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Progressives for a Democratic Republic - PDR Helping to elect progressives to office and empowering the people through education, organization, and mobilization at the grassroots level.

Promoting the Political Revolution by helping to elect progressives and empowering the people through education, organization, and mobilization at the grassroots level.

Trump's Justice Department just sued to stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election, but only if Democrat Mary ...
10/23/2026

Trump's Justice Department just sued to stop Alaska from certifying its U.S. Senate election, but only if Democrat Mary Peltola wins. And Trump says he ordered the suit himself.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Alaska, targets a second candidate on the ballot: a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The DOJ claims voters might confuse the two. So if Peltola wins while the other Sullivan is on the ballot, it wants certification blocked pending an "investigation."

Here's what the lawsuit leaves out. The Alaska Supreme Court already rejected Republican efforts to remove the other Sullivan from the ballot in June. Alaska's own Republican officials decided how he'd be listed. And according to the Alaska Beacon, a review of the primary results shows few voters were actually confused. Peltola won that primary with 49.5% of the vote.

Trump has been complaining that a second Dan Sullivan amounts to cheating. "Even 1, 2, or 3% could make the difference," he posted this week.

Legal experts aren't impressed. "The statute simply doesn't let the Department of Justice enjoin certification," said Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller.

Peltola's campaign called it "a despicable political threat to overturn an election."

Last week, it was California's ballots. This week, it's Alaska's result. A president who sues to stop the vote count only when his side might lose isn't protecting elections. He's rehearsing how to overturn them.

Sources: Alaska Beacon, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN

HEGSETH WANTED EISENHOWER'S WORLD WAR II GLOBE FOR HIS OFFICE. HIS STAFF DROPPED IT.The Washington Post reports Defense ...
10/23/2026

HEGSETH WANTED EISENHOWER'S WORLD WAR II GLOBE FOR HIS OFFICE. HIS STAFF DROPPED IT.

The Washington Post reports Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wanted the historic globe, which Gen. Dwight Eisenhower used during World War II, moved into his Pentagon office. NBC News confirms the story with three U.S. officials and a photo.

• The globe sat in a senior Army office in the Pentagon, under the Army's Center of Military History
• The normal route is trained curators or Army historians doing the move
• Instead, staffers from Hegseth's office sent their own team in February, and dropped it
• Photos obtained by the Post show a gash "several inches wide" in the shell
• The Pentagon says the globe came off the metal mount that lets it rotate

The Pentagon first called it a replica. NBC verified with three officials and a photo that it was the original.

The Pentagon's statement: "Accidents happen, we are grateful no one was harmed, and the globe is being repaired." Hegseth's office didn't respond to the Post's request for comment.

The globe was never moved into his office.

This is the same Pentagon running a $45 billion war in Iran. The man in charge wanted a piece of Eisenhower's history for his own desk, and his team couldn't carry it across the building.

Should Hegseth's staff be handling historic artifacts at all? YES or NO 👇

Share this so your network sees how the Pentagon treats American history.

LETITIA JAMES JUST ANSWERED THE CHALLENGE TO HER ROLE AS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR IN THE CORNELL CASE.This is the fight PDR fl...
10/23/2026

LETITIA JAMES JUST ANSWERED THE CHALLENGE TO HER ROLE AS SPECIAL PROSECUTOR IN THE CORNELL CASE.

This is the fight PDR flagged on October 2: whether public comments by officials could damage the case.

Here's the sequence:

• September 28: James posts that what the young woman "has been forced to endure is horrific and unacceptable"
• October 1: Gov. Hochul appoints her special prosecutor, citing concerns about how university police and the local DA handled the allegations in 2024
• Earlier this month: A lawyer for one of the seven men named in the civil suit petitions to remove her, arguing she "unequivocally demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt"
• Separately, lawyers for another of the men asked to disqualify her from any future grand jury proceedings. That motion is pending, and her office says it hasn't formally responded yet
• Thursday: James filed her response. She says the claims "are not justiciable," that there is no standing, and that the petition asks the court to "impermissibly void a discretionary action by the Governor"

Her statement earlier this month: she is "committed to leading a comprehensive investigation they can trust, guided only by the facts, the evidence, and the law."

Lawyers for both men say their clients deny the accusations. No criminal charges have been filed.

Should an official's public comments before being appointed be grounds for removal from a case? YES or NO 👇

Share this so your network follows how this case is being fought.

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS NOW REVIEWING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST COREY LEWANDOWSKI, THE MAN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL CALLED DH...
10/23/2026

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS NOW REVIEWING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST COREY LEWANDOWSKI, THE MAN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL CALLED DHS'S "SHADOW SECRETARY."

Lewandowski was an unpaid "special government employee" who advised then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Trump pushed both out in March. Here's what's been reported since:

• DHS inspector general investigators reportedly found evidence he may have helped improperly award government contracts, and that he personally signed some despite not being a full-time federal official
• Some DHS contractors reportedly told White House officials they were asked to pay Lewandowski
• NBC reported Trump told advisers, "Corey made out on that one"
• Under Noem, spending over $100,000 reportedly went through the secretary's office, where Lewandowski reportedly reviewed contracts first
• The WSJ reported he approached officials from Qatar and the UAE about work "on the side" while still at DHS. Both reportedly declined

His representative denies all of it, saying he played no role in contract review or approval and never sought payment from contractors.

The same man who allegedly sat in the middle of billions in homeland security spending is now being looked at by the department that's supposed to prosecute corruption.

11 days until the midterms.

Do you think Trump's own Justice Department will actually go after one of his allies? YES or NO 👇

Share this so your network sees who's been watching the money.

HEIDI LEVINE WAS BEATEN BY MASKED SETTLERS. NOW SHE SAYS IT'S ONLY MADE HER MORE DETERMINED.CNN reports the Washington P...
10/23/2026

HEIDI LEVINE WAS BEATEN BY MASKED SETTLERS. NOW SHE SAYS IT'S ONLY MADE HER MORE DETERMINED.

CNN reports the Washington Post journalist, attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank last week, says the ordeal has strengthened her resolve to keep covering the plight of Palestinians.

What happened to her on October 16:

• Dozens of masked settlers attacked a village's olive harvest in Abu Falah
• Video shows Levine on a dirt path, hands over her face, as at least three settlers stood over her
• She was wearing a flak jacket clearly marked "Press," the Post said
• Doctors found four broken vertebrae and she needed surgery
• The attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues stepped in

She is 64 and has covered this region for more than 40 years. Her words to the AP: "I have never seen this country in such a state as it is today."

Netanyahu's office called the attack "alleged" and the circumstances "unclear." U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called it "a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards."

Ten days earlier, settlers beat an AFP photographer covering the same harvest.

The people trying to show the world what's happening are being beaten for it. She says she isn't stopping.

Should the U.S. demand arrests after an American journalist was attacked? YES or NO 👇

Share this so Heidi Levine's words get seen.

THE SUPREME COURT JUST TOLD NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE STUDENTS THEIR STUDENT IDS WON'T COUNT.11 days before Election Day.New...
10/23/2026

THE SUPREME COURT JUST TOLD NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE STUDENTS THEIR STUDENT IDS WON'T COUNT.

11 days before Election Day.

New Hampshire's Republican-backed HB 323, signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, wiped student IDs off the list of accepted voter ID. Secretary of State David Scanlan then told election officials not to consider them at all.

A federal judge, a George W. Bush appointee, said Scanlan went too far. Officials could still weigh a student ID as evidence of who a voter is. New Hampshire took it to the Supreme Court anyway, the first time a student ID ban has ever reached the Court.

Now NBC reports student IDs cannot be used to vote in November's midterms.

• New Hampshire is one of just 11 states that don't accept student IDs
• The law pushes young voters without a driver's license to get a state ID
• There is no early voting in New Hampshire, so it all comes down to Election Day
• Federal courts have long held that a campus is where a student lives, and where they can vote

The state says it needs "clear, workable guidance" for election officials. Students say their ID proves they are who they say they are.

Is a student ID a good enough way to prove who you are? YES or NO 👇

Share this so every young voter in New Hampshire knows before November 3.

The man who ran Kristi Noem's Homeland Security Department as an unpaid "volunteer" is now under federal investigation f...
10/23/2026

The man who ran Kristi Noem's Homeland Security Department as an unpaid "volunteer" is now under federal investigation for allegedly cashing in on it.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is examining allegations that Corey Lewandowski, Trump's longtime adviser and Noem's de facto chief of staff, profited from his position at DHS. The investigation began with a referral from DHS's own inspector general.

Lewandowski held the title of "special government employee," which meant no salary and fewer ethics rules. But according to the Journal, investigators were surprised by how deeply he was involved in the department's contracting process, the same department handing out billions for detention centers and deportations.

Lewandowski left DHS in March, when Noem was fired. His attorney says he hasn't been contacted by the Justice Department and "denies any wrongdoing." He has not been charged.

The Journal calls it the first publicly known case of Trump's second-term Justice Department scrutinizing someone close to the president.

Think about that. This same Justice Department has raided a congresswoman's home three weeks before an election and gone after Trump's critics one after another. It took until now for it to look at one of his own.

Watch closely to see whether this investigation goes anywhere. A Justice Department run by Trump's former personal lawyer has every incentive to let it quietly die.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, CBS News, Rolling Stone

Vivek Ramaswamy found the mother who lost custody of Amy Acton after Acton's stepfather was charged with ra**ng her, and...
10/22/2026

Vivek Ramaswamy found the mother who lost custody of Amy Acton after Acton's stepfather was charged with ra**ng her, and put her in a campaign ad. Now Ohio's Republican governor is telling him to take it down.

In the ad, Acton's birth mother, Donna Arthur, calls her daughter "a liar" and insinuates she has mental health issues. AP reports Arthur lost custody of her children after their stepfather was indicted for ra**ng Acton. Acton hasn't seen her since 1978. Ramaswamy's campaign confirmed the ad was theirs and reportedly put $4 million behind it statewide.

On Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, broke with him: "It's wrong to run this ad. I would urge Ramaswamy's campaign to take this down." He called it "deeply, deeply troubling."

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace called it "the most shameful, disgusting, offensive ad this election season."

But Vice President JD Vance praised Ramaswamy for having "the audacity" to run it, and accused critics of "whining."

Acton, Ohio's former health director, called the ad "horrible and hideous" and "exploitative." Her brother, Phillip Stearns, answered with an ad of his own: "I received a lot of abuse, but Amy always got the worst of it."

Amy Acton survived abuse and homelessness as a child and grew up to lead Ohio through a pandemic. Vivek Ramaswamy is using her abuser's enabler to call her a liar, and the vice president is cheering him on. There's no bottom left.

Sources: NBC News, Associated Press, CBS News, ABC News, The Hill

Republicans just blew past the old campaign spending cap by $48 MILLION.JD Vance helped make it legal.In June, the Supre...
10/22/2026

Republicans just blew past the old campaign spending cap by $48 MILLION.

JD Vance helped make it legal.

In June, the Supreme Court's six conservative justices struck down a 50-year-old limit on how much political parties can spend alongside their candidates. Vance was one of the plaintiffs. Trump called the ruling a "BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS."

Now Reuters has the receipts from FEC filings for July and August:

• Republican committees exceeded the old caps by more than $48 million
• Democratic committees exceeded them by under $4 million
• The NRSC broke the old limit in all nine Senate races it backed, by a combined $42 million
• In North Carolina alone, it spent about $8 million for Michael Whatley against Roy Cooper, nearly $7 million over the old cap

A Republican official told Reuters the quiet part: "Our dollars can go further than they could before."

The old limits existed for one reason: to stop big donors from funneling unlimited money through the party to buy a candidate. The Supreme Court said that's free speech. Republicans, who have the bigger bank account, are now using it.

12 days until Election Day.

Do you think there should be any limit on how much a political party can spend?

Share this so your network sees who the ruling actually helped. 👇

Three weeks before Election Day, federal agents searched a sitting congresswoman's home.Ten days later, nobody has been ...
10/22/2026

Three weeks before Election Day, federal agents searched a sitting congresswoman's home.

Ten days later, nobody has been charged. Now Rep. Ilhan Omar is answering back: "I didn't do anything wrong."

Here's what's on the record:

• October 12: Homeland Security agents searched Omar's Washington-area home under a judge-authorized warrant. The Justice Department calls it part of an ongoing criminal investigation
• No charges have been announced
• Her phone was seized and relatives were subpoenaed, according to an AP source
• The Washington Post reported that an earlier federal review of her immigration records, during Trump's first term, found no evidence of citizenship issues and was dropped
• Her lawyers say agents ignored a judge's limits on handling protected legislative records. The DOJ says that's false
• Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin calls it a "strong case" and says it's headed to a grand jury

Days before the search, Trump called Omar's birth country a place of "crime and squalor" at a rally and suggested Vance and "our people" were looking into her. Asked about the search afterward, Trump said it "has nothing to do with me."

Omar's response from day one: "Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement."

12 days until Election Day.

Do you think this investigation is about justice or about the midterms?

Share this so your network sees what's happening to a sitting member of Congress. 👇

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