Ex-white House Lawyer Warns Trump Team is Disrupting Midterms

WHO:

The Daily Beast - Ty Cobb said he expected the Alaska challenge to fail because state courts had already ruled on issues involving the two candidates named Dan Sullivan.

CNN - Kurt Olsen, a 2020 election denier who later worked in the Trump White House and Justice Department, supplied allegations used to obtain the warrant for the FBI’s search of Fulton County election offices.

CNN - White House task-force leader John Solomon acknowledged there was no evidence that votes were altered after documents he declassified fueled Trump’s claims of 2020 election interference.

CNN - Homeland Security Secretary Mullin, Justice Department Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon, FBI Director Kash Patel, and White House task-force leader John Solomon were identified as officials involved in the administration’s election-related efforts.

The Daily Beast - Ty Cobb represented Trump during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

Alternet - Ty Cobb served as special counsel during Trump’s first administration and represented Trump during Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

NBC News Politics - Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb discussed the Justice Department’s election-related actions on *Meet the Press NOW*.

Alternet - The Alaska Senate race includes Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan, independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan, and Democratic candidate Mary Peltola.

The Daily Beast - U.S. District Judge David Carter rejected the Justice Department’s request concerning California ballots.

Alternet - Zeteo reporters Justin Glawe and Asawin Suebsaeng described the administration’s actions as “selectively and vindictively targeting political opponents and liberal state leaders.”

Alternet - A Trump adviser told Zeteo, “The president and the White House are steering all of this.”

WHAT:

Alternet - Seven people inside and around the FBI told MS NOW they feared being ordered to seize voting machines or ballots; a former senior agent said the FBI had previously instructed agents to go unarmed when voting.

Alternet - The article said a federal law enacted in 1865 makes it a felony for federal officials to bring “troops or armed men” to an election site, punishable by up to five years in prison and a lifetime ban from federal office or employment, except to repel armed enemies.

Alternet - The article reported that four federal lawsuits were pending to keep armed agents away from polling places, including one filed by Arlington County, Virginia.

Alternet - Senators Warner and Himes said they were preparing for the possibility that an exaggerated or fabricated intelligence claim could be used to justify halting voting in Democratic areas.

Alternet - The article said Trump had mobilized the National Guard nationwide specifically for the election.

Alternet - Michael Wolff predicted that Democrats would focus investigations on people around Trump rather than impeach him, citing planned investigations or impeachment efforts targeting Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and naming Attorney General Todd Blanche as another likely target.

Alternet - Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan said Trump did not tell Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang that China might be spying on him, citing concerns about U.S.-China trade negotiations and the AI industry.

CNN - DHS Secretary Mullin said foreign adversaries could change voter registrations and votes, citing foreign-made voting-machine parts; he also warned election officials could face fines, other penalties, or prison for failing to secure elections or prevent illegal voting.

CNN - The Justice Department made similar demands for voter information in Washington State as in California; officials and voting-rights advocates warned last-minute investigations could wrongly disenfranchise eligible voters.

CNN - FBI Director Kash Patel said agents would be based in field offices for election security, but would go to polling places if there were a legal violation. Asked whether deploying agents to polls would be unlawful, Patel said, “I don’t know that we can’t legally do it.”

CNN - Solomon said the Intelligence Committee had “zero evidence” that a foreign power flipped votes in 2020, 2022, or 2024, and that intelligence did not yet support claims the 2020 election was stolen.

CNN - Trump said Republicans “ought to nationalize the voting” and “take over” election administration in some places, and floated declaring a national emergency to exert greater federal control.

CNN - Trump said a call he made to the Justice Department stopped alleged fraud during California’s June primaries; CNN reported no evidence that the call affected the results.

Boston.com News - Senator Markey said, “We have to be ready to have millions of people come out of their homes to be protesting what Trump is trying to perpetrate as an electoral crime on our nation’s history.”

CNN - Mullin said DHS identified more than 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada, plus roughly 25,000 in more than a dozen Republican-led states; CNN reported the figures faced scrutiny and were described by some Republicans as misleading and inflated.

CNN - Dhillon said DOJ planned to deploy more than 1,000 federal election monitors across all 50 states; some monitors assigned to primaries had previously participated in legal efforts challenging Trump’s 2020 loss.

CNN - DOJ sued roughly 30 states for unredacted voter rolls and had lost every ruling in those cases at the time of publication.

CNN - DOJ issued federal grand jury subpoenas to Los Angeles County election officials and opened a criminal probe related to Alaska’s Senate race.

CNN - The FBI seized 700 boxes of 2020 election materials from Fulton County, Georgia, election offices and subpoenaed Arizona’s state Senate records concerning its 2020 election audit.

CNN - Trump’s proposed proof-of-citizenship and voter-identification legislation stalled in the Senate; courts blocked efforts to impose new mail-voting and voter-roll rules.

CNN - Trump said he regretted not seizing voting machines after the 2020 election: “Well, I should have.”

The Daily Beast - Cobb said Alaska courts had already addressed the dispute over the two candidates named Dan Sullivan and predicted the federal challenge would fail.

Zeteo | Substack - The White House would not rule out military or federal law-enforcement intervention at polling places, including armed ICE agents.

Zeteo | Substack - Zeteo reported that Trump was asking aides whether they were “ready for different election challenges.”

Alternet - Michael Wolff predicted a Republican midterm loss could lead Democrats to investigate Trump administration officials, and identified Attorney General Todd Blanche as a potential focus.

Alternet - Wolff said Trump would blame aides for an election loss, while officials around him could face investigations and subpoenas from a Democratic Congress.

Alternet - Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan said Trump wanted a cut from business dealings and did not act on information that China might be spying on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, citing concerns about U.S.-China trade negotiations and the AI industry.

Alternet - The article said Trump had been linked to $377 billion in corruption and had increased his net worth by roughly $2 billion.

Alternet - Retired federal judge Jeremy Fogel said government workers cut more than 400 trees at Washington’s East Potomac Golf Course despite a judge’s prior-notice directive; the administration appealed the latest ruling.

Alternet - Fogel said that at a September gathering of about 120 or 130 federal judges, more than half raised their hands when asked whether they had faced threats they considered serious.

Alternet - Cobb said, “They are doing everything they can to interfere with the elections,” and warned that efforts could continue after ballots are cast.

Alternet - The Justice Department sued to prevent Alaska from certifying its Senate election if Dan Sullivan loses. Trump said, “I’m the one that said do it,” when discussing the lawsuit.

Alternet - The Alaska ballot lists two candidates named Dan Sullivan: incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and independent Dan J. Sullivan. The second candidate has denied being a spoiler candidate.

The Daily Beast - The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign sought to find another Dan Sullivan and persuade him to run, with the aim of drawing votes from the incumbent.

Alternet - Trump called for Peltola to be barred from the race and face criminal charges over the alleged effort to recruit the other Sullivan. The article says ballot-stacking is common and is not a crime.

The Daily Beast - Cobb called the California ballot challenge “meritless.” The Justice Department sought to block counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 registered voters it said might be noncitizens; Judge Carter rejected the request.

The Daily Beast - Carter said the proposed action would “coerce a state and local government to abandon their own Constitutional election procedures and bend to the will of the Executive Branch.”

Alternet - The Justice Department defended its California action as necessary to prevent illegal voting and said it would appeal the ruling.

Alternet - Cobb predicted further legal challenges, including subpoenas and demands directed at other states.

Alternet - Zeteo reported that Trump and Republicans were challenging election results, that officials faced arrests or threatened prosecution, and that scenarios under consideration included deploying troops or federal law enforcement at polling places and blocking certification or seizing ballots or voting machines. Zeteo said Trump had not ruled these possibilities out.

Alternet - Cobb said voters’ ability to choose representatives is a “fundamental aspect” of democracy and warned it “should ‘not be corrupted the way that the president is corrupted virtually every other aspect of the rule of law.’”

WHERE:

Alternet - The cited election-related lawsuits concern Alaska and California.

NBC News Politics - Cobb discussed efforts involving Alaska’s Senate election and mail-in ballots in California.

WHY:

CNN - Election officials and Democratic lawmakers feared federal election actions and fraud claims could spill into Election Day, intimidate voters, or be used to cast doubt on midterm results if Trump and Republicans lost.

Alternet - Fogel said the administration’s handling of court directives was eroding trust between the judiciary and government, and warned that restoring trust would require more than a change of administration.

Alternet - Cobb said the Alaska legal challenge could “sow chaos, confusion” and potentially discourage Democratic voters from participating.

The Daily Beast - Cobb said the administration’s actions sought to interfere with elections; Zeteo characterized the broader effort as an attempt to help Republicans retain power.

HOW:

CNN - DHS sought to withhold grant funding from states that declined Trump-backed election changes, including mandatory manual paper-ballot counts; CNN said it was unclear whether any states had adopted the reforms.

CNN - Internal DHS records indicated federal agents would monitor the midterms while investigating alleged voter fraud, including thousands of individuals, canvassing groups, and nonprofits.

Alternet - The California request targeted ballots from more than 20,000 voters suspected by federal officials of being noncitizens; a federal judge found the intervention threatened an election already underway and could affect valid votes.

Alternet - Zeteo reported that the Justice Department was using lawsuits to challenge how states administer elections and determine vote validity, despite its own guidelines against such interference.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 13:05 UTC)

Trump is pushing federal control of elections and questioning limits on agents at polling places. The FBI seized Georgia election materials as voter-roll demands face court losses. A task-force leader acknowledged no evidence foreign powers changed votes.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 11:59 UTC)

Trump is pushing greater federal control over elections through investigations and voter-roll lawsuits. A White House task-force leader acknowledged no evidence foreign powers changed votes. The FBI seized Georgia election records, while a judge rejected California ballot restrictions.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 10:41 UTC)

The Justice Department is challenging election procedures in Alaska and California, facing court resistance. Federal officials are seeking voter records and planning election monitoring nationwide. Ty Cobb warns these efforts could disrupt voting and undermine voters’ choices.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 08:59 UTC)

A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request to block California ballots. Trump backed a lawsuit challenging Alaska’s Senate election certification if Dan Sullivan loses. The Justice Department plans nationwide election monitoring, while courts have blocked other proposed voting restrictions.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 08:05 UTC)

Former Trump attorney Ty Cobb says the administration is trying to interfere with elections. A federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s bid to block California ballots. In Alaska, Trump backed a lawsuit that could disrupt the Senate election.

(UPDATED October 30, 2026 01:14 UTC)

Former Trump administration lawyer Ty Cobb says the Justice Department’s election-related actions in Alaska and California are attempts to interfere with voting, and warns that legal challenges could continue after ballots are cast. In Alaska, the department sued to block certification of the Senate race if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses; President Trump said he directed the lawsuit, while Cobb warned it could sow confusion and discourage voters. In California, a federal judge rejected the department’s request to block counting mail-in ballots from more than 20,000 voters suspected of being noncitizens, ruling the intervention threatened the state’s election procedures; the department says it will appeal.