PENNSYLVANIA: Harris 49%, Trump 46%, other candidates 2%

MICHIGAN: Trump 50%, Harris 47%, other candidates 2%

WISCONSIN: Trump 48%, Harris 46%, other candidates 2%

Less than a month until Election Day, the so-called Blue Wall battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin show a tight presidential race where neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump is winning as all three states are too close to call, according to Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh- pea-ack) University polls of likely voters in each of the states released today.

In Quinnipiac University’s September 18 poll, Harris held a lead in Pennsylvania, a slight lead in Michigan, and the race was essentially tied in Wisconsin.

Harris vs. Trump: The Issues

Likely voters were asked who they think would do a better job handling seven issues…

The economy:

PA: 49 percent say Trump, while 47 percent say Harris;
MI: 53 percent say Trump, while 45 percent say Harris;
WI: 53 percent say Trump, while 44 percent say Harris.

Immigration:

PA: 50 percent say Trump, while 46 percent say Harris;
MI: 53 percent say Trump, while 44 percent say Harris;
WI: 52 percent say Trump, while 44 percent say Harris.

Preserving democracy in the United States:

PA: 44 percent say Trump, while 50 percent say Harris;
MI: 49 percent say Trump, while 48 percent say Harris;
WI: 47 percent say Trump, while 48 percent say Harris.

Abortion:

PA: 37 percent say Trump, while 55 percent say Harris;
MI: 40 percent say Trump, while 52 percent say Harris;
WI: 39 percent say Trump, while 53 percent say Harris.

The conflict in the Middle East:

PA: 47 percent say Trump, while 46 percent say Harris;
MI: 53 percent say Trump, while 43 percent say Harris;
WI: 51 percent say Trump, while 44 percent say Harris.

As Commander in Chief of the U.S. military:

PA: 48 percent say Trump, while 48 percent say Harris;
MI: 52 percent say Trump, while 46 percent say Harris;
WI: 51 percent say Trump, while 45 percent say Harris.

A crisis that put the country at great risk:

PA: 46 percent say Trump, while 49 percent say Harris;
MI: 52 percent say Trump, while 46 percent say Harris;
WI: 49 percent say Trump, while 47 percent say Harris.

Pennsylvania: Presidential Race

In Pennsylvania, 49 percent of likely voters support Harris, 46 percent support Trump, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each receive 1 percent support.

This compares to September when Harris led with 51 percent support, Trump received 45 percent support, and Stein and Oliver each received 1 percent support.

In today’s poll, Democrats 94 – 4 percent support Harris, while Republicans 90 – 9 percent support Trump. Among independents, 47 percent support Trump, 43 percent support Harris, and 3 percent support third- party candidates (2 percent support Stein and 1 percent support Oliver).

In a hypothetical two-way race, Harris receives 49 percent support and Trump receives 47 percent support.

Michigan: Presidential Race

In Michigan, 50 percent of likely voters support Trump, 47 percent support Harris, and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver and independent candidate Cornel West each receive 1 percent support.

This compares to September when Harris received 50 percent support, Trump received 45 percent support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein received 2 percent support.

In today’s poll, Republicans 96 – 3 percent back Trump, while Democrats 98 – 1 percent back Harris. Independents are divided, with 48 percent supporting Trump, 46 percent supporting Harris, and 3 percent supporting independent or third-party candidates (2 percent support West and 1 percent support Oliver).

In a hypothetical two-way race, Trump receives 51 percent support and Harris receives 47 percent support.

Wisconsin: Presidential Race

In Wisconsin, 48 percent of likely voters support Trump, 46 percent support Harris, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver each receive 1 percent support.

This compares to September when Harris received 48 percent support, Trump received 47 percent support, and Stein received 1 percent support.

In today’s poll, Republicans 95 – 4 percent support Trump, while Democrats 98 – 2 percent support Harris. Independents are split, with 47 percent supporting Trump, 43 percent supporting Harris, and 3 percent supporting third-party candidates (2 percent support Stein and 1 percent support Oliver).

In a hypothetical two-way race, Trump receives 49 percent support and Harris receives 47 percent support.

From October 3rd – 7th, the Quinnipiac University Poll surveyed:

• 1,412 likely voters in Pennsylvania with a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points;
• 1,007 likely voters in Michigan with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points;
• 1,073 likely voters in Wisconsin with a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points.

Hurricane Milton is expected to be a “dangerous major hurricane” when it reaches Florida’s west-central coast Wednesday night as the storm remains on track for a potentially calamitous landfall near or just south of Tampa Bay.

The storm track is looking likely to slip just south of Tampa Bay to a point between there and Sarasota. Where the peak surge hits will cause widespread, potentially “catastrophic” destruction, the National Weather Service warned.

The National Hurricane Center has lowered Tampa Bay’s storm surge projections slightly, to a still-record-setting 8- to 12-foot surge above ground level.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center forecast would bring the full wrath of the storm ashore near or just north of Sarasota, Siesta Key and Punta Gorda, with a “catastrophic” 9- to 13-foot surge. This forecast may still be adjusted slightly.

The storm will also bring flooding rains and punishing winds along and to the north of its track. These rains could total 6 to 12 inches, with as much as 18 inches in some spots.

The Weather Prediction Center has issued a rare “High Risk” of excessive rainfall from Tampa through Orlando.

In addition, Hurricane Milton is expected to bring hurricane-force wind gusts well inland, across the peninsula to the east coast as it exits over the Atlantic on Thursday, according to NHC.

Winds will be particularly strong on the northwestern, or back, side of the storm, NHC warned.

Tropical storm-force winds have already started overspreading the west coast of Florida, with a wind gust in St. Petersburg to 55 mph.

Multiple tornadoes have already occurred in southern Florida, with the tornado outbreak likely to spread north today into central Florida.

While the storm lost some of its record-setting intensity from Monday night and again Tuesday night, it still had 125 mph maximum sustained winds as of late Wednesday morning, making it a Category 3 storm.

Milton was moving northeast at 17 mph from a position of about 100 miles southwest of Tampa.

“Weather conditions will steadily deteriorate across portions of the Florida Gulf Coast throughout the day,” NHC said, with landfall sometime on Wednesday night or early Thursday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared an emergency for 51 counties.

“The time to prepare, including evacuate if told to do so, is quickly coming to an end along the Florida west coast,” NHC warned Wednesday at 11am ET.

Milton twice entered the top 5 list of strongest Atlantic hurricanes as measured by their minimum central air pressure readings.

It took second place, behind Hurricane Wilma, for the strongest storm so late in the season.

Hurricane Milton is expected to be a large and intense Category 3 or borderline Category 4 storm at landfall.

The NHC noted Wednesday its wind field is expanding in size as it closes in on the coast. This would increase the storm surge magnitude and area.

It will also increase the storm’s reach. Hurricane and tropical storm warnings are in effect for portions of the east coast of Florida, all the way to Georgia.

Human-caused climate change is among several factors that conspired to propel Hurricane Milton’s rarely seen “explosive” intensification.

Sea level rise tied to climate change makes this storm potentially more destructive today than it would have been even a few decades ago.

Global warming is leading to more instances of rapid intensification. The trend was seen as recently as two weeks ago, when Hurricane Helene rapidly intensified before hitting Florida’s less-populated Big Bend region.

Milton was over record-warm waters for this time of year when it intensified so quickly.

Climate change made those ocean temperatures up to 800 times more likely today than in a preindustrial climate with lower greenhouse gases in the air, according to Climate Central, a research nonprofit.

It will pass more extremely warm waters prior to making landfall, but another round of rapid intensification is not expected.

“There is high confidence that Milton will remain a very dangerous hurricane when it reaches Florida, and maintain hurricane status as it moves across the state,” NHC stated Wednesday morning.

“Milton has the potential to be one of the most destructive hurricanes on record for west-central Florida,” NHC stated.

The storm is locked in on a landfall between Tampa Bay and Sarasota, but a track difference of just a few miles will make a vast difference in impacts, particularly storm surge heights.

A sprawling investigation into the online fundraising platform ActBlue has expanded into 19 states, as attorneys general across the country press the company on its security practices and whether Democrats might be using the platform to cheat on election donations.

An investigation that began with a few states and a House committee has now spread across nearly half the country as chief state investigators are endeavoring to determine whether Democrats have used the ActBlue to launder foreign money or craft donations in people’s names without their permission, a practice known as “straw donations.”

In a letter sent last week to ActBlue CEO and President Regina Wallace-Jones, the state attorneys general highlighted potential security issues with the online fundraising platform that could be allowing donations made in people’s names who didn’t donate.

“Recent reporting suggests that that [sic] there may be donors across the country who are identified in filings with the Federal Election Commission as having donated to candidates through ActBlue (and other affiliated entities), but who did not actually make those donations,” the attorneys general wrote.

“Smurfing”

“That raises a host of concerns about whether ActBlue’s platform is being used to facilitate ‘smurfing’––a type of money laundering in which donors break up large donations and submit them under different names to disguise who the money comes from and thereby skirt contribution limits in violation of state and federal law,” the letter continued.

“Independent investigations have shown that there are donors across the country who show up on FEC filings as having donated to candidates through ActBlue (and other affiliated entities) but deny having made those donations. Given the prominent role it plays in our elections, it is incumbent on ActBlue to address the serious questions created by apparent irregularities in ActBlue’s FEC filings,” the attorneys general added.

“ActBlue is one of the largest fundraising platforms for election-related donations. Already during the 2024 election cycle ActBlue has raised billions of dollars. But there are concerns about where those dollars came from. It is essential that we know whether political donations—particularly in such large volumes—are being solicited, made, and processed consistent with campaign finance, consumer protection, and other state and federal laws.”

ActBlue has denied any wrongdoing but said it is cooperating with investigators.

The letter from the attorneys general comes as other investigations are developing on both the civil and criminal side. Just the News has confirmed some Americans who believe their names have been misused to make donations for others are contemplating a private lawsuit while Congress is trying to determine whether federally regulating financial institutions have reported any suspicious transactions flowing through ActBlue’s platform or its clients.

Security protocols

The states’ top law enforcement officials asked Wallace-Jones to verify ActBlue’s security protocols and ensure that donors are who they claim to be.

The state attorneys general for Iowa and Indiana led the letter, which also included attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The attorneys general asked Wallace-Jones to respond by Oct. 23.

Following the release of the letter, an ActBlue spokesperson told The Des Moines Register that it has been a trusted digital fundraising platform for the last two decades and legally contributes donations to candidates and organizations.

“We rigorously protect donors’ information by maintaining a robust security program and strict fraud prevention measures — often beyond what is required by law,” the spokesperson’s statement said. “We are aware of recent attempts to spread misinformation about our platform. Facts are essential so that voters and donors are not misled. For accurate information, please visit actblue.com.”

Amid his investigation into ActBlue, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., made referrals last month to the attorneys general in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Florida regarding the fundraising platform. Steil said a massive computer analysis conducted by his committee uncovered a suspicious pattern of donations from individuals with net worths too small to donate what has been credited to them via ActBlue reports to the Federal Election Commission.

“This investigation focused on potential unlawful exploitation of unwitting ‘straw donors,’ whose identities may have been used to channel illicit funds into campaigns in your state,” Steil wrote to the state officials.

“The final analysis produced a set of anomalous donor profiles, ranked by the severity of the inconsistencies. In reviewing this analysis, it became clear there is suspicious activity occurring that warrants further review,” he added.

“Straw donors” are donors who are either given money by others to donate to federal candidates or whose identity is misused by others to make donations to evade federal campaign contribution limits.

Last December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) opened an investigation into ActBlue after alleging that the organization was conducting fraudulent activity regarding donations. In August of this year, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) also demanded answers from ActBlue after allegations of fraud were impacting Virginia.

In August, Paxton announced he reached an agreement in which ActBlue would begin using CVV codes when accepting all donations. CVVs are the three-digit security number on the back of credit and debit cards, and are key security provisions for preventing fraud.

Steil has been pushing H.R. 9488, called the SHIELD Act, which would require the disclosure of the card verification value and increase safeguards for online campaign donations.

The legislation also prohibits “aiding or abetting” making campaign contributions in the name of someone else.

Steil told the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show in August, “The real big concern here is that because these donations are made online, they could be coming from anywhere across the globe. Gone are the days where individuals would engage in illegal behavior with cash. Now we can do this online.

“My concern is that individuals are outside the jurisdiction of the United States who may be engaged in this,” he added.

Private Harris campaign polling shows Vice President Kamala Harris is in a lot of trouble, political analyst Mark Halperin said on The Morning Meeting with Sean Spicer and Dan Turrentine.

Despite Harris being up three points nationally according to the New York Times poll, Halperin said he sees her support as precarious.

While highlighting key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where Harris’s polling deteriorated, Halperin explained that the Wall Street Journal reported that Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s (D-WI) campaign shared negative polling with the paper, indicating broader implications for Democratic candidates in Senate races linked to Harris’s performance.

The consensus was that Harris faces significant risks in multiple battleground states, complicating her path to victory, Halperin explained:

Can you win a short campaign with an untested candidate? And what I’m telling you is happening in private polling is she’s got a problem … So the new New York Times poll shows her up three nationally. We all know that three is like the bubble point, right? If she’s up three, she’s got a chance to win the Electoral College, but they’d rather be at four, and they don’t want to be at two. So three is right at the bubble. I’m not saying this Times poll’s right. But it’s in line with international polls … Wall Street Journal has a story about Democrats really worried about the three Rust Belt states. We all know from our contacts in both campaigns that Pennsylvania is tough for her right now. And with that Pennsylvania, there are paths, but there aren’t many. There’s no path with that Wisconsin. So you see here, Tammy Baldwin’s Senate campaign poll shows Harris down three in Wisconsin. We all said yesterday, Wisconsin and Michigan are looking worse for Harris than before. Baldwin has Harris down three … Why is the Baldwin campaign sharing its polling with the Wall Street Journal? Good question.

…

If you want to go watch MSNBC primetime and hear how great things are going for the Harris campaign, you’re welcome to do that. But if you want to understand what’s actually happening, we’re here to tell you. I just saw some new private polling today that’s very robust private polling. She’s in a lot of trouble. Here’s how I framed it this morning in my newsletter: The conversation I’m having with with Trump people and Democrats with data are extremely bullish on Trump’s chances in the last 48 hours, extremely bullish. You think of the seven battleground states, which ones is Harris in danger of losing? I would say Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. I’m not saying she’ll lose all six, but she’s in danger. The only one that the Democrats say she’s not in danger of losing is the one I never say the name of because I can’t pronounce it, but it’s where Las Vegas is, right? You guys agree with me. She could lose any of those six, right? I mean, she could lose all seven, but Democrats will tell you they’re worried about those six, they’re less worried about the seventh. I don’t know any Trump person who says they’re worried about losing any of the seven. They don’t think they’re the favorite in Michigan and Wisconsin, but they’re not worried about losing them. You don’t hear from them, ‘Oh my goodness.’ What you hear is we’re moving up. What the three of us are hearing, we’re moving up in those two and we’re going to win. We’re going to win at the three sunbelt states. And we’re stronger in Pennsylvania than she is. That to me, if the whole thing’s about the Electoral College, you take any of the — any of the Sun or the Rust Belt states away from her, it’s very difficult for her to win, very difficult. It’s not mathematically impossible, but it probably won’t happen if she loses any of them. Could she replace Pennsylvania with either Georgia or North Carolina and then one other of the Sunbelt state? If she wins, if she loses Pennsylvania and she wins either Georgia or North Carolina, then she just needs one of the other three and that’s not impossible. But what I’m telling you today is, things are not moving right for her.

HALPERIN: Private polling shows Kamala Harris is in a lot of trouble

pic.twitter.com/6f552xvCVE

— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) October 9, 2024

The Georgia State Election Board voted to subpoena Fulton County’s 2020 election records amid a legal fight over election monitors.

The board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to subpoena all election records from the 2020 election in Fulton County, the Associated Press reported.

The vote came a day after Fulton County filed a lawsuit claiming that the board does not have the authority to make the county “accept, and Fulton County to pay for, additional monitors for the 2024 election that have been hand-picked by certain State Election Board members.”

In May, the board decided that an agreement between itself and the county must be reached by August for election monitors for this election cycle, as a result of issues the county had in the 2020 election.

However, an agreement was not reached and the county hired its own team without the board’s approval. The board had proposed a different election monitor team that the county rejected.

Board member Janice Johnston on Tuesday said that Fulton County appeared to not be cooperating and proposed to subpoena 2020 election documents, which the two other Republican members also voted with her to approve.

“Consolidated return sheets, opening and closing tapes, daily recap sheets from early voting, poll pad recap sheets, absentee ballot recap sheets, ballot images, log files, tabulation files, a numbered voter list, absentee numbered list of voters, absentee ballot oath envelopes, security verification forms, and chain of custody forms of the poll manager and technician. And Fulton County must appear at the next meeting,” Liz Harrington, former Trump campaign spokesperson, posted on X on Tuesday.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) is not endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

On Tuesday, Romney reaffirmed his longtime distaste for former President Donald Trump without saying he would support the Democratic ticket this year. Neither he nor former House Speaker Paul Ryan, his running mate in the 2012 presidential election, will support the top of the Republican ticket this election.

“I’ve made it very clear that I don’t want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States,” Romney said at the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.

Romney said the Republican Party would likely need “to be rebuilt or reoriented” no matter what happens in the election, noting that he would like to “have a voice” in the party following the election.

“I believe I will have more influence in the party by virtue of saying it as I’ve said it,” he said. “I’m not planning on changing the way I’ve described it.”

In the 2016 election, Romney wrote in the name of his wife, Ann, for president, and in 2020, he said he did not vote for Trump but would not say if he voted for Joe Biden instead.

“All of those now pro-Kamala voices will not be allowed back in,” Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, told the New York Times. “But there will be a GOP post-Trump, and there should be some sane people remaining to fix that.”

Romney has expressed his distaste for Trump over the years, telling MSNBC, “When someone has been determined by a jury to have committed sexual assault, that is not someone who I want my kids and grandkids to see as president of the United States.” On Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), he said, “I don’t know that I can disrespect someone more.”

Still, Romney will not join the long list of Republicans who have backed Harris’s candidacy. More than 200 Republicans who worked for Romney, 2008 presidential nominee John McCain, and former President George W. Bush endorsed Harris in an August letter.

Harris has also received endorsements from high-profile Republican figures such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and former Sen. Jeff Flake. Sarah Palin is the only living former Republican presidential or vice presidential candidate who has endorsed Trump this year.

Bush said he would not endorse a candidate in this election.

The severed head of a newly elected mayor in southern Mexico was found on top of his vehicle just six days into his tenure. Footage of the gruesome scene was shared on X, highlighting Mexico as a lawless narco-state run by ultra-violent cartels.

On Sept. 30, Alejandro Arcos was sworn in as the mayor of Chilpancingo, the capital and second-largest city of the Mexican state of Guerrero. The newly elected mayor didn’t even last a week because, on Sunday, he was assassinated, with his head severed and placed on the top of the vehicle as a reminder to local government officials that cartels run the show.

Story📌 https://t.co/OPKNxQ0tTM

— Trending Explained (@TrendingEx) October 7, 2024

Arcos represented an opposition coalition that included the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

His party took to social media, calling the assassination of the mayor a “cowardly crime.” PRI called for justice early this week.

“Enough of violence and impunity! The people of Guerrero do not deserve to live in fear,” PRI wrote on X.

Just three days before Arcos’ killing, another city official, Francisco Tapia, was killed, according to PRI president Alejandro Moreno.

Leftist Mexico is a lawless narco-state. The ultra-violent cartels effectively run the nation. RIP Alejandro Arcos & Francisco Tapia.

“Mexican mayor assassinated days after taking office

Alejandro Arcos was killed just 6 days after he took office as mayor of the city of… https://t.co/HpYkJaMd2D pic.twitter.com/I0ezwBTFq8

— Prodigal (@ProdigalThe3rd) October 8, 2024

“They had been in office less than a week,” Moreno wrote on social media, adding, “They were young and honest public servants who were seeking progress for their community.”

Guerrero is a cartel hellhole and one of the deadliest states in Mexico. Cartels fight each other for control of drug production and human trafficking. This is one of the deadliest areas for elected public officials and journalists.

Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration’s open southern borders have not just sparked the worst border crisis in American history but also empowered and enriched cartels that control massive human trafficking networks.

The US Justice Department is considering asking a federal judge to force Google to sell off parts of its business in what would be a historic breakup of one of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Antitrust enforcers are weighing a breakup to mitigate the Alphabet Inc. business’s dominance in search, the agency said in a court filing on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. Judge Amit Mehta could also order Google to provide access to the underlying data it uses to build its search results and artificial intelligence products, it said.

The Justice Department “is considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features,” the agency said.

The 32-page document lays out a framework of potential options for the judge to consider as the case moves to the remedy phase. The agency said it will provide a fuller proposal on remedies next month and then begin gathering additional documents and evidence from Google for a two-week remedies hearing in April. Mehta said he will rule on the remedies by August 2025.

The effort is the most significant move to rein in a major tech company over illegal monopolization since Washington unsuccessfully sought to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago. The Justice Department and the US Federal Trade Commission have targeted Big Tech dominance, scrutinizing deals and investments and accusing some of the country’s most powerful companies of illegally dominating markets.

Google shares fell as much as 2.8% Wednesday and were down 1.6% to $162.98 at 10:22 am in New York trading.

Antitrust pressure from multiple cases is building against Google. Mehta ruled this summer that Google broke antitrust laws in both online search and search text ads markets. Google has already said it plans to appeal Mehta’s decision, but must wait until he finalizes a remedy before doing so.

A breakup of the company “is unlikely at this point despite the antitrust swirls,” said Daniel Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities. “Google will battle this in the courts for years.”

The case is part of a larger US crackdown on technology giants. The Justice Department earlier this year sued Apple Inc. for thwarting innovation by blocking rivals from accessing its hardware and software features. The FTC sent inquiries to Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc. about their investments in AI startups as part of a study on how these partnerships are impacting competition.

The DOJ said in the filing that Google gained scale and data benefits from its illegal distribution agreements with other tech companies that made its search engine the default option on smartphones and web browsers. Google’s Android business encompasses the operating system used on smartphones and devices as well as apps.

The Justice Department also said it may seek a requirement that Google allow websites more ability to opt out of its artificial intelligence products. The agency said it’s considering proposals related to Google’s dominance over search text ads, such as requirements that the company provide more information and control to advertisers over where their ads appear. The department may also request that Google be restricted from investing in search competitors or potential rivals.

Google criticized the Justice Department’s filing as “radical,” saying it would have “significant unintended consequences for consumers, businesses, and American competitiveness.”

The DOJ’s proposals go “well beyond the legal scope of the Court’s decision about Search distribution contracts,” Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president of regulatory affairs, wrote in a blog post.

European Union watchdogs similarly touted the option of a breakup of Google’s business in order to appease antitrust concerns last year. The bloc’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager said that “divestiture is the only way” to settle worries over how the company favors its own services to the detriment of ad tech rivals, advertisers and online publishers. That EU case – which could come to a final decision by the end of this year – marked the latest escalation in a long-running saga that’s already led to a trio of EU penalties totaling more than €8 billion ($8.8 billion) for abuses across other Google services.

A group of US states that sued Google over its search monopoly separately from the Justice Department said they may seek to have the tech giant pay for a public education campaign about how to switch search engines.

On Monday, a different federal judge ordered Google to open up its app store for the next three years to resolve a separate antitrust case brought by Epic Games Inc. related to its dominance of app distribution on Android smartphones. US District Judge James Donato issued an injunction that takes effect Nov. 1 which bars Google for three years from paying developers to exclusively use its app store or prohibit them from telling customers about how to directly download apps. Google also cannot force developers to use its billing features during that time. The company also plans to appeal that decision.

Last month, the Justice Department and Google faced off in a third antitrust suit focused on the company’s dominance over the technology used to buy and sell online display ads. Closing arguments in that lawsuit are scheduled for late November and Judge Leonie Brinkema, who oversaw that case, said she plans to rule by the end of the year. Antitrust enforcers have said they plan to seek to force Google to sell off parts of its ad tech business if the court finds the company monopolized that market.

The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who was inspired by the Islamic State militant organization to plot an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S.

Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, told investigators after his arrest Monday that he had planned his attack to coincide with Election Day next month.

He and a juvenile co-conspirator expected to die as martyrs, according to charging documents.

Tawhedi, who entered the U.S. in 2021 on a special immigrant visa, had taken steps in recent weeks to advance his attack plans, including by ordering AK-47 rifles.

He liquidated his family’s assets and buying one-way tickets for his wife and child to travel home to Afghanistan.

‘Terrorism is still the FBI’s number one priority, and we will use every resource to protect the American people,’ FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

After he was arrested, the Justice Department said, Tawhedi told investigators he had planned an attack for Election Day that would target large gatherings of people.

Tawhedi was charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group, which is designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.

He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for providing support to ISIS and 15 years for obtaining a firearm to commit a felony or a federal crime of terrorism.

An FBI affidavit does not reveal precisely how Tawhedi came onto investigators’ radar, but cites what it says is evidence from recent months showing his determination in planning an attack.

A photograph from July included in the affidavit depicts a man investigators identified as Tawhedi reading to two young children, including his daughter, ‘a text that describes the rewards a martyr receives in the afterlife.’

‘As charged, the Justice Department foiled the defendant’s plot to acquire semi-automatic weapons and commit a violent attack in the name of ISIS on U.S. soil on Election Day,’ said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

‘We will continue to combat the ongoing threat that ISIS and its supporters pose to America’s national security, and we will identify, investigate, and prosecute the individuals who seek to terrorize the American people,’ he continued.

‘I am deeply grateful to the public servants of the FBI, National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma for their work to disrupt this attack and for the work they do every day to protect our country.’

According to the criminal complaint, Tawhedi entered the United States on September 9, 2021 on a special immigrant visa.

It said an FBI ‘confidential human source’ contacted Tawhedi after he recently advertised the sale of his family’s personal property on Facebook.

The FBI source said he needed a computer for a gun business he was starting and Tawhedi expressed interest in purchasing two AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition, according to the complaint.

On Monday, Tawhedi and the juvenile met with ‘FBI assets’ at a rural location in Oklahoma and purchased two AK-47 assault rifles, 10 magazines, and 500 rounds of ammunition, it said.

They were immediately arrested.

It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. A message was left with the federal public defender´s office in Oklahoma City and no telephone numbers were listed for Tawhedi or his relatives in public records.

Tawhedi entered the U.S. on a special immigrant visa, a program that permits eligible Afghans who helped Americans despite great personal risk to themselves and their loved ones to apply for entry into America with their families.

Eligible Afghans include interpreters for the U.S. military as well as individuals integral to the American embassy in Kabul. While the program has existed since 2009, the number of applicants skyrocketed after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign insisted Tuesday that CBS News release an “unedited transcript” of Vice President Kamala Harris’ entire “60 Minutes” interview after her “word salad” about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was cut from Monday’s broadcast.

The dramatic edit was made after “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker noted that “it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.”

The 59-year-old Democratic nominee’s response in the Monday night show was completely different and far more coherent than her rambling answer showcased in a preview clip released Sunday.

“Well, Bill … the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region,” Harris said in the clip shared by “60 Minutes” on X over the weekend.

However, in the prime-time broadcast, Harris answered, “We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

Watch:

, . pic.twitter.com/VthGBT721T

— Steven Miller, MD, PhD (@SageListener) October 8, 2024

A Trump campaign spokeswoman “60 Minutes” of “deceptively” editing out Harris’ “idiotic response” to Whitaker.

“On Sunday, 60 Minutes teased Kamala’s highly-anticipated sit-down interview with this epic word salad that received significant criticism on social media,” Trump 2024 national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post. “During the full interview on Monday evening, the word salad was deceptively edited to lessen Kamala’s idiotic response.”

Leavitt added that she was left wondering what else was left on the cutting room floor.

“Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala’s full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air?” she said.

“The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala’s sit-down interview,” Leavitt continued. “We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?”

Trump, 78, refused to participate in the show’s presidential election special despite the campaign previously telling “60 Minutes” producers that he would take part, correspondent Scott Pelley claimed on Monday’s broadcast.

The Trump campaign has denied that any appearance was nailed down, and the former president said last week that he won’t do an interview with “60 Minutes” until the show apologizes for dismissing The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2020 campaign.

Former President Trump’s campaign is rejecting accounts in journalist Bob Woodward’s new book that the Republican presidential nominee has held multiple phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office in January 2021.

Woodward also wrote in his book, “War,” that Trump agreed to secretly send Putin COVID-19 testing equipment.

Steven Cheung, the communications director for the Trump campaign, told The Hill in a statement that “None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true” and said Trump gave no access to the journalist for the latest book, as Trump had for past books.

Cheung said Woodward “suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The spokesperson further pointed to Trump’s lawsuit against Woodward, in which the former president is seeking $50 million from the veteran journalist over his publication of tapes of interviews he conducted with Trump while he was in office between December 2019 and August 2020, which featured in the 2020 book “Rage.”

Woodward and his publisher filed to get the case dismissed in September 2023.

Cheung’s comments came in response to a CNN report on Woodward’s new book “War,” detailing that, in 2020, Trump “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.”

Putin told Trump to not tell anybody, according to Woodward, with Trump responding, “I don’t care … fine.”

Woodward wrote that, according to Trump’s aides, there have been as many as seven phone calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House in 2021, according to CNN.

Woodward also cited Trump aide Jason Miller as not being aware of any calls between Trump and Putin, but added that Avril Haines, President Biden’s director of national intelligence, did not conclusively rule out contacts between the Russian leader and the former president.

“I would not purport to be aware of all contacts with Putin. I wouldn’t purport to speak to what President Trump may or may not have done,” Haines said, according to Woodward.

The United States Supreme Court, coming off of possibly its most historic and impactful term in United States history earlier this year, is set to consider a new docket of cases that could have significant impacts when the court issues a new round of rulings next year.

While most of the new cases before the high court lack the explosive political nature of —setting major precedent regarding presidential immunity (Trump v. United States), rolling back the Biden-Harris Department of Justice’s aggressive January 6 prosecutions (Fischer v. United States) or undoing decades of federal regulatory procedure (Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo) several cases still carry significant legal and constitutional weight.

Before the court in its new term are cases dealing with so-called “ghost guns,” discretionary immigration actions, a Tennessee sex-change ban, and even a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government alleging U.S. gun manufacturers are trafficking firearms to cartels.

Additionally, the Court will hear a case on the constitutionality of Texas’s age verification requirements for pornographic websites. and a case regarding workplace discrimination and whether workers representative of demographic majorities have a higher bar to prove bias.

Ghost Guns.

One of the most anticipated cases of the term is Garland v. VanDerStok. The case revolves around a 2022 rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which would effectively extend licensing and serial number provisions required under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) to so-called ghost guns—firearms produced at home often through the use of 3D printing.

The respondents in the case are challenging the agency’s regulatory authority to unilaterally redefine the definition of “frame or receiver” and “firearm” under the GCA. Garland v. VanDerStok marks the first significant challenge to federal regulatory authority after the Supreme Court struck down much of the long-standing Chevron Deference legal doctrine, which granted federal agencies broad regulatory powers, in its Loper decision earlier this year.

Immigration Visa Appeals.

A case that could have major implications for U.S. immigration policy is Bouarfa v. Mayorkas. The high court is being asked to determine whether immigration visa applicants are entitled to legal appeal and judicial review over discretionary application decisions.

The case stems from a lawsuit brought by Amina Bouarfa, a U.S. citizen, regarding her attempt to obtain an immigrant visa for her husband, Ala’a Hamayel. In 2014, Bouarfa submitted a Form I-130 seeking to classify Hamayel as her immediate relative under U.S. immigration law. While the petition was initially approved a year later, it was later revoked under the discretionary authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security after it was discovered that Hamayel had previously attempted to evade U.S. immigration laws by entering into a sham marriage.

Subsequently, Bouarfa filed suit in a Florida federal District Court challenging the Secretary’s discretionary authority. However, the court dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it had no authority to review a discretionary action by the executive branch. The U.S. Eleventh Circuit later upheld the dismissal.

Trans Surgeries for Minors.

In United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court will hear arguments as to whether laws enacted by Tennessee and Kentucky that restrict access to sex-change surgeries for minors constitute a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and its incorporation of due process rights. Under the 2023 laws passed by Tennesee and Kentucky, minors are prohibited from receiving puberty blockers, hormone replacement treatments, or sex-change surgeries from healthcare providers operating in either respective state.

The plaintiffs in the case contend that both state laws violate 14th Amendment protections and were initially successful in securing injections against the prohibitions from taking effect. However, the injunctions were later lifted by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals—meaning the laws have since been allowed to go into effect.

Mexico Sues Gun Makers.

In a case with international repercussions, the court will hear Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. In this case, the government of Mexico is suing U.S. gun manufacturers, alleging the companies have been complicit in trafficking firearms across the southern border to Mexican drug cartels.

The question before the court is whether the lawsuit brought by Mexico can proceed under the conditions set out by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). Initially, the lawsuit was halted after a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts found the Mexican government’s legal claims against the gun makers were barred under the PLCAA. However, the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the determination on several of Mexico’s claims—citing the PLCAA’s “predicate exception.”

Justices will decide whether Mexico’s claims of arms trafficking and injury to its citizens violate U.S. law and trigger the exception to legal protection for the gun manufacturers under the PLCAA.

Texas Age Verification.

A prominent First Amendment case before the court is Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, which revolves around a Texas law requiring the implementation of age verification procedures for pornographic websites. The court is being asked to determine whether the Texas regulations violate the free speech right of pornographic websites and whether specific provisions run afoul of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

An earlier holding by a federal District Court resulted in a preliminary injunction against the Texas law. The District Court determined that Texas’s age verification requirements failed the strict scrutiny test, meaning it was not sufficiently tailored in a narrow scope to achieve the government’s compelling interest. Additionally, the lower court, in issuing the injections, held that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on First Amendment grounds against Texas upon further appeal.

However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the injunction and reversed the District Court’s holding in part, determining the rational basis review test was more appropriate for the case.

Straight Discrimination?

The most peculiar case of the Supreme Court term is Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, which revolves around a reverse discrimination claim. Last Friday, the high court granted certiorari, meaning review, regarding a federal appeals court decision rejecting a reverse discrimination claim brought by a former Ohio Department of Youth Services employee.

At the heart of the case is whether reverse discrimination lawsuits brought by those lacking status as a protected class—or demographic majorities—require a higher evidentiary burden. The lawsuit was brought by an Ohio woman who claims she was passed over for a state government job due to her heterosexual orientation.

Marlean Ames contends she was denied a promotion by her supervisor, a lesbian woman.
Instead, the job went to another lesbian woman, though Ames argues the selected applicant was unqualified. Subsequently, Ames was removed from her position and replaced by a gay man.

The plaintiff’s lawsuit was thrown out by a federal court, which found she failed to demonstrate a statistically significant pattern of discrimination against demographic majorities by her employer. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the lower court decision, resulting in the final appeal to the Supreme Court.

Hurricane Milton approached known maximum storm strength limits on Monday night, with wind gusts briefly topping 200 miles per hour.

The blistering power of the storm — the second most powerful ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico — prompted calls for a new Category 6 designation.

“This is nothing short of astronomical,” Florida meteorologist Noah Bergren said as Milton reached sustained winds of 180 mph and “gusts 200+ mph.”

“I am at a loss for words to meteorologically describe to you the storm’s small eye and intensity,” he marveled.

“This hurricane is nearing the mathematical limit of what Earth’s atmosphere over this ocean water can produce.”

After forming as a Category 5 storm, Milton on Tuesday was downgraded to a Category 4 after hitting Mexico’s Yucatan Penninsula with a glancing blow. By Tuesday night, it was back to Category 5 again as it churned toward Florida’s gulf coast, putting millions of lives at risk.

After forming in the Gulf of Mexico, Milton rapidly accelerated from a tropical storm with 60-mph winds Sunday morning to a deadly Category 5 hurricane by Monday with sustained winds of 180 mph — exhibiting an incredible trebling of power in only 36 hours.

If the hurricane reached winds of 192 mph, it would have surpassed a rare threshold that just five storms have reached since 1980, USA Today reported.

Its exceptional intensity has prompted calls from some meteorologists to expand the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale to include a new Category 6 for hurricanes.

While no such official category exists, professor Michael E. Mann tweeted that “Milton might have actually breached the 192 mph ‘Cat 6′ cutoff.”

Michael Wehner, a climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Jim Kossin, a retired federal scientist and science adviser at the nonprofit First Street Foundation, co-authored a study published earlier this year exploring whether there should be a new category for hurricanes.

“We find that a number of recent storms have already achieved this hypothetical Category 6 intensity, and based on multiple independent lines of evidence examining the highest simulated and potential peak wind speeds, more such storms are projected as the climate continues to warm,” they wrote.

However, Fox Weather meteorologist Mike Rawlins told The Post Tuesday that a new category is “unnecessary” and the Saffir-Simpson scale remains the gold standard for measuring hurricanes.

“There are movements out in the meteorological realm calling for the scale to be retired and for a new method of measuring a storm’s intensity to be created since the storm surge and flash flooding often do more damage than the wind alone. But I am not aware of any work happening on that at this time,” he said.

The late Robert Simpson, co-creator of the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale, said in 1999 that creating a Category 6 hurricane would be “immaterial” due to the extreme damage to humans and buildings already caused by Category 5 storms.

Milton is the fourth-strongest Atlantic hurricane on record by barometric pressure — a measure of storm intensity — with central barometric pressure at 897 millibars

Only five hurricanes have dipped below 900 in official records dating back more than 170 years, according to the Miami Herald.

Brazil’s Supreme Court lifted its ban on Elon Musk’s X Tuesday after being blocked in Latin America’s largest nation for more than a month.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes prohibited the social media platform in Latin America’s largest nation on Aug. 30, after the company refused to comply with his order that included appointing a legal representative for the platform in Brazil.

The Brazilian Supreme Court said Tuesday that as of Sept. 27, X proved it had met the two necessary conditions to lift the ban — blocking profiles that disseminated false information and appointing a legal representative for the company.

X also paid 28.6 million reals ($5.1 million) in fines, per the court decision.

Musk had vowed not to comply with an earlier court order blocking accounts on X as Brazil tried to crack down on online misinformation.

Moraes announced in April that he was investigating the billionaire for obstruction of justice. Musk accused Moraes of “destroying” free speech “for political purposes.”

A Delaware judge ruled Monday that the Armenta family’s lawsuit against Deadspin for accusing their son of wearing “blackface” at a Chiefs game last year can proceed.

In 2023, Deadspin writer Carron Phillips wrote an article using an image of nine-year-old Holden Armenta sporting black and red Kansas City Chiefs face paint at a game, showing only the black half of his face.

Phillips accused Holden of finding a way to “hate Black people and the Native Americans at the same time” and accused his parents of teaching him “hatred.”

Holden’s parents Raul Jr. and Shannon later filed a lawsuit in February accusing the sports blog of maliciously attacking Holden by selectively posting only one half of his face and accusing them of racism.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Sean Lugg denied Deadspin’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, agreeing that the blog posted “provable false assertions” as facts rather than opinion.

“Deadspin published an image of a child displaying his passionate fandom as a backdrop for its critique of the NFL’s diversity efforts and, in its description of the child, crossed the fine line protecting its speech from defamation claims,” the judge wrote.

“Having reviewed the complaint, the court concludes that Deadspin’s statements accusing [Holden] of wearing black face and Native headdress ‘to hate black people and the Native American at the same time,’ and that he was taught this hatred by his parents, are provable false assertions of fact and are therefore actionable,” Lugg added.

Lugg also refused to dismiss the case based on the assertion that the case should have been filed in the Armenta family’s home state of California rather than Delaware, where Deadspin’s parent company G/O Media resides. G/O Media later sold Deadspin to Lineup Publishing one month after the lawsuit was filed.

Deadspin did not retract the original article. However, an editor’s note was added to address the controversy.

“We regret any suggestion that we were attacking the fan or his family. To that end, our story was updated on Dec. 7 to remove any photos, tweets, links, or otherwise identifying information about the fan. We have also revised the headline to better reflect the substance of the story,” the note read.

The headline was also changed from “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in Black face, Native headdress” to “The NFL Must Ban Native Headdress And Culturally Insensitive Face Paint in the Stands.”

Phillips initially doubled down on his accusations in a since-deleted X post.

“For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it even worse. Y’all are the ones who hate [M]exican but wear sombreros on cinco [de Mayo],” Phillips said.

Clips from HBO’s Satoshi Nakamoto documentary, which leaked hours before the firm premiered Tuesday night, seemed to finger former Bitcoin developer Peter Todd as the cryptocurrency’s creator – but Todd denied it.

In an email to CoinDesk, Todd said filmmaker Cullen Hoback, best known for identifying the person behind the QAnon conspiracy theory in an earlier series for HBO, was “grasping at straws” if he’s identifying Todd as Satoshi.

“Yes, that interview did happen and I believe that specific shot isn’t deepfaked,” he confirmed, though he added he had not yet seen the documentary.

“Of course, I’m not Satoshi,” Todd said. “It’s ironic that a director who is also known for a documentary on QAnon has resorted to QAnon style coincidence-based conspiracy thinking here too.”

Even in the clips circulating on social media, Todd called the theory that he is Satoshi “ludicrous.”

On Tuesday afternoon in New York, hours before the scheduled premiere of “Money Electric: the Bitcoin Mystery,” the odds on Polymarket’s bet over whom the film will identify as Satoshi overwhelmingly favored “Other/Multiple.” At the time of the Polymarket bet’s creation, Todd was not listed as a possibility, so anyone who wanted to bet on him being the film’s “reveal” would have to choose “Other/Multiple.”

Previously, cypherpunk Len Sassaman and then computer programmer Nick Szabo held the lead on Polymarket’s list of possible HBO-toshi’s.

No firm evidence

The documentary, which lasted about 100 minutes, delved into the history of both Bitcoin and other crypto projects, but did not present any firm evidence supporting the idea that Todd was Satoshi.

There was some circumstantial evidence, including Todd’s interest in cryptography from a young age, his relationship with Adam Back (who emailed with Satoshi), his technical ability and Satoshi’s use of British/Canadian spellings juxtaposed with the fact that Todd is from Canada. The film’s most tangible evidence hinged on a 2010 public forum post in which Todd responded to one of Satoshi’s posts. Hoback argued Todd’s post was a continuation of Satoshi’s post, but accidentally sent from an account with Todd’s name on it instead of Satoshi’s.

However, the documentary did not definitively conclude that Todd was indeed Satoshi. Even the final confrontation between Hoback and Todd – the clip that was earlier leaked on social media – was speculative.

Hoback followed up by citing another blog post where Todd said he was “probably the world’s leading expert” on how to sacrifice bitcoin, though even the filmmaker acknowledges this was a tenuous confirmation at best.

“It was hard not to read this as an admission, like Peter wanted his inner circle to trust that he had, in fact, sacrificed the bitcoins and destroyed all access,” he said. “But this wasn’t proof.”

Bitcoin that Satoshi mined has never moved from its wallet, leading to speculation Satoshi is either dead or purposefully prevented themselves from touching the coins.

The confrontation

In the documentary, Hoback confronts Todd, laying out his theory of how and why Todd hid his supposed involvement in the invention of Bitcoin. Todd shakes his head and laughs at Hoback’s assertions.

“I will admit you’re pretty creative. You come up with some crazy theories. It’s ludicrous,” Todd said in the film. “But I’ll say, yeah, of course I’m Satoshi. And I’m Craig Wright.”

This is clearly a joke, not a confession: Todd has previously made similar cracks that he “is Satoshi,” telling “What Bitcoin Did” podcast host Peter McCormack in a 2019 interview: “I am Satoshi, as is everyone else.”

Todd, still laughing, warns Hoback that he’s drawn an incorrect conclusion.

“This is going to be very funny when you put this into the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it,” Todd said. “I suspect a lot of them will be very happy if you go this route because it’s yet another example of journalists really missing the point in a way that’s very funny.”

(PubKey, a bitcoin bar in New York City, showed the documentary Tuesday night. Viewers there laughed at the suggestion Todd is Satoshi. Someone said: “They left enough plausible deniability that you [a random person] could be Satoshi.”)

Hoback responds by asking what the point is.

“The point is to make bitcoin the global currency,” Todd responds.

Back, the CEO of Bitcoin development firm Blockstream who is standing next to Todd in the confrontation scene, did not respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.

Though an early Bitcoin developer and someone deeply involved in the early years of Bitcoin, Todd has never been a prime suspect in journalists’ years-long hunt for Satoshi. Figures like Hal Finney, Nick Szabo and Back are most frequently suggested to be Bitcoin’s creator, though all have denied it.

During the McCormack podcast, Todd said that he bought his first bitcoin when the price per coin was 20 cents (which would mean he made the purchase around October 2010, two years after the bitcoin white paper was released).

Back posted on X Monday that, “for people betting, they are betting on what the documentary concluded. Which is probably not going to be true, because no one knows who Satoshi is. So they should keep that in mind.”

Previous attempts by the media to unveil Satoshi’s true identity have failed, with outlets incorrectly naming figures like programmer Dorian Nakamoto and known-pretender Craig Wright as Satoshi.

A Department of Homeland Security inspector general’s report from August reveals more than $7 billion remain in emergency funding that could be used for natural disasters — even though DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last week none was available after Hurricane Helene.

Mayorkas, 64, told reporters following the devastation of Helene in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to endure more hurricanes this fall.

“We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” the DHS chief said Oct. 2, days before Hurricane Milton began picking up speed in the Gulf of Mexico. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent.”

But DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari found in his Aug. 14 report that as of October 2022, FEMA had $8.3 billion in unliquidated funds meant to relieve declared disasters from 2012 or earlier.

More than $7 billion of that “could potentially be returned to the Disaster Relief Fund,” the report notes, referring to FEMA’s dedicated fund for natural calamities.

So far, the feds have paid just $4 million to Americans hit by Helene in the Southeast, providing up to $750 in immediate aid for individuals to help cover the cost of groceries and emergency supplies.

The storm has killed at least 232 people and caused more than $47.5 billion in devastation.

“It took one week for some of the county mayors in my home state to even get a phone call from FEMA, and Kamala Harris has the nerve to announce ‘a dire humanitarian situation’ in another country,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn told The Post, referencing the VP’s announcement of $157 million in US aid to Lebanon over the weekend.

“Our own people in Tennessee, North Carolina, and in the Southeast are the ones facing ‘a dire humanitarian situation’ and need ‘food, water, and shelter,’” Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said. “America Last is the theme of this administration, and Kamala Harris has proven she will continue that legacy.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy of pushing “disinformation-misinformation” by asking specifically about the Lebanon funding in the context of the disaster.

“President Biden is fond of saying, ‘Show your budget and I will tell you what you value,’” Doocy said. “If he’s got money for people in Lebanon right now without Congress having to come back, what does it say about his values? There’s not enough money right now for people in North Carolina who need it. That’s not misinformation.”

Jean-Pierre cited more than $200 million in allocated disaster relief funding and claimed it had not been exhausted yet by individuals applying for the aid, but said the president was nevertheless asking for more funding from Congress.

“There’s money that we are allocating to the impacted areas. And there’s money there to help people who truly need it,” she went on. “We have the money available to help survivors of Hurricane Helene and also Hurricane Milton.”

“Now there’s going to be a shortfall, right?” she added. “Because we don’t know how bad Hurricane Milton is going to be. And so we’re going to need additional funding.”

“That’s exactly what I just asked about — and you said it was just misinformation,” Doocy said in exasperation.

“No, what you’re asking me is why Congress needs to come back and do their job. That’s what you’re asking me,” Jean-Pierre retorted. “You may not want that, but that’s OK. That’s what this president wants and that’s what the vice president wants.”

Conservative critics like the popular Libs of TikTok account on X also pointed to another $3.9 billion in planned Disaster Relief Funding that had been set aside in September for COVID-19 relief funding to state and local governments, nonprofits and schools.

Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration has shelled out $1.4 billion from separate funds — the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP)and the Shelter and Service Program (SSP) — to state and local governments as well as non-governmental groups helping migrants settle in the US.

Republicans have argued the funds should be redirected to help with the federal response to Hurricane Helene — but Mayorkas’ office responded that his agency could not do so since Congress did not authorize the move.

“Rather than ensuring FEMA is ready to respond to hurricanes and other emergencies, FEMA has been pulled into a border crisis mission,” charged five Republican senators in a Friday letter to President Biden.

“We are very concerned that FEMA’s role at the border has impacted its readiness and preparation efforts for Hurricane Helene and its response efforts,” said Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Other GOP lawmakers lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of “political posturing” after the catastrophe.

“VP Harris: I was talking about politicians like YOU using this disaster for political posturing,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) posted Monday on X after the Harris campaign posted one of his quotes decrying “political posturing, finger pointing or conspiracy theories” to social media.

“Claiming to be ‘working around the clock’ while you don’t even plug in your headphones for a staged photo-op,” Tillis charged. “Where were YOU as Ft. Liberty troops were standing by for days?”

Harris, 59, posted a photo last week to her official X account aboard Air Force Two apparently taking notes on an important phone call — without her headphones plugged in.

In total, Congress appropriated more than $30 billion for FEMA in fiscal year 2024, according to the five senators.

Tucker Carlson sat down with Elon Musk for an extensive interview this week, where they covered a broad spectrum of topics that ranged from political endorsements and disaster relief efforts to social issues and technological advancements.

Musk offered his perspective on current events – including his enthusiastic support for Donald Trump, his concerns about democracy, and his criticisms of government decisions affecting his businesses like Starlink. Musk also shared his views on broader societal trends, such as the declining birthrate in Europe and the influence of religion in modern society. Musk also shared his thoughts on the impact of technology in everyday life, including artificial intelligence and the intersection of big tech and global politics.

All In On Trump

“If Trump loses, I really fear for what’s going to be left of democracy in America,” said Musk, suggesting that immigration policies have been manipulated to bolster Democratic voter bases, potentially undermining the fairness of elections.

Elon Musk is “ALL IN” for President Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/5g4detgpkk

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2024

Musk also suggested that if Trump loses, “I’m fucked.”

“If Trump loses, I am fuc*3d. How long do you think my prison sentence is gonna be?”

Elon Musk is simply supporting the candidate he believes is best for America’s future. No one can arrest him, regardless of who wins—supporting a candidate is not a crime. pic.twitter.com/xKBLjBbMp9

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) October 7, 2024

Tucker: “If [Kamala Harris] wins, how can they let X continue?”@elonmusk: “They’ll try to prosecute the company. They’ll try to prosecute me.” pic.twitter.com/84FyGr4iFs

— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) October 7, 2024

Starlink to Hurricane Victims

Musk discusses the use of Starlink to aid victims of Hurricane Helene, criticizing the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to cancel a contract that Starlink had won previously. According to Musk, “The FCC pulled the rug under us after a political decision,” suggesting that the decision was influenced by partisan politics rather than practical considerations.

“[Starlink] is the primary means of communication in the devastated areas.”@elonmusk and @TuckerCarlson on Hurricane Helene and how Musk’s @Starlink is helping. pic.twitter.com/TT6k96jmx7

— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) October 7, 2024

The Last Election

Musk warns that if Trump doesn’t win in November, it will be the end for genuine democratic elections in the United States. He argues that certain policies favor a demographic shift intended to secure a permanent Democratic majority. “If Trump doesn’t win this election, it’s the last election we’re going to have.”

Elon Musk: “If Trump doesn’t win this election, it’s the last election we’re going to have”

pic.twitter.com/aF6efJKZiG

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 7, 2024

Epstein and Diddy

The pair then discussed the Epstein client list, with Musk slamming the lack of accountability for high-profile individuals implicated in Epstein’s scandals – and predicting that if Trump wins, the Epstein client list “is going to become public.”

“It’s strange that there has been no significant action against those on the list,” Musk remarked.

“If Trump wins, that Epstein client list is going to become public.”@elonmusk explains why he thinks Kamala Harris receives so much support from the elites.

“Between Diddy and Epstein there’s probably several thousand hours of footage. pic.twitter.com/qBz2rbwIlW

— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) October 7, 2024

ELON: “I’d like to see a match-up of the top 100 puppet masters and the Epstein client list.. Strong over-lap!” pic.twitter.com/bptUFaBWjp

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2024

Vaccines

Musk then touched on vaccines, slamming the push for repeated COVID-19 jabs and the morality of forcing people to take them. He questions the efficacy and safety of continually administering boosters, especially without substantial data to support long-term health impacts.

ELON MUSK ON “VACCINES”: “We shouldn’t force people to take vaccines.”

Note that while he is RIGHT about this, he is 100% WRONG that “vaccines” ever saved any lives or have done anything good whatsoever. See tweet 2 and 3. pic.twitter.com/RzRPYrFFsP

— Sense Receptor (@SenseReceptor) October 7, 2024

The Movement to Decriminalize Crime

Musk criticizes policies that he perceives as effectively decriminalizing certain behaviors, linking them to rising crime rates in cities like San Francisco. He specifically slams laws that reduce penalties for theft under $1,000, arguing that they hurt small businesses and encourage lawlessness. He also slammed California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose policies he says are ineffective and detrimental to the state’s economic and social health. Musk predicts that these policies, if not revised, might lead to significant long-term problems for California.

Europe’s Declining Birthrate (53:11) The conversation turns to Europe’s declining birthrate, with Musk expressing concerns about demographic trends and their implications for Europe’s future. He emphasizes the need for policies that encourage family formation and higher birth rates to sustain economic and cultural vitality.

We Need Religion

Musk emphasized the importance of religion in society, arguing that it provides a necessary moral framework and sense of community. He warns against the loss of religious adherence, suggesting it could lead to a breakdown in societal cohesion.

NEW: Elon Musk says he believes there is a higher power, says there “must be some creator or creative force that caused our existence.”

Tucker: Do you believe there is a power higher than people?

Musk: Yeah… there’s a lot we don’t know. We don’t like why does reality exist?… pic.twitter.com/YY5paVVn9i

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 7, 2024

Watch the full interview:

Elon Musk is all in.

(0:00) Elon Musk Is All in on Donald Trump
(6:35) Providing Starlink to Victims of Hurricane Helene
(9:22) If Trump Loses, This Is the Last Election
(21:49) The Epstein and Diddy Client List
(33:38) Vaccines
(35:49) The Movement to Decriminalize Crime… pic.twitter.com/jNqB1ThqQz

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 7, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris took aim at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Monday for reportedly not taking her calls regarding federal storm relief efforts as a second powerful hurricane bears down on Florida.

“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations…is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris charged on Monday. “It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.”

The vice president’s comments came a couple of hours after reports from NBC and later ABC News that the Florida governor was not taking calls from Harris regarding storm recovery efforts, citing unnamed aides to the governor who said the calls seemed political in nature.

DeSantis, in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday evening, fired back, calling the vice president “delusional.”

Asked earlier on Monday during a hurricane news conference about reports of her call, DeSantis said he wasn’t aware Harris was trying to reach him.

“I didn’t know that she had called. I’m not sure who they called. They didn’t call me,” he said. “It wasn’t anything that anybody in my office did, in terms of saying it was political.”

Asked again about the report, the governor reiterated “I didn’t know that she had called.”

Hours later, in his Fox News Channel interview, DeSantis told host Sean Hannity that Harris “has no role in this process.”

“I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden. And I’ve worked well with both of them. She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm. And she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” the governor argued.

Watch:

The dispute comes as Hurricane Milton, now an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm, is on course to slam into Florida Wednesday evening.

Milton is bearing down on Florida as the death toll rises and roughly a quarter of a million people remain without power or running water a week and a half after Hurricane Helen tore a path of destruction through Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee, and parts of Virginia.

President Biden made stops last week in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida to survey storm damage from Hurricane Helene. While Biden was in Florida, DeSantis was holding a separate press event across the state in another area damaged from the storm.

“We were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come, it was his decision not to attend,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. “The president has reached out around Hurricane Helene. He reached out. It is up to the governor, it is really up to the governor.”

The White House said hours later that the president held separate calls with DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor “to get a firsthand report on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene, and to discuss preparations for Hurricane Milton.”

According to the White House, Biden urged the governor and the mayor to “call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts.”

Asked about the federal response, DeSantis said during his news conference that “we have gotten what we need from the feds….the president has approved what we asked for….I’m thankful for that.”

“Everything we’ve asked for from President Biden, he’s approved,” DeSantis highlighted.

With four weeks to go until Election Day in November and Harris and former President Trump locked in a bitter margin-of-error showdown in the race to succeed Biden in the White House, and with two of the hardest-hit states from Helene — North Carolina and Georgia — among the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 election – the politics of federal disaster relief are once again front and center on the campaign trail.

Trump, for a week and a half, has been repeatedly attacking Biden and Harris over the federal response to Hurricane Helene. Harris, on Monday, clapped back, accusing Trump of pushing “a lot of mis and disinformation.”

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, reversing a lower court’s ruling as it reviews an appeal.

The ban will go into effect at 5 p.m. local time, but allows some exceptions, such as to protect the life and health of the mother, and some situations where a fetal anomaly is detected, per NBC News.

The lower court lifted the state ban on abortions after six weeks last month, which made it legal for the first 22 weeks of pregnancy.

The initial six-week ban was signed by Gov. Brian Kemp nearly five years ago, but did not go into effect until 2022.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his opinion last month that women in Georgia have the right to “control [their] own [bodies], to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with [their] healthcare choices.”

“That power is not, however, unlimited,” McBurney wrote. “When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene.”

Multiple reproductive rights groups slammed Monday’s ruling in statements, claiming that it has sowed uncertainty and “wreaked havoc” on the lives of many voters.

“It is cruel that our patients’ ability to access the reproductive health care they need has been taken away yet again,” Feminist Women’s Health Center executive director Kwajelyn Jackson said in a statement.

“This ban has wreaked havoc on Georgians’ lives, and our patients deserve better.”