The Standing Record — Week in Review: October 11–17, 2026
15 events that erode our democratic ideals — the week of October 11–17, 2026
The Standing Record — Week in Review
This is the Standing Record's week in review for October 11–17, 2026. We recorded 15 events this week that erode our democratic ideals, and archived 116 entries over the same period — 249 so far this month, bringing the total archive to 2527. If you saw something happen this week that belongs here, send it to our tip line.
What happened this week
This week the record leaned hard on elections and the people who run them. With Georgia and Arizona both holding midterm rallies, Trump told crowds in Dalton that Sen. Jon Ossoff's 2021 runoff win was "rigged" and repeated, in Arizona, that Gov. Katie Hobbs helped steal the 2022 race from Kari Lake — both certified outcomes, both without new evidence. Behind the podium, acting Deputy AG Trent McCotter sent California election officials a letter ordering them to withhold mail ballots from voters on a federal noncitizen list, then a second one warning that counting those ballots could make them "aiders and abettors" of a federal crime — with Trump adding on Truth Social that the officials would "all go to jail."
Elsewhere: a federal pardon for two Alaska shop owners convicted of Clean Air Act violations, signed onstage at a Wasilla rally; a Georgia sheriff's deputy who used her Flock license-plate login nearly a thousand times for her ICE-agent husband; the DOJ suing St. Paul and Portland over mask bans and officer-ID rules; and a congressional report finding Trump's disclosed pharmaceutical stock holdings grew to as much as $56.2 million as a law he signed shielded some of those same companies from Medicare price negotiation. Trump also told reporters he "could still go after" the Clintons and Obama, and told an Arizona crowd that officials who leak to the press "should be shot."
This week's record
- October 12, 2026 — WBTV reporting revealed Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers ran a racist text-thread contest over stopping the most Black drivers
- October 13, 2026 — Trump signed pardons onstage at a Wasilla, Alaska, campaign rally for two shop owners who pleaded guilty to Clean Air Act violations
- October 13, 2026 — ICE withheld released detainees' IDs, work permits and belongings for months, seven plaintiffs alleged in a class-action suit
- October 13, 2026 — Rep. Andy Harris falsely told a student reporter that recording him was illegal and threatened to refer her to a prosecutor
- October 13, 2026 — Acting Deputy AG McCotter ordered California to withhold mail ballots of voters on a federal noncitizen list within 48 hours
- October 14, 2026 — DHS cut refugees' window to contest termination of their status from 30 days to 10, effective immediately without prior notice and comment
- October 14, 2026 — Trump told an Arizona rally that Gov. Katie Hobbs helped rig the 2022 governor's race and falsely claimed Kari Lake won
- October 14, 2026 — WJCL-obtained records revealed Savannah officer Amber Harpe gave her ICE-agent husband her Flock login for 983 plate searches
- October 14, 2026 — Trump told an Arizona rally that government officials who leak to the media "should be shot"
- October 15, 2026 — DOJ sued St. Paul to block its mask ban and ID requirement for federal officers
- October 15, 2026 — DOJ sued Portland, Oregon, to block its mask ban and ID requirement for federal officers
- October 15, 2026 — Trump said he could still go after the Clintons and Obama criminally and tied the prospect to Democrats impeaching him again
- October 16, 2026 — Trump told a Dalton, Georgia, rally that Sen. Jon Ossoff's 2021 runoff win was 'rigged' and repeated that he won Georgia in 2020
- October 16, 2026 — Acting Deputy AG McCotter warned California election officials that tabulating ballots of flagged voters risked federal prosecution
- October 16, 2026 — Congressional Democrats' report found Trump's pharma stock holdings rose to up to $56.2 million as his 2025 law shielded drugmakers
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