Raw Story

In a column for MSNBC, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner claimed it is all but certain that Donald Trump will immediately seek to oust special counsel Jack Smith if he wins re-election in less than two weeks, but that e will run up against a law that prohibits him from personally interfering.

With that in mind, he stated that, with the Supreme Court giving him almost complete immunity, he may proceed by nominating Judge Aileen Cannon to be his attorney general with an understanding that she will do his dirty work for him if she clears Senate approval.

Citing Richard Nixon's notorious "Saturday Night Massacre" aimed at getting him off the hook following the Watergate break-in, Kirschner wrote that the former president would need a cut-out to rid himself of Smith and Cannon seems the most logical candidate to commence a DOJ purge.

ALSO READ: Not even ‘Fox and Friends’ can hide Trump’s dementia

Noting that the Trump-appointed Cannon dismissed federal charges against the former president for unlawful retention of government documents ––with an appeal underway –– Kirschner wrote "It’s fair to say that Trump hit the jackpot by having Cannon preside over and dismissing his criminal case. He certainly thinks so: though Trump has relentlessly and often viciously criticized virtually all other judges who are presiding over his criminal and civil cases, he has praised Cannon effusively every step of the way."

Should Cannon find herself heading up the DOJ, Kirschner predicted she will become a willing instrument of Trump's "retribution" campaign.

"Let’s assume Trump nominates Cannon to be attorney general and she is confirmed by the Senate. Trump likely won’t even have to tell Cannon to fire Smith, because, in substance, she already has. Trump would be able to avoid the messy 'Saturday Night Massacre' debacle that was part of Nixon’s downfall," he wrote.

You can read more here.

All eyes are on the presidential election 10 days from now. But how effective either candidate will be will depend on whether they have the majorities in Congress necessary to pass their policies into law.

Both chambers of Congress are almost evenly divided, and a handful of results in favor of one party or another could give Democrats or Republicans a critical edge. NBC News recently identified several down-ballot races for both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate that could prove decisive in determining which party controls either chamber of Congress.

1. Texas' Senate race

READ MORE: Ted Cruz dodges key issue that's become major 'political liability' for GOP

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is currently battling for his political life against Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is raising large sums and polling within the margin of error according to FiveThirtyEight's aggregated polling data. Moreover, Texas has added roughly 2.5 million new voters to its rolls since 2018, when Cruz barely defeated then-Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) by less than three percentage points statewide. Allred has seized on Texas' draconian abortion ban as a central campaign theme, pointing out that Cruz has voted multiple times to ban abortion — even without exceptions for rape and incest.

2. Nebraska's Senate race

One surprisingly close race is in the Cornhusker State, where Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) is in a tight reelection contest against union organizer Dan Osborn, who is running as an independent rather than as a Democrat. Polls are neck-and-neck, showing either Osborn or Fischer ahead depending on which candidate sponsored the poll.

Republicans currently only need to flip two seats to win back the Senate majority. One of those flips is almost certainly to come from West Virginia, where the deep-red state's open Senate seat will likely go to Republican Governor Jim Justice. the other flip could come from red states like Montana and Ohio, where Democratic incumbents are running for reelection. But if Fischer loses, the GOP taking back control of the Senate could become much less likely.

READ MORE: 'They're terrified': TX Republicans fear Dem surge with 2.5M new voters added since 2018

3. Maryland's Senate race

Even though Maryland is considered a safe blue state, its open Senate seat is getting national attention due to Democrat Angela Alsobrooks facing off with popular two-term Republican governor Larry Hogan. The former governor has attempted to set himself apart from the rest of the GOP by being a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump. But the race is still considered to be less competitive than Texas and Nebraska, with Alsobrooks regularly posting double-digit leads over Hogan. Additionally, a recent report found that Hogan directed millions of dollars in state funds to his real estate clients while he was in office.

4. Florida's Senate race

In the Sunshine State, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-Florida) has mounted a surprisingly competitive challenge to Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida). FiveThirtyEight shows Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell by anywhere from two to eight percentage points in polls, and Florida has roughly one million more registered Republicans than Democrats. Still, the race is noteworthy given that Floridians are also voting on whether to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution in November. Abortion-related ballot measures are undefeated in favor of preserving reproductive rights ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 — even in deep-red states like Kansas, Kentucky and Montana.

READ MORE: 'Just thirsty for a change': This deep-red state is poised to oust its two-term GOP senator

5. Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District race

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), who is the former chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, could be ousted next month given the latest polls. According to FiveThirtyEight, former TV news anchor Janelle Stelson is pulling ahead in the latest polls of 10th district voters. NBC News reported that the Cook Political Report has recently re-designated the district from "lean Republican" to "toss-up" amid Stelson's October momentum.

6. Virginia's 2nd Congressional District race

The House majority could also flip depending on how Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia) fares in her battle for a second term. Her Democratic opponent, Missy Cotter Smasal, is polling within the margin of error. But another reason to keep an eye on the Old Dominion State is that it will be among the first states to announce winners on November 5, and Kiggans' race could be a bellwether to predict how Republicans overall will fare in the election.

READ MORE: 'Serious conflict of interest': GOP Senate candidate funneled millions to his firm as governor

7. Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District race

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin), who is running for a second term, represents a rural district in the Badger State. Polls show that he's in a virtual tie with Democrat Rebecca Cooke, who is running as a moderate. Van Orden has attracted negative attention to himself for swearing at teenaged Senate pages and for reportedly holding drunken parties in his House office. Turnout in the district could be relatively higher than normal given Wisconsin's importance as one of the three critically important Blue Wall states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Currently, House Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford two defections from his conference in order to pass legislation through the House. His already tenuous majority has steadily weakened with multiple Republican incumbents — including those from safe Republican districts — announcing their retirements in 2024. Democrats could take back the majority by flipping five seats.

Click here to read NBC's report in its entirety.

Donald Trump is expected to take the stage in Novi, Michigan Saturday afternoon, the day after he made his MAGA fans wait for him for hours on a cold tarmac in Traverse City on Friday night.

With the election down to ten days away, the former president has attempting to pack in as many appearances as possible in the waning days in the key battleground states that hold the key to a November victory.

On Friday night, the former president left his fans waiting while he finished up an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan in Austin.

ALSO READ: Not even ‘Fox and Friends’ can hide Trump’s dementia

As CBS reported, "Minutes before Trump's Michigan rally was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, his spokesman posted on the social media platform X that Trump was just leaving Texas, more than two hours away by air. Trump recorded a video from his plane urging his supporters to stay, noting it was Friday night and promising, 'We're going to have a good time tonight,'" adding, Trump eventually took the stage at the Traverse City airport, where temperatures dipped to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The crowd erupted into cheers as video screens showed Trump's plane arriving and then him walking off his plane and down the steps."

You can watch his Saturday interview below:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Former President Donald Trump's refusal to meet routine deadlines foreshadows his willingness to embrace an alarming aspect of Project 2025 should he be reelected in November, a new analysis contends.

Trump's slow-walking of the presidential transition process to vet potential staffers and appointees suggests he means to force federal workers to do his bidding by dismantling key protections, Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton argued Friday.

"As with everything else associated with Trump, the whole project appears to be one part grift and one part vengeance with loyalists," Parton wrote. "The corruption that characterized Trump's first term is already evident."

Parton pointed to leaders of Trump's transition team and the policy platform their conservative think tank developed as the reason why the campaign is not taking advantage of money and essential services they could have accessed by meeting deadlines.

"It doesn't take a very stable genius to figure out why they are dragging their feet," Parton wrote. "Trump's campaign can avoid federal rules limiting private contributions to the transition process as well as ethics rules that bar conflicts of interest."

Conflicts of interest concerns are already being raised about Howard Lutnick, a financier reportedly raising concerns he'll insert profitable business allies into the second administration he's planning for the former president.

ALSO READ: Opinion | People have had enough': Here are the 3 'big-picture' reasons why Kamala Harris will win

“Totally sketchy,” was how one senior Republican official described Lutnick's actions to Politico this week.

The team also includes Linda McMahon, the America First Policy Institute leader accused of allowing the sexual abuse of young boys during her tenure at the World Wrestling Entertainment, as the Daily News reported Thursday.

"Such damming allegations would probably be cause for her resignation from any other presidential transition, but considering Trump's own history of sexual abuse it's unlikely that he would care about such mundane accusations," wrote Parton.

"It's par for the course in any Trump administration."

Parton argues Trump's retention of McMahon suggests the former president's dedication to her think tank's "America First Agenda" which calls for eliminating most of the civil service protections for federal workers by making them at-will employees.

"You can see why the campaign doesn't feel the need to bother with a traditional transition process," Parton concluded. "They are already vetting hundreds of MAGA faithful and planning to start dramatically expanding executive power the minute Trump takes power."

Chinese hackers penetrated into U.S. telecommunications networks and targeted phones used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, reported The New York Times on Friday.

Investigators are currently trying to "determine what communications data, if any, was taken or observed by the sophisticated penetration of telecom systems, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an active and highly sensitive national security case."

Such data, the report continued, could be a "gold mine" for hostile foreign intelligence services, as they could determine who Trump is in communication with and exploit his vulnerabilities, particularly if he ends up becoming president again.

Trump's campaign was alerted this week "that the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate were among a number of people inside and outside of government whose phone numbers had been targeted through the infiltration of Verizon phone systems," according to sources speaking to The Times.

This is not the first such security threat that has targeted Trump. Earlier this year, Iranian hackers posed as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife in order to gain inside access to campaign information.

Infamously, these kinds of schemes have disrupted U.S. elections for years; in 2016, Russian intelligence sought to interfere in the election, hacking and releasing information from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, while using troll farms to promote disinformation online. Former special counsel Robert Mueller's report indicated that Trump was aware of this and enthusiastic that it would be to his benefit.

For the first time in 36 years The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race. The move is infuriating critics, democracy advocates, and everyday Americans who point to the paper's official slogan: "Democracy dies in darkness."

"The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates," The Post's publisher and CEO, William Lewis, wrote in an opinion piece Friday. He added: "our job as the newspaper of the capital city of the most important country in the world is to be independent."

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik writes, "The decision was revealed in a tense meeting with people on the editorial staff. And it arrives at a time of heightened concern over whether news [outlets] are pulling their punches in order to appease Trump in final days of a neck and neck presidential race [against] VP Harris."

READ MORE: ‘Malignant Narcissism’: Trump Is an ‘Existential Threat to Democracy’ Health Experts Warn

"It is not clear whether Post owner Jeff Bezos or Publisher/CEO Will Lewis made the call," Folkenflik adds. "I'm told by person with direct knowledge that [editorial page editor David] Shipley implies that Bezos ordered the decision and Lewis carried it out."

Former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron told Folkenflik, "This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty."

"Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners)," Baron added. "History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage."

Columbia Journalism Review executive editor Sewell Chan reports, "The Washington Post opinion editor approved a Harris endorsement. A week later, the paper’s publisher killed it."

The massive deluge of comments criticizing The Washington Post's decision to not endorse either candidate flooded the paper's comments section, thousands in just the first hour, seemingly dozens if not hundreds by the minute at one point, with many vowing to cancel their subscriptions.

Anger also flooded social media.

One user on the social media platform X wrote: "An outrageous abdication of responsibility. Tyranny vs freedom - it’s an obvious choice. Perhaps it’s the 'anticipatory obedience' that scholars on tyranny warn us about."

Michael McDonald, a professor of political science who specializes in American elections wrote: "Democracy Dies In Darkness Isn’t a motto for the Washington Post, It’s a mantra."

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote: "The first step towards fascism is when the free press cowers in fear."

Political scientist Norman Ornstein, a contributing editor at The Atlantic offered a deep dive (thread).

READ MORE: ‘Perfect Russian Asset’: JD Vance Pummeled for Promoting ‘Putin’s Propaganda’

"Let's unpack this," Dr. Ornstein writes. "Donald Trump just referred again to the press as 'the enemy of the people. He has promised to lock up his adversaries, 'the enemy within.' Pledged to forcibly deport 12 million or more immigrants, legal or not, first putting them in detention camps."

"He has expressed admiration for Hitler, wants generals like Hitler had. He is talking regularly to Netanyahu, urging him to do nothing to help Biden. He talks to Putin, pledges to blow up NATO, shows increasing signs of mental decline. He is a narcissistic sociopath & grifter," Ornstein continues. "He has been convicted on 34 felony accounts and adjudicated rapist. He praises the Supreme Court for Dobbs, said he would pardon violent insurrectionists, absconded with our most important secrets. He called our heroes who died for the country suckers and losers."

"Top military leaders say flatly he is a fascist. Dozens of those who worked closely with him in his presidency have denounced him. He is a serial liar, represents an existential threat to democracy. I could go on. But the point is @washingtonpost knows all that."

"It is a breathtaking show of cowardice and irresponsibility if the nation's newspaper refuses to make an endorsement in this existential election. Will Lewis, Jeff Bezos, David Shipley are all complicit in this. Shame on them all."

READ MORE: Fox Host Insists Trump’s Hitler Remarks Were Made in Private — Just ‘Letting Off Steam’