The Latest: Peltola denies knowing of effort to put another Sullivan on Senate ballot

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola has denied knowing anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent, as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, opting instead to support Republican candidates with telerallies that his party said could reach more voters in nearly two dozen states in the final days of a midterm election that could cost the GOP control of Congress.

Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, is off the air after the Republican spent about a quarter of what his campaign initially said it would invest to run it.

The Latest:

Nearly 20 experts said recent U.S. policy decisions risk putting the goal of ending Russia’s war on Ukraine further out of reach, according to a letter to the president obtained by AP.

“To restore American leverage, we urge you to enforce the sanctions law you signed,” they said, referring to the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia Act.

They also called on Trump to reverse his Russian diesel deal , release Patriot interceptors that Ukraine is counting on for its defense and ensure Ukraine is part of any negotiations over a peace deal.

The letter was signed by retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, retired Gen. Philip Breedlove and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, among others.

The Pentagon has accused a newly ousted three-star general of leaking sensitive information to the media just hours after officials confirmed his removal from a top military planning post.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia as head of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a defense official said late Wednesday. Typically, the general in the position and their staff are responsible for generating and coordinating military plans for both the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the president.

No reason was given for the firing, the latest in a series of ousters or departures of military leaders under Hegseth. However, a Pentagon official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, later said in a statement that Sylvia was under investigation over allegations of sharing classified information about the Iran war , the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other topics with journalists.

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The U.S. Justice Department has issued subpoenas to California officials in an escalation of its scrutiny of local election administration.

The Associated Press obtained copies of three subpoenas sent Oct. 21 and Oct. 24 to employees of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, ordering them to appear in court on Nov. 4, the day after the election.

The subpoenas request any documents and communications related to letters sent in July and October by federal officials to state election officials outlining allegations of noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls.

They also seek any information about efforts to prevent noncitizen votes from being counted. All four U.S. attorneys in California were issuing subpoenas, according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The subpoenas represent the latest salvo in a fight between the Trump administration and California over the eligibility of voters in the heavily Democratic state, amplifying pressure on local election officials to comply with exhaustive government demands and setting the stage for legal challenges.

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Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will campaign Sunday in Detroit alongside former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens, marking their first public appearance together in months after a week in which lingering divisions spilled into public view.

The two will be joined by South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of the country’s most prominent Black politicians, at a get-out-the-vote event at a Detroit church, according to two people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to discuss them publicly. The event was first reported by The Associated Press.

The joint appearance — their first since a Democratic unity breakfast days after the Aug. 4 primary — follows weeks of Democrats struggling to unite behind El-Sayed following his razor-thin victory over Stevens. She received significant support from the Jewish and Black communities, leading to concerns about turnout in the general election.

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Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s controversial attack ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton, is off the air after the Republican spent about a quarter of what his campaign initially said it would invest to run it.

Ramaswamy said during a campaign appearance in Vandalia, Ohio, on Thursday that the ad’s planned run was over. His campaign originally said it would spend $4 million to air the ad, but data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact showed it spent roughly $1 million.

The divisive spot had provoked backlash in Ohio and among politicians of both parties across the nation. It featured Donna Arthur calling her daughter a lifelong liar. That was despite the two having not seen each other for nearly 50 years. Arthur lost custody of her children in 1978 after her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.

President Donald Trump lambasted a reporter who asked about his health and whether travel fatigue prompted him to cancel a Kansas rally over the weekend. Trump called him “disgusting,” and told him to get “in shape,” and said he’d hold a tele-rally for Sen. Roger Marshall instead.

President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, opting instead to support Republican candidates with telerallies that his party said could reach more voters in nearly two dozen states in the final days of a midterm election that could cost the GOP control of Congress.

The president traveled to South Carolina Thursday for the second time in a month, a sign of Republican anxiety about Darline Graham’s ability to fend off a robust challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews for a critical U.S. Senate seat.

Voters in South Carolina have not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly three decades. But Andrews, a pediatrician who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress , is urging voters seeking change to “try something new for once.”

That message could resonate in an election year defined by voter frustration with the economy, gas prices and the war in Iran, putting Trump’s Republican Party on defense in territory where they have rarely had to compete in recent years.

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Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

“I just want to clear the air,” she said at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska’s capital. “I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters.”

Peltola is running against Sen. Dan Sullivan. A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, along with records preservation demands, were issued after The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan Jr. as part of an alleged effort to confuse voters.

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