Harris calls Trump ‘unhinged and unstable’ over reported Hitler comments: Election 2024 live updates

Democratic ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, Rep Jamie Raskin, has written to Donald Trump and JD Vance pressing them to sign key documents to ensure the continuity of government and to commit to a smooth transition of power should they win the election.

Read the full letter here

“Breaking the precedent set by every other presidential candidate since 2010, you have rejected these resources and refused to commit to a smooth transition. It appears your decision may be at least partially driven by your intent to circumvent fundraising rules that put limits on private contributions on the transition effort and require public reporting. You may also be acting out of a more general aversion to ethics rules designed to prevent conflicts of interest in the incoming administration. With fewer than two weeks left until an election in which the American people will select a new President of the United States, we urge you to put the public’s interest in maintaining a properly functioning government above any personal financial or political interests you may perceive in boycotting the official transition law and process,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

Until this election, no eligible major party candidate has ever failed to sign the documents or submit an ethics plan.

Here’s Gustaf Kilander with more on what the Trump transition team have been planning:

Elon Musk went on a late-night attack against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz after he called the billionaire a “dips***” during a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

Gustaf Kilander has the story of what Musk had to say as he was yet again publicly mocked for this Trump rally appearance.

In an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman made a foreign policy case for Donald Trump implying that dictators fear him because he might actually do what he says, such as “bomb Moscow”.

He also blamed the invasion of Georgia and Crimea by Russia on the Biden administration when they happened during the Bush and Obama presidencies, respectively, and dismissed John Kelly calling Trump a fascist as “one person stating a series of things”.

Ackman also didn’t seem to have faith in the judgment of the jury that found Trump liable for sexual assault.

Host Andrew Ross Sorkin then challenged Ackman over the former president’s spreading of disinformation and his own tweets...

This story is part of an investigative series and new documentary, The A-Word, by The Independent examining the state of abortion access and reproductive care in the US after the fall of Roe v Wade.

Kelly Rissman reports.

For more than a decade, ‘Melinda’ has raised a child she never wanted — a child that was the product of rape.

“I love my child. But if I could go back in time and get an abortion, I would 100 percent of the time,” she told The Independent.

Melinda, whose name was changed at her request to protect her child, said her perspective often “trips people up,” but it doesn’t mean she hates her child — she just wishes she’d been able to get an abortion.

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Election officials in Georgia have conducted an audit of voters in the state and found that there were just 20 noncitizens among 8.2 million registered people in the state.

Secretary of State Brian Raffensperger announced the findings today, which underline the notion that noncitizen voting is extremely rare, no matter what some in the Republican Party and Trump campaign maintain, attempting to sow doubt in results ahead of the election.

The 20 individuals were found to be noncitizens based on affidavits they signed to get out of jury duty, Raffesnperger said in a news conference this morning.

Those records were then compared with federal citizenship and voter registration databases. Their registrations were canceled and the matter was referred to law enforcement for further investigations and possible prosecution.

“There’s no proof that there is this overwhelming number of noncitizens on the rolls,” Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in the secretary of state’s office said Wednesday. “Because, the reality is, if you’re a noncitizen and you’re a legal resident and you’re on a path to citizenship, if you try to register to vote, you will never get to be a citizen. It is very high risk, very low reward.”

A further 156 people’s citizenship state wasn’t immediately determined and will be subject to further scrutiny.

“Georgia is a model when it comes to preventing noncitizen voting,” Raffensperger said, adding, “We need to remain constantly vigilant.”

This op-ed is part of an investigative series and new documentary, The A-Word, by The Independent examining the state of abortion access and reproductive care in the US after the fall of Roe v Wade.

Danielle Campoamor writes that as a currently pregnant mother-of-two who has experienced both miscarriage and abortion, and who lives in a state with a near-total abortion ban: “I deserve more than this.”

Kamala Harris’s running mate Governor Tim Walz voted in St Paul, Minnesota this morning. He was joined at the Ramsey Government Center by his wife Gwen Walz and their son Gus, who is voting for the first time, NBC News reports.

“To have my son with me, Gus, to vote for the first time, exciting, an opportunity to turn the page on the chaos of Donald Trump and a new way forward,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee said after he voted.

Early voting began in St Paul on September 20.

The governor also took the opportunity to talk to the press about John Kelly’s comments regarding Donald Trump being a fascist.

This story is part of an investigative series and new documentary, The A-Word, by The Independent examining the state of abortion access and reproductive care in the US after the fall of Roe v Wade.

As voters across the United States head to the polls on November 5, some citizens will have a crucial question to consider as they fill out their ballots: Should their states protect the right to an abortion?

Alicja Hagopian looks at where voters will have a chance to protect reproductive rights this November.

A former top aide to Gen John Kelly is defending his former boss and says voters should listen to what he has to say about former president Donald Trump's unfitness for office.

Kevin Carroll, a retired US Army colonel who served as a senior counselor to Kelly when Kelly was Trump's homeland security secretary, told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that Kelly's choice to speak out against the ex-president is “no small step” for the retired US Marine general.

“He's seen Donald Trump up close in a way that very few other Americans have, and he's warning us that a second Trump term would be dangerous,” he said. “Leaders like General Kelly are warning us that Trump has no empathy, that he's increasingly unstable and unfit, and that he's more extreme than ever. I think we have an obligation to take General Kelly and these other leaders such as Secretary Esper, Secretary Mattis, Chairman Milley, seriously when they say these things.”

Carroll also said Kelly is trying to warn Americans that the “guardrails” that kept Trump from abusing much of his power “won't exist” in a second Trump administration because Trump would prioritize loyalty to him over all else when staffing his second-term staff.

“General Kelly is warning us that Trump is seeking the power to do anything he wants, anytime he wants. Trump is now running to give himself unprecedented, unchecked ... extreme powers. He's surrounding himself with little loyalists and toadies who will green light every one of his wishes, letting him bulldoze the tenants of our democracy and lock up fellow Americans, including sitting members of Congress, whom he calls the enemy within,” he said.