Recap
It’s six days until the midterm elections. Joe Biden delivered a primetime address about threats to democracy, days after an intruder badly injured House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in an attack at their home in San Francisco. Meanwhile, further details about attempts by Trump allies to overturn the 2020 election have been revealed today, including an attempt to get a lawsuit specifically before conservative supreme court justice Clarence Thomas.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Donald Trump may announce his 2024 campaign for president after next week’s midterm elections, the Associated Press reports.
Nevada’s GOP party chair had his phone seized by federal investigators, NBC News confirms. He also spoke to the January 6 committee after they sent him a subpoena.
The Republican nominee for governor in Wisconsin made clear his party “will never lose another election” if he wins, an ominous sign for voting laws and gerrymandering in a swing state crucial to both parties.
The Federal Reserve once again raised interest rates in a bid to lower the US’ stubbornly high rate of inflation by tightening the ability of businesses and consumers to borrow money. America’s largest trade union came out in opposition, saying working people will bear the brunt of its tighter monetary policy.
In his speech, Biden urged voters to reject far-right election conspiracy theories and unite against political violence. “We must in this moment, dig deep within ourselves and recognize that we can’t take democracy for granted any longer,” he said. The president pleaded with voters to remember that “democracy is on the ballot” and consider whether the candidates support will accept the election results.
Lawyers for Donald Trump working to challenge the 2020 election results wanted to appeal specifically to Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative justices on the supreme court, according to emails obtained by Politico.
- Chris Stein, Maanvi Singh
The FBI has arrested two alleged far-right Boogaloo Boys group members, the AP reports:
The FBI has arrested two alleged members of the far-right anti-government group the Boogaloo Boys, as authorities express increasing concern about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections.
Timothy Teagan was expected to appear on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit, where charges against him would be unsealed, an FBI spokesperson said.
In a criminal complaint filed on Monday, the FBI said there was enough evidence to charge Aron McKillips, of Sandusky, Ohio, with illegal possession of a machine gun and the interstate communication of threats. The complaint said McKillips was a member of the Boogaloo Boys and was believed to be in a militia group called the Sons of Liberty.
McKillips’s lawyer, Neil McElroy, said he had asked for McKillips to be released pending a 9 November detention hearing in Toledo.
Teagan’s arrest on Tuesday came a week before election day. Election workers have been targeted by threats and harassment since the 2020 election, which Donald Trump has refused to admit he lost.
Federal authorities have charged at least five people already this year. Election officials are concerned about conspiracy theorists signing up to work as poll watchers. Some groups that have trafficked in lies about the 2020 election are recruiting and training watchers.
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