Shoe Leather: With a one-week deadline, the FBI is already fanning out to talk to people who might have information that will help or hurt Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as they investigate accusations of sexual misconduct.

  The Washington Post reports that agents have already contacted Kavanaugh’s Yale classmate,  Deborah Ramirez,who claims that Kavanaugh shoved his genitals in her face at a drunken dormitory gathering.

The Yale incident might actually have more legs to it that the originalaccusation from a California college professor that he assaulted her while the two were in high school. People who knew Kavanaugh at Yale were discussing it over the summer after he was nominated to the Court, and some say he was a “sloppy” drunk.

President Trump has limited the FBI from looking into the accusations of a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who claims that Kavanaugh was present and a participated in “rape” parties in the 1980s, according to NBC Newsand The Wall Street Journal.Trump says that’s not so.

Swetnick’s are the most lurid claims. They are kind of out there, but who the hell knows.

At a rally in West Virginia last night, President Trump turned the Kavanaugh fight into a political weapon decrying the actions of Democratic opponents trying to block the nominee’s ascension to the Supreme Court.

“On Thursday, the American people saw the brilliant and really incredible character, quality and courage of our nominee for the United States Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Trump said. He added: “A vote for Judge Kavanaugh is also a vote to reject the ruthless and outrageous tactics of the Democrat Party.”

Part of Trump’s strategy is to pin the vote of West Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who holds his office in a Republican state. Manchin is running for re-election and has a nine-point lead in the polls, but he has to gamble on how much support he might lose if he votes against Kavanaugh.

The National Joke: Kavanaugh’s performance in front of the Senate this past week has made him into the poster boy for angry white guys. Matt Damon savaged him last night in the cold open of “Saturday Night Live,” beginning his angry speech shouting “What?” He went on to say, “I’m here tonight because of a sham, a political con job, orchestrated by the Clintons, George Soros, Kathy Griffin, and Mr. Ronan Sinatra. Now I am usually an optimist. I am a ‘keg is half full’ kind of guy.”

Expensive Tweet: Tesla automotive founder Elon Musk agreed to step down as chairman of the company and pay a $20 million fine to settle a case against him brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission because of his cryptic tweet about taking the company private. Musk remains as chief executive, a powerful position  he could have lost if he had fought the SEC lawsuit filed against him just three days ago. The SEC’s complaint was that Musk’s tweet about taking the company private was just BS that affected the stock without reason.

Cover of Night: The federal government has been clearing migrant children out of shelters all over the country in the middle of the night and busing them to a tent city in the South Texas desert, The NY Times  reports. The facility, which is unregulated and has no schooling for the children, houses 3,800. The Department of Health and Human Services claims the tent city is for kids who are close to being released, making room for others in the longer term shelters. The Times says the children are woken and moved in the middle of the night so they don’t have time to panic or escape.

Tsunami: The death toll in and around Palu, Indonesia, after an earthquake and tsunami has reached 800 and probably will climb higher. Some coastal villages are cut off and authorities have not reached them.

Wasilla Social Notes: Track Palin, son of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, was arrested for the third time on assault charges for an incident that happened in his home in Wasilla, Alaska. Palin was arrested on charges of assaulting his father last year. The latest incident involved a female friend and he said at his arraignment that he was “not guilty, for sure.”

Memory Loss: CNN founder and former America’s Cup sailor Ted Turner revealed in an interview with CBS that he has Lewy body dementia. He said he’s grateful that he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s disease.”It’s similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal,” Turner said in the interview for “CBS Sunday Morning.” “Thank goodness I don’t have that. But, I also have got, let’s — the one that’s — I can’t remember the name of it.”

Overly Conscious: Possibly inspired by name changes for Dunkin’ Donuts, Weight Watchers, and Prince, the artist formerly known as Kim Kardashian’s husband has changed his name to simply “Ye.” The former rap musician turned clothing designer Kanye West, whose nickname has been “Ye,” tweeted, “The being formally known as Kanye West. I am YE.”

The “being” ?

Not since Gwyneth Paltrow announced her “conscious uncoupling” from husband Chris Martin has there been such celebrity self-indulgence, and oh, by the way, she got married again and her child’s name is still Apple.

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