The former Oracle CEO will host a $1,500 per person fundraiser at his home for the National Republican Senatorial Committee with the Kentucky senator.

Larry Ellison, one of the richest men in the world, will host a fundraiser for the Republican Senate fundraising arm featuring another big name — Sen. Rand Paul.

The $1,500-per-person NRSC fundraiser will be held in the former Oracle CEO's California home, according to an invitation obtained by BuzzFeed News, and will also be attended by Sen. Orrin Hatch and Rep. Steve Daines. Hosts must give $32,400 and co-hosts must contribute $15,000.

Ellison, likely best known outside his work at Oracle for his interest in sailing and yachting, has in the past been somewhat split in his political contributions. In 2012, however, he gave $3 million to Restore Our Future, a super PAC that supported Mitt Romney's bid for president.

The San Francisco-area fundraiser is part of a major campaign swing for Paul. The Kentucky senator, who is expected to run for president, is working to support Republican Senate candidates ahead of the midterm elections.

LINK: Rand Paul’s New Mission: Helping Out The Republican Establishment

The white paper was written by a campaign volunteer.

Asa Hutchinson For Governor

A white paper on Republican Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson's website appears to copy nearly-verbatim from a blog post, a quote from South Dakota Sen. John Thune, and a USA Today article.

Hutchinson's white paper on job creation through technology copies a blog post by former IGN Entertainment president and current head of Bloomberg Beta Roy Bahat. The paper likewise copies a USA Today column by Hadi Partovi that, while footnoted, fails to attribute the words themselves to Partovi.

Bahat told BuzzFeed News he'd never spoken with the campaign.

"I have had zero interaction with the campaign. I'm just happy that technology learning is now a mainstream issue," he said.

The Hutchinson campaign said the white paper cam from "a campaign volunteer (unpaid and not staff)" and they would be adding attribution to the article.

The Hutchinson campaign provided emails showing this to be the case.

Here's the statement they gave BuzzFeed News:

The computer coding paper gives credit to four sources: Code.org; USA Today; McKinsey and Arkansas Business. These four sources are noted in the footnotes to the paper and were essential in providing background and specific information on the topic. The push for computer coding is not an original issue with Mr. Hutchinson but it is a national effort and the credit is properly given to Code.org and other national leaders on this important initiative.

The Hutchinson staff did not review any other blogs or know of Mr. Bahat's writing on this subject. A campaign volunteer (unpaid and not staff) who has a background in communication and research did provide a written paper on this topic and it was represented to be his original writing. Portions of the volunteer's research were included in the final white paper. After the campaign has reviewed and compared the document - we will be IMMEDIATELY adding attribution to our policy paper on our website.

The campaign stands by the initiative and believes computer coding is the right direction for Arkansas.

Here's Roy Bahat of Bloomberg Beta on his blog:

There is real demand for coders – even despite overall unemployment – so learning to code produces rewards quickly.

Online marketplaces like oDesk and Elance hire starting programmers at rates as high as $15-20 an hour or more. Learning to code is one of the best paths to entrepreneurship. Coding also offers students the joy of creation and mastery of a complex skill. Code may one day be a basic workplace expectation – like emailing, or "proficient in Word."

And here's Hutchinson:

Learning to code, even at a high school level, produces rewards quickly.

Computer programmers start at rates as high as $15-20 an hour or more. Learning to code is one of the best paths to entrepreneurship as you can start a profitable business with little or no upfront capital. Knowing how to code may one day be a basic workplace expectation – like basic computer skills, or proficiency in various office software programs.

Here's Bahat again:

Code isn't that hard to start to learn – one outsourcing firm takes people with no training and makes them full-time Java programmers in 3 months. (Of course, mastery takes tremendous talent and craft.) Coding isn't expensive – with netbooks, cloud hosting and storage, and open source software. Beyond a certain point, coders are self-taught, and can continue to advance their skills.

And here's Hutchinson:

The really good news is code isn't that hard to start to learn – one outsourcing firm takes people with no training and makes them full-time Java programmers in 3 months. Learning coding isn't expensive. Beyond a certain point, coders are self-taught, but guided by teachers.

In one instance, Hutchinson footnotes his source, but completely aggregates the words without noting not only the information but the words themselves came from the source.

Here's a USA Today column by Hadi Partovi:

The first step in solving a problem is to recognize it needs to be solved. Today, only 2% of students study computer programming. If we triple that to 6%, we'd close the gap between students and jobs, driving $500 billion in economic value to our country. This is a giant opportunity, impacting every industry (67% of these jobs are outside the tech sector).

And here's Hutchinson:

Nationally only 2% of students study computer programming. If we triple that to 6%, we'd close the gap between students and jobs, driving $500 billion in economic value to our country. This is a giant opportunity, impacting every industry and institution.

In another case, Hutchinson aggregates the words of South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

Here's South Dakota Sen. John Thune on coding, featured on Code.org:

Whether our children want to become farmers, doctors, teachers, or entrepreneurs, it'll be easier for them to achieve their dreams in the digital age if they have some background in computer science. We need our children to learn 21st century skills for a 21st century world, and coding teaches them the creativity and problem-solving skills that are necessary for success.

And here's Hutchinson:

Whether our children want to be farmers, doctors, teachers or entrepreneurs, they will all benefit from the creativity and problem-solving skills that are the essence of creating computer software.

Hutchinson has made teaching kids to coding a platform of his campaign. In an August TV ad, "Ella Beth," the former congressman said he would teach coding in Arkansas high schools.

Here's that ad:

View Entire List ›

The effectiveness of lobbyists in reclaiming land from ISIS remains untested.

Fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) stand guard at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, in this June 11, 2014 file photo.

Stringer / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The governor of the Iraqi province of Mosul is paying a U.S. consulting firm $300,000 to help him fight ISIS.

According to documents filed with the Department of Justice on Monday, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the governor of the Iraqi province whose capital is Mosul, has hired a McLean, Virginia firm called Chartwell Consultancy to "assist in reclaiming land from Islamic State."

The filing says that Chartwell will meet with federal officials and members of Congress as well as coordinate media relations for Nujaifi. The contract says that Chartwell, led by former American Jewish Committee official and Foreign Service officer Barry Jacobs, will also coordinate a visit for Nujaifi to Washington. Nujaifi, according to the filing, is paying for Chartwell's services "using his personal funds."

Chartwell will assist Nujaifi in reaching out to Congress and the executive branch "with the expressed purpose of securing the territory and people of the Republic of Iraq's Ninavah Governorate," the contract reads.

ISIS took control of the northern Iraq city of Mosul in June. Nujaifi fled that month and is now residing in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish Regional Government. Nujaifi is reportedly trying to put together a 3,000-person militia composed of Sunnis from his province to fight ISIS.

The contract with Chartwell notes that the firm will also help "to present and implement a plan for the creation of a indigenously recruited, multicultural and multi-religious National Guard unit at approximately regimental size based in Mosul to participate in the expulsion of foreign forces from Ninavah and secure with great urgency the residents' private and state controlled property."

There is little information about Chartwell Consultancy online, and the only client it has listed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act is Nujaifi.

From the FARA filing of Nujaifi's contract with Chartwell Consultancy.

Via fara.gov

The first thing Latricia Chance saw when she walked up to the apartment that October morning was a toddler, alone and shoeless, eating cereal on the doorstep. It was her friend Arlena Lindley’s 3-year-old son, Titches. Chance said hello. Titches, his mouth full of food, said nothing.

Inside, she greeted Lindley and her boyfriend, Alonzo Turner. Chance knew the couple had gone through trouble in the past, and something seemed off between them now — it just wasn’t clear what. Then Turner stepped outside and dragged Titches into the living room. Titches had soiled his light-blue pajama pants.

Turner, a 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound factory worker, ordered the toddler to bend over and touch his toes. He whipped him with a thick leather belt, then threw him against the wall. Titches hit his head so hard that he spat out some of his breakfast. Turner took Titches by his neck and wiped his face in the half-eaten cereal. With Titches on his back and crying, Turner pressed his foot to the boy’s chest. Then he picked him up, dragged him to the bathroom, pushed his face into the toilet, and flushed.

Turner turned to Lindley, warning her that if she tried to take Titches out of the house he would kill her. Chance could see the terror on Lindley’s face. Yet Lindley spotted an opening, grabbed hold of her son, and made for the front door.

She was too slow. Turner snatched the boy from her arms and, still holding the boy, slammed the door shut on Lindley and Chance, locking them outside. Stunned, they withdrew to figure out what to do.

By the end of the day, Titches would be dead, and Turner would be arrested for his murder. Prosecutors would charge Turner with assaulting Lindley too, noting that she was “very afraid” of him.

Yet they would also deem Lindley a criminal. Even though Lindley had tried to rescue her son, they would prosecute her for failing to protect him from Turner.

Her sentence: 45 years in prison.

Lindley’s case exposes what many battered women’s advocates say is a grotesque injustice. As is common in families terrorized by a violent man, there were two victims in the Lindley-Turner home: mother and child. Both Lindley and Titches had suffered beatings for months. But in all but a handful of states, laws allow for one of the victims — the battered mother — to be treated as a perpetrator, guilty not of committing abuse herself but of failing to protect her children from her violent partner.

Said Stephanie Avalon, resource specialist for the federally funded Battered Women’s Justice Project, “It’s the ultimate blaming of the victim.”

Photographs of Titches Lindley sitting above his bed at the home of his father, William Wade, in Dallas.

Photograph by Melanie Buford for The Dallas Morning News

No one knows how many women have suffered a fate like Lindley’s, but looking back over the past decade, BuzzFeed News identified 28 mothers in 11 states sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to prevent their partners from harming their children. In every one of these cases, there was evidence the mother herself had been battered by the man.

Almost half, 13 mothers, were given 20 years or more. In one case, the mother was given a life sentence for failing to protect her son, just like the man who murdered the infant boy. In another, the sentences were effectively the same: The killer got life, and the mother got 75 years, of which she must serve at least 63 years and nine months. In yet another, the mother got a longer sentence than the man who raped her son. In one more, a father fractured an infant girl’s toe, femur, and seven ribs and was sentenced to two years; for failing to intervene, the mother got 30.

At least 29 states have laws that explicitly criminalize parents’ failure to protect their children from abuse. In Texas, where Lindley lives, the crime is known as injury to a child “by omission.” In other states, it goes by “permitting child abuse” or “enabling child abuse.” In addition, prosecutors in at least 19 states can use other, more general laws against criminal negligence in the care of a child, or placing a child in a dangerous situation.

These laws make parents responsible for what they did not do. Typically, people cannot be prosecuted for failing to thwart a murder; they had to have actually helped carry it out. But child abuse is an exception, and the logic behind these laws is simple: Parents and caregivers bear a solemn duty to protect their children.

If a violent partner threatened her child, “I would sacrifice my life 10 times out of 10,” said Carmen White, the Dallas prosecutor — and mother — who pressed charges against Lindley. The law provides justice for child victims, she said, and it sends a message to mothers about their duties.

Only a few states provide an exception for parents who feared for their safety at the time the violence occurred. In some of these states, that exception is narrow or limited, leaving battered women open to prosecution.

Prosecutors often use the violence a mother endured as evidence against her. Since she was battered, they sometimes argue, she should have left the relationship, taking herself and her child to safety.

Advocates have tried but failed to compile national figures on how many women get prosecuted and sentenced under these laws. BuzzFeed News created its tally by focusing on 29 states that allow for sentences of at least 10 years. But because of limitations in the data provided by different states, BuzzFeed News’ tally is conservative; the actual number of cases is likely higher.

Then there are cases of women sentenced to a decade or more but where it’s difficult to determine whether they were victims of partner violence. BuzzFeed News found 45 such cases over the last decade. Often, the abuser and the mother who didn’t stop the abuse pled guilty, leaving little detail in their court files about what actually happened. Domestic violence advocates suspect many of these women were battered too, saying that women who’ve suffered abuse often conceal it, even through weeks or months of counseling. "I know in my heart that there's more out there," said Laurel Mohan, executive director at the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project in Minnesota.

(BuzzFeed News’ methodology and full list of cases can be found here.)

Where there is evidence of the women being battered, the case files describe them being punched, throttled, kicked, whipped, or raped — often in combination — at or around the time their assailants were doing the same to their children. “My husband took full possession of me and my life,” a mother in Tennessee told the court right before her 15-year sentence was handed down.

Domestic violence advocates say these cases signal a deep misunderstanding of what it means for women to be trapped in abusive relationships. Many such women fear alerting authorities, because doing so can provoke their partners to extreme violence. Moreover, authorities often fail to protect battered women and their children. Advocates also say that imprisoning these women serves little purpose and deprives any surviving children of their mother.

The laws against failing to prevent child abuse are written to cover both fathers and mothers. And, in fact, women perpetrate 34% of serious or fatal cases of physical abuse of children, according to the latest congressionally mandated national study of child abuse. But interviews and BuzzFeed News’ analysis of cases show that fathers rarely face prosecution for failing to stop their partners from harming their children. Overwhelmingly, women bear the weight of these laws.

BuzzFeed News found a total of 73 cases of mothers who, regardless of whether they were battered, were sentenced to 10 years or more. For fathers, BuzzFeed News found only four cases.

White, Lindley’s prosecutor, couldn’t recall prosecuting any fathers for failure to protect from physical abuse.

“Mothers are held to a very different standard,” said Kris McDaniel-Miccio, a law professor at the University of Denver whose expertise is domestic violence. She said that the lopsided application of these laws reflects deeply ingrained social norms that women should sacrifice themselves for their children.

From a different perspective, White agreed, saying that severe punishments generally fit “what people believe” should happen to mothers who shirk their duty to their children.

Aside from conceptions of motherhood, McDaniel-Miccio said that many people — and, by extension, many judges and juries — still don’t grasp the answer to a question at the core of so many of these cases: Why didn’t she leave him?

BuzzFeed News

LINK: For a complete breakdown of state laws, click here.

The “Girls” star wanted to use the timing of her book tour to help with Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts.

Courtesy of EMILY's List

WASHINGTON — "Girls" star Lena Dunham will be using her book tour in part to promote candidates endorsed by EMILY's List, BuzzFeed News has learned.

EMILY's List — a group that works for female Democratic candidates supportive of abortion rights — has partnered with Dunham for the tour of her book, Not that Kind of Girl.

Dunham had reached out to EMILY's List prior to her book tour, aides familiar with the conversations said, and wanted to use the tour to help the group with get-out-the-vote efforts for Democrats in the midterms. The group has provided her with the number of women voters who drop-off in a midterm elections specific to whichever area she is on the tour, and she'll use them the numbers when encouraging the audience to vote in November. They also gave her names and details of candidates to talk about on the tour.

She'll also promote the group on her Instagram and Twitter accounts.

According to New York Magazine Dunham told a New York audience that she viewed both writing and voting as "a way to get empowered."

"So let's vote and write our way to a better future," she said.

In 2012, Dunham cut an ad for the Obama campaign comparing the first time voting to losing one's virginity.

BIDEN’D.

Vice President Joe Biden joked to Harvard Institute of Politics on Thursday evening about the post of vice president.

"Ain't that a bitch," Biden said to a student who identified himself as the vice president of the student body.

Here's the video:

youtube.com

The Maryland governor keeps spending time in California with donors and fundraisers who have something in common: They supported Obama over Clinton.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley waves from the stage at the California Democrats State Convention in Los Angeles, where he delivered the keynote address earlier this year.

Jae C. Hong / AP

On a Monday in early June, a few dozen Maryland natives sat down in the executive dining room at the Sony Pictures Studios lot for a hometown meal, catered by CJ's Restaurants, one of Baltimore County's classic crabhouses.

The lunch spread, flown over the weekend into Culver City, Calif., was what a Marylander might simply describe as "correct": pan-fried crab cakes, crab soup, coleslaw, soft-shell crabs, corn, and Utz potato chips coated in Old Bay.

The group of more than 40 people, mostly producers and executives who left Maryland years ago for careers in Hollywood, came to meet a new face on the political scene in Los Angeles: the governor of their home state, Martin O'Malley.

The Maryland-themed gathering wasn't about fundraising. It was a chance for the little-known governor, who is putting together the framework for a possible presidential campaign, to get face time with the Hollywood political set. The meet-and-greet was put together by Steve Mosko, the president of Sony Pictures Television, and Tom Rothman, the former chairman at 20th Century Fox, and a donor and fundraiser for President Obama's campaigns.

O'Malley has raised money in California with some regularity during his two terms as governor, and as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, but in the last year, he has stepped up his efforts to court Hollywood's potential donors.

Most of the people O'Malley's met in Los Angeles have something in common: They supported Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary. In the West Coast cradle of established Democratic politics — where the Clintons already have a swelling set of donors, fundraisers, and consiglieres — O'Malley offers a fresh face and a penetrable political network to those not already aligned with Clinton.

The June event is one of four meet-and-greets with Los Angeles political players that O'Malley's had since the summer of 2013, an aide confirmed. This year, he's made four trips to the state for private meetings, fundraisers, and public appearances, including his keynote address to the state convention this spring.

Still, the idea that O'Malley could match Clinton's fundraising machine in Los Angeles is nowhere near likely. A review of the most recent filings available for O'PAC's federal and non-federal campaign committees shows that O'Malley has raised about $106,000 from California donors so far this cycle. That's about 4% of his total fundraising in the same period. The majority is Maryland money.

Last Sunday, O'Malley stopped over in Los Angeles for a fundraiser benefiting his political action committee, O'Say Can You See PAC, or "O'PAC," which the governor uses to fund his travel and pay a small handful of political aides.

People involved in the fundraiser, which took place at a high-priced Italian restaurant on Melrose Ave., said they would consider supporting the governor in a presidential race. But none said they had committed to his potential campaign.

The event, where tickets started at $1,000 per person, was hosted by a cadre of Obama people, including Eric Paquette, a Sony Pictures senior vice president who first supported Obama in 2006; Jon Vein, the MarketShare CEO who served on Obama's finance committee during both elections; Yolanda "Cookie" Parker, the founder of KMS Software and a prominent Obama "bundler," or fundraiser; and Dixon Slingerland, the executive director of the Youth Policy Institute who reportedly raised just under $1 million for the president's two campaigns.

(The co-hosts of the fundraiser last Sunday have something else in common besides Obama. They supported Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who beat out Bill Clinton's pick for the job, Wendy Greuel, during a competitive, highly funded race last year. With Obama's early supporters backing Garcetti and Clinton's backing Greuel, the race was like a small-scale sequel to the 2008 primary.)

More than one Los Angeles Democrat described Slingerland as "all in" for O'Malley. The Youth Policy Institute head did not respond to requests for an interview for this article. Slingerland also hosted one of the governor's four meet-and-greets with donors, this one last March at the California Club.

People who planned the Sunday night gathering said the focus of the fundraiser wasn't the presidential race. Most of the donors and fundraisers said they wanted to help O'Malley get to know more people in Los Angeles, and help finance his travels on behalf of other Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm races this fall. (He has gone to at least 19 states since the start of last year, and his aides have said he'll be on the road just about every weekend until Election Day.)

"I support him in his efforts supporting other candidates," said Vein, the MarketShare CEO and one of the event's co-hosts. Vein said he heard a "very broad range" of responses from people as he organized the event. "Everything from, 'Who?' up to, 'That guy is awesome' and people talking about 2016."

Another co-host, Moctesuma Esperanza, a producer and the CEO of Maya Cinemas, said, "He's still not really well-known, and I think that his strategy to come out to participate in meet-and-greets has been excellent."

Esperanza, who supported former governor Bill Richardson in the last Democratic primary, said he would be "very disposed" to support O'Malley in a national race, citing his work at the state level on immigration policy and his public scuffle with White House officials this summer over the administration's response to the thousands of immigrant minors who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I think a lot of people here are waiting to see what else is out there," he said.

Are you an experienced journalist of color or other diverse background who wants to move into investigative reporting? Then apply!

In an effort to expand opportunities for journalists of color and other diverse backgrounds, BuzzFeed News and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism are sponsoring a year-long investigative reporting fellowship.

In recent years, diversity in the newsroom has regressed. According to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the percentage of minorities in the newsroom fell from 13.7% in 2006 to 12.4% in 2013. Investigative reporting slots are traditionally considered plum jobs, and our observation is that investigative journalism is even more monochromatic than the rest of the newsroom.

The BuzzFeed News/Columbia Journalism School Investigative Reporting Fellowship aims to give mid-career journalists of color and other diverse backgrounds the opportunity to tackle big, investigative stories and to improve their skills by auditing courses at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. This fellowship is not for students or people just starting out in journalism. Candidates should have at least five years of professional journalism experience.

Most important, candidates must have a well-formed proposal for an investigative story or series that exposes a major abuse of power, betrayal of trust, or systemic problem. Candidates must also demonstrate that they have the sources, skill, and reporting plan to bring the story home. The story or stories will be published by BuzzFeed News and BuzzFeed.com, and we are open to co-publishing with the reporter's home publication. The investigative reporting fellow will report to BuzzFeed News' investigative editor.

The fellow will receive a stipend of $85,000, plus benefits and related expenses for one year.

Please submit the materials listed below by Nov. 1, 2014 to investigativefellowship@buzzfeed.com. Applications will be considered by BuzzFeed News editors and by Columbia Journalism School professors. The grant will be awarded by Jan. 1. The fellowship is a full-time position and fellows will have the opportunity to audit classes at the Columbia Journalism School. Current and former BuzzFeed and Columbia University employees and students may apply but will not be given special preference. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.

1. Résumé or CV

2. Five stories that represent your best work

3. Project proposal: Please devote separate sections to the following:
a. A one-sentence, compelling summary of your story
b. A description of the story that will make us salivate
c. Your sources (data, documents, and/or humans)
d. How you propose to get to those sources and report the story
e. Why you are the best reporter to do this story
f. Why you want this fellowship and how it will help you as a journalist

4. Three letters of recommendation: Please have your referees email their letters directly to us at investigativefellowship@buzzfeed.com using the subject line "Candidate's Last Name Reference." Your referees should attest to your journalistic abilities, your character, your ability to work with others, and your capacity to grow as a journalist and writer.

LINK: What We’re Doing To Keep Building A Diverse Editorial Operation

View Entire List ›

Instead of candidates, Republicans and Democrats are providing hits on American Bridge and America Rising.

Stock photo: "Portrait of man with a video camera instead of his head."

Torresigner/Torresigner

WASHINGTON — The watchers are being watched.

For decades, opposition researchers have gone to great lengths to keep their names out of the public consciousness, preferring to let the fruits of their efforts — the location of a candidate's primary residence, a gaffe caught by a tracker's camera, a long-forgotten college prank — be the story.

But as some oppo research firms have increasingly come out of the shadows, they've suddenly turned their skills not on candidates of the opposite party — but each other.

Case in point: within hours of each other earlier this week Democrats and Republicans sent BuzzFeed News opposition research materials not about candidates, but literally about two opposition research firms: Democratic American Bridge and the Republican America Rising.

Opposition research can do real damage, and the two firms have produced that this cycle. A clip Rising uncovered of Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley dismissing a Republican senator as "a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school," has dogged him for months.

Rising and Bridge are two of the top opposition research firms, and their work has has targeted politicians up and down the ballot. Millions have been spent by candidates and parties on each firm's research, and stories about what they do dominate campaign coverage from national papers to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Now the firms themselves are the target.

On Monday, Business Insider published a classic oppo-based story based on some blurry 2007 video purporting to show Sen. Mark Udall offering comments "That Made 9-11 Truthers Think A Senator Was On Their Side." Rising blasted the video out to its listservlistserv:

Speaking at an event in 2007, Business Insider is reporting Mark Udall made 3 comments no U.S. Senator should ever say about what happened on September 11, 2001. Udall did not immediately reject "Truther" conspiracy theories while entertaining some questions about what "really" happened on 9/11.

The hit was a flop, because it was wrong. "Here's the problem," wrote the Washington Examiner's T. Becket Adams. "When Udall's comments are put in full context, it's pretty clear that he isn't really a 'truther.'"

Udall's supporters went to work, shopping a file pointing out Rising's connections with the Business Insider story and with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has spent thousands on a research contract with Rising.

"When you do this kind of work and you want reporters and other political groups to use your content, your biggest asset is credibility. I'm not sure how anyone could trust America Rising after a stunt like this," the former president of American Bridge, Rodell Mollineau, said.

America Rising's executive director, Tim Miller, said Democrats are now attacking Rising because Rising has been doing so much damage to Democrats.

"American Bridge and the Democrat establishment are coming after us with unsubstantiated, garbage oppo because they are frustrated we've had real success damaging Democratic candidates this cycle," he said. "I take their attacks as a compliment."

At the same time, Republicans were at work trying to show Bridge lies.

A Republican operative went through a video shot and posted to YouTube by Bridge outside an August event for Virginia Republican congressional candidate Barbara Comstock and pulled out a six-second nugget. The Bridge tracker is heard talking to a Comstock staffer, who asks who he works for.

"I'm with American Bridge," the tracker says. "Um, and they're just a media firm out of D.C."

The Republicans labeled the clip "American Bridge Tracker Claims To Be From A Media Company" and sent it to a reporter.

Bridge spokesperson Gwen Rocco said the firm's trackers are not required to say they're Democrats.

"As is our policy, when asked our trackers identify themselves as working for American Bridge," she said when asked to comment on the video. "Given Bridge's long track record of successfully holding Republican candidates accountable for their extreme rhetoric and agenda, its no surprise we've gotten under someone's skin."

Not surprisingly, opposition researchers don't want to talk much about efforts to oppo one another. But with the high-dollar, fast-paced campaign cycle increasingly hinging on the research oppo teams produce, some of the biggest names in the practice are putting opposition research itself under the microscope.

View Entire List ›

The Oregon Senate candidate’s first health care plan copied from a Karl Rove survey; her new plan includes copied sections from her primary opponent. She’s a doctor.

Monica Wehby For Senate / Via Facebook: monicafororegon

The Oregon Republican Senate candidate plagiarized her health care plan, again.

In a weird twist, Monica Wehby's new health care is also plagiarized — but even stranger, it's plagiarized from her primary opponent Oregon Rep. Jason Conger, whom she criticized repeatedly during the primary on health care.

BuzzFeed News previously reported Wehby's original health care plan, which went out in a press release in November 2013 and was scrubbed from her website sometime this year, plagiarized from a survey done for Karl Rove's group, Crossroads USA, on health care.

Wehby's new plan, which BuzzFeed News read in an Oregon Register Guard op-ed by Wehby (but is also available on her website) takes her former opponent in nearly-vertbatim sections.

During a primary debate tussle, Wehby criticized her opponent, saying Oregon needed "more MDs and less JDs."

In one instance, Wehby's campaign said Conger was "this career politician" who "had no credibility on this very important issue."

BuzzFeed News spoke to Conger, who said of Wehby plan "that is odd," noting his plan "was original authorship. It was our creation."

Conger told BuzzFeed News he was unaware Wehby copied from his plan and he didn't think any staff from his campaign went to hers, with the exception of a media vendor.

He added he was not upset about the copy job noting, "Maybe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

The Wehby campaign told BuzzFeed News they had already addressed this matter.

"The campaign has already addressed this issue and taken the necessary steps to correct it. Dr. Wehby stands by the concepts and principles that are shared by a majority of Americans who recognize the need for reform of our broken healthcare system."

Here's Conger on his issues page:

Guarantee protection for Americans who remain continuously enrolled in insurance plans.

Broaden the criteria to form association health plans and individual membership associations in order to lower insurance costs and create more options for people with pre-existing conditions.

Allow people to buy insurance across state lines so there's more competition in the insurance market and consumers have more choices.

And here's Wehby:

Guarantee protection for Americans who remain continuously enrolled in insurance plans.

Widen association health plans and individual membership associations to lower insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions.

Allow people to buy insurance across state lines to spur competition and give consumers more options.

Cut coverage requirements so consumers can buy less expensive catastrophic plans.

Here's Conger:

Provide generous tax benefit to all Americans to enable them to purchase at least catastrophic insurance coverage, and further policies to provide access to coverage for the sick and the poor.

And here's Wehby:

Offer tax benefits to enable Americans to purchase at least catastrophic coverage and to provide access to coverage for the sick and poor.

Here's Conger again:

Make real the guarantee that if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. Keep the promise that Jeff Merkley and Barack Obama made to Americans – and broke.

And here's Wehby:

It would start with two main goals: make real the guarantee that if you like your plan, you can keep your plan — in short, keep the promise that Merkley and Obama made and broke.

On health savings accounts, here's Crossroads:

Expand HSAs that allow people to save money tax-free for use on out-of-pocket medical expenses."

And here's Wehby:

Expand Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, which allow people to save money tax-free for use on out-of pocket expenses."

On eliminating medial device taxes, here's Crossroads:

Eliminate the new tax on medical devices like pacemakers, MRIs, and ultrasound machines to lower costs and help American manufacturing."

And here's Wehby:

"Eliminate the new 2.3% excise tax on medical devices (pacemakers, MRIs, US machines, braces) to preserve medical innovation and help American manufacturing."

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AAMOF.

The AARP is asking the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to remove them from an ad attacking Republican Michigan senatorial candidate Terri Lynn Land. The ad "Deserve" cites the AARP in attacking Land.

"Michiganders deserve a Senator that will fight to preserve the Medicare guarantee, not Terri Lynn Land who would slash benefits, raise prescription drug prices, and force seniors to pay thousands more each year," the ad states.

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AARP spokesman Matt Hornbeck told BuzzFeed News, "We'd appreciate if they removed AARP from the ad."

A press release sent out by AARP noted they did not authorize the DSCC to use their name in the ad.

AARP does not endorse candidates or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates.

"AARP did not authorize the use of its name currently running in the campaign ads," the press release states.

The DSCC didn't immediately get back to BuzzFeed News.

Here's the press release:

AARP Press Release

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The case was brought by 10 same-sex couples who are represented by the ACLU.

ACLU of Missouri / Via Twitter: @aclu_mo

WASHINGTON — Missouri must recognize the marriages of same-sex couples that were granted elsewhere, state Judge Dale Youngs ruled on Friday.

"[T]o the extent these laws prohibit plaintiffs' legally contracted marriages from other states from being recognized here, they are wholly irrational, do not rest upon any reasonable basis, and are purely arbitrary," Youngs wrote.

The ruling followed a hearing in September on the case, which was brought by 10 same-sex couples represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Missouri has finally recognized our couples' marriages as being no different from any other marriage," Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Missouri, said in a statement.

"As of right now, the injunction and order requiring the state to recognize marriages entered into in other jurisdiction is in effect," Rothert told BuzzFeed News.

As for whether state officials will appeal, he said that he would not be surprised if they do appeal, but added, "We hope that they will accept this disposition."

Asked for comment, a spokesperson from the Missouri Attorney General's Office said only that the office is reviewing the ruling.

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The justices still haven’t said what they’re doing on two big issues: marriage and Obamacare. Several other big cases — from workplace discrimination disputes to the future of the Fair Housing Act — are already set to be heard by the court.

Getty Images/Mark Wilson

WASHINGTON — When the Supreme Court justices meet on Monday morning to formally begin the new term of the court, two of the highest-profile issues pending before the court are in cases that it hasn't yet decided to hear: same-sex couples' marriage rights and a major dispute over Obamacare subsidies.

The court is not required to hear most appeals, and this discretionary review in most cases means that parties first ask the justices to hear an appeal — a process referred to as a petition for a writ of certiorari. The marriage cases (a key issue for the political left) and the Obamacare dispute (a key issue for the political right) are still pending before the justices at the "cert stage," meaning that the two biggest decisions of the term, by next June, could be coming in cases not yet accepted by the court.

Outside of those cases, however, there are several other cases accepted by the justices that could have a major impact on American law — and Americans' lives.

From the type of discrimination that can be challenged under the Fair Housing Act — an issue the justices had tried to resolve last term, until a settlement was reached before the justices heard the case — to the way elections and redistricting work, the Supreme Court is due to decide several cases that have liberals concerned about the court's protection of minority rights under the tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts.

On the business side of the docket, there is a case that revolves around the question of whether Amtrak is truly a private company and another case that could have a big impact on protection of union retirees' health benefits. Another case pitting the Mortgage Bankers Association against the Labor Department could limit the ability of the administration to change its interpretations of regulations without first seeking outside comment on the change.

There are also several cases before the justices that will examine and, presumably, answer unresolved questions about the specific ways lawsuits alleging discrimination — several of them focused on religion-based claims — must be brought and the ways they can be defeated. The cases revolve around laws ranging from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Although the marriage cases and the Obamacare lawsuits are getting the attention, in other words, there will be a lot of other cases heard in the coming months that could become blockbusters in their own right.

Getty Images for Abercrombie & Fitch/Michael Buckner

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The decision not to decide brings marriage equality to Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah — with more to come. [Update: Colorado attorney general says today’s decision means marriage equality will come to that state in short order as well.]

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court denied petitions on Monday in all seven of the cases challenging bans on same-sex couples' marriage rights, bringing marriage equality to five states and holding off high court review for now.

The decision not to take on the appeal in any of the pending certiorari petitions brings marriage equality to Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Utah — meaning 24 states in the country have legal marriage equality.

It also makes the appeals court decisions striking down the marriage bans in those states the law of the land in the 4th Circuit, 7th Circuit, and 10th Circuit courts of appeals — a result that makes marriage equality likely to come in short order in all states within those circuits. This is so because the controlling precedent in those circuits now is that bans on same-sex couples' marriages are unconstitutional.

Among the other states in the 4th Circuit without marriage equality currently that would be impacted are North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Among the other states in the 10th Circuit without marriage equality currently that would be impacted are Colorado, Kansas, and Wyoming. That, once resolved, would bring the total number of states with marriage equality to 30.

Arguments have been heard on marriage cases in the 6th Circuit and 9th Circuit courts of appeals, and decisions on the issue remain outstanding. The arguments in the 6th Circuit were the most split thus far in the five circuits to have heard arguments, and the case appeared to come down to the vote of Judge Jeff Sutton.

Cases are pending in the 5th Circuit and 11th Circuit courts of appeals as well.

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“You can’t keep to the false limits we’ve place on ourselves,” Michael Hayden warns.

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Former Central Intelligence and National Security Agency chief Michael Hayden said Monday he believes the United States will have three to five thousand American troops in Iraq by Christmas.

"I actually think you can't keep to the false limits we've place on ourselves," Hayden said on NewsMaxTV's America's Forum. "We're going to have to put forces more forward. Quite quietly we've deployed a division headquarters to Iraq."

The former NSA head, who has been critical of Obama in the past few years added he believed gradually increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq will leave thousands of American soldiers in Iraq by year's end.

"I think we see a gradual increased in American presence there. I've used the number three to five thousand by Christmas on the ground and I think I'm still comfortable with that estimate. Not American maneuver brigades, but if this is worth doing, it's worth doing well."

Sticky Wikis.

John Sommers Ii / Reuters

Dan Boyce / Reuters

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file

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Endorsement could help Democrat lock up race despite surprisingly strong independent challenge.

Muriel for Mayor / Via murielformayor.com

WASHINGTON — Democratic Washington, D.C., mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser on Monday nabbed the endorsement of one of her would-be constituents: President Barack Obama.

Although D.C. mayoral races have traditionally been decided during the Democratic Party's primary thanks to the party's dominance of local politics, Bowser is facing an independent in David Catania. The Obama endorsement will likely boost Bowser's already strong support amongst the city's black voters, with whom Obama still enjoys favorable support.

"Muriel knows that every hardworking D.C. resident deserves the opportunity to get ahead," Obama said in a statement. "That's why she has partnered with local small businesses to create jobs and fought to give the children of D.C. a fair shot by investing in our schools. As mayor, I know she'll continue to bring people together to fight for fair wages, build on the economic progress we've made and ensure teachers and students have the resources they need for success from early childhood education through high school."

The White House infamously stayed out of the 2010 Democratic primary that featured incumbent candidate Adrian Fenty and the current D.C. mayor, Vincent Gray.

Fenty, who's contentious relationship with traditional power bases like the teachers union and religious leaders, found himself polling well behind Gray as Election Day approached in 2010. Although many felt a felt an endorsement of Fenty by Obama could have helped save his campaign, the White House ultimately decided to stay out of the race.

The lack of an endorsement was surprising given the fact that Fenty, to some, had represented leadership in the Obama mold: moneyed and efficient, internet-savvy, and a reformist.

A poll released on Oct. 1 by Economic Growth D.C. showed Bowser enjoying a eight percent lead, with 27 percent of voter undecided.

In a statement, Bowser said she was "extremely honored to receive President Obama's endorsement. We share a progressive vision, believing that we only succeed when opportunity is available to everyone. If the residents of the District of Columbia elect me to be their next mayor on November 4th, I will emulate the President by bringing people together to find solutions to our toughest challenges."

Okay.

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Democratic Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor made the unusual request of a selfie with former President Bill Clinton during a campaign appearance in the state.

"Now if I were on the Senate the floor right now, I would ask for what is called a point of personal privilege and that is, Mr. President or should I say grandpa," said Pryor.
"Grandpa, can I get a selfie? Right, let's do it. Let's do it. Hold on, let's do it. We're gonna do it. Right there. Hey, we got it."

Here it is:

Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz issued statements Monday afternoon. Updated.

Joshua Roberts / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Marriage for same-sex couples is legal in five more states, and is likely coming to more states after the Supreme Court's decision not to review a set of cases on the topic.

But, significantly, hardly any Republicans have reacted to the news.

On Monday afternoon, Sen. Mike Lee was one of the few GOP members to issue a statement. His home state of Utah was one of the states where a marriage ban was overturned by an appeals court and the state is now moving forward with allowing same-sex couples to marry. Lee called the Supreme Court decision to not review the appeals "disappointing."

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz likewise criticized the decision on the part of the court and announced that he would introduce a constitutional amendment that would allow the states to define marriage.

" I will be introducing a constitutional amendment to prevent the federal government or the courts from attacking or striking down state marriage laws," Cruz said.

Supreme Court decisions are often met with swift reaction from members on Capitol Hill, filling reporter's inboxes with statements of disappointment or support for whatever the justices have ruled. All the more when the decision impacts a hot-button social issue.

The muted response from congressional Republicans is telling. As public opinion on legalizing marriage for same-sex couples has dramatically shifted in its favor, the GOP's opposition has quieted. Republicans have often argued that the decision on marriage should be left up to the states.

Several congressional Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, celebrated Monday's decision by the court to not review appeals of lower-court rulings on state laws banning same-sex couples from marrying — leading to legalized marriage for same-sex couples in five more states, with six others expected to follow in short order.

Lee, in his statement, argued the court "owes" it to the people in the states concerned to rule on the marriage issue.

"Nothing in the Constitution forbids a state from retaining the traditional definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman," he said. "Whether to change that definition is a decision best left to the people of each state — not to unelected, politically unaccountable judges. The Supreme Court owes it to the people of those states, whose democratic choices are being invalidated, to review the question soon and reaffirm that states do have that right."

Last year, after the court's ruling striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act, congressional Republicans were divided as to how to proceed. A vocal minority wanted to see some kind of congressional action — like a vote on a federal marriage amendment — in response to the decision, but the majority were ready to move on and drop the issue.

Silence remains the most popular position among congressional Republicans. There are currently only four Republican Senators and two GOP House members who have come out in support of marriage equality.

With the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear appeals of any of the pending marriage cases, marriage equality is going to expand rapidly in several regions of the country.

John Gara/BuzzFeed

WASHINGTON — Americans in 30 states and Washington, D.C., will be allowed to marry someone of the same sex by the time the fallout from Monday's Supreme Court decision not to hear any of the pending marriage equality cases is done.

That result was not expected — but the impact is immediate. From Utah's Republican governor to Virginia's Democratic governor, the Supreme Court's decision not to decide meant that the governors on Monday were ushering in marriage equality to their respective states.

Marriage equality is now the law in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin after the Supreme Court's decision — joining the 19 states and Washington, D.C., where marriage equality already was the law.

What's more, the wider impact is already being seen for states within the three federal appeals court circuits involved in Monday's non-decision. Because the precedent in those circuit courts is that marriage bans are unconstitutional, the bans in other states within those circuits are expected to be ruled unconstitutional in short order, too.

Republican Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement, "By choosing not to take up the matter, the court has left the 10th Circuit ruling in place. ... Once the formalities are resolved, clerks across the state must begin issuing marriage licenses to all same-sex couples."

The other states still without marriage equality in the 4th Circuit and 10th Circuit courts of appeals — Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Wyoming — are expected to follow suit as soon as a court issues a judgment enforcing the circuits' rule that such bans are unconstitutional. No other states are affected in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals; the only state not involved in the litigation is Illinois, which already has marriage equality.