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Trump is demanding that Democrats be jailed for threatening to investigate his administration. His new chief of staff Stephen Miller is reportedly pushing to arrest journalists who use confidential government sources. ICE agents in Colorado re-arrested at least 17 immigrants as they were released by federal judges. And ballot monitors in Mississippi say they are being shut out of the vote count in the state’s contested Senate race.
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Trump Demands Democrats Be Jailed After Midterm Loss
Eight years later and still workshopping “lock her up.”
Trump has called for the Department of Justice to investigate and jail Democratic lawmakers who have threatened to hold his administration accountable. The demand came on Truth Social two days after his party lost control of both houses of Congress.
Trump called the Democrats “extortionists” and ordered the DOJ to act quickly on what he described as a criminal conspiracy. In another post, he wrote that lawmakers “should go to jail” for what they are doing.
The 80-year-old president named Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, falsely claiming she had threatened to target young people who embrace Republican values. He told his followers to report alleged Democratic crimes to the DOJ or to him.
When the 120th Congress convenes in January, Democrats will have the power to issue subpoenas and compel testimony. California Rep. Robert Garcia, the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, has already outlined targets for investigation, including the business dealings of the Trump family and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Stephen Miller Reportedly Pushing to Arrest Journalists
The SPLC put him in its extremist database and the president put him in the corner office.
Stephen Miller, who was promoted to White House chief of staff Friday, is pushing to use the Department of Justice to pursue criminal investigations into journalists who rely on confidential government sources. Three people familiar with the matter told The Atlantic that the White House has even floated arresting reporters to compel them to reveal those sources.
The DOJ said the claims about arresting journalists were “absolutely false.” At the same time a White House spokesperson said that unauthorized leaks put American lives in danger and that those responsible must face consequences.
Wiles reportedly resisted the plan before Trump fired her Friday. Her replacement, Miller, has been profiled in the SPLC’s extremist database after more than 900 leaked emails showed he promoted white nationalist conspiracy theories to Breitbart News editors.
The incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, told CNN Sunday he plans to investigate Miller’s role in shaping the administration’s immigration enforcement policies, which he called “horrific” and “unjust.” When the 120th Congress convenes in January, Democrats will have the power to subpoena Miller.
ICE Agents Arrest Immigrants Right After Their Release
Sixty seconds isn’t much of a head start when you remember Cup Noodles gets three.
Interviews and court records show that at least 17 people were re-arrested by ICE agents as they were walking out of the Aurora, Colorado detention facility between October 27 and November 3. All had been ordered released by federal judges.
In one court filing, the government admitted that a man was released at 11:30 a.m. and re-arrested at 11:31. A second man was flown to Arizona and then Louisiana for deportation processing before he also was eventually released.
One detainee, identified only as Alex, said an agent elbowed him in the leg during his re-arrest and struck him across the jaw when he complained of the pain. The experience was “painful and traumatic,” he told The Denver Post.
Federal judges have responded with fury to the re-arrests. U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews wrote that “the cruelty seems to be the point,” and Judge Charlotte Sweeney told government attorneys they were bordering on “professional misconduct” after one man she had ordered released was almost deported back to Louisiana.
Ballot Monitors Say They Are Being Shut Out of Mississippi Vote Count
Mississippi never wrote a recount law, which saves time when you never plan to watch the first count.
Volunteer ballot monitors in Mississippi say they’re being blocked from observing the count of provisional and absentee ballots in the state’s razor-thin U.S. Senate race. Democrat Scott Colom is leading Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith by more than 2,500 votes, with thousands of ballots still uncounted.
In DeSoto County, an election commissioner kept local organizer Kelly Jacobs from watching officials presort ballots and check names. Jacobs called an attorney who confirmed her right to observe and officials still refused to let her in until the next day, after the process had already commenced.
A Lee County monitor was told the count would occur “later this week or early next week.” Another volunteer at the same location was told “Thursday morning,” with no additional information. In some counties where the ACLU sent attorneys, election officials conducted the process entirely behind closed doors.
Before the election, the office of Secretary of State Michael Watson paid Experian $50,000 for unverified data and flagged 230,000 voter registrations as “inactive” based on it. Those voters had to use affidavit ballots, which take longer to count and must be verified by November 10.
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POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
Trump Offers Press Secretary Job to UFC CEO Dana White, Who Declines. Trump said Saturday on Truth Social he was giving Dana White the job of White House press secretary. He asked the UFC CEO to bring fighters as “assistants” to defend against the “Lunatic Left.” White declined the offer, a source familiar with the matter said, leaving Trump without a press secretary after Karoline Leavitt left in August and her replacement Katie Zacharia was fired after one briefing. White, who spoke at the past three Republican National Conventions, had helped Trump court young male voters, a demographic that shifted toward Democrats in Tuesday’s midterms.
Democrats Set to Block Trump’s $1.5 Trillion Defense Budget. Democrats who won solid majorities of both chambers Tuesday are signaling they will reject Trump’s proposed 44 percent increase in defense spending. The resistance poses a threat to Trump’s most expensive military aspirations, such as the Golden Dome missile defense system and his Trump-class battleship project. Democrats say they’re ready to sign off on a number close to $1 trillion but won’t finance the unpopular war against Iran at the levels Trump has requested. A vote on whether to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could come as soon as this week.
Democrats Announce Congressional Investigations Into Elon Musk and Stephen Miller. Incoming Democratic committee chairs said Sunday they plan to investigate Elon Musk, Stephen Miller, and Trump administration corporate allies when the new Congress convenes in January. California Representative Robert Garcia, set to lead the House Oversight Committee, said in an interview with CNN he intends to investigate Musk’s mass firing of federal employees via the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as well as Miller’s immigration policies. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who will chair the Senate Banking Committee, warned on CBS that corporate leaders who made money through fraud should expect to be questioned.
New England Will Have No Republican Senators for First Time Since the Civil War. Susan Collins of Maine failed in her bid for reelection after nearly 30 years in office, making New England the first region in the country with no Republican senators since the party was founded before the Civil War. Collins was the last holdout in a GOP that had sent senators from the region’s six states to Washington continuously for more than 160 years. Two of New England’s 12 senators are independents who caucus with Democrats, leaving the region with no members of the Republican caucus at all.
