Trump's cabinet hits the campaign trial violating the law at every stop

This summer, Attorney General Todd Blanche boasted about the drop in federal crime while stumping for the Republican candidate for New York governor at a rally headlined by President Trump.

In Michigan, Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, personally endorsed Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate, arguing that Mr. Rogers would help advance his department’s work.

And in Alaska this month, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stood with the president at a rally in which he noted the role of Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican, in securing a natural gas pipeline.

Such appearances have become commonplace as nearly all of Mr. Trump’s top deputies fanned out to promote Republican candidates facing difficult election odds. But they have alarmed government ethics experts who say administration officials are running afoul of the Hatch Act, an 87-year-old law that limits how executive branch employees can participate in political activity, reported The New York Times.

In the past few months, at least nine of 15 cabinet secretaries and several other senior Trump deputies have been formally accused of Hatch Act violations, such as using official government titles while engaging in campaign activities and using taxpayer funds to pay for political advertisements.

“We have not seen this level of violations in recent times,” said Kedric Payne, the head of ethics for the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group that recently filed a Hatch Act complaint against several White House and homeland security officials over three taxpayer-funded commercials promoting Mr. Trump. Its affiliated litigation arm, Campaign Legal Center Action, is one of the groups that is also suing the Trump administration over the ad campaign.

“Officials should not be using their titles or taxpayer resources to be involved in political campaigns, yet the Trump administration continues to increase activity that goes against the letter and the spirit of this principle,” Mr. Payne said. “Now it seems as though the administration can flood the zone with potential Hatch Act violations and not suffer any consequences until after the election.” 

Representatives for the White House and government agencies contend that the complaints are politically motivated to hurt Republicans and that officials’ activities comply with the law.

The Hatch Act was intended to be a buffer against partisan politics influencing government operations. While the president and the vice president are exempt, all other civil employees of the executive branch are subject to its restrictions. Over the years, both Republicans and Democrats have been accused and found guilty of breaching the Hatch Act.

But government watchdogs contend Trump officials have been lax about observing that firewall during the 2026 midterm elections.

At the Alaska rally, Mr. Trump introduced Mr. Lutnick and Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, by their official titles. Using those titles violates the Hatch Act, two nonprofit advocacy groups charged in a recent complaint. One of them, the Democracy Defenders Fund, was founded by a former Obama administration ethics official and Trump impeachment lawyer. The other is Reporters Without Borders, a press advocacy group. They stressed that the law forbids campaigning in an official capacity.

They also accused Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, of violating the law by telling the same rally crowd how Mr. Sullivan would continue to advance the agency’s work, even though he began his remarks by saying he was speaking in a personal capacity.

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Tough-on-immigration replaces tough-on-crime on ballots across the country

Next week, America votes in the midterms. And as Election Day approaches, a new rhetoric of crime and illegality has emerged with familiar implications, reported Slate.

While the “tough-on-crime” era of the 1980s and 1990s may have passed, similar dialogue today is anchored in “tough-on-immigration” policies. For example, Republicans and allied groups spent $53 million on immigration ads across 27 states from January to June. And even old tough-on-crime era rhetoric has reemerged as campaign strategy, with “soft on crime” being a lead attack of the Republicans, and President Donald Trump invoking the notorious 1988 Willie Horton ad at a campaign rally against Democrats. The enforcement behind this rhetoric has also grown: The Department of Homeland Security says Immigration and Customs Enforcement hired 12,000 new officers and agents last year, ICE arrests have more than doubled in 15 states and D.C. this year, and many sheriffs are partnering with ICE to perform functions of federal immigration agents through the 287(g) Program.

It is worth noting that when the public supports such rhetoric in elected officials, that rhetoric becomes real—it affects lives. My new study of elected prosecutors, published in the Journal of Public Economics, provides evidence of exactly that.

District attorneys are among the most influential actors in the criminal legal system, with nearly unfettered authority over whether to charge people with crimes and which charges to file, and in the vast majority of districts they are elected. I set out to understand whether DAs were influenced by the desire to be viewed as tough on crime. My study suggests they were, finding that across nearly 40 states during the era of rising incarceration (from 1986 to 2006), the admissions rate to state prisons increased by 3 percent during election years for district attorneys. Over those two decades, this translates to 63,000 additional prison admissions, more than a sold-out Soldier Field. But this figure only measures the election year bump; it does not capture how political incentives may have affected criminal sentencing throughout the entire election cycle.

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Federal immigration agents investigating suspected voter fraud in Missouri

 Federal immigration agents are investigating suspected voter fraud in Missouri as part of a nationwide effort by the Trump administration in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections, reported St. Louis NPR.

In two social media posts on Sept. 3, the Kansas City office of Homeland Security Investigations said its agents were investigating suspected unlawful voting in St. Louis, citing the agency's commitment to “protecting election integrity and rooting out voter fraud wherever it occurs.”

HSI is Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s investigative arm, which typically deals with criminal matters such as human trafficking, weapons trade and financial fraud. The Department of Homeland Security is using the agency, CNN reports, in President Trump's hunt for widespread election fraud.

One photograph shows a federal agent walking in front of the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners office. Another shows two HSI agents outside a residential building. The agency posted that agents were “on the ground in St. Louis investigating suspected unlawful voting”; the post does not say when the photographs were taken or how many people are under investigation.

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Court rejects Trump administration effort to strip due process from detained immigrants

A federal appeals court rejected a Trump administration argument that asserted the government could perpetually "reset" a six-month maximum limit on detentions for re-detained immigrants, making their rights "meaningless," reported Raw Story.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in the case of Kaveh Abedi, an Iranian man whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement locked up again in 2025.

Under the ruling, the interview requirement ICE failed to meet protects a detainee’s due process rights, which guarantee fair treatment before the government takes away someone’s freedom.

“[W]e hold that the Government violated its regulations by failing to ‘promptly’ provide Mr. Abedi with an informal interview and opportunity to be heard on its reasons for revoking his release,” Judge Carolyn McHugh wrote for the three-judge panel.

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Federal judge removed from case for using AI-hallucinations as legal authority in controversial ruling

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction aimed at blocking Mississippi’s anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education law and ordered US District Judge Henry Wingate removed from the case, reported JURISTnews.

Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel in Jackson Federation of Teachers v. Fitch, Circuit Judge Jerry Smith condemned the lower court’s handling of the constitutional challenge to Mississippi House Bill 1193. Judge Wingate initially issued a July 2025 temporary restraining order (TRO) that named 11 non-existent plaintiffs, cited declarations from four individuals absent from the record, and fabricated quotes from the state statute. When state officials flagged the errors, Wingate replaced the order with a backdated version and dismissed the mistakes as clerical.

Following an oversight inquiry by Senator Chuck Grassley, Wingate admitted in October 2025 that a law clerk had used generative artificial intelligence (AI) to draft the initial order. During appellate oral arguments, the panel discovered that the replacement TRO, which Wingate incorporated by reference into his August 2025 statewide preliminary injunction, still contained an AI-hallucinated citation to a non-existent 1974 Fourth Circuit case, Cousins v. School Bd. of City of Norfolk.

Rebuking the lower court’s reliance on fabricated facts and flawed legal reasoning, Judge Smith wrote:

The proceedings in the district court were a botch job, to say the least. … This district judge carelessly exercised his Article III power by issuing sloppy edicts based on falsehoods and fabrications. Upon discovering some of these falsehoods, Judge Wingate dug in his heels and claimed that the hallucinated claims had no bearing on its reasoning; he offered no explanation as to why he included such apparently irrelevant material in the original TRO or why the TRO nevertheless was justified in its absence. Moreover, the district court got the law wrong. The TRO and preliminary injunction order rested on impoverished legal analysis that barely paid lip-service to the precedents of the Supreme Court or this court, seeming at times purposely to misconstrue the law by manipulating the words of statutes and cases, without regard to their texts’ meaning as a whole. The district court—or perhaps, being charitable, its AI agent—ignored and manipulated governing law, apparently to satisfy a policy agenda.

Enacted in April 2025, House Bill 1193 bars Mississippi public schools and universities from maintaining DEI offices, mandating diversity statements, or endorsing specific DEI concepts in course materials. While courts worldwide have increasingly confronted legal officials misusing AI in court filings, the Fifth Circuit concluded that Wingate’s errors required reassigning the case to a new judge on remand to preserve public confidence in the judiciary.

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Tennessee GOP wants to bring back the firing squad or electric chair

Tennessee Republican lawmakers are ready to change the state’s death penalty laws in the wake of two botched executions by lethal injection, including a renewed look at electrocution and firing squads, reported the Tennessee Lookout.

Republican Rep. Jody Barrett of Dickson confirmed this week he is considering sponsoring legislation in 2027 to make firing squads a method for putting people to death, even though one Democratic lawmaker called the practice “depraved.”

Republican Sen. Tom Hatcher also said he is having a bill drafted that would either remove lethal injection from the execution process or reform it based on the results of a third-party investigation Gov. Bill Lee ordered after the failed execution of convicted murderer Christa Pike in September. Hatcher, a first-term senator from Maryville, acknowledged that eliminating lethal injection would leave electrocution as the only way allowed to put people to death.

“I think we’ve gotta do away with lethal injections,” Hatcher said. Short of that, he said the process needs to be changed and possibly have a standard third-party investigation for each execution, regardless of the outcome “to keep us and the public aware of what’s going on.”

He added he has spoken with other lawmakers who are looking at other options but said he’s not filing a bill for alternatives.

Tennessee allows death row inmates convicted before 1999 to choose the electric chair. Electrocution also is allowed if lethal injections drugs are unavailable or if lethal injection is found unconstitutional.

Asked what steps he would take if the governor’s third-party investigation comes back with a report saying lethal injections can be carried out effectively, Hatcher said it wouldn’t conflict with his plans and noted he could file legislation that could be amended based on the final report.

Barrett confirmed he’s exploring all options, including a firing squad. Other lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Paul Sherrell, broached the idea recently of public hangings to deter crime.

“After the trouble we’ve had with at least the last four years with the lethal injection, all alternatives need to be looked at,” Barrett said.

Such moves are likely to run into legal challenges that could last for years.

Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn called the use of firing squads and hangings “depraved and ungodly.”

The governor put a last-minute hold on executions in May 2022 before the execution of Oscar Smith because the state failed to conduct required testing for the lethal injection drugs. 

Former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton, who is handling the newest probe, conducted a previous third-party investigation of the state’s protocol, chemical testing and Department of Correction procedures. That study led to new protocol, yet two of the state’s last three executions failed this year. 

A group of Republican senators urged Lee to conduct another investigation of the state’s death penalty procedures before the botched Pike execution, but he declined.

Barrett said Utah and South Carolina are using firing squads to carry out the death penalty and added that some experts are testifying that a firing squad is more humane than other alternatives, “a quicker, more painless death.” Other states allowing use of firing squads are Oklahoma, Mississippi and Idaho, the latter of which makes firing squads the principal means of execution. 

“If that’s truly the case, I think it’s something we should explore as a state, as a possible alternative to what we’re doing currently that doesn’t seem to be working very smoothly,” Barrett said.

Barrett said he’s been “adamant” for six to eight months that the state’s lethal injection protocol needs more “transparency.” If problems can’t be resolved by changing the protocol, lawmakers need to consider other methods as long as the state keeps the death penalty, he said.

Sen. Ken Yager also is among those saying the state needs to find other options, though he declined to say Wednesday whether he supports the use of firing squads.

“When a convicted murderer is sentenced to death, the state must be able to carry out the lawful sentence effectively. As we examine the best path forward to improve the process, I am open to considering other constitutionally sound methods of execution to ensure justice is delivered for victims and their families,” Yager, a Kingston Republican, said in a statement.

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Florida executes 77-year-old man, the state's 18th execution of the year

 The 32nd Execution of 2026

Florida carried out its 18th execution of the year on Tuesday under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ aggressive use of the death penalty in his final term, reported The Associated Press.

William Reaves, 77, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the September 1986 shooting death of Indian River County sheriff’s deputy Richard Raczkoski.

The death chamber curtain went up promptly at the 6 p.m. execution time with Reaves already strapped to a gurney with an IV in his arm. Asked if he had any last words, he replied ”No, I do not.”

The injection began immediately after that. About 30 seconds later, Reaves took several big breaths and then stopped moving. After a few minutes, the team warden shook Reaves’ shoulders and shouted his name, but there was no response. A medic was called in a short time later to check for a heartbeat or any other signs of life.

Reaves was the eighth Florida prisoner over age 70 put to death this year, highlighting the nation’s aging death-row population as Florida continues to far outpace the rest of country in total executions. Last year, Florida set a state record with 19 executions in a year, and it’s poised to tie that mark if another execution is carried out next month as scheduled.

DeSantis, who leaves office in January after two terms, has said he wants justice to be delivered to victims’ families who have often waited decades for death sentences to be imposed.

Marc Raczkoski, the deputy’s brother, briefly told reporters after witnessing the execution that his brother finally got justice.

But Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers, who was also on hand, said at a post-execution briefing that he saw the execution as closure, not justice.

“Would we all be so lucky to be 77 years old and to die so peacefully,” Flowers said. “That’s not justice in any way in my opinion.”

Reaves struggled with the deputy after dropping a gun

Raczkoski responded to a 911 call at a Vero Beach convenience store on Sept. 23, 1986, according to court records. Reaves later acknowledged he had placed the call from a payphone outside the store.

While the two men talked, a gun fell out of Reaves’ shorts, officials said. They then struggled over the weapon, and Reaves eventually regained control of it. Investigators said the deputy was trying to run away when Reaves shot him four times. Raczkoski died later that day from his wounds.

Reaves was convicted and sentenced to death about a year after the shooting. But the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction because of a conflict of interest with the prosecutor and ordered a new trial. Reaves was convicted again and newly sentenced to death in 1992. Subsequent appeals were unsuccessful.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon rejected Reaves’ 11th-hour appeal without comment.

Lawyers challenged lethal injection procedure

The Florida Supreme Court last week also rejected Reaves’ appeals seeking to spare his life.

His attorneys challenged Florida’s three-drug lethal injection protocol. All Florida executions are carried out via injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

The court has previously upheld the protocol against similar challenges. Florida’s method differs from the single-drug injection used in states such as Tennessee, where condemned inmate Christa Pike was rushed to a hospital last month after surviving two doses of pentobarbital.

Reaves’ attorneys also argued that jurors who recommended the death penalty were never told the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated the Army veteran as 100% disabled because of post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his service in the Vietnam War.

More than 100 military veterans appealed to DeSantis to halt the execution in a letter Monday, citing those factors.

Florida close to tying its 2025 record of 19 executions

A total of 47 people were executed in the United States in 2025. Florida led the nation that year with 19 executions and has accounted for more than half of the 32 U.S. executions — Reaves included — carried out thus far in 2026.

In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, becoming the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

On Nov. 5, Jesse Guardado, 64, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection in the same Florida death chamber. Guardado was convicted of robbing and killing a 75-year-old woman while stealing items on a crack cocaine binge in 2004.

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