President Donald Trump told Texans they’d better accept data centers in their communities and floated making Venezuela the 51st state as he stumped for Republican Ken Paxton, while Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico said a “corruption crisis” plagues U.S. politics. Social media videos believed to be produced with artificial intelligence and linked to Russia are misusing real people’s names and photographs to spread disinformation about Democratic Senate candidates. And Republicans have spent an estimated $183 million on television ads focused on transgender-related attacks against Democrats as Americans go to vote, hoping the divisive cultural issue will overcome voters' concerns about Trump's leadership.

The Justice Department has failed to secure a grand jury indictment against a former White House staffer who testified against President Donald Trump before a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. Two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday the grand jury in Washington rejected prosecutors’ request to return an indictment charging Cassidy Hutchinson. It’s the latest setback in the Justice Department’s efforts to charge perceived adversaries of the Republican president. Hutchinson said Trump tried to let armed protesters avoid security screenings and grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the Capitol. Trump calls Hutchinson a “total phony.”

President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans to loosen a Biden-era rule that aimed to reduce planet-warming emissions of methane from oil and gas drilling. The move aims to encourage more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices amid the U.S. war in Iran. Trump was to deliver the announcement as he campaigns in Texas on Tuesday. That's according to an administration official speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record ahead of the official announcement. Cuts in methane emissions have emerged in recent years as a global priority to slow the rate of climate change.

President Donald Trump takes his midterm campaign blitz to Texas, where Senate candidate Ken Paxton is locked in a tight race against  Democrat James Talarico. And sources tell The Associated Press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will join Trump to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries. Meanwhile two former FBI officials charged with lying to Congress about their roles in investigations involving Hunter Biden have a preliminary hearing Tuesday. Lawyers for Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides call case baseless and politically motivated as Americans go to vote.

A new lawsuit against President Donald Trump's media ban stakes a claim for the public itself. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six ordinary citizens. It argues that Trump's bans on media outlets whose content he dislikes violate the public's right to independent reporting about the government. Filed Monday in New York, the suit seeks not only restored media access for affected outlets, but broader relief on behalf of all journalists who cover the White House. The suit seeks to protect all news outlets from retaliation, now and in the future. The plaintiffs argue that restrictions on disfavored news organizations deprive the public of essential reporting.