Trump Has Not Ruled Out Invoking the Insurrection Act or Declaring Emergency Over Midterm Elections

In an interview, President Trump said he has not ruled out invoking the Insurrection Act or declaring a national emergency in connection with the November midterm elections. The statement — made 33 days before the midterms — is the most explicit threat yet to use emergency powers to interfere with the electoral process. The Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy the military domestically to suppress "insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy." Combined with the National Guard deployments to Los Angeles and other Democratic-led cities, the pardoning of January 6 insurrectionists, and the DOJ's deployment of 1,000+ election monitors, the threat represents the machinery for suspending the electoral process being assembled in plain sight.