In 1941, a group of Black golfers with paid tickets played East Potomac, a public course in Washington, while a crowd booed. Six police officers walked them through all 18 holes. The next day, the Interior Secretary opened the course to everyone. You can still play nine holes there for $17.
Trump wants to tear it up and build a championship course. Late on the Friday before Columbus Day weekend, the regime told the court it planned to cut trees. By the next night, nearly 430 trees were gone. Two local golfers, Alex Dickson and Dave Roberts, sued along with a DC preservation group.
Trump kept posting about the plan while his lawyers were busy in court saying there wasn’t one. On October 19, US District Judge Ana Reyes asked a DOJ lawyer: “Do I believe the President of the United States, or do I believe you?”
On Monday, she blocked any more cutting. “Rarely, if ever, has the United States Department of Justice urged a federal court not to believe the sitting President,” she wrote. That night, Trump said the course closes Nov. 15 “as scheduled.” A week earlier, the No. 3 person at DOJ told the judge “there is no plan to close the course.” On Wednesday, the DOJ told her the course will close Nov. 15 after all. She ordered them back into her courtroom Friday to explain.
For now, the rest of the trees stay up and the course is still open to everyone. Two golfers and a judge are holding up Trump’s “plan,” and his own lawyers can’t keep their story straight about what that plan is.
More than 40 million Americans have already cast their vote. If you’re one of them, thank you. In the newest NPR poll, 68% of folks who’ve already cast ballots are picking Democrats. If you haven’t voted yet, you’ve got five days. I’ll be right here with you for every one of them. And every day after.
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On Valentine’s Day 2024, Elon Musk called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in the middle of dinner with his wife. Musk wanted to know if Texas would have his back. When telling the story last year, Abbott stated: “I said 100%.”
For more than a year, Abbott’s office has kept his messages with Musk hidden. They even argued that some of them were “intimate and embarrassing.” Reporters got nearly 1,400 pages—about 1,200 of them were blacked out. Keep in mind that this summer Abbott signed off on about $1.7 billion in tax breaks for a SpaceX chip plant.
Abbott’s opponent for governor, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, asked to read the unredacted emails under a Texas law that lets state lawmakers inspect government records the public can’t see. She even agreed to keep them confidential. Abbott refused. Then on Monday, Travis County Judge Catherine Mauzy ordered Abbott to let Hinojosa see them. “Abbott has obstructed and continues to obstruct plaintiff Hinojosa’s exercise of her right to inspect the documents,” the judge wrote.
Abbott appealed, and the hearing isn’t until November 2, the day before the election. Meanwhile, the money keeps coming—Musk gave Abbott’s campaign $500,000 in May. Then on Sept. 28, he gave him an additional $5 million.
Abbott is stalling until after the polls close rather than let even one lawmaker read what he promised the richest man in the world. Texans don’t need to read the emails to know whose side he’s on.
Last winter, the temperature in Ukraine fell to about 6 below zero. That’s when Russia bombed the plants that heat people’s homes. On Monday, a United Nations panel called it war crimes and crimes against humanity, and it named Putin.
But Ukraine never broke. They kept rebuilding through all of the attacks, with more than 14,000 energy workers helping to bring back almost half the lost power by the spring.
Meanwhile, Trump has been busy helping Putin. This month he cut a deal to buy Russian diesel. Then Trump said Ukraine needs “a new president,” the same thing Putin has been saying for years.
When Russia let Stephen Hubbard go—an American who never should have been jailed in the first place—Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin, “You are a humanitarian also, sir.” Putin is no humanitarian. He’s a war criminal, and the UN has it in writing.
Republicans helped cover for all of it. In June, Speaker Mike Johnson told the GOP to vote against Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions—exactly what 194 Republican members of the House did. When Trump waived the September sanctions, Johnson went on Fox, saying “Putin cannot be trusted.” He then did absolutely nothing about it.
But Ukraine is still standing, and we stand with them. On November 3, a vote for Republicans is a clear vote for Putin. A vote for Democrats is a vote for Ukraine and democracy.
The Justice Department wants California to set aside the ballots of about 20,000 people it says are “likely” noncitizens. Los Angeles County checked a sample of the list. Roughly 1 in 4 were listed as born in the United States.
Last week, the DOJ asked Judge David Carter for a ruling by noon on October 22—even though he already set a hearing for October 27. The judge refused to move the hearing up, so the DOJ appealed a ruling that hadn’t even been made.
The appeals court threw it out on Monday, saying the emergency from the regime was a self-constructed one. Even a Trump-appointed judge said he would’ve tossed it if the court took it on.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Carter told the DOJ that if it really thinks someone voted illegally, it should charge them: “Go out and indict.” On Wednesday night, he turned down its request in a 26-page ruling. He wrote that the regime’s so-called emergency was “solely due to its own neglect.” He told it to stop threatening California election officials with prosecution.
Trump wanted to throw out 20,000 ballots, but two courts told him to get lost. California decides which ballots count—not Trump.
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Forecasters spent the past week moving races, and nearly every move went our way.
North Carolina is slipping away from Republicans. By Wednesday’s count, 1,961,167 North Carolinians had voted, 521,067 more than at this point in 2022. Registered Democrats cast 792,033 of those ballots, and registered Republicans cast 486,519. Roy Cooper leads Michael Whatley by about 10 points in the FiftyPlusOne average.
Michigan is breaking late. A Glengariff poll for The Detroit News, taken October 19 to 22, has Abdul El-Sayed ahead of Mike Rogers 51 to 45. “This is the first time this election that I’ve seen El-Sayed ahead among the independents,” pollster Richard Czuba said. A new CNN poll taken October 20 to 27 has him up 49 to 42.
South Carolina is a real race. A Targoz poll taken October 16 to 25 has Republican Darline Graham at 47 and Democrat Annie Andrews at 46. Sabato moved it to Leans Republican, and two former governors, one from each party, just cut an ad for Andrews.
Republicans are scrambling to save Ohio. The main Senate Republican super PAC just dumped another $12.1 million against Democrat Sherrod Brown, who leads Jon Husted by about 3 in the average.
The House keeps moving toward us. On Friday, Cook shifted 19 House races toward Democrats and none toward Republicans. Democrats are now favored outright in 218 seats, exactly the number it takes to win the majority. In a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, likely voters pick Democrats for Congress 52 to 44. People who have already voted pick Democrats 68 to 31.
The early vote is enormous. More than 40 million Americans have voted already, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. Looking at the states that track party, “Democrats and unaffiliateds are engaged. Republicans are not as engaged,” said Michael McDonald, who runs the lab. More than 4.2 million Texans voted in the first six days, the Secretary of State says. In Florida, where Republicans have 1.5 million more registered voters, the two parties are running about even.
The Bottom Line: Democrats are on track to win the House and have a shot at the Senate. Forecasters and early voting totals both broke our way this week. But we must continue to work like we’re behind, and sprint through the finish on November 3. No matter what.
Only five days left. This election could change the entire world for the better. So if you haven’t voted yet, be sure to check your registration and get it done.
I’ve watched a lot of close races get won in the final week by the side that kept working, knocking doors, calling, and going the extra mile. Sometimes I would be in the office at 3am figuring out what we could do to get that extra inch of support and move the needle just a bit.
There is an opportunity to end Trump’s reign once and for all. A Democratic Congress holds him accountable. A Republican majority keeps covering for him. It’s that simple.
I’ve been fighting Trump since February 2016. Along the way I’ve been threatened by people in his inner circle, Jan 6 ringleaders, and even by foreign governments. I never let that slow me down, and I never will. I think Tuesday is going to be a good night. But no matter what happens, I’ll keep moving full speed ahead.
So if you’re not a paid subscriber yet, we need all hands on deck. Join today and you get my briefing every morning through Tuesday as well as a seat with me live on election night. The minute the House or the Senate is called, you’ll also get a note from me in your inbox. Join us here:
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Onward!
Scott
Let’s say Democrats win back the House and the Senate. What’s the first thing they should do?
Five days out. If Democrats win Tuesday, these letters become the new Congress’s to-do list, so let’s write it for them:
Epstein files, 88 letters from 17,000:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-demand-acting-ag-blanche-release-all-of-the-epstein-files-now/
Impeach John Roberts:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts/
Impeach Pete Hegseth:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-pete-hegseth/
Keep armed agents away from our polls:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-stop-trump-from-sending-troops-to-our-polling-places/
Tell me below which ones you sent.