Federal authorities have charged 28 green card holders in California with fraudulently registering to vote and casting ballots illegally, with 11 already in custody, as part of a broader crackdown on noncitizen voting ahead of the midterms. The move follows a recent Department of Justice lawsuit seeking to block California from counting certain ballots, sparking accusations from state officials and voting rights advocates that the government is undermining public trust in the election process. Meanwhile, over three dozen U.S. congressional offices have received envelopes containing white powder in a suspicious package campaign, prompting federal investigations as the midterms approach. Separately, a prominent political figure has renewed controversial claims about France’s political and demographic shifts, describing the country as overwhelmed by migrants and extremists, despite demographic data showing Muslims make up a smaller portion of the capital’s population.
The DoJ has charged 28 green card holders in California, accusing them of fraudulently registering to vote. Plus, is the world really ready for AI actors?Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning. The US Department of Justice has charged 28 green card holders in California, accusing them of fraudulently registering to vote and casting illegal ballots. The arrests – 11 people are in custody – mark the latest escalation in federal efforts against alleged noncitizen voting.The crackdown comes days after the DOJ sued California to block the state from tabulating certain ballots in November’s midterms. California’s secretary of state, Shirley Weber, called the demands “outrageous”, pointing out that federal officials have spent months making “vague and unsubstantiated allegations”. Democrats and voting rights groups say the administration is laying the groundwork to sow doubt over November’s election results.How are Congress members being targeted before the midterms? More than three dozen members of US Congress have had their offices targeted with envelopes containing white powder, less than three weeks before the election, as federal agents try to identify who is behind the campaign.What has Donald Trump said about the French protests? At a rally in Kansas Trump described France as a once-great nation that had been “conquered, looted, and burned to the ground by migrants, jihadists, and communists”. Earlier in the day, Trump repeated his baseless claim that migrants had “taken over” France, and also claimed that “Paris is going to be a Muslim city very soon”. Muslims make up 10-15% of the population of the capital. Continue reading...
