Embattled Iowa Lawmaker King Says Ted Cruz Expressed His Support  — GOP campaign leader renounced King after attack in Pittsburgh  — Cruz is in a close race; his campaign says call was ‘personal’  —  Representative Steve King of Iowa, who has been abandoned by Republican leaders …

Inside What Even an Ally Calls Trump's ‘Reality Distortion Field’  —  From nonexistent riots to conspiracy theories about migrants to false claims about his popularity and job-creating record, the president has offered a litany of falsehoods in the midterm campaign.

How Vilification of George Soros Moved From the Fringes to the Mainstream  —  WASHINGTON — Hours after he was informed last week that an explosive device had been delivered to his suburban New York home, George Soros, the billionaire investor and Democratic donor, got on a call with colleagues …

Trump shocks with racist new ad days before midterms  —  (CNN)In the most racially charged national political ad in 30 years, President Donald Trump and the Republican Party accuse Democrats of plotting to help Central American invaders overrun the nation with cop killers.

Fox News Poll: Trump approval remains high in Senate battleground states  —  A new round of Fox News battleground state polls proves we don't call them battlegrounds for nothing.  With six days until the election, three of the five U.S. Senate races could go either way …

‘We have to have a wall of people’: Trump defends military presence on border  —  President Donald Trump said that the increased military presence on the border is going to help stop the “invasion” that is coming in the migrant caravan.  —  “We have to have a wall of people,” Trump said …

The Many Faces of Jew-Hatred  —  Anti-Semitism is a politics of misdirected blame.  Today its most frequent target is the state of Israel.  —  In the wake of the shooting in Pittsburgh, a volley of voices called for more of this or that—armed guards or gun control, barring the doors of synagogues …

Democrats in prime position to take House, but battleground district poll shows wild cards remain  —  Democrats maintain a strong position to retake the U.S. House, but the party's base of less-frequent voters and concerns about illegal immigration stand out as wild cards in the final days …

In Florida Rally, Trump Calls Constitutional Citizenship Protections ‘a Crazy Policy’  —  ESTERO, Fla. — With a somber trip to Pittsburgh to visit victims of a synagogue shooting behind him, President Trump flew to one of his favorite places in the world — Florida — on Wednesday to host another …

Exclusive: Trump says supporters demand his red-hot rhetoric  —  President Trump, in an interview with Axios that will premiere Sunday on HBO, says railing against his enemies in the media helped him win — and that his supporters like him more when he cranks up the “enemy of the people” rhetoric.

Gillum Makes Promises He Can't Keep, “that's not for [voters] to know” Says Campaign Staff in Undercover Video … Empty Promises Exposed: “Fairy tales in the modern day begin with ‘once I am elected.’”  —  Deceiving Voters: “None of the programs that people are hoping for would happen” but “That's not for [voters] to know.”

Corker on migrant caravan: Republicans ‘using fear to stimulate’ midterm voter turnout  —  President Donald Trump says the number of military troops deployed to the U.S.-Mexican border could go as high as 15,000.  Trump said that the move would be aimed at preventing the entry of a caravan of migrants traveling from Central America.

Out-of-state political consultants helped direct Josh Hawley's Missouri AG office  —  Josh Hawley pledged to Missouri voters in 2016 that he was not the kind of career politician who would use “one office to get to another.”  —  But within weeks of Hawley's swearing in as the state's top …

Shepard Smith can't redeem Fox News  —  A header on Brian Stelter's nightly media newsletter reads, “Fox under pressure,” a reference to the growing concerns that Fox News's rhetoric is driving conspiracy theories.  “Modern Family” co-creator Steve Levitan has signaled that he won't …

Sarah Sanders has a knack for lying  —  One can only marvel at the ease with which White House press secretary Sarah Sanders abuses the people in front of her, deflects blame and outright lies.  At Monday's press briefing, her entire bag of tricks was on display.

Veteran featured in GOP congressman's midterm election ad posted racist rants and violent threats on Facebook  —  On the home page of his campaign website, Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale has posted a television ad showing a veteran praising the Republican congressman for helping him get a lung transplant.

U.S. Senate panel investigates former Trump aide Bannon: sources  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee is pursuing a wide-ranging investigation into former White House adviser Steve Bannon's activities during the 2016 presidential campaign, three sources familiar with the inquiry told Reuters.

The Watergate Road Map Unsealed  —  The National Archive has released the famed—and long mysterious—Watergate “Road Map,” which Special Prosecutor sent to Congress in 1974.  For background on the Road Map, and our litigation to get it released, see here and here.

Bolton says ‘excessive’ ethics checks discourage outsiders from joining government  —  Washington (CNN)A day after CNN reported that the Justice Department is investigating whether Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has broken the law by using his office to personally enrich himself …

Conspiracy theorist becomes key figure as Mueller builds case  —  Self-proclaimed conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi returned to Washington, D.C., again this week for more closed-door meetings with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators, and on Friday is scheduled to make a second appearance …

Trump, Terror, and the ‘No Guardrails’ Presidency  —  Yes, the president bears blame for the terror from the right.  —  Maybe we should refer to Saturday's massacre of 11 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue, along with the campaign of mail bombs that preceded it, as “man-caused disasters.”

“There's Going to Be a Lot of Departures”: Fearing a House Wipeout, Trump Throws Hail Marys as Aides Brace for Staff Changes  —  White House insiders suggest that Kellyanne Conway and Steve Mnuchin are not long for this West Wing.  —  BY - GABRIEL SHERMANOctober 31, 2018,

Identity politics are stronger on the right than the left  —  The Republican Party is increasingly unified around whiteness  —  IN THE popular imagination, identity politics is the stuff of queer-studies seminars and Hillary Clinton rallies.  The excesses of intolerant university students raging …

Migrant Caravan Troop Deployment Could Cost U.S. $50 Million Despite No Evidence of Terrorists, Major Criminal Gang Presence  —  The Trump administration is preparing for the most dangerous, and unlikely, scenario as it sends thousands of troops to the border to intercept a carvavan …

Debate canceled: Candidates unable to agree on alternative after Kemp pulls out of Sunday showdown  —  The second and final televised Georgia gubernatorial debate was canceled Wednesday after Republican Brian Kemp pulled out of the initial Sunday event and he and Democrat Stacey Abrams couldn't agree on an alternative.

Florida mayor solicited sex for speed bumps, ethics panel finds  —  David Stewart has been the mayor of Lantana, Florida, since 2000.  —  A Florida mayor is accused of soliciting sex from a constituent in exchange for speed bumps, according to the Florida Commission on Ethics and local reports.

How the War in Yemen Became a Bloody Stalemate — and the Worst Humanitarian Crisis in the World  —  WORST  —  HUMANITARIAN  —  CRISIS IN  —  THE WORLD … in the far northwest of Yemen, is a farming settlement about two hours' drive from the Saudi border.

On a Tiny Finnish Island, a Helipad, 9 Piers — and the Russian Military?  —  SAKKILUOTO, Finland — Retired to a tiny island in an archipelago between Finland and Sweden, Leo Gastgivar awoke early one morning to visit the outhouse in his bathrobe, only to notice two black speedboats packed …

The global lost: 56,800 migrants dead and missing in 4 years  —  JOHANNESBURG (AP) — One by one, five to a grave, the coffins are buried in the red earth of this ill-kept corner of a South African cemetery.  The scrawl on the cheap wood attests to their anonymity: “Unknown B/Male.”

Trump and Aides Getting ‘Spooked’ About a Coming GOP Midterms ‘Slaughter’  —  Publicly, the talk is of retaining control of the House.  Privately, they're getting ready for Democratic-led investigations.  —  Asawin Suebsaeng By Asawin Suebsaeng  —  In recent months, President Trump has insisted that a …

Italy's Conte ‘confident’ about reaching budget deal with Brussels  —  Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Thursday that he is “confident” about reaching a deal with the European Commission in a row over Rome's new budgetary plans.  —  However, he also stressed the need to spend more money to tackle …