South Carolina Senate Moves To Toss Up  —  There has been no more surprising race on the Senate map than South Carolina.  Even early this year, it looked like Sen. Lindsey Graham would cruise to re-election.  Instead, the Republican incumbent finds himself in a tied race in both public …

DOJ Frees Federal Prosecutors to Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections, Weakening Long-standing Policy … ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  The Department of Justice …

White House physician says Trump has been “symptom-free for over 24 hours”  —  President Trump has been “symptom-free” from the coronavirus for over 24 hours, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a Wednesday update.  —  The state of play: Conley's letter also says that Trump has not received …

High court nominee served as ‘handmaid’ in religious group  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served as a “handmaid,” the term then used for high-ranking female leaders in the People of Praise religious community, an old directory for the group's members shows.

Donald Trump Is Canceling TV Ads In Midwest States That Made Him President  —  President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is slashing television spending in the Midwest, canceling millions of dollars in advertising in states that carried him to victory in 2016.  —  He's been off the local airwaves completely in Iowa and Ohio.

Wisconsin to open field hospital as COVID-19 surges  —  Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced on Wednesday that a field hospital will be opened at the state fairgrounds near Milwaukee to expand care for coronavirus patients after hospitalizations more than doubled in the past month.

Pence to target Biden on terrorism, hostages in VP debate  —  Mike Pence's guest list for Wednesday's vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City will include the parents of murdered ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller, two senior administration officials with direct knowledge tell Axios.

The plexiglass barriers being used at tonight's debate are pretty useless, experts say.  —  A box fan, an air filter — and duct tape to attach them.  With four such devices cobbled together for a grand total of about $150, the vice-presidential debate on Wednesday night can be made much safer …

BuzzFeed News Pulls Reporter From White House, Citing Virus Risk  —  She said she had “obvious concerns about working indoors during an outbreak.”  The White House Correspondents' Association pushed for more information on known infections.  —  BuzzFeed News has pulled a political correspondent …

Republicans: Ditch Trump, Save the Senate  —  “This is the time you have to make tough decisions,” former congressman Tom Davis, said of the party allocating its resources.  —  Increasingly convinced that President Donald Trump's election chances are grim, top Republican donors, lobbyists …

Manhattan D.A. Can Obtain Trump's Tax Returns, Judges Rule  —  The dispute will now likely head to the Supreme Court for a second time.  —  The Manhattan district attorney can enforce a subpoena seeking President Trump's personal and corporate tax returns, a federal appeals panel ruled on Wednesday …

Biden Leads Trump in Nevada and the Two Are Tied in Ohio, Polls Show  —  Women and suburbanites continue to power Joe Biden's support, new polls by The Times and Siena College show.  A majority of voters say campaigning in front of large crowds is inappropriate.

Supreme Court rejects GOP attempt to get rid of ranked voting in Maine  —  (CNN)Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cleared the way Tuesday night for ranked-choice voting to be used in Maine, delivering a blow to Republican challengers.  —  In September, Maine's Supreme Court had sided …

Trump's erratic tweets on economic relief — over several hours — leave strategy unclear  —  First, he says he won't pursue a package until after election.  Then he demands Congress immediately pass bills.  —  President Trump called on Congress to approve federal economic relief late …

‘We Need to Take Away Children,’ No Matter How Young, Justice Dept. Officials Said  —  Top department officials were “a driving force” behind President Trump's child separation policy, a draft investigation report said.  —  WASHINGTON — The five U.S. attorneys along the border with Mexico …

Wide-bodied 747 crowned Alaska's fattest bear  —  ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - In Alaska's annual battle of heavyweights, a salmon-chomping bruin named 747 - like the jetliner - has emerged as the most fabulously fat.  —  The bear, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska's Katmai National Park …

The Creepy Trump Meme Taking Over Twitter  —  When Donald Trump announced that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for COVID-19, the replies were full of well-wishing, as well as admonishments from others for not being careful.  Less expected was a whole host of messages full …

‘Red Sweater Guy’ Ken Bone from 2016 Town Hall Says Watching This Year's Debates is ‘Like Watching Your House Burn Down’  —  U.S. 2020 Presidential Election 2016 Presidential Debates  —  It has been almost four years to the day since Ken Bone became one of the most famous uncommitted voters …

Susan Collins lets loose with her career on the line  —  Susan Collins generally keeps an even keel.  But she's had it with Sara Gideon.  —  “She will say or do anything to try to win,” Collins said when asked of her opponent during a wide-ranging 30-minute interview in her Capitol quarters last week.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate MJ Hegar voted against Obama twice  —  WASHINGTON — MJ Hegar, the former Air Force pilot running as a Democrat against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, voted for Republican presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012, she told Hearst Newspapers on Tuesday.

Army Reserve investigating Cunningham after woman confirms affair, more texts emerge  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — A California woman on Tuesday confirmed to The Associated Press that she had a physical relationship with Cal Cunningham, North Carolina's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.

Trump's corrupt schemes to save himself keep blowing up in his face  —  When you step back and survey the last two years of U.S. politics, one of the biggest story lines that comes into view is this: One after another, a whole string of deeply corrupt schemes that President Trump has hatched …

QAnon High Priest Was Just Trolling Away as a Citigroup Tech Executive  —  Jason Gelinas lived a normal suburban life with a plum Wall Street gig.  He also ran the conspiracy theory's biggest news hub.  —  Like many future Donald Trump voters, Jason Gelinas felt something shift inside him during the presidency of Barack Obama.

Far-Right Pennsylvania Politics Blog Was Mirrored by Obscure Russian Website  —  Lancaster Patriot, a partisan, reactionary Pennsylvania politics blog that first surfaced in April, is mirrored online by a Russian website with the domain oc.binaria.ru, which is affiliated with creators …

Is Warren Buffett the Wallet Behind Black Lives Matter?  —  The Tides Network is a powerful instrument leveraged by billionaires working to change America, while shielding their philanthropic dollars from public scrutiny.  Here's how it works.

Lansing ballot box was ‘out of order’ after GOP video shows worker struggling to lock it  —  LANSING — After calling a video released by the Michigan Republican Party that shows an unlocked ballot box “disingenuous,” Lansing's city clerk said the same box is now out of order.

How Russia Today Skirts High-Tech Blockade to Reach U.S. Readers  —  The Kremlin-backed outlet has been boosted by a news aggregator dominated by conservative media sites  —  On any given day over the past two years, visitors to the home page of RealClearPolitics were likely to see its famous average …