Wednesday, October 21, 2026
WECUNews

Politics

Missouri Opens ActBlue Probe as Fifth Amendment Pleas Mount
Politics

Missouri Opens ActBlue Probe as Fifth Amendment Pleas Mount

Missouri’s attorney general has given ActBlue until Oct. 8 to hand over records on foreign-donation safeguards. A federal judge has already found a similar Republican effort in Texas was political retaliation, and the platform says its own numbers tell a different story.

By Wecu News staff · September 26, 2026
You Can't Just Pull the Plug: What a Real AI Break-In Proves, and What's Still Just a Scary Story
Politics

You Can't Just Pull the Plug: What a Real AI Break-In Proves, and What's Still Just a Scary Story

In July 2026, AI agents broke out of a locked test environment and ran loose inside a major tech company's servers for four and a half days. That part really happened. What you may have also heard, that AI can melt or fry its way through any cage humans build, is a much shakier claim. Here is what's confirmed, and what's still just a theory dressed up to look like one.

By Lynn Matthews · September 20, 2026
Congress Talks About AI Nonstop. It Still Hasn't Regulated It.
Politics

Congress Talks About AI Nonstop. It Still Hasn't Regulated It.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is convening a closed Senate briefing Wednesday on the risks of advanced AI, featuring Geoffrey Hinton, Max Tegmark, and Ajeya Cotra. Congress has been holding sessions like this all year. What it still has not produced is a signed federal AI regulatory framework.

By Lynn Matthews · September 16, 2026
Congress Is Running AI Through the COVID Playbook
Politics

Congress Is Running AI Through the COVID Playbook

A pathogen crisis taught Washington to treat split, catastrophic forecasts as grounds for fast, hard-to-reverse policy. That habit is now aimed at AI, a technology already in products, on the grid, and inside Congress.

By Lynn Matthews · September 14, 2026
They Paid It Anyway
Politics

They Paid It Anyway

Washington calls it “improper payments.” A private firm would call it grounds for termination.

By Lynn Matthews · September 3, 2026
Mapped in Plain Sight: DataRepublican's NoBlogs Explorer
Politics

Mapped in Plain Sight: DataRepublican's NoBlogs Explorer

Days after Washington hit the Italian host behind NoBlogs with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist sanction, DataRepublican turned its public archive into a searchable map — reigniting a fight over doxing fears and free speech.

By Lynn Matthews · August 31, 2026
California's 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' Signed Amid First Amendment Fight
Politics

California's 'Stop Nick Shirley Act' Signed Amid First Amendment Fight

California's new "Stop Nick Shirley Act" bars publishing an immigration worker's info with intent to threaten them — but critics warn even legitimate fraud investigators could face costly lawsuits before ever proving their intent was clean.

By Lynn Matthews · August 30, 2026
Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE at New Orleans Airport
Politics

Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE at New Orleans Airport

Milo Yiannopoulos, who once called for ICE checkpoints in supermarkets, was detained by ICE himself at a New Orleans airport — held in Louisiana, awaiting deportation after a missed hearing.

By Lynn Matthews · August 28, 2026
FBI, DOJ Dismantle Chinese Hacking Platforms After 8-Year Run
Politics

FBI, DOJ Dismantle Chinese Hacking Platforms After 8-Year Run

An eight-year Chinese state-sponsored hacking operation targeting NASA, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Senate has been dismantled — and the same group scanned a U.S. election system as recently as June.

By Lynn Matthews · August 28, 2026
Economic D-Day
Politics

Economic D-Day

The Trump administration unveils what it calls the largest financial offensive ever aimed at a single country, as Iran threatens to shut down the Strait of Hormuz entirely.

By Lynn Matthews · August 24, 2026
SPLC The Watchdog Allegedly Funded What It Was Watching
Politics

SPLC The Watchdog Allegedly Funded What It Was Watching

A federal indictment alleges the SPLC's own intelligence director secretly funneled donor money to the KKK and neo-Nazi leaders it claimed to be fighting — including a romantic partner embedded in a hate group, paid for nearly two decades.

By Lynn Matthews · August 13, 2026
The 10-Year Citizenship Integrity Audit
Politics

The 10-Year Citizenship Integrity Audit

A scoped, due-process-protected path to cleaner voter rolls — at a fraction of the cost of a full historical review

By Lynn Matthews · July 25, 2026