Trump cancels rallies in Iowa and Kansas in shift of Republican strategy – live

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola has denied that she knew anything about an effort to put another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent as the Justice Department escalated a criminal investigation with new grand jury subpoenas.

“I just want to clear the air,” she said at the top of a speech in a downtown bar in Juneau, Alaska’s capital.

“I knew nothing about any other candidate on the ballot except for me and the incumbent. That is all I have ever known about. I am not interested in tricking voters.”

Peltola is running against Sen. Dan Sullivan. A person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that subpoenas seeking grand jury testimony or documents, along with records preservation demands, were issued after The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J Sullivan Jr as part of an alleged effort to confuse voters.

Members of Congress sent a scathing letter to federal immigration officials this week demanding answers about conditions inside a Texas immigration jail, as detained immigrants on a prolonged hunger strike claim officials are retaliating against them and threatening them with force-feeding.

A group of seven congressional Democrats sent the letter earlier this week to Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, and David Venturella, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director, protesting about the treatment of hunger strikers.

The El Valle detention facility in Raymondville, Texas, detaining men and women, has fallen under scrutiny in recent weeks for allegations of harsh conditions. Detained immigrants on hunger strike say the facility has substandard medical care, undrinkable water and guards that mistreat them.

Some hunger strikers are also protesting against their prolonged detention and are asking for their cases to move more quickly or to be transferred closer to loved ones in other parts of the country.

“It is abundantly clear that DHS continues to demonstrate gross disregard for the health, dignity, personhood, and safety of our communities,” the group of lawmakers, led by the Illinois representative Delia Ramirez, said in their letter to the DHS and ICE. “However, we remain committed to conducting oversight, advocating for our constituents, and pursuing accountability.”

The representatives “unequivocally condemn” conditions reported at the facility.

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Donald Trump has cancelled weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, instead opting to support Republican candidates with tele-rallies as midterm campaigning reaches its final days ahead of the midterms.

Trump was scheduled to hold in-person rallies on Saturday and Sunday but the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced that he would instead spend a “72-hour sprint” doing rallies by phone rather than in person.

It is a move the RNC said would maximize Trump’s ability to speak to voters nationwide, adding that telerallies are planned for nearly 20 states and more may be announced.

It marks an abrupt shift in Trump’s pledge to push through the final days of the campaign doing rally after rally to galvanize his supporters. As of Thursday, he had done 25 rallies during the month of October, falling short of a goal he had once placed north of 30.

The president travelled to South Carolina yesterday for the second time in a month, a sign of Republican anxiety about Darline Graham’s ability to fend off a robust challenge from Democratic candidate Annie Andrews for a critical US Senate seat.

Voters in South Carolina have not sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly three decades. But Andrews, a pediatrician who previously ran unsuccessfully for Congress , is urging voters seeking change to “try something new for once.”

Beyond South Carolina, Republicans are entering the final days of this year’s midterm elections navigating tight contests in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska. Both parties are also closely following developments in the Mississippi Senate race, AP reported.

Trump lashed out at a Reuters reporter who asked him why he cancelled the planned appearance at a rally in Kansas on Saturday in support of a embattled Republican senator, Dr Roger Marshall. “You’re sick to ask that question,” the president said.

In other developments:

• Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, confirmed on Thursday that his campaign is no longer airing an attack ad that features the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Dr Amy Acton.

• Donald Trump called again for Democrat Mary Peltola to be criminally prosecuted and disqualified from the Alaska Senate race for her campaign allegedly recruiting a man named Dan Sullivan to run against Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan.

• Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed will campaign on Sunday in Detroit with Haley Stevens, the congresswoman he narrowly defeated to win the Democratic party’s nomination in August.

• Tom Hoyle, who achieved instant viral fame on Thursday by comparing Trump supporters to a cult in a live interview with Fox News before the president’s rally in South Carolina, was removed from the venue by three Secret Service agents.