Today in one sentence: Christine Blasey Ford came forward to tell her story about Brett Kavanaugh; the tax cuts have brought back just 3.5 percent of the money Trump promised they would; and Ted Cruz is sending out donation mailers disguised as court summonses.

1/ The author of the letter accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct came forward to tell her story. Christine Blasey Ford is a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California who alleges Kavanaugh and a friend sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Ford said. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.” Ford said she felt a “civic responsibility” to speak out about the Supreme Court nominee. (Washington Post / CBS News)

  • Kavanaugh says he is willing to answer questions under oath about Ford’s allegations. Both Kavanaugh and Ford have said they would be willing to testify to Congress about the alleged incident. (CNN)

  • Trump has told allies he believes there is a “conspiracy” by Democrats to derail Kavanaugh’s nomination process. A senior White House aide says things are still “full steam ahead” for Kavanaugh. (Daily Beast)

2/ Sen. Jeff Flake wants to delay the vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation until Ford has a chance to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Flake is part of the GOP’s one-vote majority on the committee. “For me,” Flake said, “we can’t vote until we hear more.” (CBS News / Politico)

3/ Trump’s tax cuts have resulted in the repatriation of only 3.5 percent of the cash he predicted they would bring back to the United States. By ending the practice of taxing U.S. companies when they brought home foreign profits, Trump said, “Over $4 [trillion], but close to $5 trillion, will be brought back into our country.” The latest analysis shows $143 billion has been repatriated. Two-thirds of the profits are from two companies: networking giant Cisco Systems and a drug company called Gilead Sciences. (Daily Beast / Wall Street Journal)

4/ Ted Cruz’s Senatorial campaign sent out hundreds of thousands of donation mailers disguised as official court summonses. The outside of the envelopes read “SUMMONS ENCLOSED—OPEN IMMEDIATELY” and include a return address of “official county summons.” The mailers are legal as long as they contain a clear disclaimer indicating who paid for the communication. (Newsweek)

Notables.

  1. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has nearly doubled the number of promotion opportunities for top U.S. diplomats in an attempt to ease relations with the State Department workforce. State employees felt alienated under former Secretary Rex Tillerson’s leadership. (Reuters)

  2. Michael Bloomberg is considering a 2020 presidential run as a Democrat. Bloomberg has aligned himself with Democrats in the midterm election and has committed to spend $80 million to help Democrats retake control of the House. (New York Times)