Pressure Systems edition
DOJ Election Lawsuits and Tech Millions Flood Midterms
October 27, 2026
What this edition shows
The Trump administration is deploying the Justice Department to stall Alaska Senate counts and prosecute former FBI investigators while withholding secret FISA surveillance decisions from Congress. Concurrently, hundreds of millions of dollars from Elon Musk and Silicon Valley AI Super PACs are pouring into battleground races alongside emerging AI donation scams and threats of ICE polling interference. Together, these moves show executive legal machinery and concentrated tech capital converging to constrain and contest federal electoral processes.
Reporting and analysis behind this edition 13 sources
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The US Government Is Hiding a Secret Court Ruling About How It Spies on Americans
Two US senators say the Trump administration is breaking the law by withholding the FISA court decision while it presses Congress to renew America’s most sweeping surveillance program.
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America Is About to See What Happens When Voters Turn to AI
If you were wondering whether AI could make the midterms even more confusing, here’s one data point: Several people who thought they were donating to James Talarico unwittingly gave their money to someone else. Talarico, a Texas Democrat, is running for Senate in what’s probably the most closely wat…
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Will ICE agents play a role in the 2026 US midterm elections?
Rights groups are worried the agency at the heart of Trump's immigration crackdown could sway the vote on election day.
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They Believe 2020 Was Stolen. They Could Be in Charge of Elections in 2028
A host of election-denying candidates are running for attorney general in states across the country.
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Trump administration sues to block possible Democratic win in Alaska
President Donald Trump took credit for the action amid growing concerns the US government could meddle in midterm races.
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Could AI Disinformation Disrupt the Midterms?
The answers are more encouraging than you might think.
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Elon Musk Just Dumped Another $76 Million Into the Midterms
The trillionaire has given more than $445 million to Republican political groups this election cycle, as Democrats vow to investigate him.
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The Biggest Pro-AI Super PAC Network Has Poured Millions Into Nevada Shell Companies
Backed by Silicon Valley titans, Leading the Future has raised huge sums to promote pro-AI candidates on both side of the aisle.
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Dan Sullivan vs Dan Sullivan: Why is Trump’s DOJ suing in Alaska?
US government seeks to delay Alaska Senate result over concerns about two candidates with the same name.
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A Very Suspicious Indictment of Two Former FBI Officials
Not too long ago, the Department of Justice could generally be trusted to prosecute cases in which lawyers believed that real wrongdoing had occurred. Now DOJ frequently unveils lawsuits that seem designed mostly for securing likes and reposts on right-wing social media—the actual facts be damned. A…
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How Trump’s FBI Purge Saved Lindsey Graham And James Clyburn From A Bribery Investigation
This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. On March 3, 2020, Sen. Lindsey Graham walked into a private dining room at Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C. Graham’s time was expensive. He was meeting with two executives and a lobbyist from a Ha…
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Former FBI officials charged in connection with Hunter Biden laptop probe
Lawyers for two accused officials say Department of Justice seeking to revive scandal in the run-up to midterm vote.
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Trump Hides IRS Report Showing How His Big Beautiful Bill Fucked America
It seems that burying reports because he doesn’t like the data within them is becoming a habit for Donald Trump and his administration. This practice didn’t begin during Trump 2.0, of course. He was burying reports he didn’t like all the way back in 2017. More recently, of course, a lot of the games…