Welcome to Thursday, October 3rd, near- and far-sighted...

The Department of Homeland Security has added white supremacy to its list of domestic terrorism threats.

The move comes after a series of mass shootings tied to far-right extremism. The suspected gunman in the El Paso mass shooting, for example, posted a racist manifesto shortly before his rampage, announcing that “this attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas" and warned that white people were being replaced by foreigners.

Kevin McAleenan, acting secretary of the DHS, said that recent mass shootings had “galvanized the [DHS] to expand its counterterrorism mission focus beyond terrorists operating abroad, to include those radicalized to violence within our borders by violent extremists of any ideology."

The Brennan Center for Justice, however, argues that a multitude of laws already exist that allow the federal government to formally investigate white supremacist attacks as domestic terrorism.

Is white supremacy a domestic terrorist threat?

On the Radar

The Latest on the Trump Impeachment Investigation

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo admitted that he was on the July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky.

Trump said the whistleblower "got it totally wrong, made it up, or the person giving the information to the whistleblower was dishonest."

"The whistleblower was wrong," Trump repeated. "The only thing that matters is the transcript of the actual conversation that I had with the president of Ukraine. It was perfect."

Meanwhile, the chairs of the House Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees say they plan to subpoena the White House on Friday for a cache of documents related to the impeachment probe.

Chairs Adam Schiff (CA), Elijah Cummings (MD), and Eliot Engel (NY) wrote in their memo:

"The White House’s flagrant disregard of multiple voluntary requests for documents—combined with stark and urgent warnings from the Inspector General about the gravity of these allegations—have left us with no choice but to issue this subpoena."

Responding in real time on Twitter, Trump called their efforts “BULLSHIT.”

Should the House impeach Trump?

Under the Radar

Censuring Schiff

House Republicans have offered a resolution to censure House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) for his “egregiously false and fabricated retelling” of the phone call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Schiff’s remarks came during his opening statement for last week’s House Intelligence Committee hearing, in which Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire testified about the whistleblower complaint related to the Trump-Zelensky call. While purporting to paraphrase the call transcript, Schiff alleged that Trump said, “I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up political dirt on my opponent, understand. Lots of it.”

Schiff later said that he intended his comments “at least in part in parody."

But Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced a resolution on Friday to condemn and censure Schiff because his “egregiously false and fabricated retelling had no relationship to the call itself," which made “a mockery of the impeachment process, one of this chamber’s most solemn constitutional duties.”

Should Adam Schiff be censured by the House for his "parody" of the Trump-Ukraine call?

Judge Temporarily Blocks Law Forcing Candidates to Release Taxes

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a California law requiring presidential candidates to publicly disclose their tax returns to appear on the Golden State ballot.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. issued an opinion saying the law likely violates the U.S. Constitution.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, named as defendant in the lawsuits, had said that the law "is constitutional and provides invaluable transparency for voters as they decide who will hold the most powerful office in the United States."

In his 24-page ruling, Morrison wrote that while transparency is important, "it's not the job of the courts...to decide whether a tax return disclosure requirement is good policy or makes political sense. Instead, it is the court’s job to make sure the Constitution wins.”

Should presidential candidates have to release their tax returns to be on the ballot?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should Companies Using Profits for Stock Buybacks Pay Their Employees a ‘Worker Dividend’?