“Dianne Feinstein Rode One Court Fight to the Senate. Another Has Left Her Under Siege.” Nicholas Fandos of The New York Times has this report.

“Is the Kavanaugh Confirmation Battle About to Explode? After days of game theory Republicans’ restraint is beginning to crack, even as Kavanaugh’s accuser doubles down.” Tina Nguyen has this post online at Vanity Fair.

“Many Voters Tend to Believe Christine Blasey Ford, Even if They Question Her Motive”: Kate Zernike of The New York Times has this report from Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

“Rosenstein Suggested He Secretly Record Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment”: Adam Goldman and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times have this report.

“Failed Supreme Court Nominations Really Aren’t That Rare”: Kimberly Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Marc Randazza Is Fighting To Keep Nazis And Trolls On Twitter In The New Speech Wars. Here’s Why.” Joseph Bernstein of BuzzFeed News has this report.

“About Those Brett Kavanaugh Doppelgänger Theories — CSI: Beltway. High-school yearbooks. Zillow. The defenses offered on behalf of the Supreme Court nominee have come to suggest a determined resistance to a changing world.” Megan Garber of The Atlantic has this report.

“The Kavanaugh controversy meets fake news. Real fake news.” Media critic Erik Wemple of The Washington Post has an essay that begins, “Conservative activist Ed Whelan just demonstrated why the so-called ‘fake news’ industry employs editors.”

Aaron Blake of The Washington Post has a blog entry titled “The Whelan tweets epitomize how nasty this has gotten — and will get.”

And Avi Selk of The Washington Post has a blog entry titled “Conservatives hyped a pundit who promised to prove Kavanaugh innocent. Then they saw his theory.”

“Ed Whelan’s tweets have created a second Kavanaugh scandal: Did Brett Kavanaugh know a friend of his was planning to smear a private citizen?” Zack Beauchamp of Vox has this report.

“Hatch aide: We had no role in Ed Whelan’s mistaken identity tweet storm on Kavanaugh.” Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner has this report.

“Kavanaugh ally says he did not communicate with White House or Supreme Court nominee about theory of another attacker”: Robert Costa and Elise Viebeck of The Washington Post have this report.

Elana Schor and Burgess Everett of Politico report that “Trump uncorks on Kavanaugh accuser; The president’s attacks are upending the Supreme Court nominee’s confirmation.”

And at Washington Monthly, Nancy LeTourneau has a post titled “The Question That Remains About the Mistaken Identity Defense.”

“A World War I cross under siege: The stories of the old warriors behind the Supreme Court challenge over Maryland’s Peace Cross.” Ann E. Marimow and Michael E. Ruane of The Washington Post have this report.

“Kavanaugh Ally Regrets Tweeting Sexual-Assault Allegation on Basis of Google Maps Search”: Eric Levitz has this post at the “Daily Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine.

“Cody Wilson, 3-D Gun Proponent, Arrested in Taiwan on Sexual Assault Charge”: Tiffany Hsu and Chris Horton of The New York Times have an article that begins, “Cody Wilson, a leading proponent of 3-D printed guns, has been arrested in Taiwan after being charged in Texas with sexually assaulting a 16-year old girl there, Taiwanese officials said on Friday.”

“I helped write a speech defending a vote for Clarence Thomas. I regret it still.” Stephen Rodrick has this essay online at The Washington Post.

“Poll: Brett Kavanaugh faces unprecedented opposition to Supreme Court confirmation.” Susan Page of USA Today has an article that begins, “More Americans oppose than support the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, a new USA TODAY/Ipsos Public Affairs Poll finds, an unprecedented level of disapproval for a nominee to the nation’s high court.”

“A new twist in the Kavanaugh saga raises some very unpleasant questions”: Greg Sargent has this entry at “The Plum Line” blog of The Washington Post.

Kevin Breuninger of CNBC reports that “Kavanaugh ally’s bizarre mistaken identity theory about sexual assault accusation blows up in his face.”

Jane Coaston of Vox reports that “Conservative activist Ed Whelan apologizes for insinuating a Kavanaugh doppelgänger assaulted Ford.”

And online at Esquire, Charles P. Pierce has a post titled “Ed Whelan’s Batshit Theory Has Been Kicking Around in Right-Wing Circles for a While Now; Senate Republicans can’t get out of their own way on this matter.”

“Trump Questions Kavanaugh Accuser’s Account as Senators Continue Negotiations; President’s tweet takes confrontational tone toward Christine Blasey Ford; Senate GOP hoping to reach agreement with Dr. Ford about testifying next week”: Natalie Andrews and Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

“Kavanaugh Backer Presents Bonkers Theory: Christine Ford Was Assaulted by Judge’s Doppelgänger.” Margaret Hartmann has this post at the “Daily Intelligencer” blog of New York magazine.

Jeet Heer of The New Republic has a post titled “A bizarre doppelgänger theory testifies to the desperation of some Brett Kavanaugh supporters.”

At Mother Jones, Kevin Drum has a post titled “The Kavanaugh Affair Careened Off a Cliff Today.”

And at The Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson has a post titled “Ed Whelan, Judge Kavanaugh’s Defender, Just Committed Defamation; But unless Whelan’s target — also a Kavanaugh backer — sues, he’s unlikely to face any consequences.”

“Why We Need an F.B.I. Investigation: A hearing without evidence would be little more than theater.” Nancy Gertner has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Kavanaugh accuser won’t testify Monday but open to doing so later next week”: Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey, and Emma Brown of The Washington Post have this report.

According to the article, “Amid the maneuvering, the nomination was roiled further late Thursday by incendiary tweets from a prominent Kavanaugh friend and supporter who publicly identified another high school classmate of Kavanugh’s as Ford’s possible attacker.”

Update: The current version of the article also states, “Republicans on Capitol Hill and White House officials immediately sought to distance themselves from Whelan’s claims and said they were not aware of his plans to identify the former classmate, now a middle school teacher, who could not be reached for comment and did not answer the door at his house Thursday night.”

Someone having the same name as the high school classmate whom Whelan identified appears among the signers of this letter in support of the nominee, and that letter identifies the signer as a middle school teacher in suburban Atlanta.

“Ed Whelan just showed what Brett Kavanaugh’s defense will look like — and metaphorically set himself on fire”: Philip Wegmann has this essay online at the Washington Examiner.

“‘These are the stories of our lives’: Prep school alumni hear echoes in assault claim.” Joe Heim has this article in today’s edition of The Washington Post.

And online at The Washington Post, columnist Alexandra Petri has an essay titled “Some interpersonal verbs, conjugated by gender.”

“Harvard Law Students Say School Should Reconsider Brett Kavanaugh’s Teaching Job”: Amanda Terkel of HuffPost has this report.

“Kavanaugh booster faces backlash after pushing mistaken-identity theory on Twitter”: W. James Antle III and Daniel Chaitin of the Washington Examiner have this report.

“Yale Law dean: Reports that professor groomed female clerks for Kavanaugh ‘of enormous concern’; Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken wrote that she wanted to ‘address the press reports today regarding allegations of faculty misconduct.'” Adam Edelman and Kasie Hunt of NBC News have this report.

“After the Kavanaugh Allegations, Republicans Offer a Shocking Defense: Sexual Assault Isn’t a Big Deal.” Jia Tolentino has this post online at The New Yorker.

“Opposition to Kavanaugh Nomination Grows Among Voters, New Poll Shows; Weak support among women could have political ramifications in midterm elections”: Janet Hook of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

“How Strong Does the Evidence Against Kavanaugh Need to Be? Even if it wouldn’t support a criminal conviction or civil liability, a merely credible allegation is enough to disqualify him.” Law professor Kate Shaw has this essay online at The New York Times.

“The Case for Impeaching Kavanaugh: If the Democrats win the House this fall, they can investigate the charges against him, should he be confirmed.” Law professor Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr. has this essay online at The New York Times.

“Ties to Disgraced Judge Could Reemerge at Kavanaugh Hearing”: Melissa Heelan Stanzione of Bloomberg Law has this report.

“Kavanaugh Accuser Open to Negotiations to Testify Before Senate Panel; Lawyers for Supreme Court nominee’s accuser Christine Blasey Ford propose call later Thursday to discuss hearing; Kavanaugh’s wife gets violent threats”: Kristina Peterson, Peter Nicholas, and Natalie Andrews of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Zoe Tillman and Paul McLeod of BuzzFeed News report that “The Woman Who Accused Brett Kavanaugh Of Assault Still Wants To Testify, Her Lawyers Say.”

And Kaitlan Collins of CNN reports that “Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford receiving death threats.”

“SC congressman jokes about Supreme Court sexual assault amid Kavanaugh drama”: Jamie Lovegrove of The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina has this report.

And in related coverage, Steven T. Dennis and Erik Wasson of Bloomberg News report that “Kavanaugh Drama Risks Driving Moderates, Women Away From GOP.”

“Kavanaugh Accuser Opens Negotiations on Testimony Next Week”: Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times has this report.

“Grassley in firing line on Kavanaugh assault allegation; The curmudgeonly Iowa Republican’s legacy is at stake as he navigates both sides of the Supreme Court nomination chaos”: Burgess Everett and Elana Schor of Politico have this report.