Today’s notice: A buried lede in the newest political indictment. Legal challenges to Trump’s immigration crackdown keep humming along during the shutdown. DHS redefines “doxing.” A Republican governor bristles at domestic troop deployments. And: The “they/them” ad takes over GOP electoral messaging.
THE LATEST
Politically themed indictments? There’s an app for that. It was not long ago that Donald Trump took to Truth Social to complain that New York AG Letitia James (and other political opponents) had not yet been indicted. In one post, he announced the firing of the U.S. attorney he claimed was preventing that from happening. In another, he triumphantly promised he had found a U.S. attorney nominee who would make it happen.
(The Wall Street Journal reported that at least one of those posts was not intended for everyone to see, but rather was a DM from the president meant for AG Pam Bondi that he accidentally posted for the public.)
After all that, it finally happened: James was indicted yesterday by a grand jury in Virginia on one count of bank fraud and another count of making false statements to a financial institution.
A buried lede: NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports that the new indictment indicated that the DOJ had access to James’ tax records, raising concerns that the Trump administration has been willing to turn what were once largely considered off-limits government records into a cudgel.
Boots near the ground: In a sign of the immense effort the Trump administration has put into getting a Gaza deal done, officials announced yesterday that 200 U.S. troops are set to be part of a joint task force based in the region — along with forces from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and other regional stakeholders — to monitor the deal. New foreign troop deployments have been a line in the sand for some MAGA backers, but Jasmine reports that administration officials stressed no U.S. troops “are intended to go into Gaza,” as one said on a call with reporters.
Open tabs: Federal Judge Pauses Trump’s Chicago Deployment (NOTUS); Former GOP election official buys Dominion Voting Systems (CNN); Trump administration finalizes Argentina’s $20 billion bailout (WaPo); Trump watchdog pick faces scrutiny after hotel incident with female colleague (Politico)
From the shutdown
Immigration policy cases remain open: Federal prosecutors have tried to get at least nine legal challenges to the Trump administration’s immigration policies paused during the government shutdown, claiming the budget impasse is preventing prosecutors from getting work done. But federal judges keep saying no, NOTUS’ Jackie Llanos and Manuela Silva report.
From the Hill
The CR-isis: The short-term funding bill that passed the House was supposed to give lawmakers more time to get the full-year appropriation bills through both chambers. But the House is out and the Senate is busy repeatedly voting that continuing resolution down (seven times as of yesterday!). And so the seven-week breather that runs to Nov. 21 is shrinking very quickly, NOTUS’ Riley Rogerson reports, and an already heavy lift is becoming much heavier.
You know what that means: “I just don’t think we can keep governing by CR,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito told NOTUS, echoing the hopes of just about everyone in Congress — who will likely find themselves doing just that.
From the White House
Dispensing with the pretense: “We’re only going to cut Democrat programs,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting yesterday, making explicit the White House shutdown strategy that, until now, many Republicans tried to say wasn’t targeted. “I hate to tell you, I guess that makes sense, but we’re only cutting Democrat programs … We’ll be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren’t popular with Republicans, frankly, because that’s the way it works.”
THE BIG ONE
The ‘they/them’ attack-ad economy: The treatment of trans people appears poised to become an even greater focal point for Republican campaigns as they seek to expand on Trump’s successful 2024 approach. NOTUS’ Alex Roarty and Oriana González report on the surprisingly lasting shift in GOP messaging that comes with big risks.
In the upcoming Virginia races, Republicans have dedicated 57% of all their paid media toward transgender-related issues. Crime and immigration, two issues the party has relied on heavily in recent elections, amount for only a combined 1% of ads.
It’s an early 2026 tactic, too. The NRSC has already launched one trans rights-themed ad, in Georgia, and has signaled its intention to center the issue in Maine and North Carolina.
Some Republicans think this is not smart. “I think that if you take a look at right-of-center, left-of-center voters, they’re more pocketbook issues,” Sen. Thom Tillis told NOTUS. “And I just don’t see any one of those issues — unless we have some major event that draws broader attention to it — I just don’t see those as being the margin of error.” It’s Tillis’ seat the NRSC is trying to replace after he declined to run again.
Others: “Thom Tillis is an idiot, frankly,” the American Principles Project’s Terry Schilling, who is investing a ton of money into “they/them”-style campaign ads, responded.
One of these guys is gonna be right. For as much excitement as there is among Republicans about running with the successes of 2024, there’s an equal amount of worry that the GOP could waste valuable resources on an issue that doesn’t sway voters in the way, say, prices do.
NEW ON NOTUS
What exactly is ‘doxing’? The term is generally understood to mean posting someone’s personal information online, but that’s just one way DHS uses it these days, NOTUS’ Emily Kennard reports. People who document immigration-enforcement operations are routinely accused of “doxing” by the Trump administration, an expanded definition that DHS says includes the work of activists, lawmakers and photojournalists. Experts worry this could have a chilling effect on perfectly legal acts of accountability.
Canary in the coal mine? Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma yesterday became the first Republican governor to break with Trump over his National Guard deployments to blue cities. Stitt, who chairs the National Governors Association, cited his staunch belief in federalism in a big-ticket interview with The New York Times yesterday. “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration,” he said.
More: Sean Duffy Says He Wants to Fire ‘Problem Children’ Air Traffic Controllers, by Amelia Benavides-Colón
Sanders Scolds Dems for Encouraging Maine Governor to Enter Senate Race, by Torrie Herrington
Nearly All GOP Senators Urge the FDA to Restrict Abortion Pills, by Oriana González
NOT US
- What Zohran Mamdani Knows About Power, by Eric Lach for The New Yorker
- Greg Bovino Emerges as Trump’s Man For Conjuring Up a Blue-City Insurrection, by Josh Kovensky for Talking Points Memo
- How Ken Paxton, a Rising MAGA Star, Got Rich as a Texas Politician, by Elizabeth Findell and Mark Maremont for The Wall Street Journal
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