Politics and views in the United States

The Justice Department fails to indict former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson over her January 6th testimony, naturalization processing delays stifle eligible voters, and groups work to reverse historically low midterm election turnout among young voters.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

It was unpatriotic.

It was un-American.

We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told the House January 6th committee she was disgusted by President Donald Trump's lack of action as insurrectionists broke into the Capitol in 2021.

The Department of Justice has sought to indict Hutchinson on charges of lying in her testimony to Congress, but a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. has refused.

It's the latest setback for what critics call Trump's campaign of retribution.

In the lead-up to the midterms, PNS is highlighting important polls.

The U.S. Immigration Policy Center and the National Partnership for New Americans surveyed 1,000 foreign-born naturalized U.S. citizens who've registered to vote.

The partnership's executive director, Nicole Malaku, says while 90 percent expressed a commitment to vote, disinformation regarding voter fraud and stepped-up immigration raids have left naturalized voters feeling uneasy.

I think a lot of folks are sort of computing basically the threat versus the reward and to not be dissuaded from fully participating at this time given what's at stake. 53 percent of those surveyed said they feel less secure in their citizenship.

Meanwhile, federal data show a dramatic slowdown in naturalization approvals in what immigrant advocacy groups say is an effort to deny eligible people their civil and voting rights.

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola's Senate campaign denies a New York Times report claiming it conspired to recruit an independent candidate to the ticket with the same name as her Republican challenger, Senator Dan Sullivan.

The report comes just days after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the election results from being certified if Sullivan narrowly loses.

Get Out the Vote campaigns are working to reverse the historically low midterm election turnout rate among young voters.

Kelsey McDonough with the group Forward Montana says half of people ages 18 to 24 in her state are not even registered.

Young people vote on things that we see for the rest of our lives and we won't be able to see these changes if our voices aren't being heard.

She says many Gen Zers have a negative view of the future due to the cost of living.

She says housing prices in Montana could motivate more young people to vote next week.

And the Federal Election Commission's website has been hacked, disrupting the agency's electronic filing system, according to Reuters.

The independent agency has been tracking a record amount of political spending by candidates and political committees ahead of next week's midterms.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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