Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a grand jury investigation into allegations that Obama administration officials broke federal laws while investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe.
The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation, and it remained unclear whether prosecutors had settled on specific targets or crimes they believe occurred.
Still, the development marked a significant escalation in the Justice Department’s push to relitigate one of President Donald Trump’s long-standing grievances and comes as critics have argued those efforts are an attempt by the White House to use the department to punish Trump’s political foes.
“Appeals court upholds Texas law requiring ID numbers to cast mail-in ballots”
A federal appeals court has ruled that Texas may enforce a state law that invalidates mail-in ballots submitted without a voter’s state identification number or partial Social Security number.
A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the requirement the Texas Legislature enacted in 2021 as part of an election-integrity bill known as SB1 did not violate a federal law preventing states from imposing voting requirements “not material” to the validity of ballots.
In a brusque, nine-page opinion, Judge James Ho twice said the appeals panel had “little difficulty” concluding that Texas’ law was valid.
“The number-matching requirements are obviously designed to confirm that every mail-in voter is who he claims he is,” Ho wrote for the panel. “And that is plainly material to determining whether an individual is qualified to vote.”
The judges said that merely requiring applications to list the voter’s name and address was insufficient to address security concerns.
“That information is easily available to anyone who simply requests it,” wrote Ho, a Trump appointee. “As a result, any person can request and receive that information about a registered voter, use that information to apply for a mail-in ballot, and then cast the ballot, with minimal risk of detection.”
“Zuckerberg fired the fact-checkers. We tested their replacement.”
Over four months, I’ve drafted 65 notes debunking conspiracy theories on topics ranging from airplane crashes to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I’ve tried to flag fake artificial intelligence-generated video clips, viral hoax security threats and false reports about an ICE partnership with DoorDash.
Only three of them got published, all related to July’s Texas floods. That’s an overall success rate of less than 5 percent. My proposed notes were on topics other news outlets — including Snopes, NewsGuard and Bloomberg News — had decided were worth publishing their own fact checks about.
Zuckerberg fired professional fact-checkers, leaving users to fight falsehoods with community notes. As the main line of defense against hoaxes and deliberate liars exploiting our attention, community notes appear — so far — nowhere near up to the task.
Feeds filled with inaccurate information matter for the 54 percent of American adults who, according to Pew Research Center, get news from social media.
Zuckerberg’s decision to fire fact-checkers was widely criticized as a craven attempt to appeal to President Donald Trump. He said Meta was adopting the crowdsourced community notes system used by Elon Musk’s X because users would be more trustworthy and less biased than fact-checkers. Before notes get published to posts, enough users have to agree they’re helpful. But agreement turns out to be more complicated than it sounds.
“Ayotte signs bills to tighten absentee voting, ensure accessible voting”
For New Hampshire disability rights advocates, the slate of election-related bills signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week represents a mixed bag.
On the one hand, Ayotte signed bipartisan legislation to require that all cities and towns provide accessible voting machines at local elections — not just those with state and federal candidates.
On the other, Ayotte also approved a bill that would include more documentation requirements for absentee voters.
Republicans and other supporters of that bill say the new registration requirements bring in needed oversight in New Hampshire’s elections, and make absentee voters face the same process as in-person voters. Disability rights groups say they could be difficult for some to comply with and could discourage them from voting.
“G.O.P. Bets Big on Hispanic Voters With New Texas Map”
[A]s far as they are from the political action this week, towns like Laredo along the Southwestern border are crucial to Republicans’ plans to flip five of Texas’ U.S. House seats from blue to red.
Texas Republicans are hoping that the surge of Hispanic support for President Trump in 2024, which was especially sharp in South Texas, will last through the 2026 midterm elections. They also hope that voters, Hispanic or not, in districts like the currently Democratic one around Laredo will not be overly angry about the Republicans’ aggressive mid-decade redistricting push, a hardball tactic to retain power in Washington that is being pressed by Mr. Trump.
“Schwarzenegger ready to fight Newsom on redistricting”
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to campaign against a partisan gerrymandering plan that current officeholder Gavin Newsom is hoping to place on the November ballot, according to a spokesperson.
“He calls gerrymandering evil, and he means that. He thinks it’s truly evil for politicians to take power from people,” said Schwarzenegger spokesperson Daniel Ketchell. “He’s opposed to what Texas is doing, and he’s opposed to the idea that California would race to the bottom to do the same thing.”
California’s last Republican governor was the leading man behind the pair of constitutional amendments that more than a decade ago yanked authority for drawing legislative districts from politicians and placed it in the hands of a newly created independent commission. After the successes of those two measures at the California ballot, Schwarzenegger campaigned for similar changes (with mixed results) in Michigan, Colorado, Virginia and Ohio.
Now, the fight has returned to his home state, as Newsom aims to redraw California’s U.S. House maps before the midterm elections to offset a similar Republican-led effort unfolding in Texas. Since such a move would undo the constitutional language added by the Schwarzenegger amendments, it would require voter approval. Newsom said today he is “very” confident he can secure the two-thirds legislative supermajority he would need to put the question on a November special-election ballot.
Schwarzenegger is preparing to take a starring role in a “No” campaign, reuniting many of the forces that came together in 2008 to pass Prop 11 (which created the commission for California legislative maps) and in 2010 for Prop 20 (which extended its authority to congressional maps). Several of the leading outside groups that gave good-government ballast to the earlier efforts — including the League of Women Voters and California Common Cause — are challenging Newsom’s proposal.
“California moves to dismantle GOP map — and Trump’s grip”
Politico:
California’s Texas-thwarting gerrymander has swiftly transformed from fantasy to reality.
Democrats in the House and the state Legislature are coalescing around a plan to draw a half-dozen Republican incumbents into oblivion — and persuade California voters to approve… Continue reading
“Texas Democrats hold the line from hotel rooms as Abbott promises arrests”
Politico:
About two-dozen Texas Democrats huddled around a monitor inside a hotel auditorium just west of Chicago Monday to watch as their Republican colleagues gaveled back into session and threatened “consequences” for their mass departure.
Minutes later, as they… Continue reading
“Sequential Reporting of Vote Counts may Amplify False Perceptions of Election Fraud”
Interesting new study here. Abstract:
In seven studies, we investigated how reporting partial vote counts influences perceptions of election legitimacy. Beliefs in election fraud, as in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, may be fueled by the cumulative redundancy bias… Continue reading
My New One at Slate on the Supreme Court Potentially Killing the Remaining Pillar of the Voting Rights Act: “The Supreme Court Just Signaled Something Deeply Disturbing About the Next Term”
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins:
Reading the tea leaves from cryptic Supreme Court orders can be perilous business because the justices are not bound by the questions they ask at oral argument, the offhand comments they… Continue reading
“Machine malfunctions rarely get in the way of voting, Pennsylvania reports show”
From Votebeat’s Carrie Walker:
Pennsylvania voters encountered only scattered voting-machine malfunctions that rarely affected their ability to cast ballots in recent elections, according to a Votebeat and Spotlight PA analysis of problems reported to the state.
Counties reported a… Continue reading
“Justice Department demand for state voter lists underscores their importance”
Stateline:
The Trump administration’s effort to scoop up voter registration lists and other information from a growing number of states underscores how state-controlled voter lists are a major battleground in fights over access to the polls. The Justice Department… Continue reading
“Candidates decry dark money — and reap its benefits”
John Frank in Axios:
“The leading Democrats in the 2026 governor’s race are two of the most vocal critics of dark money in politics.
Yes, but: Both — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser — are poised… Continue reading
“Arizona’s secretary of state changes election manual in response to Republican challenges”
From Votebeat’s Jen Fifield:
“Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is walking back election rules that he said would better protect voters, after Republicans successfully challenged them in court.
In a draft rulebook for the state’s 2026 midterm elections,… Continue reading