“New Mexico’s attorney general on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit accusing Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time personal lawyer and accountant of facilitating Epstein’s sex trafficking operation,” CNBC reports.
“The civil suit alleges that the attorney, Darren Indyke, and the accountant, Richard Kahn, helped finance and conceal Epstein’s sex trafficking, which included the abuse of girls and young women at his Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County, New Mexico.”
“Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is converting reelection ads in the D.C. media market into messages selling voters on a redistricting amendment that’s currently unpopular,” the Washington Post reports.
Punchbowl News: “With less than two weeks to go until the midterms, we’re seeing some GOP lawmakers in deep red territory make aggressive campaign moves.”
“Plenty of House Republicans are going negative on their Democratic opponents. It’s an interesting play, since many of those Democrats aren’t running ads of their own and have low name ID. That so many Republicans are doing it suggests they’re worried the ‘R’ next to their name could cost them with angry voters.”
President Trump claimed in the Oval Office that NATO was “nice enough to give us Greenland. We got Greenland.”
“‘Oh, he’s not going to get it,’” Trump added, mocking his critics. “We got it; we got Greenland.”
Robert Rubin: “The economy has been voters’ top issue in four of the six midterm elections this century — and 2026 appears all but certain to make it five of seven. Beyond the cost of living, the war in Iran and tariffs, America faces a series of daunting longer-term economic challenges, from mounting federal debt to the effects of artificial intelligence.”
“Yet many Americans continue to underestimate one particular potential threat to our economic future: President Trump’s clearly expressed desire to interfere with and even usurp the midterm elections. Nov. 3 could be a defining test for the rule of law in this country, and both our democracy and our prosperity are on the line.”
MS NOW: Democrats are preparing for Trump to try disrupting voting on Election Day.
Dan Pfeiffer: “Polls can be wrong. Even A+ rated polls can be wrong. But the brand-new New York Times/Siena poll suggests that Republicans are in for a brutal election night. Republicans have been spinning that their numbers have improved in recent weeks, or at least stabilized.”
“The Times poll says otherwise.”
“Trump’s approval rating is 36%, down a couple of points from September, and Democrats’ lead on the generic ballot increased two points. Their 11-point lead on the generic ballot is the largest in any election since 2008, when Barack Obama won the popular vote by nearly 10 million votes.”
“Armed and in uniform, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security have been knocking on doors in several states to ask residents about their immigration status — and to inquire if they have registered to vote or cast votes in past elections,” CBS News reports.
“The operation is part of an effort to root out potential noncitizen voters ahead of the midterms. DHS has alleged that there could be as many as 250,000 citizens illegally registered to vote, although election experts have disputed the accuracy of this figure. Just 156 people have been charged with voting-fraud related offenses since the beginning of the Trump administration.”
“In late August, President Donald Trump announced what he called the ‘biggest oil deal in world history.’ Since then, the full text of the accord — which grants the U.S. sweeping access to Venezuela’s oil reserves — has been one of the most sought-after secrets in Washington, D.C,” ProPublica reports.
“ProPublica has reviewed a copy of the 18-page strategic partnership agreement signed for the United States by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The document reveals carefully constructed terms that favor U.S. interests at every turn and cements the power of a small group of people handpicked by the Trump administration to govern and profit from the deal. The role of the Venezuelan government and the potential benefits to its people are largely absent from the text.”
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday left intact a lower court decision that blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new Bureau of Prisons policy that would end certain medical interventions for transgender inmates,” CBS News reports.
“The Republican super PAC that has spent heavily to reelect Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is running a country song on Maine radio that mocks her opponent, Troy Jackson (D), for having children with his second cousin,” the Bangor Daily News reports.
“The ad from the Senate Leadership Fund, which surfaced Tuesday, calls Jackson ‘weird,’ a ‘freak’ and a ‘creep’ because ‘he has two kids with his cousin.'”
And the refrain: “If he’ll screw his own family, he’ll screw yours too.”
“With early voting already underway, we’re likely to close out this election cycle without a single debate between top-of-the-ticket candidates,” Texas Monthly reports.
“Vice President JD Vance’s role as President Donald Trump’s chief defender poses a growing challenge as the administration faces mounting perceptions of inside dealing and corruption,” NewsNation reports.
“Vance on Monday said the idea of Trump using the White House for personal enrichment was ‘laughable,’ and during a CBS News town hall over the weekend, he said he doesn’t see evidence of corruption. That puts him increasingly out of step with most voters, including an expanding segment of Republicans.”
Fox News: Vance reveals the Trump dilemma that could complicate his 2028 White House ambitions.
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“You don’t turn the Titanic around overnight.”
— Vice President JD Vance, in a campaign speech in Ohio.
“Neil Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush, said Tuesday that he voted for Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race while criticizing President Trump and ‘those who have enabled him’ for causing ‘enormous damage to the Republican Party,'” CBS News reports.
Said Bush: “My vote was motivated by two things: deep concern about Ken Paxton’s record and genuine admiration for the character and principles I see in James Talarico.”
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The Atlantic: “Trump’s war in Iran has appeared to throttle Republicans’ chances in the midterms; the unending conflict, and the resulting surge in oil and gas prices, has eroded the GOP’s poll numbers and fueled Democrats’ hopes of taking both chambers of Congress.”
“Stymied in his efforts to bring that war to a close, Trump recently shifted his focus to resolving the Ukraine conflict, in part to bring fuel prices down. But the way he’s chosen to try to do that has provided his fellow Republicans with a nasty October surprise. In a first for a U.S. president, Trump has sided with a traditional adversary, Russia, over a democracy that is not only fighting for its existence but also acting as a bulwark against a wider war. Trump’s diesel deal with Putin will have a negligible impact on American energy prices, but it’s a financial lifeline for Moscow.”
“Trump has demanded an energy cease-fire—he even announced one earlier this month that had no basis in reality—yet has focused his ire entirely on Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil refineries. He blames those strikes for the rise in energy prices while ignoring the real culprit, Iran’s ability to defy the United States and close the Strait of Hormuz. He’s convinced himself, three people close to him have told us, that Ukraine’s attacks on the refineries are, in part, meant to undermine Republicans’ chances next month—and, by extension, Trump.”
“Troy Jackson knows he wasn’t Maine Democrats’ first choice to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins. And he knows he isn’t the most charismatic candidate to grace a Senate ballot,” the Washington Post reports.
“But the Democratic nominee in one of the country’s highest-profile races also knows that may not matter.”
“As Jackson’s contentious contest with Collins reaches its final days, Democrats in Maine are acknowledging — and in some ways celebrating — that the race isn’t about their accidental nominee.”
“They are instead banking on rage with President Donald Trump — and deep-seated resentment over Collins’s role in advancing his policy goals — to deny the 73-year-old Republican senator a sixth term.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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