Special counsel Jack Smith should not be allowed to make an important public filing in his election interference case against former president Donald Trump while there are lingering evidence disputes, Trump’s attorneys told the judge Thursday. His attorneys urged Judge Tanya Chutkan, who set a schedule allowing prosecutors to file the first brief on presidential immunity Sept. 26, to reconsider her decision. Without addressing ongoing evidence issues, Smith’s filing would “amount to an improper motion for summary judgment in the court of public opinion” ahead of the election, they argued.

The House on Friday unanimously passed legislation that would increase Secret Service protection for presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.  The chamber approved the Enhanced Presidential Security Act in a 405-0 vote.

The U.S. House passed a bill to deport illegal foreign nationals convicted of domestic violence and sex-related offenses, including sex crimes against children, but not without controversy. Nearly all Democrats voted against the bill filed by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, on Thursday. They attacked the bill before they voted on it; Mace said their remarks were “shameful.”

The Georgia State Election Board passed a rule on Friday requiring precincts to hand-count ballots for the November election and ensure the tallies match the machine count before election certification. The board voted 3-2 to pass the rule, The Guardian reported. The hand count only applies to election night, not early voting. The board voted 4-1 to table a proposal on hand-counting during early voting after a board member was concerned about information leaking regarding election tallies before all results are counted.

Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) is running against Republican Kari Lake for U.S. Senate in Arizona on a record of opposing border security measures. Even though the state is facing staggering increases in violent crime, breaking records, Gallego hasn’t appeared to flip-flop back on most of those positions.  On his campaign website, Gallego declares, “our border communities are not the war zones that news stations often portray them as … Ruben has been on the forefront of sensible, comprehensive immigration reform in Congress … [and has] spoken out against extremist right-wing policies.” Gallego lists 13 issues his website, including LGBTQ+ and abortion, but nothing specifically about crime.