1/ Trump “resorted to crimes” after losing the 2020 election, special counsel Jack Smith allege in a court filing unsealed Wednesday. Prosecutors described Trump as directly responsible for “the tinderbox that he purposely ignited on January 6” after his “increasingly desperate” efforts to cling to power and overturn his 2020 election loss were unsuccessful. “When all else had failed,” Trump “directed an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” Throughout the document, Smith argues that Trump was “fundamentally” acting as a private candidate for office and not as president when he sought to overturn his 2020 election loss – a direct response to the Supreme Court ruling that Trump had immunity for some actions he took as president. “At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private one; he extensively used private actors and his Campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office,” Smith wrote. Prosecutors also accused Trump of knowing “his fraud claims were false because he continued to make those claims even after his close advisors – acting not in an official capacity but in a private or campaign-related capacity—told him they were not true.” (Associated Press / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / CNN / ABC News / Axios)

2/ Trump spent 33-minutes meandering through various unrelated subjects before barely touching on the focus of a campaign event meant to highlight his education policy. “We can be nice and we can be politically incorrect, but the only thing they’re going to do there is cheat on elections, and we just can’t let this happen,” Trump said, adding: “The city of Milwaukee is the home of first and oldest choice program.” Trump went on to erroneously refer to Iran as Iraq, confuse the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, with the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, and claim Kim “is trying to kill me,” seemingly confusing Kim with Iran. U.S. intelligence officials have briefed Trump about the “real and specific threats” by Iran to assassinate him as part of “an effort to destabilize and sow chaos.” At one point Trump was asked if he should have been tougher on Iran after they retaliated over the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and struck al-Asad Airbase in Iraq. While no U.S. soldiers were killed, over 100 were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. Trump responded that “they could take a knife, they were like Rambos, just like putting a million Rambos – good old Sylvester Stallone was my friend. But it’s like putting a million Rambos.” When pressed to answer the actual question, Trump replied: “What does injured mean? You mean because they had a headache because the bombs never hit the fort?” The Harris campaign called Trump “unfit to be Commander-in-Chief” over the remarks. (Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / Politico / Salon)

3/ Trump claimed he would veto a federal abortion ban if he is elected despite nominating three of the six conservative Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump also refused to commit to vetoing such a ban during his debate with Harris last month, instead arguing he “wouldn’t have to” veto an abortion ban. In an all-caps message on his personal social media platform, Trump wrote: “Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters.” Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of women voters who think abortion should be legal plan to cast their votes for Trump, according to a new poll. For these women, the economy and immigration rank ahead of abortion. (Politico / CNN)

4/ Trump backed out of an interview on “60 Minutes” because he didn’t want to be interrupted for fact checks. Trump and Harris had both previously agreed to sit for individual interviews with CBS News as part of its prime-time election special next week. The Trump campaign, however, claimed “there were discussions but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They insisted on cutting out of the interview to do fact-checking.” Harris, meanwhile, will still appear on the show – the highest-rated news program on TV. (Washington Post / Axios / NPR / CNN)

👑 Vice presidential debate roundup.

  1. Takeaways: CNN / ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press / Axios

  2. Fact checks: NPR / Washington Post / ABC News / Associated Press

  3. The VP debate takeaway: Neither candidate delivered the goods. “Walz and Vance played defense for the presidential nominees.” (Politico)

  4. 3 winners and 2 losers from the Walz-Vance debate. “The Vance-Walz matchup was more civil and substantive than the Trump-Harris one — with enough for both sides to claim victory.” (Vox)

  5. Vance refuses to say Trump lost in 2020, downplays events of Jan. 6. “That is a damning non-answer,” Tim Walz responded. (ABC News)

  6. Vance Tries Desperately to Rewrite His Abortion Stance During Debate. “Tim Walz has been a champion for abortion access. Vance wants to ban it.” (Rolling Stone)

  7. Vance Controlled the Debate — Until the End. “The Republican candidate was clearly better prepared. It’s a lesson for Democrats.” (Politico)

  8. The most memorable lines from the debate: Washington Post / CNN

  9. Republicans are livid after the debate moderators fact-checked JD Vance. CBS said they wouldn’t do live fact checks, and then they did anyway. (Politico / The Hill)

  • 📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.

  • 📆 Oct. 6: Voter registration deadline in 15 states.
    ⛔️ Oct. 14: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No WTFJHT.
    📺 Oct. 23: [Proposed] Presidential debate.
    🗳️ Nov. 5: Election Day.
    ⚖️ Nov. 26: Trump is sentenced.

  • ✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

  • 📈 Election Polling Tracker

  • Harris +3.0 points (New York Times)
    Harris +2.8 points (538)
    Harris +3.5 points (Nate Silver)
    Harris +4.3 points (The Economist)
    Harris +2.2 points (RealClearPolitics)
    Harris +2.2 points (Election Betting Odds)

  • 🔮 Election Forecast Tracker

  • Harris wins 56 times out of 100. Trump wins 44 times out of 100. (538)
    Harris wins 57 times out of 100. Trump wins 43 times out of 100. (Nate Silver)
    Harris wins 60 times out of 100. Trump wins 40 times out of 100. (The Economist)