Raw Exclusives

Something stinks.

Astoria is one of my favorites on the Oregon coast, a small town of around 9,000 people with great restaurants and craft shops. Two of them, a coffee shop and ceramics studio, are owned by a small businessperson, Audrey Long, who’s mailed herself five postcards since August to test the mail. The results have been grim, particularly since Oregon is a 100% vote-by-mail state.

So far, only two of the postcards have arrived, and the first one took more than a month (and Oregon doesn’t even send out ballots until this week). Across the street from one of her shops, the town’s City Hall isn’t getting its mail reliably, either. And the same is true for the tenants of a 40-unit apartment building next door, according to reporting by Oregon Public Broadcasting....

When a prominent election denier with close ties to the Trump administration took to X last week to call for “all hands on deck” in response to a midterm election “crisis,” even many of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters questioned the timing.

Sudden calls for mobilization by Trump allies based on claims that the midterm election is about to be stolen appear to be wearing thin for many hardcore supporters who have marinated in conspiracy theories for the past six years, with mounting frustration at the lack of arrests or official reports validating their belief that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Several election deniers responded to the recent X post by Ed Martin, a former Department of Justice attorney — in which he claimed that “we are in a crisis stage of the midterm elections” because of supposed “foreign interference” and machine vulnerabilities — by pointing out that, by the same logic, the primary election results should also be called into question....

Normally, the subject of midterms doesn't beget questions concerning possible impeachments as a matter of course. Of course, Trump is not normally president (it only seems that way to Gen Z), nor is the anticipated Blue Wave due to be any "normal" comeback.

But it shouldn't have shocked anyone on Wednesday when Peter Doocy of Fox News asked Trump to comment on possible incoming impeachments in the new year.

Trump, of course, responded with an impeachable threat, a fascist threat, the worst threat:...

After nearly two years of weaponizing the DOJ, featuring official investigations and/or terminations of every career officer who was assigned to investigate Trump’s crimes against the United States, Trump’s DOJ has begun rehabilitating the reputation of former President Richard Nixon.

Even though Nixon was caught engaging in a botched break-in at the Democratic National Committee, illegal wiretapping, and pocketing illegal campaign contributions, more than half a century later, Trump defenders are considering a new spin on the whole scandal: Nixon was the victim of lawfare. Just like Trump.

The only reason Republicans would recast Nixon as a victim is to soften perceptions of Trump’s rampant criminality, set to bite him in the a-- after the midterms. Republican Rep. Riley Moore of West Virginia says Nixon was “framed,” and wants to name an aircraft carrier after him, claiming that people are only now free to talk about “what an amazing president he was.” ...

Donald Trump this week, once again, dangled his $5,000 bribe for voters, provided they let Republicans win the mid-term election. In his sick mind, Trump believes that the American people are just as corruptible and lawless as he is, willing to be bought for 5,000 foul-smelling smackers.

Bribery has been used by corrupt political bosses and big-time crooks to buy votes and sway election results for more than a century. Trump shares company with corrupt political operatives from Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall in New York in the late 19^th century to Tom Pendergast in Missouri from 1910-1940, who launched Harry Truman’s political career.

Big-time crime bosses such as Al Capone, Sam Giacono, and John Gotti also used bribery and intimidation to get officials elected who would do their bidding. Of course, Trump doesn’t rate as a big-time crook, being but a piddling one-time convicted felon. However, he shares such criminals’ utter disdain for the law, a gross immorality, and a criminal obsession with getting what he wants, such as attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and destroy American democracy....

On February 28, 2026, in the middle of the night, Trump released an 8-minute video telling the world that the U.S. had initiated ‘major combat operations’ in Iran. He didn’t pre-sell, pre-plan, or explain the purpose of his war to anyone other than Israel. He didn’t consult allies, or Congress, or Americans. When he attacked Iran, Trump made his disregard for the world’s opinion clear.

Had any real discussion or debate occurred — salivating enthusiasm from a dry drunk ‘war fighter’ doesn’t count — complexities of the Strait of Hormuz, supply logistics, and oil market volatilities would have surfaced. Today Trump’s folly in Iran continues, and the world whose opinion he dismissed is paying the price.

Seven months in, Trump has still not articulated non-contradictory reasons or specific objectives for his war. He can’t even stay on message about it — one hour he’s declaring that we’ve already won, the next he muses about Iran’s “total annihilation,” the next he promises the war will end “very soon.” ...

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) suggested over the weekend that a Trump administration official may have quietly contacted a federal appeals judge to stall a contempt inquiry, and the legal analyst interviewing him declared that if so, “people are going to jail.”

In a clip flagged by political video aggregator Acyn Torabi from the Legal AF podcast, Whitehouse laid out a hypothetical involving D.C. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee.

“If some MAGA official communicated to Judge Rao or her chambers and that resulted in the administrative stay that held the door open and kept the facts from the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation and stalled investigation into misconduct by the DOJ,” Whitehouse began, “ask any judge how big a deal that is.”...

President Donald Trump cut off reporters and walked away after they repeatedly demanded evidence for his claim of widespread mail-in voting fraud in California.

Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House on Monday as he prepared to board Marine One for campaign events.

The midterm elections are less than a month away, on Nov. 3....

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) bragged about a road salt win at a Maine Senate debate, and her challenger's comeback had observers cheering.

On Tuesday, Collins faced Democratic challenger Troy Jackson in a debate weeks before the midterms. Asked what she would do about President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Collins pointed to a specific victory.

"I was successful at getting road salt removed from the tariff list," Collins said. Jackson responded by pouncing on the answer....