Republicans are claiming that the Biden-era FBI was caught “spying” on congressional Republicans and “tapping” their phones. That's really not what happened.

With President Donald Trump flooding the zone with attacks on American democracy and the rule of law, it’s easy to lose sight of the damage that the Supreme Court is doing on its own to weaken voting rights protections.

As the Republican Party tries to blame Democrats for as the U.S. enters its eighth day of a government shutdown, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough excoriated the party, saying they "made a terrible mistake." "We showed polls earlier, a growing number of Americans — Washington Post — 47 percent say this is the Republicans' fault. I think 30, 31 percent say it's Democrats'," Scarborough said. Scarborough referenced Tuesday’s flight delays at Hollywood Burbank (BUR) and Nashville International (BNA) airports due to air traffic control staffing shortages, and a leaked memo that suggested the government is going to deny furloughed federal workers back pay. "If we’re talking about the government shutdown and s—— falling apart out there, and the FAA not working and people not getting paid, and the president saying, 'Oh, we're not going to even pay federal workers back pay.'" "I don't know if he has an image of pot smoking hippies [who] stumble out of their communes and go work, you know," Scarborough continued. "But those would be the work of the VA, right? Those are the people that help our vets. Those are the people that help." "This is bad news," Scarborough said. "And I know, because those Republicans, when we shut s—— down, and I will tell you, you'll be shocked who comes out of the woodwork and say ‘Hey, Congressman, I'd like to go to the VA. My son who served, you know, he needs to go to the and he can't now because of you. Would you like to do your job?’" Pointing to polls blaming Republicans for the shutdown, Scarborough leaned into the health care issue on which the Democrats (and some Republicans including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are standing. "Democrats win on health care every time. So if you're losing the debate, if sh—— falling apart in Washington, D.C., if planes are getting backed up across America, if vets can't get the service, they try to change the subject," he said. "But you don't want to talk about health care because this is all about health care, and Republicans are going to lose on that fight every time."

Mr. Pearson, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives since 2023, will challenge U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, a fellow Democrat.

James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to criminal charges that were demanded by President Donald Trump and secured by one of his former personal lawyers, who has never prosecuted a case before.

A 2024 memo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) shows that rodeos are where the agency goes to recruit Border Patrol agents because it's where they are able to “target specific applicants who fit Border Patrol’s applicant profile,” reports Mother Jones. “I think they target rodeos because they are looking for young men with a high probability of being masculine and patriotic,” one vendor at the Uvalde Palomino Fest, an annual Texas fair and rodeo, told Mother Jones. “Lots of young, rough men attend these rodeos.” Border Patrol recruiting booths at these events have been a common sight since 2008, when USCBP began its sponsorship of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the largest competitive bull-riding league in the world, which brings sanctioned rodeo competitions to hundreds of cities every year, according to Mother Jones. Bullfighters are branded with "slick jerseys declaring the event 'Protected by US Border Patrol', and, according to Andrew Giangola, PBR's vice president of strategic communications, these events 'attract fans who often value service, discipline, and patriotism—traits that align closely with the mission and culture of the Border Patrol.'" The Trump administration has bolstered this recruiting in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which earmarked billions in funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP expansion with perks and bonuses to attract new personnel. One young man, Jayanjru, 18, told Mother Jones "he thinks CBP recruiters are looking for people with toughness and bravery. 'I would do it,' he says, adding, 'I would have fun doing it, too.'" And while CPB recruiting booths can also be found in and at various gyms and athletic competitions, rodeos, Mother Jones explains, are an easier sell. At a September 6 Tough Mudder race in Big Bear, California, Mother Jones writer Carrie Schreck asked participants if they knew about the CBP sponsorship, to which one said, "No, I didn’t know. My parents are immigrants, my girlfriend is an immigrant. If we just improved the [immigration] process, we wouldn’t need to recruit more agents." Another racer was livid, saying “They sponsor this? F—— them. No, really. F—— them—I mean it. And you can quote me on that.” Noting the lack of a physical recruitment booth at the race, one employee told Schreck "I think they read the room. ICE is giving them a bad name.” And over at a PBR rodeo south of Los Angeles in Anaheim, where, Mother Jones reports, "Border Patrol branding is featured on costumes and in glowing LED advertising on the arena floor, alongside Lucas Oil and Camping World," not all attendees were as enthusiastic as those in Texas. “I think it’s tacky; it’s weird to have something like this in Anaheim,” Orange County native Ashey told Schreck. “It’s giving big-brother vibes.” “That’s so f—— lame,” said Xavier, an LA resident. Every person in that arena knows someone affected by the raids.”

Trump, without providing evidence, said Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker should go to jail for “failing to protect” immigration agents.

During an oversight hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi was unprofessional and partisan, but most importantly, she was evasive, rejecting key lines of inquiry.

Cracks are appearing in the right-wing student organization Turning Point USA following the leak of texts from its founder, the late MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, in which he discussed Jewish donors pulling funding over his links to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to The Bulwark. Screenshots of the texts were shared by far-right pundit Candace Owens, who, according to Newsweek, "has been criticized by some over what she has posted, which has been described as rumors and conspiracy theories. In the texts, Kirk, who was a strong supporter of Israel, said that he had lost a $2 million donation from a Jewish donor over his refusal to disinvite Carlson from an upcoming event. The authenticity of the texts, described as "unsavory" by The Bulwark's Sam Stein, was confirmed Tuesday by Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, who shared the texts to government officials immediately following Kirk's assassination, Newsweek reports. "I did share it with some people in government because it happened really quick," Kolvet said. "It was, you know, it took 33 hours for authorities to get their suspect. And in those first moments, we wanted no stone unturned." These texts, Stein says, show "some broader significance," saying that since Kirk's death, "there has been a big fight over his legacy." Journalist Will Sommer explains that Kirk's friend and former Turning Point employee Owens was floating conspiracies including one in which she said "Kirk was about to turn on Israel and there's kind of this implication that Israel committed the assassination." "People were telling her, 'Candace, you don't have the goods, it's over for you,' and then she came out with this text message on Monday," Sommer says. In the text message, Kirk said donors were getting mad at him for hanging out with Carlson, an outspoken critic on Israel. "Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes," Kirk wrote. "I can not and will not be bullied like this." In a following text, Kirk said recent events were "leaving me no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause." Stein says this text leak feeds into Owens' conspiracy theory that Israel killed Kirk, one that has been debunked by those close to him. Sommer agrees, saying, "This gets to the larger issue. The right has realized they have a lot of political capital from this assassination. People like [President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff] Stephen Miller said they were going to use this to crush the left." Carlson and Owens, Sommer says, "are throwing up to more rational people on the right that it's kind of a smokescreen and they're distracting from what should be the big 'crush the left moment'. I think this is becoming a real issue for Turning Point USA. They're kind of being led around by Candace Owens here." Stein agrees and says now people will be looking at Turning Point USA to see "what do they say about Israel?" "There's a real divide in the ranks over the U.S. Israeli alliance here," Stein said.

Tensions in Chicago and Portland, Oregon are high as President Donald Trump moves forward with his federal crackdown on those heavily Democratic cities. In his column for The Bulwark, Never Trump conservative Jonathan V. Last argued that while Chicago hasn't reached a worst-case scenario so far, the possibility of things going from bad to worse in that city is quite real. The New Republic's Timothy Noah also examines that possibility in an article published on October 8. Noah warns that Trump is doing everything he can to goad his opponents and will have an increasingly authoritarian response if any of them respond with violence. After Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk was murdered, countless Democrats vehemently condemned the killing — from former President Joe Biden to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. But Trump and his allies, Noah notes, blamed MAGA critics in general for Kirk's death, and will do the same thing in response to violence that occurs in the future. "The assassination of Charlie Kirk was a terrible act of violence that cut short the life of a 31-year-old human being," Noah laments. "It was also a political opportunity — not for the left, as Kirk's mentally disturbed killer may have believed, but for the right, which, as many have noted, instantly turned him into the Trumpian version of Horst Wessel. Two weeks after Kirk's killing, Trump issued a presidential memorandum criminalizing opinions that are 'anti-capitalism' or 'anti-Christianity'; that represent 'extremism' with regard to 'migration, race, and gender'; or that express 'hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.'" Noah continues, "These thought crimes are to be prosecuted in the name of 'Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.' It's the most sweeping government crackdown on dissent since J. Edgar Hoover's notorious COINTELPRO — and it may end up being much more harmful." Noah points out that "right-wing political violence is not only more common" than "left-wing violence" — it is "also more likely to be judged legitimate by those in whose name it's committed." "Left-wing killers have a long way to go before they reach the level of sustained political violence achieved by white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Jew-haters, Islamaphobes, homophobes, and many more," Noah explains. "Just to be clear: I abhor all violence, political or otherwise, left and right…. I therefore take no joy in reporting that Trump's extremist rhetoric and increasingly authoritarian policies have, according to CSIS, made 2025 'the first time in more than 30 years that left-wing attacks outnumber those from the far right'… But this year's surge has given Trump a pretext, and he's taking maximum advantage." Trump, Noah contends, is cracking down on heavily Democratic cities in the hope that his opponents will respond with violence. "To use left-wing violence to justify harassing political opponents," Noah warns, "Trump needs to keep the pot bubbling, even at the expense of personal safety. Recall that there were two attempts last year on Trump's life. Sending troops into blue-state cities is mainly, I think, Trump's strategy to create violent confrontation that he can exploit for political gain…. The National Guard doesn't want another Kent State. But Trump would relish one, no matter who the aggressor was."

Two men were arrested by ICE while getting a cup of coffee at a bakery in a Chicago suburb. MSNBC Senior Political and National Correspondent Jacob Soboroff spoke with a woman who witnessed the arrests and joins Chris Jansing to share more.

Although New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and Brooklyn-based blogger/software developer Curtin Yarvin are both on the right, there are major differences between their viewpoints. Douthat is traditional conservative but not far-right, and he is a Donald Trump critic who wants the United States to remain a democratic republic — whereas Douthat is on the extreme right and openly calls for the U.S. to abandon liberal democracy and move to an authoritarian system. In his October 7 column, however, Douthat finds some common ground with Yarvin: Both see Trump's second presidency as problematic — although for different reasons. "It seems that Curtis Yarvin and I agree: The Trump administration is not making the most of its mandate, and it may be setting conservatism up for defeat in 2028," Douthat argues. "Where Yarvin, the great proponent of absolute monarchy, and I differ is on where and why the administration is struggling. I think the Trump White House is leaning too hard into an unpopular form of post-liberalism — deploying Caesarist power on behalf of the president's longstanding obsessions (tariffs!) rather than the issues that actually elected him (inflation!), and turning too forcefully and obsessively against internal enemies while the concerns of swing voters are neglected." Douthat continues, "Yarvin, predictably, thinks the administration is not being post-liberal enough. In a recent Substack post, he argues that going after specific enemies is a poor substitute for, say, abolishing the entire judicial branch by fiat, and that the only thing lamer than what the Trump administration is doing already would be some sort of desperate pivot to 'bread-and-butter governance.'" Douthat goes on to examine Trump's influence on U.S. politics, arguing that Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Republican Ronald Reagan were the most influential American presidents of the 20th Century. And he expresses doubts about how much power the MAGA movement will have in the future. "This is where the Trump administration is obviously falling shorts: It has acted aggressively, but it hasn't persuaded the majority of Americans that those actions mostly serve the general good," Douthat argues. "It has consolidated presidential power, but it hasn't consolidated the potential majority coalition that was within view in 2024. Which means that all those bold actions will be vulnerable, and all those powers could pass to a liberal president in four short years, unless Trump or his would-be heirs can do the work that Yarvin disdains, and persuade more of the public that popular issues and anxieties are actually central to this populist presidency's work." Ross Douthat's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

President Trump’s threat to make U.S. cities "training ground” for the military is playing out in Chicago as the administration ramps up immigration enforcement.

Party leaders are largely standing by their nominee for Virginia attorney general after revelations that he once mused about killing a GOP lawmaker. That concerns some Democrats.

Minnesota Republicans haven’t won a statewide race in nearly 20 years, and a panel of past and present elected Republicans on Tuesday said that emulating President Donald Trump is not a winning formula, at least in Minnesota. Trump has lost the state three times, so Trump’s bombastic and divisive politics won’t win statewide elections, said former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty during a panel at a business summit hosted by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The goal for Republicans, Pawlenty said, is to find a candidate who can satisfy the right-wing base while appealing to Independents and moderate Democrats. “That’s a tightrope walk … but that’s not something that’s easy to do in today’s Republican Party,” Pawlenty said. The former two-term GOP governor said he had considered running for Sen. Tina Smith’s seat once she retires, but he would never get endorsed or win a primary today. Pawlenty represents the old suburban, pro-business Republican Party. He once called Trump “unsound, uninformed” and “unhinged,” which made his electoral prospects in the GOP largely untenable, absent the kind of groveling to Trump that Pawlenty isn’t likely to pursue. In 2018, when Pawlenty tried to come back, he lost the GOP primary for governor to Jeff Johnson. Right-wing activists, who have endorsed far-right candidates like avowed antisemite Royce White for U.S. Senate, have emerged as a powerful force in today’s Minnesota Republican Party. Minnesota Republican Sens. Julia Coleman and Zach Duckworth, who were also on the panel, agreed that candidates matter. Coleman and Duckworth both outperformed Trump in their districts in 2022. “We’re not trying to be Donald Trump,” said Coleman, who has matched her image as a working mom to pro-family policies like a paid leave plan comporting with Republican economic philosophy. Duckworth spent time on his local school board. Education is not usually friendly Republican terrain, but it could be a good issue next year with parents frustrated at Minnesota’s academic standing. All GOP panelists agreed Republicans have a good shot to get a few wins in next year’s midterm elections. Fraud in state government has been all over the headlines; the majority of students aren’t meeting grade-level expectations; and Gov. Tim Walz’s bid for an unprecedented consecutive third, four-year term will all create a solid opportunity for Republicans to outperform expectations. “(Walz’s) numbers are softer than they used to be, which sort of creates a window or a band of opportunity for Republicans if they nominate at least a serviceable candidate,” Pawlenty said. But that is a big “if.” Mike Lindell, the right-wing influencer and pillow salesman is mulling a run for governor. If he wins the Republican endorsement, all of his baggage, including his years spent spreading disinformation about the 2020 election, will be fodder for the Democrats’ well-funded campaign. Other major Republican candidates are 2022 GOP nominee Scott Jensen, a physician who served a term in the state Senate; Kendall Qualls, a failed candidate for Congress and governor, an Army veteran and former health care executive; and Rep. Kristin Robbins of the west metro. It’s also not enough to criticize the state of the state, Pawlenty said. To be successful Republicans need to paint a positive vision for Minnesota’s future. “You can’t just say, ‘They suck,’” Pawlenty said. “We have to say, ‘Here’s what we’ll do better.’”

The case against James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, was deemed too thin by a previous federal prosecutor, who quit under pressure from President Trump.

Trump pressed YouTube to resolve a dispute with the Spanish-language network, the latest example of the president using his position to pressure a media company.

Staffing-related delays were starting to show up at airports in Nashville and Chicago on Tuesday evening, with more expected.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is doubling down on attacking her own party as Republicans struggle to stay united in the midst of the ongoing federal government shutdown. NBC News reported Tuesday that Greene is continuing to lay blame for the shutdown at Republicans' feet and calling on them to work with Democrats to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as "Obamacare") tax credits. Greene's demands come in spite of President Donald Trump and congressional GOP leadership insisting that Democrats are holding up efforts to reopen federal agencies by refusing to vote for their government funding bill. "When it comes to the point where families are spending anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 a month and looking at hikes coming on their insurance premiums, I think that’s unforgivable," Greene told NBC. The Georgia Republican wrote on her X account that health insurance will become "unaffordable" without a guaranteed extension. tax credits don't expire until the end of 2025, but Democrats have pointed out that health insurance companies are already preparing for the open enrollment period, which starts on November 1. If the tax credits aren't extended, monthly health insurance premium costs in some markets could double, and in some deep-red states, costs could spike by more than 300 percent. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) attempted to downplay Greene's attacks while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, and suggested she was uninformed about current healthcare negotiations. "Congresswoman Greene does not serve on the committees of jurisdiction that deal with that, those specialized issues, and she’s probably not read in on some of that," Johnson said. Greene didn't accept Johnson's response to her criticism, telling NBC that Republicans "never talk about it," and that it's "not a major secret" that the respective committee that handles the health insurance industry hasn't addressed the topic. "What I am upset over is my party has no solution," Greene told the outlet. "It’s not something that we talk about frequently, but it is a reality for Americans, and it’s something that I don’t think we can ignore." Click here to read NBC's full report.