump Administration and Presidency.

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

President Trump Twitter @POTUS / Vice President Pence Twitter @VP

Sarah H Sanders Twitter @SHSanders45

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

During Ms. Christine Blasey-Ford’s senate testimony, under oath, she gave the following answers to questioning from Ms Rachel Mitchell:

MITCHELL: Have you ever had discussions with anyone, beside your attorneys, on how to take a polygraph?
FORD: Never.
MITCHELL: And I don’t just mean countermeasures, but I mean just any sort of tips, or anything like that.
FORD: No. I was scared of the test itself, but was comfortable that I could tell the information, and the test would reveal whatever it was going to reveal. I didn’t expect it to be as long as it was going to be, so it was a little bit stressful.
MITCHELL: Had — have you ever given tips or advice to somebody who was looking to take a polygraph test?
FORD: Never.

[Transcript Link] Unfortunately for Ms. Blasey-Ford, her testimony is now directly contradicted by a former six-year boyfriend who witnessed Ms. Ford coaching a friend named Monica McLean how to take a polygraph examination:
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Hillary Clinton was asked her opinion of Judge Brett Kavanaugh noting how the Clinton political machine writ large was working to smear his name and reputation.  Her response was typical Clinton evil…. Shrill laughter.  Do not look away:

The vulgar lies and filth are now extreme as the ideological entities utilize their microphones in a brutal attempt to tear down the Kavanaugh family.
As we bear witness, anyone trying to convince us this entire assembly of our union is headed in the right direction, well, they might want to revisit their proximity to the 2018 election ballpark. Because they’re not just out of the city – they’re also out of the same state the election ballpark is located in….. Then again, the media know that.

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Today President Trump travels to The Landers Center Southaven, Mississippi, as part of the 2018 MAGA campaign tour.  President Trump arrives in Mississippi to support Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s 2018 reelection bid. There are two elections for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi in 2018:
The first is the regularly scheduled election on November 6, 2018, to fill the state’s Class I seat held by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The second, a nonpartisan special election on November 6, 2018, to fill the Class II seat left vacant by Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Cochran’s term until January 3, 2021. The anticipated start time for President Trump is 7:30pm ET.
UPDATE: Video ADDED

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Some things are just funny as written.  A staff writer for the New York Times, Emily Bazelon, couldn’t avoid joining the increasingly silly resistance foray against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  So the Yale Law School ‘fellow’ co-authored a story about a “bar fight in 1985” during which master Kavanaugh was accused of throwing ice at another cashmere patron.
Apparently Ivy-League “bar fights”, the ultimate rabble-rousing right-of-passage amid the Corinthian leather bar stool crowd, are something less than what those of us below the Mason-Dixon might be accustomed to – amid hardwood lumber and sawdust brawls.

The New York Times now says: “it was a mistake“.
 
 

President Trump delivers remarks to the media while departing the White House en route to Philadelphia for a speech to National Electrical Contractors.
Interestingly, within these specific impromptu remarks, this is one of those times when President Trump openly shows his political instincts.  President Trump is asked about his conversation with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – and the president outlines that he doesn’t want to make any moves on the Rosenstein issues until after the full Kavanaugh story has run its course.
President Trump also makes brief reference to the remarks last night by Senator Lindsey Graham about running on the Kavanaugh nomination during the mid-term election.

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First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Ghana on Tuesday morning (October 2nd) after a 12-hour flight from Washington, D.C. This is the first stop on a four nation visit within Africa.

Day one in the capital of Accra, Ghana was spent visiting a local hospital to learn more about local welfare initiatives for children, while also getting the chance to promote her Be Best initiative. According to pool reports the first lady then enjoyed afternoon tea with her Ghanaian counterpart at the presidential palace in Accra.
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