Here’s a troubling story out of Texas. Democrat Mike Siegel is running against Rep. Michael T. McCaul (R) in Texas’s 10th district. This evening I saw a tweet from Siegel which said: “Just learned that my field director was arrested while delivering our letter. He told police he was working for me and the officer asked, “what party is he?” Now Jacob is under 48 hour investigatory detention in Waller County.”

That didn’t seem right, especially the part about getting arrested after being asked what party he’s affiliated with. So I managed to get Siegel on the phone to get some more details.

This is very interesting. Senators of both parties from the Foreign Relations Committee have invoked a provision of the Magnitsky Act to force an investigation into the apparent death of Jamal Khashoggi.

Roll Call explains how it works.

As noted below, Sarah Sanders says Jared Kushner (along with John Bolton) called Saudi Crown Prince and de factor ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to ask for information about the whereabouts of exiled and now presumed dead Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A lot of circumstantial evidence points to MBS as the one who ordered the killing, if that’s what happened. Logic too. There’s always the possibility of rogue elements in Saudi security services. But something so audacious would almost certainly have to come from the top. So it’s worth reviewing the relationship between these two men, Kushner and MBS. 

One of the things I want to focus on as we get into the final weeks of the campaign are a series of unfolding efforts by Republicans to hold their own by preventing as many people as possible from voting. One of the clearest, most egregious cases is a voter ID law in North Dakota which the Supreme Court refused to block yesterday. All voter ID laws are bad. But this one is uniquely so. It is specifically tailored to disenfranchise the state’s substantial Native American population.

Statement from Sarah Sanders …

“White House National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton and White House Senior Advisor, Jared Kushner spoke to Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman yesterday about the missing Washington Post journalist. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo then had a follow up call with the Crown Prince to reiterate the United States request for information. In both calls they asked for more details and for the Saudi government to be transparent in the investigation process. We will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as available.”

Don’t miss the fifth installment of our 10 part series on voting rights and democracy. The Georgia Governor’s race pits a hardened vote suppresser Brian Kemp against Stacey Abrams, a long time champion of voting rights in the state. The fact that Kemp is a hardcore Trumping white man and Abrams is a progressive African-American woman makes it a battle that brings together, in stark relief, almost everything going on in the country today. It’s very close and voting rights are on the ballot. Cam Joseph has our story.

Now coming up on a week after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and less than four weeks before the midterm election, let’s take a look at where we stand going into this critical midterm election.

A fake ID salesman who did business with Russians seeking to influence the election will appear in court. Here’s more on that story and on others we’re following.

As I explained last night, we should be considering whether the Trump administration involved itself – even at the passive level of failing to act in deterrence – in the apparent murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. Trump’s and Kushner’s relationships with the ruling Crown Prince run incredibly deep and tie not only to foreign policy but business deals as well. Kushner and MBS once stayed up all night together in Riyadh brainstorming how these two degenerate princelings could reshape the region. The Saudis even seem to have played some role getting Trump elected in 2016.