The Brief

The top federal prosecutor in Alaska said a criminal investigation is under way over allegations that a second candidate named Dan Sullivan was recruited to appear on the Senate ballot alongside the Republican incumbent. He did not specify what crimes are being investigated, saying he is "not making any assumptions on whether a crime has been committed or not," CBS News reports. As part of an ongoing lawsuit, the Justice Department also asked a federal judge to order state elections officials to segregate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan, citing potential voter confusion, PBS NewsHour reports.

Alaska's Republican governor earlier ordered a separate investigation into whether people aligned with Democratic candidate Mary Peltola's campaign helped recruit the second candidate. Peltola has denied the allegations, saying she knew nothing about the other Dan Sullivan and is not interested in tricking voters.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said she will conduct a formal inquiry into whether government officials engaged in misconduct in the case over the East Potomac municipal golf course, including whether they misled the court about their plans for it. Al Jazeera reports she called on government lawyers to explain contradictory statements.

BBC reports the judge questioned Trump administration lawyers about what they knew of plans to close the course next month.

An ICE officer, identified by PBS NewsHour as Mario Alberto Morales, has been charged after allegedly hitting a man with an unmarked SUV on Oct. 10. The Harris County District Attorney's Office said the man, Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, was running away during a pursuit through a parking lot. Al Jazeera reports a Texas grand jury indicted the officer.

BBC reports prosecutors said the man, a Mexican national living in the U.S. without legal documentation, suffered multiple leg fractures and a hip injury.

The Nasdaq dropped by nearly 1,000 points after disappointing earnings reports from Alphabet, Amazon and Intel renewed fears that the AI trade could unravel, CBS News reports. BBC reports the tech-heavy index opened at its lowest level in more than two months, with Intel shares continuing to fall.

BBC also reports Google's market value fell by about $500 billion and its stock hit a six-month low after the company disclosed that its own AI search summaries were affecting advertising revenue.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the Justice Department's request for California to set aside disputed ballots received in the midterm election, CBS News reports. The administration has alleged California sent ballots to about 20,000 people who may not be U.S. citizens and wants them set aside until citizenship can be verified, according to PBS NewsHour.

Al Jazeera reports the court called the petition to remove 20,000 ballots from California's vote count unconstitutional. PBS NewsHour separately reported that a federal judge ruled Wednesday against the request, warning it would "wreak havoc" on the midterms.

More than 43 million ballots have been cast so far in early voting for the Nov. 3 midterms. BBC reports the numbers appear to outpace turnout for previous elections in some battleground counties, and that Hispanic voters have helped drive them.

PBS NewsHour reports early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm, with particularly sharp increases in states hosting competitive Senate races. In Texas, more than 6.3 million people had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.