Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · Evening Edition

Today

By StaffNews Desk

Good morning. The president's prosecution machine is misfiring. A grand jury has refused to indict Cassidy Hutchinson, the former White House aide whose testimony implicated Trump in the Capitol attack, on charges she lied to Congress — just one of many failed indictments under this administration. The New York Times reports the Justice Department is stepping up moves against Comey and others as the midterms near, its filings marked by typos, unorthodox tactics and the signatures of its senior political leadership.

Judges are not all playing along. A federal magistrate rebuked the DOJ for trying to tack on new charges overnight against two former FBI officials accused of lying to Congress about the Hunter Biden investigation. In Arizona, Judge John C. Hinderaker gave administration lawyers just hours to account for returning a man it deported unlawfully, warning of contempt behind a perjury threat. But the courts are no refuge: the Supreme Court has barred judges from pausing deportations while appeals are decided, clearing a DOJ-Texas deal opponents called egregious collusion.

The ballot tells its own story. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll hands Democrats an eight-point lead among likely voters, 13 with independents. Rep. Greg Landsman says Ohio early voting looks strong, with Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown benefiting from voter dissatisfaction, though seven days remain. The president's answer is to call voter fraud rampant when the evidence shows it is extremely rare, while JD Vance stumps in a Michigan town known as a Klan stronghold, accusing El-Sayed of anti-white racial hate.

Capital grinds on regardless. Microsoft is pushing voluntary layoffs on 60,000 workers to pay for its AI gamble. Washington has offered a visa to Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro as he flees corruption charges after his defeat in Brazil, where Lula won a fourth term. And the FBI raided a Beverly Hills billionaire's mansion in its investigation into former Rep. Eric Swalwell.