FBI invites elections officials nationwide to a call on ‘preparations’ for midterm elections
The Department of Justice (DOJ) seal on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The FBI has invited elections officials around the country for a call later this month on the agency’s “preparations” for the high-stakes midterm elections, according to a letter sent to election officials and reviewed by ABC News.
The letter, which went out earlier this week, states that the FBI call will also include election officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, United States Postal Inspection Service and Election Assistance Commission.
“To prepare for the 2026 US midterm elections, your election partners at the FBI, DOJ, DHS, USPIS, and the EAC would like to invite you to a call where we can discuss our preparations for the cycle, as well as updates and resources we can provide to you and your staff… We look forward to speaking with you in support of the 2026 midterm elections,” FBI staffer Kellie Hardiman, who signed the letter with the title “FBI Election Executive,” wrote.
The letter went to most election officials in the United States, according to a source familiar with the letter.
The offices of Arizona’s secretary of state and Utah’s lieutenant governor — the office that oversees elections in that state — confirmed to ABC News that they are among the offices that received the invite for the briefing, set to be held on Feb. 25.
The letter was first reported by Crooked Media.
Although it’s not unusual for government officials to have an election-security dialogue, the invite comes amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing false claims of voter fraud and the recent FBI raid of an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia.
The stakes are high for the upcoming midterm elections with the House majority on the line — as Republicans have a slim majority in the chamber.
Jesse Jackson poses for a portrait during the 55th Anniversary of Ben’s Chili Bowl on August 22, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — Memorial services for Rev. Jesse Jackson began on Thursday in Chicago, where the late civil rights icon, Baptist minister and politician lay in repose at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition — the organization he founded in 1996 to fight for social justice.
Jackson’s family departed the Leaks and Sons Funeral Home on Thursday morning and their procession drove down Cottage Grove Avenue to reach Rainbow PUSH Coalition, where thousands are expected to pay their respects to the civil rights leader on Thursday and Friday.
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. changed the United States — and the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are deeply honored to know there are people from every walk of life who want to join us to pay their respects.”
Jackson was born in Greenville, S.C. on Oct. 8, 1941 and will lie in honor at the South Carolina State House in Columbia on Monday. Afterwards, his body will be transported to Washington, D.C. for a formal funeral service on Wednesday, before returning to Chicago for “The People’s Celebration,” a public homegoing service on Friday, and a private final homegoing service on Saturday.
Jackson’s children honored their father’s legacy, reflecting on his 1984 and 1988 presidential runs and how he dedicated his career to advancing economic justice and building political power for Black Americans.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. called for unity in the Feb. 18 press conference ahead of his father’s funeral services.
“Do not bring your politics out of respect to Rev. Jesse Jackson and the life that he lived to these home going services,” he said. “Come respectful and come to say thank you, but these homegoing services are welcome to all Democrat, Republican, liberal and conservative, right wing, left wing, because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American.”
He asked people to “be respectful in the context of the extraordinary life” his father lived.
“Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together, and if his life becomes a turning point in our national political discourse, amen,” he said.
In addition to the city of Chicago, governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and South Carolina ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor Jackson. In announcing plans to lower the flags, governors highlighted the impact that Jackson made on the communities in each of those states.
“Jesse Jackson, Sr. marched beside Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights for all people. He traveled the world fighting economic and gender inequity. Until his last days, he fought for better healthcare, education, and peace in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, and beyond,” the Jackson family said in a statement on Wednesday. “I hope everyone who joins us to honor his legacy will also continue to champion these causes. That would be the best possible tribute and celebration they could offer.”
The 2025 Doomsday Clock time is displayed after the time reveal held by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the United States Institute of Peace on January 28, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The “Doomsday Clock” — a symbolic clock that represents how close humanity is to global catastrophe — has moved closer to midnight.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that the clock is now 85 seconds to midnight, with midnight representing the apocalypse.
The organization cited nuclear weapons, climate change and biological threats as the three biggest concerns to humanity and the motivation to move the clock closer to midnight.
The new time is four seconds closer to midnight than the 2025 Doomsday Clock.
The clock, set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit media organization comprised of world leaders and Nobel laureates.
It is “a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making,” according to the group.
Intended to be a metaphor and graphic reminder of the perils humans must address, the Doomsday Clock was established in 1947 by Albert Einstein, Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons as part of the Manhattan Project.
When it was introduced — two years after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan — it was set to seven minutes before midnight.
Since then, the clock has been adjusted both forward and backward multiple times.
The farthest the clock has been adjusted from midnight was at 17 minutes in 1991, after then-President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev announced reductions in the nuclear arsenals of their respective countries and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty was revived.
In 2025, the clock moved to 89 seconds before midnight. The 2024 and 2023 Doomsday Clock was set to 90 seconds before midnight.
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
Heavy rain fall (Photography by Keith Getter (all rights reserved)/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Atmospheric rivers have dumped more than 15 inches of rain on parts of Washington state in the last few days, sparking historic river flooding and submerging neighborhoods — and the threat is far from over.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, who has declared a state of emergency, stressed that the flooding “is extremely unpredictable.”
Up to 100,000 people in Washington state could be ordered to evacuate.
On Friday morning, all residents of Burlington — a city about 70 miles north of Seattle — were ordered to evacuate, and members of the National Guard are going door-to-door to help people leave, according to Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO.
Multiple rivers are at major flood stage on Friday.
The Cedar River at Renton swelled to a new record height overnight, topping 18 feet, causing major flooding in Renton, including at the local airport. The river is expected to remain above its flood stage until Saturday afternoon.
The Snoqualmie River near Carnation topped 60 feet, which has led to flooding in Falls City, Carnation and Duvall.
The Snohomish River at Snohomish is at a record high of 34 feet, putting extreme pressure on levees. When the river reaches 33 feet or higher at this location, floodwaters are likely to overtop the levees, and major levee damage is possible.
Rescue efforts are ongoing.
Eastside Fire and Rescue, which services parts of King County just east of Seattle, started conducting water rescues on Wednesday. Three adults and a dog were rescued after their home flooded, and two adults and a child were rescued in another incident.
Eastside Fire and Rescue released video of the moment two drivers were rescued by helicopter Wednesday night. After the drivers were caught in the floodwaters, they were forced to flee to higher ground, with one person climbing to the top of their car and the other seeking safety in a tree, officials said.
“Stay home and don’t travel unless necessary,” the sheriff’s office urged.
The Coast Guard said it rescued people from a flooded home in Sumas, along the Washington-Canada border, after the water forced the residents into their attic.
In Pierce County, just south of Seattle, officials warned, “Just 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock over an adult. 12 inches of water can carry away most cars.”
The flood threat is far from over. Though this round of rain will end on Friday, the next round will start on Sunday and bring rain and mountain snow every day for at least seven days in a row.
