Former Trump adviser John Bolton expected to plead guilty over mishandling classified documents: Sources

President Donald Trump continued on Monday to sow unfounded doubt about mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections, despite encouraging Republicans to vote any way they can. 

Trump’s remarks came amid a meeting at the White House with the 2020 election denier Tina Peters on Monday, sources confirmed to ABC News. Peters, the former county clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, was convicted on state charges in a scheme to breach the state’s voting systems as she hunted for evidence of election fraud in 2020.

The state’s Democratic governor, Jared Polis, earlier this year granted Peters clemency following repeated calls from the president urging the state to let her go. Peters was released from prison in June.  

During a gaggle on the White House South Lawn en route to Nebraska on Monday, where he attended a political rally, Trump pushed back when asked why he was telling Republicans to vote by mail despite his repeated assertions that it is fraudulent. 

“No, vote by mail or vote in person. I’d rather have a vote in person. But they can vote by mail if they want, because we seem to have no choice,” Trump said, going on to claim, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting is rife with cheating.

“What we’re concerned about is there seems to be a lot of- not seems to be, there is a lot of cheating in vote by mail,” Trump said, adding a directive to reporters that they need to examine elections in California.

“Trump is lying about California again,” Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office said back in June after Trump made baseless accusations of fraud in the state’s primary election.

Trump has encouraged voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of the critical midterm cycle, which will determine control of Congress and, ultimately, the direction of his final two years as president. 

“Vote early, vote by mail or vote in person on Election Day, November 3rd, so we can defeat the radical left Dumocrats in a midterm victory that is too big to rig,” Trump said in a video posted to his social media on October 3. 

Trump has voted by mail twice in Florida elections this year, including in the state’s recent primary election. He’s also voted early in elections while he was in office, including during the Florida Republican primary in 2024.

His administration this year has been involved in legal challenges to mail-in ballot rules, including the filing last month of an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to immediately implement new U.S. Postal Service mail ballot rules for November. The Supreme Court rejected that appeal, clearing the way for states to continue sending out mail-in ballots as planned ahead of the midterms.

Trump seized on Monday upon an incident in Maricopa County, Arizona, where officials said Sunday that a contractor accidentally mailed 3,126 early ballots six days before they were supposed to be sent out.

In a statement, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said no voters were adversely affected and “upon consultation with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, it was determined that the ballots remain valid and do not need to be voided or reissued.”

Still, the president, who was responding to a reporter’s question, said that the country should “be ashamed of themselves.”

“So Maricopa just sent out thousands of ballots in error. Maricopa County in Arizona. And they have to be ashamed of themselves,” Trump said.

“By the way, there were no errors. You know that, right?” he said. 

He added: “Maricopa is a very, very dishonest county.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow construction of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom to continue after a lower court put it on pause.

The administration on Friday asked the high court for an emergency stay of the injunction, which would halt substantial portions of the above-ground construction of the White House East Wing and ballroom while litigation plays out over its legality.

The injunction is set to take effect on Aug. 21 unless the Supreme Court acts.

The district court order would still allow below-ground construction or any other measures necessary to protect national security and the president’s safety.

Solicitor General John Sauer called the injunction “extraordinary and unlawful,” arguing that it would put the security of the president and his family at risk and override the advice of the nation’s top military, intelligence and law enforcement officials.

“If allowed to go into effect, the injunction would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President, his family, staff members, and visitors to the White House, including foreign dignitaries, and presidents and prime ministers of other countries,” Sauer wrote.

The district court concluded that President Donald Trump lacks the authority to overhaul the White House without congressional approval. A divided federal appeals court upheld the ruling earlier this month.

In his appeal to the justices to intervene, Sauer suggested halting construction would directly put the life of the president at risk, citing six “recent assassination attempts,” including “the threat of a missile attack against Air Force One on July 8.”

“The President of the United States of America is not a tenant, but rather the sole, elected head of the Executive Branch, and Congress has authorized him to renovate, secure, and protect the White House and its grounds, as other Presidents  have been allowed to do, without exception,” he wrote.

The government argued that it is likely to win on appeal in the case, insisting that the National Trust for Historic Preservation lacks standing to bring the lawsuit and that federal law has long allowed presidents to undertake the “care, maintenance, repair, alteration, refurbishment, and improvement … of the Executive Residence at the White House.”

The Supreme Court is expected to seek a response from the National Trust sometime in the next week before rendering a decision on the stay.

Sauer indicated that the administration also plans to ask the Supreme Court to take the case up for expedited oral argument and decision on the merits.

Separately, the administration’s filing appeared to provide new details about the state of the construction operation.

The government asserts that it is “on time” and “under budget” and that “0 taxpayer dollars are needed or required.”

Though there is no mention of the White House’s $1 billion funding request to Congress for White House hardening and enhancements for evolving threats and technology which have been widely seen by lawmakers as related to Trump’s ballroom.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday formally asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an audit of the project and its funding.

“The scale of this project, the destruction of historic architecture, the opaque and unorthodox combination of public funds with private funding sources, and the absence of standard federal review processes raise serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and stewardship of this national landmark,” the lawmakers wrote.

Sauer claimed in the filing that the project is 65% complete and that $200 million has been spent or committed to date.

He says a 250-person crew is working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. The structure is said to be 5 stories deep and 70-feet above ground across 50,000 square feet. 

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(WASHINGTON) — Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter on Wednesday to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell asking for details on McConnell’s health situation after weeks of the Kentucky senator being hospitalized with few details shared by the senator’s team.

“Over the last several weeks, Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate,” Beshear wrote in the letter, which was shared by the governor’s office.

“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health.”

Beshear wrote that public officeholders “have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent.”

“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he wrote.

He also wished him a speedy recovery.

ABC News reached out to McConnell’s office about the letter and didn’t receive an immediate response.

Beshear and McConnell are far apart ideologically, although they have worked together on some issues. The governor said last week he had not gotten any updates on McConnell’s condition.

If McConnell’s seat were to become vacant, Beshear would likely have to set up a special election to fill it, although that could depend on timing. McConnell’s seat is also up for election this year, but he is not running for reelection. Kentucky lawmakers previously passed legislation that blocked the governor from having the ability to appoint a temporary replacement.

The letter came amid questions over the longtime senator’s health. A spokesperson for McConnell first confirmed the senator had been hospitalized on June 14 for an unknown condition. His office has not provided many updates, though they said McConnell is continuing his recovery in the hospital.

Spokespeople for the lawmakers told ABC News on Tuesday that McConnell has had phone conversations with several Republican leaders as he remains hospitalized.

The health of McConnell “did not warrant an immediate return to the US” for his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, while she was on a trip abroad, according to Chao’s spokesperson.

In a statement to ABC affiliate WHAS on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Chao wrote, “The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s philanthropic endeavors. During the trip, she met with a number of people, including the US ambassador. The Senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the US.”

ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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