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A federal judge in Washington declined Friday to immediately dismiss the Justice Department's third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, instead giving prosecutors more time to try to secure a grand jury indictment over an alleged 2016 leak of classified information to a New York Times reporter. Judge Trevor McFadden, who warned he'd be “extremely frustrated” by a “dawn raid” arrest before any indictment, said grand juries have repeatedly balked at politically charged cases, joking that “a ham sandwich is harder to indict these days.” Comey insists he's “still innocent.”
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31st, 2026
Before we get to today's news, here's what happened on this date in history. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down by two of her own Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, as she walked from her residence to a nearby office in New Delhi — just months after she had ordered a deadly army raid on Sikhs' holiest temple to flush out armed separatists. One gunman, Beant Singh, was killed in the chaotic aftermath; the other, Satwant Singh, was convicted and executed in 1989. Gandhi had personally overruled a plan to reassign Beant away from her security detail, trusting his years of service — a decision her biographers call a fatal miscalculation. The assassination triggered anti-Sikh riots that killed more than 1,000 people in New Delhi over the next two days, and her son Rajiv succeeded her as prime minister.
Legendary escape artist Harry Houdini died of peritonitis on October 31, 1926 — almost exactly 100 years ago — a week after a burst appendix sent him into emergency surgery following a grueling final tour stop in Detroit. Many at the time blamed a McGill University student who'd punched Houdini in the stomach days earlier after the magician boasted he could absorb the blow, though modern doctors doubt blunt trauma causes appendicitis, and the student was never charged. Houdini had promised his wife, Bess, he'd try to send her a coded message from beyond the grave; a decade later, on Halloween 1936, she finally declared he never came through. He's buried in Queens, where his grave still draws Halloween pilgrims — the cemetery now closes each Oct. 31 after past vandalism.
🗳️ Trump Calls for Peltola, “Decoy Dan” Sullivan to Be Removed From Ballot and Prosecuted Over Alaska Scheme
President Trump escalated his attack on Alaska's Senate race at a South Carolina rally Thursday, saying Democrat Mary Peltola “should be removed from the ballot and prosecuted” alongside the “fake Dan Sullivan” she's accused of recruiting to confuse voters about GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Trump said Democrats “got a guy named Dan Sullivan to go up against” the incumbent on the ballot, calling it “voter fraud at the highest level.”
The article cites a New York Times report that Peltola's campaign compiled a list of Alaskans named Dan Sullivan and tried recruiting several to run, with one agreeing; the second Sullivan has voted Democrat in recent elections and initially asked to appear on the ballot under a different name.
Any resulting charges remain unconfirmed; the piece describes possible state campaign-finance and federal voting-law violations tied to the scheme, with Election Day four days away.
🎤 Trump's Weekend Rally Schedule Whiplashes as Kansas, Iowa Stops Canceled, Then Restored Amid Health Questions
President Trump scrapped planned Kansas and Iowa rallies Thursday in favor of an expanding “tele-rally” blitz, then reinstated both as an in-person, back-to-back swing for Sunday, with a source describing the flip as a scheduling shuffle rather than a reversal.
A reporter's question about whether Trump canceled the trips because he was “sick” drew a sharp response: “I feel perfect!” Trump said, calling the reporter “disgusting.”
A source familiar with the matter said the Kansas and Iowa stops were “rearranged for scheduling purposes to accommodate dozens of additional tele-rallies” recently added to Trump's closing push.
Nearly 20 tele-rallies are now planned alongside the reinstated Sunday rallies, two days before the Nov. 3 midterms; Trump separately praised Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall as “doing very well.”
📊 Fox News Power Rankings Shift Ohio, South Carolina Senate Races as 19 House Seats Move Toward Democrats
Fox News's latest Power Rankings moved Ohio's Senate race from Toss-up to Lean Democrat and South Carolina from Lean Republican to Toss-up, with 19 House races shifting toward Democrats this week as the parties enter the final midterm weekend.
In Ohio, Sherrod Brown leads Sen. Jon Husted 52%-47% in Fox's latest poll; analyst Rémy Numa notes Ohioans are “very familiar with Brown, having sent him to the Senate three times.”
In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews and Sen. Lindsey Graham are tied 48%-48%; Numa writes, “Republicans already viewed this as an uncomfortably close race. That belief is now widely shared.”
Overall, neither party holds a Senate majority in the forecast (48 Democrat-favored seats to 46 Republican), and House Democrats are predicted to win at least 223 seats; Trump's approval has fallen to 36% from 44% before the Iran war, per the rankings' analysis.
— Fox News
🐘 Michigan Democratic Unity Frays as El-Sayed Campaign Tells Primary Rival Stevens to Stay Away From Events
With four days until the midterms, Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan Senate campaign told former primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens to stay away from all future campaign events, reopening a feud between the two Democrats in the race's closing days.
The rift resurfaces tensions from the Democratic primary, which included clashes over Israel policy between El-Sayed, the progressive nominee, and Stevens, a more centrist member of the party.
The request came as both Democrats and Republicans made their final campaign pushes across Michigan and other battleground states this week.
El-Sayed faces Republican nominee John James in a race Fox's own rankings still list as competitive heading into Tuesday's vote.
— Fox News
🇻🇪 Venezuela's Machado Thanks Trump for “Floodgate to Freedom,” Pushes for 2027 Elections
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado publicly thanked President Trump, his administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for opening “the floodgate to freedom” through January's operation that removed Nicolás Maduro, while pressing acting leader Delcy Rodríguez's government to hold elections in 2027.
Machado, who returned to Venezuela on Oct. 25 after more than 10 months in exile, said Rubio has laid out steps toward a democratic transition pointing to 2027 presidential elections.
She criticized a U.S. oil deal under which Venezuela would hand over 20% of its reserves, saying it “does not reflect the levels of transparency that Venezuelan society wants.”
Rodríguez dismissed the welcome Machado received on her return as unnecessary fanfare, saying “the show could have been avoided,” and has not set an election date, though she said any vote would happen “with the world as witness.”
— Newsmax