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President Trump assailed the latest woman to accuse Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, saying on Tuesday that she “has nothing” because she was “messed up” at the time, even as a key Republican senator urged colleagues to take the accusations seriously. With pressure rising in advance of a make-or-break hearing on Thursday, Mr. Trump lashed out in a more vociferous way than he has since his nominee came under fire for allegations of sexual assault, blaming Democrats for orchestrating a “con game” and targeting one of Judge Kavanaugh’s accusers in scathing, personal terms. (Baker and Fandos, 9/25)

The powerful and well-funded conservative movement has launched into overdrive to rescue the Supreme Court nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh, decrying the sexual assault allegations against him as unfounded and warning Republicans that buckling to Democratic pressure would undermine voter enthusiasm weeks before the midterm elections. (Costa, 9/25)

Tens of millions of people will be watching Christine Blasey Ford when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a potentially history-shaping hearing on Thursday. Yet Ford has had no apparent contact with the people who could help her most through the ordeal: Senate Democrats. (Schor and Bade, 9/26)

Democrats have all the cover they need to vote in lockstep against Brett Kavanaugh. But a half-dozen of them have refused to go there, even after the pair of sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee. Democratic insiders are feeling more bullish than ever that the party’s 49 caucus members ultimately will oppose Kavanaugh. Yet the undeclared bloc of Democratic senators could be a problem for Democratic leaders, who want to put the weight of the nomination entirely on a handful of holdout Republicans. (Everett and Schor, 9/25)

When Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford present their vastly different recollections to the Senate on Thursday, the quality and reliability of memory itself will be on trial. Judge Kavanaugh has emphatically denied allegations from Dr. Blasey that he tried to rape her when they were teenagers or ever committed sexual assault against anyone. Dr. Blasey and another accuser, Deborah Ramirez, have recounted their alleged incidents with both precise detail and gaping holes. (Carey and Hoffman, 9/25)

The toughest challenge facing Judge Brett Kavanaugh when he appears at a Senate hearing Thursday about allegations of a decades-old sexual assault may be reconciling the two starkly different depictions circulating about his high school and college years. Unfortunately for Kavanaugh, both versions — one of a hard-partying, heavy-drinking frat boy and the other of a church-going athlete known from age 14 for respecting women’s dignity — come from Kavanaugh’s own words. (Savage, 9/25)

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday morning, less than 24 hours after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford appear before the panel to discuss Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than 30 years ago. (Schor, Bresnahan and Everett, 9/25)