25w ago / 12:32 PM EDT

Biden to be awarded Germany’s highest honor this week

Carlo Angerer
Aaron Gilchrist and Carlo Angerer

Biden will be awarded Germany’s highest honor during a visit to Berlin on Friday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced today that Biden will travel to Germany on Thursday.

The German government says it will bestow its Grand Cross special class of the Order of Merit on Biden in recognition of his decades of contributions to the German-American bond. Biden will be the second U.S. president to receive the honor after George H.W. Bush in 1993.

25w ago / 12:30 PM EDT

Donald Trump bears responsibility for Jan. 6 attack, Jack Smith argues in new filing

Reporting from Washington

A team of federal prosecutors led by special counsel Jack Smith said in a filing Wednesday that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump bears responsibility for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a filing responding to Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case, Smith’s team said it “is incorrect” for Trump’s team to assert that the superseding indictment returned against Trump in August does not show that Trump bears responsibility for the events of Jan. 6.

Trump, Smith’s team said, “willfully caused others” to obstruct the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory by repeating his false claims of election fraud and giving “false hope” to his supporters who believed that then-Vice President Mike Pence might overturn the election, and by “pressuring” Pence and legislators to accept fraudulent certificates as part of the fake electors scheme.

“Those allegations link the defendant’s actions on January 6 directly to his efforts to corruptly obstruct the certification proceeding,” Smith’s team wrote.

Read the full story here.

25w ago / 12:12 PM EDT

Musk's pro-Trump super PAC spending heavily in presidential race

Emily Wilkins, CNBC
Ben Kamisar and Emily Wilkins, CNBC

New federal campaign fundraising filings released yesterday disclosed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has seeded a group called America PAC with $75 million from July through September.

But other documents from that same day detail the massive scope of that group's spending to boost Republicans like Trump.

Newest filings, covering America PAC spending through Oct. 15, show the group has spent more than $100 million to support Trump in the presidential race. And the group has spent in more than a dozen House races, boosting Republican congressional candidates like Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, Rep. Ken Calvert of California, Rep. Michelle Steel of California and former Ohio state Sen. Kevin Coughlin.

25w ago / 11:56 AM EDT

Nebraska Supreme Court rules convicted felons who completed their sentences can vote

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that convicted felons who served their sentences are allowed to vote, after the state’s top election official sought to keep them from casting ballots ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Nebraska has historically restored the voting rights of former felons two years after they completed the terms of their sentences. Earlier this year, state legislators voted on a bipartisan basis to eliminate the two-year waiting period. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers later argued that only the state’s board of pardons could restore voting rights, and Nebraska Secretary of State Robert Evnen ordered local registrars to stop letting all people with previous felony convictions vote, arguing the laws enfranchising them were unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, Nebraska’s top court disagreed, writing that state officials had not convinced them the law, known as L.B. 20, was unconstitutional.

Nebraskans with felony convictions now have a short window to register to vote. The deadline to register online is Friday, Oct. 18, while the in-person deadline is Oct. 25.

Read the full story here.

25w ago / 11:27 AM EDT

The Force is strong in this clerk's effort to boost confidence in the election

A Wisconsin county clerk's office is using a "Star Wars"-themed video to bolster confidence in election integrity in the state.

In the video from the Dane County Clerk's Office, a lightsaber-wielding character named Chad Vader tries to seize control of a voting station.

"I have gathered intelligence reports from several reliable subreddits that the security of this election station has been compromised," Vader tells two clerks, calling the voting machines "suspect."

One of the clerks tells him he finds his "lack of faith disturbing." "There are many levels of security to make sure your ballot is counted correctly," he tells Vader before ticking through some of their security measures.

The thwarted villain then storms off, declaring, "I will raise hell about this on Facebook." The public service announcement is Chad Vader's second appearance for the county, which includes the state capital of Madison. He did a video promoting absentee voting in 2020.

25w ago / 11:09 AM EDT

Harris campaign criticizes Trump for calling Democrats 'enemies from within' during town hall

Annemarie Bonner
Caroline Kenny
Annemarie Bonner and Caroline Kenny

In response to Trump's town hall on Fox News, which is airing today, the Harris campaign criticized Trump for doubling down on calling Democrats "enemies from within," saying Trump "plots to surround himself with yes-men who enable his worst instincts."

“Those who know Donald Trump best and worked alongside him are warning us about the risk of a second Trump term, where he would have virtually unchecked power and no guardrails even as he is increasingly unhinged and unstable,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

In a pretaped Fox News interview that aired over the weekend, Trump referred to Democrats, like Rep. Adam Schiff of California, as the "enemy from within" and labeled them as "more dangerous" than U.S. adversaries like China and Russia.

25w ago / 10:29 AM EDT

Trump is doubling down on his claims that Democrats are “the enemy from within,” with Harris warning that a second Trump term would be “dangerous” and that he’s seeking “unchecked power.” Meanwhile, Harris is trying to shore up support from Black voters with a new round of interviews. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for “TODAY.”

25w ago / 9:58 AM EDT

Michelle Obama to rally in Atlanta to mobilize first-time voters

Annemarie Bonner
Annemarie Bonner and Monica Alba

Former first lady Michelle Obama will headline a rally for her nonpartisan group "When We All Vote" in Atlanta on Oct. 29 in an effort to mobilize first-time voters.

The event will feature as-yet-unnamed celebrity co-chairs and local and national performers as well as Georgia student leaders, the group's release said.

The rally is not a Harris campaign event. Although her husband, former President Barack Obama, is actively campaigning for the Harris-Walz ticket, the former first lady has not appeared at a campaign event since her speech at the Democratic National Convention. That's in part because of concerns about security since the assassination attempts against Trump, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Georgia, with its 16 electoral votes, is a key battleground state for both candidates to win in November. In 2020, President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the state by fewer than 12,000 votes.

25w ago / 9:37 AM EDT

Trump says Black and Latino voters who back Harris need their ‘head examined,’ echoing an increasingly frequent barb

Trump’s closing message to a number of different groups increasingly includes this harsh line: Members of the group not voting for him need to have their “head examined.”

“Any African American or Hispanic that votes for Kamala … you got to have your head examined,” Trump said during an Atlanta rally Tuesday night. “They are screwing you.”

It’s part of an ongoing trend of the former president telling specific demographic groups they deserve of ridicule or have something wrong with their mental state if they’re not voting for him, one that has picked up in a recent weeks.

In recent weeks, the commentary has focused on ethnicity, age and religion.

Read the full story here.

25w ago / 9:14 AM EDT

Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney endorses Democratic House incumbent

Ali Vitali
Rebecca Shabad and Ali Vitali

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., endorsed Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, of Pennsylvania, today, which is Cheney's first House endorsement of the 2024 election cycle.

“Susan and I served together in the House, and while we may not agree on everything, I know that she holds a deep respect for the integrity of our democracy," Cheney said in a statement.

"This election we must look beyond partisanship to ensure we defeat election deniers and support people like Susan, who are serious leaders, and will do what’s right for their district and our nation.”