1. A 2016 staple is back

"Rigged election." Remember when Donald Trump used the term over and over in 2016, to describe the only possible way he could lose? Well, it's back with a vengeance. In a tweet yesterday morning, he again cast doubt on vote-by-mail by floating the possibility it could lead to a "rigged election." He was responding to a tweet about a Democratic data group, which warned about a scenario where Trump jumps out to a wide lead on election night but ultimately loses once all mail-in votes are counted. Some Democrats have expressed concerns about this scenario because it could allow Trump to declare victory prematurely. The president later recommended an interesting solution to the problem... —Forbes

• — Just vote twice. After arriving in Wilmington, N.C., yesterday, Trump said voters in the state should "test" their state's election system by voting once by mail, then trying to vote a second time in person. "Let them send it in and let them go vote, and if the system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote," Trump said. "It is illegal to vote twice in an election," clarified Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. —USA Today
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• — Barr takes a pass. If you were looking for Attorney General Bill Barr to correct the record, keep dreaming. Asked by CNN host Wolf Blitzer, "Is there any state in which you can vote twice?", Barr demurred, saying, "Maybe you can change your vote up to a particular time, I don't know what the law is." In the same interview, he justified Trump's controversial suggestion of deploying federal agents to polling places, arguing that the Justice Dept. has historically sent agents to enforce civil rights. —Politico
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• — Both sides now. Lest you think only Republicans are messing with voting, think again, albeit on a significantly smaller scale. Twitter has forced a Democratic House candidate from Texas to delete a tweet that urged supporters of Trump to vote the day after the November election. The company said the tweet by the campaign for Elizabeth Hernandez, who is challenging GOP Rep. Kevin Brady for his seat in the state's 8th District, violated its rules against voter suppression. —Politico

2. Schmidt: Pandemic being used to suppress voting rights

"The right to vote is the foundation of any democracy. In the time of a pandemic, our right to vote should also include having our safety guarded. Our leaders should be working to secure that right in the safest way possible instead of attempting to suppress our vote and put our health in jeopardy." —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ed. Note: Lynn Schmidt is the Missouri state leader for Stand Up Republic.

MORE: House panel subpoenas US Postal Service chief —Reuters

3. DHS held back intel on Russian scheme

In early July, the Department of Homeland Security withheld publication of an intelligence bulletin warning law enforcement agencies of a Russian scheme to promote "allegations about the poor mental health" of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden—a line of attack that has been utilized by President Trump and his re-election campaign.

• — A draft bulletin, entitled "Russia Likely to Denigrate Health of U.S. Candidates to Influence 2020 Election," was submitted to the agency's legislative and public affairs office for review on July 7. It was set to be distributed to federal, state, and local law enforcement two days later, according to internal emails.
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• — An hour after its submission, a senior DHS official intervened. "Please hold on sending this one out until you have a chance to speak to [acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf]," wrote DHS Chief of Staff John Gountanis. That was two months ago.
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• — The decision is fueling concerns that the Trump Administration has sought to politicize intelligence—particularly after an announcement that senior intelligence leaders will cease briefing Congress on election security, purportedly to prevent leaks. —ABC News

4. WaPo Ed Board: Putin poisons his enemies...and why not?

"Following the Skripal poisoning, Trump only reluctantly agreed to join diplomatic expulsions by Britain and the EU. He still has not confronted [Russian President Vladimir] Putin about intelligence reports that Russia paid bounties to the Afghan Taliban for killing U.S. soldiers. Nor has he objected to ongoing Russian efforts to help his re-election campaign by smearing Democratic nominee Joe Biden. It's little wonder Putin thinks he can get away with another chemical weapons attack. To all appearances, he has the president of the United States in his pocket." —The Washington Post

5. Immigration is about to get 'dystopian'

The Department of Homeland Security announced this week that it will soon publish a rule expanding the use of biometric data and DNA during the immigration process. Under the new protocols, DHS would have the authority to require biometrics for any application or petition. Under current DHS regulations, biometrics are required only for applications involving background checks.

• — The new rule gives DHS officials wider authority to expand technologies, ranging from voiceprints to iris scans. It also eliminates age restrictions for collecting biometrics, and further allows DHS to collect DNA to confirm genetic relationships.
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• — The department claims the results will be stored in immigrants' official records but that raw DNA will not be kept. In some cases, the department would have the authority to collect U.S. citizens' DNA.
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• — Civil liberties and immigrant rights groups have criticized the proposal. Andrea Flores of the American Civil Liberties Union said, "Collecting a massive database of genetic blueprints won't make us safer—it will simply make it easier for the government to surveil and target our communities..." —The Hill

6. 'This is a virus that's established itself into the population'

As new COVID-19 case counts decline in some recent hot spots, they're spiking in other places—particularly in Midwestern states like Iowa and South Dakota. It's a sign that the country's virus fight remains stuck in neutral, as progress in one state is repeatedly offset by infections in others, with little improvement overall. Politics plays a role, as do events like college reopenings and the Sturgis motorcycle rally. But it's also a sign of the fatigue, frustration, and exhaustion Americans feel after months of masks and hand sanitizer, social isolation, shuttered businesses, and closed beaches. People are putting their guard down, and public health experts fear that will leave room for the virus to continue spreading across the country. —Bloomberg

• — Shifting attention from testing. The president has made no secret of his disdain for coronavirus testing, so with Election Day just two months away, he's going to focus less on the administration's wildly unsuccessful effort to contain the virus and even more on shielding vulnerable groups and restoring a sense of normalcy. The goal is to increase public approval of Trump's pandemic response—and bolster his re-election chances—by sharply reducing case counts and the number of deaths and hospitalizations attributed to the virus. —Politico
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• — Operation Warp Speed. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has requested that the nation's governors do everything in their power to eliminate hurdles for vaccine distribution sites to be fully operational by Nov. 1. Some officials say the federal government has failed to adequately communicate the logistical responsibilities that state and local governments need to take in distributing the vaccine. Others worry that the timeline—offering the first vaccines just days before the presidential election—is motivated by politics over science and safety. —McClatchy
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• — Some good news. Early-stage clinical trial results show the COVID-19 vaccine candidate made by Novavax is safe and elicits an immune response, according to a study published yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Five vaccines are in the clinical-trial phase in the U.S., as well as 33 others around the world, according to the World Health Organization. —CNN

7. Barker: Germany is winning against COVID-19, but losing to QAnon

"Germany's disinformation landscape is evolving—and metastasizing—rapidly. In recent months, Querdenken 711 has developed connective tissue with the Reichsbürger, Hildmann, and the growing German following of the QAnon cult of conspiracy. In fact, Germany has the second-highest number of QAnon believers after the United States. NewsGuard has identified more than 448,000 QAnon followers in Europe. On YouTube, Facebook, and Telegram, accounts dealing with the QAnon conspiracy have over 200,000 followers in Germany alone." —Foreign Policy

Ed. Note: Tyson Barker is deputy executive director and fellow at the Aspen Institute Germany.

MORE: Nearly two centuries ago, a QAnon-like conspiracy theory propelled candidates to Congress —The Conversation

8. US sanctions ICC officials

The Trump Administration has leveled sanctions against the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, who is investigating allegations that U.S. troops committed war crimes in Afghanistan, and its head of jurisdiction. After Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the sanctions yesterday, human rights groups swiftly decried them as an attack on international justice.

• — The sanctions are directed at Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, who were both added to the Treasury Dept.'s "Specially Designated Nationals" list. The designation freezes any assets they might have in the U.S. or that are subject to U.S. law.

• — In March, the ICC moved forward with an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly committed by U.S. forces and the CIA.
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• — The U.S. has never been a part of the ICC, which Pompeo called "a thoroughly broken and corrupt institution." He added, "We will not tolerate its illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction." —NPR

9. Mohammed & Landay: US faces hurdles nudging Belarus toward democracy

"Russian President Vladimir Putin makes no secret of his interest in Belarus, which is a conduit for Russian oil and gas to Europe and is vital to Moscow's European defense strategy, and Russia has formed a police force to back [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko if necessary. Washington wants a way to bolster democracy in Belarus that avoids Russian intervention, something which—as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun told Russian officials last week in Moscow—would further damage U.S.-Russian ties." —Reuters

MORE: Bipartisan congressional appeal calls for 'greater leadership' in support of democracy in Belarus —Atlantic Council

10. An American Story: Old Navy prepares its fleet of poll workers

With the country in need of poll workers this November, apparel retailer Old Navy is answering the call. The company stated that it will pay employees to work as poll workers this election.

• — Old Navy has more than 50,000 employees spread out over 1,000 stores. The company is partnering with Civic Alliance and Power the Polls to recruit 250,000 new poll workers to meet this year's need.
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• — The company stated that it will pay employees for eight hours of work if they work as poll workers. Employees will also be eligible to receive compensation for working as a poll worker from their local jurisdiction.
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• — "Every voice in this country matters and deserves to be heard at the polls, and if we at Old Navy can be even a small part of making that process more accessible to the communities we call home, we are on board," said Nancy Green, president of Old Navy. —CNN

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