U.S. Could See Three Executions in Same Day for First Time Since 2010

Three executions are scheduled in Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee Thursday, in what would be the first time since 2010 that three people are put to death on the same day in the United States. In Tennessee, Republican Governor Bill Lee has refused to grant clemency to Darrell Hines, who is scheduled to be executed Thursday despite his attorneys warning that he could suffer cruel and unusual punishment. His attorneys said the physician likely to oversee Hines’s execution is unqualified to insert the IV to administer lethal drugs, citing the May botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers. Governor Lee called off Carruthers’s execution and granted him a one-year reprieve after the physician struggled for about an hour to insert the IV to administer lethal drugs. Witnesses described the scene as a “bloody mess,” according to the Tennessee Lookout. Hines has suffered two strokes that left him partially paralyzed on his left side, blind in his left eye and in severe pain. www.democracynow.org

Group Founded by Former ICE Agent Awarded $158M to Represent Unaccompanied Immigrant Children

The Trump administration has awarded a $158 million contract to a group founded by a former ICE agent to legally represent unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S. The Minneapolis-based Our Rescue was founded in 2013 by Tim Ballard, who quit his job in federal immigration enforcement to combat the sex trafficking of children — inspiring the 2023 movie “Sound of Freedom.” The film drew widespread acclaim from conservatives, but others criticized it for featuring conspiracy theories perpetuated by the far-right group QAnon. Ballard abruptly left Our Rescue in July 2023. In the months after his departure, he was accused of sex trafficking, forced labor and abusing women himself. The contract between Our Rescue and the Office of Refugee Resettlement could reportedly increase up to $244 million. This comes after the federal government also awarded a $150 million contract to a small Texas law firm with ties to the Trump administration to represent unaccompanied immigrant children in court. Burke Law Group is based in Houston and primarily focuses on administrative law. www.democracynow.org

ICE Plans to Spend $20M to Purchase Electric Shock Gloves

ICE is planning to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of gloves that can release painful electric shocks. This week, the Department of Homeland Security announced ICE agents and officers could begin carrying the gloves by March. The devices are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC based in Lexington, Kentucky, and have been used in recent years by police departments and jails. This comes after the ACLU revealed federal immigration agents deployed to Los Angeles last summer used racist slurs against Latino people they targeted and racially profiled in operations. The discoveries came as part of a federal case that compiled months of body-camera footage, depositions and text messages. www.democracynow.org

Federal Judge Blocks U.S. Postal Service from Enforcing Trump Order on Mail Ballots

A federal judge in Boston blocked the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing part of Trump’s executive order to tighten mail-in voting rules before November’s congressional elections. The order required states to submit lists of eligible voters who may receive mail ballots. If the states refused to do so, USPS would not deliver the ballots. Sophia Lin Lakin, a voting rights lawyer with the ACLU, said in a statement, “Today’s ruling sends another necessary message to an administration that continues to weaponize portions of the government to ​sow chaos into our elections.” www.democracynow.org

Lindsey Graham’s Sister Darline Advances to a Runoff in South Carolina Senate Race

In South Carolina, Darline Graham will advance to a runoff in the race to win the Republican Party’s nomination to replace her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, who died in July. Graham spoke to supporters after polls closed. Sen. Darline Graham: “I want to thank President Trump. His steadfast support and his complete and total endorsement means so much to me.” www.democracynow.org

Minnesota Progressive Peggy Flanagan Wins Democratic Party Nomination for U.S. Senate Seat

In Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan has won the Democratic Party’s Senate primary, securing about 60% of the vote in a match-up against her better-funded opponent, Congresswoman Angie Craig. Flanagan had the backing of progressives including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who supported her calls for Medicare for All, a higher federal minimum wage, universal childcare and more. She spoke to supporters after polls closed Tuesday evening. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan: “And we are going to stop Donald Trump’s billion-dollar-a-day illegal war in Iran and the crushing gas and fertilizer prices. We are going to fight the corruption, whether it’s in the White House or in the halls of Congress, because the grift has to stop.” Flanagan is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She could become the first Native American woman to serve in the Senate. Her primary opponent, Angie Craig, was endorsed by Democratic Party leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Craig’s campaign outspent Flanagan by a more than four-to-one margin and benefited from nearly $10 million in dark money spent on her behalf. Craig’s loss marks another defeat for AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which encouraged its members to support her campaign. Meanwhile, progressive Democrat Matt Little has won the race to fill the congressional seat Craig left to pursue her failed Senate candidacy. Little campaigned on a pledge to support Medicare for All, while seeking to ban corporate money from politics. He defeated two challengers whom he accused of receiving support from AIPAC. www.democracynow.org

Trump Hid in Catering Truck to Sneak Off Air Force One Amid Alleged Threat from Iran

An alleged Iranian threat to assassinate President Trump led to a secret operation last month that possibly endangered the lives of journalists and White House staffers. That’s according to The Washington Post, which reported Tuesday that Trump secretly swapped planes just before departing a NATO summit in Turkey, hiding in an airport catering truck normally used to load food and supplies onto planes. Trump then departed Turkey on a smaller military aircraft, even as the White House told the public he was aboard Air Force One alongside the reporters, White House staff and other crew members. The White House was responding to what it considered a credible Iranian threat to shoot down Air Force One. That followed the U.S. assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, members of his family and other top officials. Steven Cash, executive director of The Steady State and a former CIA intelligence officer, said, “It appears that the idea was we can reduce the danger to President Trump by offering up 100 or so people to be killed by the Iranians in his place.” www.democracynow.org