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.
Read more:
Elsewhere in DC tonight, the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell is reporting that Kash Patel, a Donald Trump adviser and ally, will receive a limited immunity deal from federal prosecutors examining Trump’s retention of highly-sensitive government documents at Mar-a-Lago, in exchange for his testimony in their investigation.
Lowell writes:
The immunity – a powerful tool that forces witnesses to testify on the promise that they will not be prosecuted for their statements or information derived from their statements – takes effect on 2 November and signals the importance of his testimony to the criminal investigation.
The justice department’s interest with Patel centers on his claims that the documents found at Mar-a-Lago were declassified, how the documents came to end up at the property, and how Trump’s aides and lawyers responded to requests for their return, sources said.
Read the full story:
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Biden: election result deniers put America on a 'path to chaos'
David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, has highlighted some standout lines from Biden’s speech tonight. Stay tuned for his full report.
Biden: "You can't love your country only when you win."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 2, 2022
Biden: "In our bones, we know democracy is at risk. We also know this: it's in our power, each and every one of us, to preserve our democracy. And I believe we will. I think I know this country. I know we will."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 2, 2022
Biden: "My fellow Americans, we'll meet this moment. We just have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America."
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 2, 2022
Biden on January 6 insurrection: "I wish I could say the assault on our democracy had ended that day but I cannot." There are candidates who won't commit to accepting the results of the election they're in. That's the path to chaos in America.
— David Smith (@SmithInAmerica) November 2, 2022
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Biden’s speech tonight came off as a closing argument to voters, in which he ultimately asked Americans to speak “with one overwhelming, unified voice” against political violence.
It’s unlikely to be met with unity. Already, in states like Arizona, there have been multiple reports of voter intimidation. Local election officials are fearing for their safety. And disinformation is successfully sowing distrust.
The president has concluded his speech. One of the things he did tonight was try to set expectations for how long the vote count could take.
“Once again, we’re seeing record turnout all over the country. And that’s good. I want Americans to vote. We want every American’s voice to be heard,” he said. “We know that more and more ballots are cast in early voting or by mail in America. We know that many states don’t start counting those ballots till after the polls closed on November 8.”
That means we might not get results on election night. “It takes time to count all legitimate ballots and a legal and orderly manner,” he said, directly countering misinformation about how counting works.
In 2020, Trump and his supporters falsely characterized mail in votes that were tabulated after election day as illegitimate.
“You can’t love your country only when you win,” Biden said, urging unity.
It’s unclear how much of that this reach swing voters who might have prioritized Republicans’ perceived strength on economic issues, or who might be voting on abortion, education or one of the many issues that Americans have said are weighing heavy on their minds this year.
And it’s unlikely to convince those who have bought into the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
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The speech is an appeal more than anything else – full of “we must’s”.
“We must in this moment, dig deep within ourselves and recognize that we can’t take democracy for granted any longer.”
“We must with an overwhelming voice stand against political violence and voter intimidation period. Stand up and speak against it.”
“All of us must remember that democracy is a covenant.”
Biden is also directly holding Donald Trump responsible for these threats to democracy.
“He has abused his power and put the loyalty to himself above loyalty to the constitution,” he said of the former president. “He’s made the big lie an article of faith in the Maga Republican Party.”
Biden – as he tends to do – is again avoiding saying Trump’s name, instead referring to him as the “defeated former president.”
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“There’s a lot at stake in these midterm elections, from our economy, the safety of our streets to our personal freedoms, the future of health care, Social Security, Medicare, it’s all important,” Biden said, acknowledging issues that voters say are at top of mind this year. “But there’s something else at stake. democracy itself.”
“Democracy is on the ballot this year,” he said. “We must vote knowing what’s at stake and not just the policy of the moment.”
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Paul Pelosi’s attacker “entered the home asking ‘Where’s Nancy?’” Biden said. “The same words used by the mob when they stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6.”
The Big Lie promoted by Donald Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen has “fueled the dangerous rise in political violence and voter intimidation”.
“We’re facing a defining moment. We must, with one overwhelming, unified voice and speak as a country to say there’s no place for voter intimidation,” he said.
Biden takes the stage
Joe Biden has begun his primetime address on the state of democracy in the US.
He is beginning by addressing the attack on Paul Pelosi. “My friend, Paul Pelosi, was home alone,” he said. “Thankfully, by the grace of God, all survived.”
Guaranteed income programs are starting to catch on in the US. The policy that’s been standard in northern Europe and Canada leads to better outcomes for children and parents.
From Jackie Mader, The Hechinger Report:
By his mid-20s, Tommy Andrade was tired of working dead-end jobs. With a young child at home, he realized he needed more than a high school diploma to support his family. When he heard about a new, advanced manufacturing program at a Texas community college, Andrade was intrigued.
Some of the jobs that graduates from Austin Community College (ACC) would be trained for carried salaries well into the six figures, enough to give Andrade financial security, he figured, even in a city like Austin where the cost of living was spiking fast.
But first Andrade would have to take a pay cut: the 14-week program required him to participate in an internship that paid $17 an hour, less than he’d earned in his previous jobs as a salesman and bookkeeper. He worried he wouldn’t be able to afford rent, bills and after-school care for his son.
Then came some unexpected good news: ACC was launching a new guaranteed income pilot program for student parents, and program officials wanted him to join. Participants would receive $500 a month for two years with a few conditions: they must enrol in nine credits each semester and attend monthly meetings with other student parents.
Buoyed by the extra income, Andrade signed up. “Five hundred isn’t anything to live off of, but it’s enough to make a difference,” he said. “I have some flexibility to take some risk.” Now, a year after enrolling in the program and on track to graduate, Andrade, 29, is living in Seattle with his partner and son, having recently accepted a full-time job as a contractor at a large technology company.
Andrade’s story points to the potential of guaranteed-income programs. These programs, which provide consistent financial support to participants over a period of time, were placed on the national radar in 2020 by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who called for a monthly income for all US residents. The idea exploded in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, as state and local governments, philanthropists and even some colleges sought to support people experiencing financial distress. More than 48 guaranteed income programs have been started in cities across the country since 2020. Advocates and researchers say this approach holds promise as a long-term anti-poverty strategy as well – especially for families with young children.
Indeed, a growing body of research shows cash transfer programs can have a particularly big impact on young kids by providing family stability during children’s first few formative years. This is likely due, in part, to a reduction of parental stress. Studies show that when parents experience high levels of distress, it trickles down to their kids, who exhibit higher levels of emotional distress as well. Constant stress or exposure to adverse childhood experiences like food and housing insecurity can lead to trauma and even cause changes to young children’s brains, making them less able to cope. But that harm can be mitigated if children’s basic needs are met and their parents have financial security.
Read more:
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In his speech, Biden plans to make the case that election deniers running for office are leading a “path to chaos in America”, according to experts released by the DNC.
“There are candidates running for every level of office in America: for governor, for Congress, for attorney general, for secretary of state who won’t commit to accepting the results of the elections they’re in,” Biden plans to say. “That is the path to chaos in America. It’s unprecedented. It’s unlawful. And, It is un-American.”
He will also make the point that this is an unusual, unprecedented election year.
“This is no ordinary year. So, I ask you to think long and hard about the moment we are in,” Biden will say. “In a typical year, we are not often faced with the question of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put it at risk. But we are this year.”
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Justice Democrats, a progressive political action committee, has urged Biden to draw a line between the right-wing threats to democracy with and the economy.
“If Republicans succeed in their plot against democracy, their big oil and pharma donors will be free to raise prices as high as they wish without our one tool to reign them in: government of, by, and for the people,” said Waleed Shahid, a spokesperson for the group.
“President Biden must make a strong case for how the MAGA Republican assault on our democracy is a pocketbook issue tied to inflation." -@_WaleedShahid
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) November 2, 2022
Our statement ahead of President Biden's major speech on democracy tonight: pic.twitter.com/Dl9ZEdEjIj
A slate of far-right candidates who have vowed to dismantle election systems are running in statewide and local races across the country, on a platform based on the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
But with early voting underway, economic concerns have been top of mind for many voters, polls show, possibly directing them toward Republican candidates. Progressives, including Bernie Sanders, have urged Democratic candidates to not to ignore voters’ economic woes even as they center threats to democracy and abortion rights.
“It would be political malpractice for Democrats to ignore the state of the economy and allow Republican lies and distortions to go unanswered,” he wrote in a recent op-ed for the Guardian. “In poll after poll, Republicans are more trusted than Democrats to handle the economy – the issue of most importance to people. I believe that if Democrats do not fight back on economic issues and present a strong pro-worker agenda, they could well be in the minority in both the House and the Senate next year.”
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Later this evening, Joe Biden is set to give a speech about threats to democracy.
In recent weeks, he has centered in on the message that “democracy is on the ballot” this election. His last primetime speech addressed threats from the “Maga forces” of Donald Trump and his supporters.
Tonight, the president “will be very clear tonight that he is speaking to people who don’t agree with him on any issues, who don’t agree on his agenda, but who really can unite behind this idea of this fundamental value of democracy”, White House senior adviser Anita Dunn said today during an event hosted by Axios.
He is also expected to address heightened threats against political figures, in the aftermath of a politically motivated attack on Paul Pelosi, House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
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‘This is a blueprint’: abortion rights ballot proposal takes off in Michigan
In the spring of this year, Julie Falbaum’s 20-year-old son walked into a frat party filled with about 50 of his peers, holding a stack of petitions. They were for a campaign to protect abortion.
“Who wants to be a dad?” he yelled. Like a park-goer throwing bread to pigeons, he chucked the forms around the room and watched as dozens of young men swarmed to sign them.
The campaign to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution was already under way here even before Roe fell, and it has become an embittered battle in Michigan – to keep a 90-year-old abortion ban off the books. Campaigners fear that ban would criminalise doctors and pregnant people and deny essential medical care, such as miscarriage medication, now that the constitutional right to abortion no longer exists in the US.
The battle in Michigan has brought death threats and vandalism from pro-choice militants. On the anti-abortion side, it has involved dirty tactics from the Republican party, which tried to block a petition brought by nearly 800,000 Michiganders over formatting errors, and has peddled a wide campaign of misinformation.
Read more:
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In Arizona, the Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake turned the assault on Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul into a punchline:
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) gets a big laugh from the crowd after joking about Speaker Pelosi’s husband Paul being violently assaulted:
— The Recount (@therecount) October 31, 2022
“Nancy Pelosi, well, she’s got protection when she’s in D.C. — apparently her house doesn’t have a lot of protection.” pic.twitter.com/8U647UTO9x
Paul Pelosi was allegedly attacked on Friday by David DePape, who is accused of breaking into their San Francisco home and shouting “where is Nancy?” DePape told investigators he wanted to take the Democratic House speaker hostage and potentially break her kneecaps, and is facing an array of state and federal charges for the assault.
The Guardian’s politics live blog is being handed over to Maanvi Singh, who will take you through the remainder of the day, including Joe Biden’s speech on threats to democracy at 7 pm eastern time.
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America’s largest trade union federation the AFL-CIO has come out in opposition to the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike, saying working people will bear the brunt of its tighter monetary policy.
“The Federal Reserve’s decision today to raise interest rates by .75% will have a direct and harmful impact on working people and our families. The Fed’s actions will not address the underlying causes of inflation—the war in Ukraine, climate change’s effect on harvests and corporate profits, and an increase in the chances that the United States enters a recession,” the federation’s president Liz Shuler said in a statement.
“The Fed seems determined to raise interest rates, though it openly admits those rates could ruin our current economy as unemployment remains low and people are able to find jobs.”
The AFL-CIO typically supports Democrats, who are increasingly opposed to the Fed’s rate increases, despite the central bank’s explanation that they are necessary to lower inflation in the United States.
Yesterday, a coalition of progressive lawmakers including senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wrote to Fed chair Jerome Powell, questioning the Fed’s strategy.
“You continue to double down on your commitment to ‘act aggressively’ with interest rate hikes and ‘keep at it until it’s done,’ even if ‘(n)o one knows whether this process will lead to a recession or if so, how significant that recession would be,’” the lawmakers said.
“These statements reflect an apparent disregard for the livelihoods of millions of working Americans, and we are deeply concerned that your interest rate hikes risk slowing the economy to a crawl while failing to slow rising prices that continue to harm families.”
The governor’s race in Wisconsin is a dead heat, Marquette Law School found in a poll released today.
Both Democratic incumbent Tony Evers and his Republican challenger Tim Michels are at 48% support among likely voters, the survey found.
In the Senate race, GOP incumbent Ron Johnson may have an edge over his Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes, but it’s close, according to the poll. Johnson is at 50% support among likely voters, and Barnes at 48%. The race appears to have tightened up since Marquette’s previous survey conducted from October 3-9, when Johnson polled at 52% support to Barnes’s 46%.
Wisconsin is viewed as one of Democrats’ best opportunities to oust a sitting Republican senator, while control of the governor’s mansion may determine whether Wisconsin remains a swing state in future elections, or if Republicans succeeded in their campaign to use gerrymandering and election restrictions to hobble Democrats in the state.
Wisconsin’s Democratic governor Tony Evers called his Republican opponent a threat to democracy after he made comments indicating he would consolidate GOP control in the state if elected, The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports:
The Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin told supporters at a campaign event that if he is elected his party “will never lose another election” in the state.
Tim Michels’ opponent next Tuesday, the incumbent Democrat Tony Evers, said the comment, which was released by a left-leaning group, showed the Republican was “a danger to our democracy”.
Michels, a construction company owner, is endorsed by Donald Trump. He has repeated the former president’s lie that his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020 was the result of electoral fraud, and refused to say if he would certify results in a presidential election if he was governor and a Democrat won Wisconsin.
In a debate with Evers last month, Michels did not say he would accept the result of his own election. He later said he would.
Republican candidates in other swing states have cast doubt on whether they will accept results next week.
Fred Wertheimer, president of the non-partisan group Democracy 21, told the Guardian this week: “There’s great danger that the Trump ‘big lie’ is going to spread to states all over the country.
“If election deniers lose their elections by narrow margins we can expect that they will reject the results and refuse to accept them.”
In an attempt to preserve their fragile majorities in the House of Representatives, Democrats this year have spent money to boost far-right Republicans in certain areas, banking that these candidates would be easier for them to defeat in the midterms.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Steny Hoyer, the Democratic majority leader in the House, defends the tactic and pins the blame on Republican voters for choosing the more extreme candidate. Democratic congressman Don Beyer, meanwhile, signals discomfort with the strategy:
New @PostVideo exclusive:
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) November 2, 2022
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told The Post in a recent interview that spending by Democrats amplifying far-right Republican candidates who have questioned or denied the results of the 2020 election does not undermine U.S. democracy. pic.twitter.com/JBGO4YGc4k
Fed raises rates for sixth consecutive time as fight against inflation continues
The Federal Reserve has once again raised interest rates in a bid to lower the United States’ stubbornly high rate of inflation by tightening the ability of businesses and consumers to borrow money.
Inflation has been a major factor in president Joe Biden’s low approval ratings among voters. In the run-up to the central bank’s two-day meeting that concluded today, some Democratic senators had urged its policy setting committee to proceed cautiously or even hold off on another increase, saying rates that are higher than necessary could harm the economy.
Here’s more on the Fed’s decision from The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe:
The Federal Reserve stepped up its fight against a 40-year high in US inflation on Wednesday, announcing its fourth consecutive three-quarters of a percentage point hike in interest rates.
With the cost of living crisis battering consumers and Joe Biden’s political fortunes, Fed officials have now imposed six rate rises in a row, the sharpest increases in interest rates since the 1980s, when inflation touched 14% and rates rose to nearly 20%.
The Fed’s latest increase brings the federal funds rate – which acts as a benchmark for everything including business loans, credit card and mortgage rates – to between 3.75% and 4% after sitting at 0% for more than a year during the coronavirus pandemic.
The central bank does not expect inflation or interest rates to reach the levels seen in the 80s. Chair Jerome Powell has indicated that the Fed expects rates will reach 4.4% by the end of the year and start coming down until 2024. Fed officials had expected inflation to decline this year.
But inflation – which the Fed initially dismissed as “transitory” – remains stubbornly high. In September, the costs of goods and services were 8.2% higher compared to a year ago, well above the Fed’s target inflation rate of 2%.
Some of the most closely watched races this year are being held in Arizona, where Democrats are fighting to keep hold of a Senate seat, while Republicans have elevated candidates for governor and secretary of state who have promoted baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
For a better understanding of how Donald Trump has transformed the politics of the southwestern state, take a look at this report The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland in Phoenix:
Newsom slams Democrats’ “messaging”
Just to continue the theme of bad news for Democrats, California governor Gavin Newsom (a future presidential candidate?) has slammed his own side’s messaging in the midterms campaign.
“We’re getting crushed on narrative. We’re going to have to do better in terms of getting on the offense and stop being on the damn defense,” Newsom told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview airing Wednesday.
The comments come as some progressives in the party – most notably Bernie Sanders – want more of a focus placed on economic issues, which polls suggest are often foremost in voters’ minds.
Republicans target deep blue Democrat seats
In a sign of the times – i.e. that the Democrats now seem firmly on the back foot when it comes to defending the House – the Republicans are ploughing money into a couple of deep blue seats.
Politico reports that several million dollars of ad spending is now targeting a pair of seats in Illinois and Long Island in New York where both districts that went heavily for Joe Biden.
The details below:
House Republicans’ top congressional super PAC is betting that a last minute cash infusion can flip two deep-blue districts on the edges of the House battlefield.
The Congressional Leadership Fund is going on air with seven-figure buys targeting Democratic Rep. Sean Casten in suburban Chicago and the Long Island seat held by retiring Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice. The super PAC is investing $1.8 million and $1.5 million, respectively, on broadcast buys in the expensive Chicago and New York City media markets.
Neither district has seen much outside spending before the final days of the midterms, and President Joe Biden carried both of them by double-digits in 2020. But the late ad buys suggest Republicans see opportunities in both places as the country grapples with high cost of living and the possibility of an economic recession looming.
House Majority PAC, CLF’s Democratic counterpart, also recently invested in both districts — a sign that both parties believe the seats are at risk of flipping.
Fetterman may have survived debate in Pennsylvania
Many Democrats worried about John Fetterman’s debate performance against Mehmet Oz in the crucial Pennsylvania senate race. Fetterman, who recently suffered a stroke, struggled at times and made several gaffes.
His performance was jumped on by many Republicans eager to boost Oz, who is seen as a weak Trumpist candidate. It also unnerved many other observers. But a Monmouth poll seems to show that Fetterman has kept his narrow lead.
Monmouth says:
Nearly half of the electorate will either definitely (39%) or probably (9%) vote for Fetterman, which is similar to his support levels in prior Monmouth polls (48% total compared with 48% in early October and 49% in September). Oz, on the other hand, continues to make small but steady gains in support, with 32% definitely supporting him and 12% probably supporting.
More details here.
The day so far
It’s six days until the midterm elections and Joe Biden will this evening at 7 pm eastern time speak about threats to democracy. The address comes 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 chair of Nevada’s Republican party said he testified before the January 6 committee and had his phone seized by federal investigators, NBC News reports.
The congressional panel investigating the attack on the Capitol issued a subpoena for documents and testimony from Michael McDonald in January, saying it was interested in finding out more about the “fake elector” scheme, in which GOP officials signed false declarations that Donald Trump had won states that had actually been carried by Joe Biden.
“Yes, I was called before them. I answered the subpoena,” McDonald told NBC News, declining to elaborate on what he said to the committee or if he had invoked his constitutional rights not to answer lawmakers’ questions. McDonald was among a group of Nevada Republicans who signed a document falsely saying Trump won the state. In fact, Biden won the state by more than 33,000 votes.
McDonald also acknowledged federal agents took his phone, which may be related to the justice department’s investigation of attempts to overturn the 2020 vote.
The congressional investigation into the January 6 attack is just one of several Donald Trump is embroiled in. The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that prosecutors are zeroing-in on testimony from a top adviser to the ex-president as part of its inquiry into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago:
The justice department is weighing whether to grant immunity to the Trump adviser Kash Patel and force his testimony about claims that highly sensitive government documents the FBI seized from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort were declassified, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The status of the documents has emerged as relevant to the criminal investigation surrounding Trump’s mishandling of national security materials since it could strengthen a potential case that the former president was in violation of state secrecy laws.
Trump and advisers such as Patel have claimed repeatedly since the FBI search in August that the documents bearing classification markings found at the property had in fact been declassified before the former president departed the White House.
The claims that the documents were declassified have not been supported by evidence, however, and Trump’s lawyers have not repeated the assertions in a related legal dispute before a judge or in court filings where they could face penalties for lying.
Donald Trump’s lawyers tailored their petition specifically to supreme court justice Clarence Thomas for reasons both practical and symbolic, Politico reports.
Thomas is well known for his conservative jurisprudence, but Politico notes he is also the justice responsible for handling emergency filings out of Georgia – which means he would get the Trump legal team’s petition about its election conduct, Politico says.
But the goal of the filing wasn’t necessarily to get the supreme court to act on the Trump team’s goal of overturning the election. Instead, Politico says his attorneys hoped the supreme court would issue a temporary stay in the case, which would give them credibility with the state’s lawmakers as they pursued a baseless claim of fraud in Georgia’s 2020 election.
The suit was ultimately unsuccessful.
The reckoning over January 6 continues in Washington, where members of the Oath Keepers militia group are standing trial on charges of seditious conspiracy for their actions in the assault on the Capitol.
NBC News reports a government witness has recounted a message the Oath Keepers’s leader Stewart Rhodes wanted to be sent to Donald Trump days after the failed attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s election win:
New: Stewart Rhodes typed a message to send to Donald Trump on Jan. 10 through Jason Alpers, who is testifying on behalf of the government.
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 2, 2022
"President Trump, you can save the Republic by doing your duty as Commander in Chief... You must use the insurrection act..."
"If you don't then Biden/Kamala will turn all that power on you, your family, and all of us. You and your family wil be imprisoned and killed...You and your children will die in prison."
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 2, 2022
"You must do as Lincoln did. He arrested congressmen, state legislators, and issued a warrant for SCOTUS Chief Justice Taney. Take command like Washington would... Go down in history as the savior of the Republic, not a man who surrendered it..."
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 2, 2022
“I am here for you and so are all my men. We will come help you if you need us. Military and police. And so will your millions of supporters.” -- Stewart Rhodes, in a written message to Donald Trump, after the Jan. 6 attack
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) November 2, 2022
Trump considering post-midterm announcement of new presidential campaign
Donald Trump could announce a new campaign for the White House in the days after Tuesday’s midterm election, the Associated Press reports.
The former president has been widely expected to again run for president in 2024, despite being embroiled in a number of investigations into various scandals from his time in office, such as the campaign to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
According to the AP, Trump could announce a new campaign following next week’s vote, where Republicans are expected to retake the House from Democrats, and potentially the Senate.
“I’m like 95% he’s going to run,” his former chief of staff Reince Priebus told the AP, noting that the bigger question is if any other Republicans would bother to challenge him.
Polls indicate Trump is still the most popular of the GOP’s potential presidential aspirants, overcoming rivals like Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Over the summer, Republicans worried Trump would announce a run before the 8 November election, giving Democrats an opportunity to shift voters’ attention away from issues like crime and the economy and towards the possibility of a return to office by the deeply divisive chief executive.
However, the AP notes that “even as discussions are underway about potential venues and dates for a formal announcement, Trump continues to tease the possibility of declaring his intentions at one of the rallies he’s planned for the election’s homestretch.”
The supreme court is in the midst of hearing arguments in cases it has taken up this term, but CNN reports today’s session began with a protest in the courtroom:
DISRUPTION INSIDE THE SUPREME COURT: at start of arguments at 10am, 3 women rose separately at back of the courtroom to protest overturning Roe v Wade. “The right to choose will not be taken away,” said one. All 3 were taken out of the courtroom; none of the Justices responded.
— Jessica Schneider (@SchneiderCNN) November 2, 2022
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Trump lawyers tailored election challenge to conservative justice Clarence Thomas
As they attempted to stop Joe Biden from assuming the presidency despite his victory in the 2020 election, lawyers for Donald Trump wanted to appeal specifically to Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative justices on the supreme court, according to emails obtained by Politico.
“We want to frame things so that Thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other circuit justice opinion saying Georgia is in legitimate doubt,” attorney Kenneth Chesebro wrote in an email to the then-president’s lawyers on the last day of 2020.
He called a ruling from Thomas “our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by Jan. 6, which might hold up the Georgia count in Congress.”
In the weeks after he lost the 3 November 2020 election, Trump and his allies tried to convince lawmakers and officials in swing states that voted for Biden, such as Georgia, to disrupt the certification of their results and potentially delay the Democrat from taking office. They also mounted a legal campaign with the same goal.
Politico obtained the emails from John Eastman, another lawyer for the president who is seen as a key architect of the campaign. The emails were among a batch Eastman unsuccessfully attempted to stop the January 6 committee from obtaining, according to Politico.
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In his speech this evening, PBS NewsHour reports Joe Biden will address the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was assaulted by an intruder in their San Francisco home last week:
Biden will also address attack on Pelosi’s husband and increase in political violence, per source familiar. But it will be one part of much larger speech on threats to democracy
— Laura Barrón-López (@lbarronlopez) November 2, 2022
Biden plans primetime speech on threats to democracy
Joe Biden will this evening make a speech on threats to democracy, days after an attack on the residence of the speaker of the House and as Americans prepare to cast ballots in next week’s midterms.
The Associated Press reports the president will speak at 7 pm eastern time at a venue near the Capitol, which was stormed by rioters incited by Donald Trump during the January 6 insurrection.
Biden “will be very clear tonight that he is speaking to people who don’t agree with him on any issues, who don’t agree on his agenda, but who really can unite behind this idea of this fundamental value of democracy,” White House senior adviser Anita Dunn said today during an event hosted by Axios.
She added that the speech is “from Capitol Hill, because that is where there was an attempt to subvert our democracy.”
Democrats are in a tough battle to hold on their majorities in the House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Republican party, which is fielding several candidates who have refused to say if they will accept the election result and others who took part in the January 6 riot, is seen as likely to retake the House and potentially also the Senate.
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While the Wisconsin GOP is hoping to use gerrymandering and legislative control to achieve their goals, Ed Pilkington reports that Republican candidates nationwide are refusing to say if they’ll concede their races – even if they lose:
Last month Kari Lake, a former local TV anchor on the Fox network, joined a rightwing podcast The Conservative Circus to discuss her bid to become Arizona’s next governor.
Lake, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, began by complaining that Joe Biden had just made a speech about the threat to democracy posed by election deniers like herself who claim, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The US president called them “extremists” and warned that they were preparing to repeat their subversion efforts in November’s midterm elections.
Moments later, when Lake was asked by the podcast host a direct question about whether she would concede were she to lose her own governor’s race against the Democrat Katie Hobbs, she was evasive.
Earlier this week, Wisconsin’s Democratic party chair laid out what would happen if the GOP manages to obtain supermajorities in the state legislature, wins the governor’s office, or both.
Wisconsin is considered a swing state, pivotal to each party’s path to the White House. Ben Wikler warns that with uncontested control of the legislature or a Republican governor, the GOP could turn the Great Lakes state into a bastion of hard-right conservatism:
In this moment, a tiny change in votes in Wisconsin could start a domino effect that could shape the future of American history. For worse, or better.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
First, the nightmare scenario: Mandela Barnes and Tony Evers could lose, and Ron Johnson and Tim Michels could win. Republicans could get a veto-proof supermajority in our state legislature. What would happen?
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
Wisconsin’s been the tipping point state in the last two presidential elections. Both of those elections came down to less than a percentage point. If democracy breaks even further in Wisconsin, the Electoral College math gets grim—fast. https://t.co/IahUX86yxl
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
Tim Michels, running for governor of Wisconsin, has explicitly said that his first priority will be to “fix” the election system by signing all of the voter suppression and election subversion laws that Governor Evers, our Democratic incumbent, has vetoed.https://t.co/a0vgjS18fi
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
If Tim Michels rigs our elections, he will likely do it before the April 4, 2023 state Supreme Court election, which will determine the balance of power on Wisconsin’s highest court. The state court could uphold the rigging before the 2024 presidential. https://t.co/txmqPCowSn
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
Gov Evers, on the other hand, supports fair elections and has been a brick wall to save our democracy—refusing to concede to Republican attacks and allowing the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission to do its job.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
If Tim Michels can scrap the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission and install radical Republicans—as he has promised—every rule governing how elections function could be shaped to advance the GOP’s partisan agenda. https://t.co/9DcK3c3CUa
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
But if that’s not enough to give Trump a victory, and Trump still loses 2024, Michels could refuse to certify the election.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
In fact, when asked about it directly, he *only* committed to certifying the election *if* he can fix the election system first. pic.twitter.com/3mo5xWkYWj
To win the electoral college majority in 2024, we’ll need Wisconsin.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
And if we lose the governor’s race now, the path to having a free, fair, and secure presidential election becomes stunningly bleak.
If Tim Michels wins, he’s likely to sign whatever bills the Republican-dominated legislature sends him.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
But the GOP has another path to control: gaining supermajorities in both chambers of our state legislature. I talked about this with @ChrisLHayes:pic.twitter.com/PIpDUeasuO
While other states got better maps after redistricting, Wisconsin's GOP-controlled state Supreme Court chose the most extreme gerrymander possible—a map literally drawn by Republicans in our state legislature to maximize their control.https://t.co/JCBry1CJjR
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
The Wisconsin GOP is incredibly close to supermajorities in the state legislature. Under these new maps, all they have to do is pick up a handful of additional legislative districts. Supermajorities are now “within reach.” https://t.co/0Fy4EziTvz
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
If the GOP gets supermajorities in the state legislature here, the governorship, or both, they can change election laws or subvert the results, and potentially move Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes into the GOP column. We cannot let that happen.
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) October 31, 2022
GOP candidate for governor makes plain party's real goal: permanent Republican rule
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Yesterday in Wisconsin, Tim Michels, who is standing as the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, said the quiet part out loud when he declared: “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.” Wisconsin is a swing state that Democrats have relied on to win the White House, and the Republican’s comment underscores the reality that many in the party aren’t simply looking to win office this year – they’re aiming to find ways to make their control of government permanent. And while Wisconsin is one state, there are plenty of other examples nationwide.
Here’s what else is happening today:
The Federal Reserve will conclude its latest meeting and almost certainly announce another interest rate increase at 2 pm eastern time. The central bank has signaled it is committed to fighting inflation, but economists warn that if borrowing costs get too high, the economy could slow further, or even enter a recession.
It’s infrastructure day for Joe Biden, who will stump for his legislative accomplishments including the Chips act to boost American technological prowess and last year’s $1tn overhaul to the nation’s public works.
Six days to go until the 8 November midterm elections!
