Verisimilitude

Republican senators block effort to bar federal troops from election interference

A Democratic senator said he was “fearful” that GOP resistance was a sign the administration is planning “illegal domestic deployment of our military.”

. 12, 2026, 11:35 AM EDT

By David Rohde

Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee blocked a Democratic effort Thursday to strengthen existing bans on federal troops entering polling stations or seizing ballots or voting machines, two senators told MS NOW.

Democrats called the Republicans’ opposition to the measure “deeply alarming” and predicted that President Donald Trump would deploy federal troops in an effort to interfere in this November’s midterm elections, which polls suggest his party will lose.

So some fanartist drew a “sexy” (read: booby) version of a (cartoon) character who is traditionally very non-sexualised. Fans of the character got mad about it because it’s kind of groundbreaking how that character is written and portrayed and this art totally ignores the entire point of the character. They demanded the art be deleted. In response to that other people said, well what the fanartist did may be distateful but they have every right to draw what they’re into. The two sides fight for days and each starts a harassment campaign and even report their “opponents’” accounts.

So far so typical. But things eventually come to a head and they decide that this will be settled by votes - not through a poll. Through donations to a children’s education charity via each side’s portal. Whoever can get the highest amount of donation wins.

Rachel Mitchell, the Trump-supporting county attorney of Arizona’s largest locality, has accused America First Legal of an “unprecedented power grab.”

. 10, 2026, 6:19 PM EDT

By Ja'han Jones

Even the Republican county attorney in Arizona’s most populous locality is sounding the alarm on potential election meddling by MAGA world.

That’s the crux of a court filing submitted by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell this week. For those unaware, Mitchell garnered national attention after Senate Republicans tapped her to question Christine Blasey Ford during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process after Ford alleged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager. Kavanaugh has flatly denied the allegation.

Two years later, Mitchell successfully ran for Maricopa County attorney, and she endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024 — in other words, she is not an opponent of the MAGA movement. So it’s noteworthy that she and her legal team are accusing America First Legal, the right-wing activist group founded by White House adviser Stephen Miller, of effectively taking control of the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, which helps administer elections.