Wednesday, October 28th, 2026 - Netanyahu Loses 14 Seats, Flavio Bolsonaro Flees to the US, Hackers Hit the FEC

Today's Headlines: Netanyahu’s party failed to win a majority in Israel’s election and, per exit polls, came in second behind opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, with Netanyahu’s coalition losing 14 seats from its 64 in 2022 to land around 50, while Eisenkot’s bloc has 52 or 53 and the two Arab parties hit record representation with 17 or 18 seats, which means Eisenkot would need them to form a government, and while final results are due in two days, a coalition could take weeks, and if no one reaches 61 seats, there’s another election. Over in Brazil, the just-defeated Flavio Bolsonaro fled to the US, fearing arrest after police asked for his passport in a billion-dollar money laundering probe, and the State Department says it plans to issue visas to him and his family, so happy to help, apparently. Back home, hackers targeted the FEC’s website a week before the midterms, knocking its campaign finance filing system offline during the most expensive election in history, with the FEC saying “we have a bad actor attempting to breach FEC systems,” which doesn’t exactly narrow it down, and meanwhile Trump posted a $1 million reward for tips on voter fraud, past or future, that lead to convictions, without saying where the money comes from. At the Pentagon, Hegseth ordered a one-day “stand down” so troops can vote, so here’s hoping they vote based on their experience with this war, and he’s also pressing Congress to formally authorize renaming the Defense Department the Department of War, which has so far only been done by executive order, at up to $125 million for new signs, websites, and uniforms. In Texas, a judge ruled that Gov. Greg Abbott must let his opponent, Democrat Gina Hinojosa, review over a thousand pages of unredacted communications with Elon Musk, a major Abbott donor, though Abbott is appealing. Finally, the FT reports that Don Jr. went on a two-day hunting trip in remote Mongolia with the Russian oligarch who paid for one of his Bahamas wedding parties, where he killed an endangered sheep with valuable horns, and afterward he had dinner with Mongolia’s president to discuss US-Mongolia relations and business opportunities. Resources/Articles mentioned: CNN: Netanyahu suffers rebuke in Israeli elections, exit polls indicate NYT: Flávio Bolsonaro Leaves Brazil for the U.S. After Election Defeat Axios: U.S. granting visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and family Reuters: Hackers target US FEC system, disrupting campaign finance disclosures days before midterms NBC News: Trump offers $1 million reward for voter fraud tips that lead to convictions MS Now: Hegseth gave troops a day off to vote, but those votes may not break the way he hopes The Hill: Pentagon presses Congress to keep measure changing name to ‘Department of War’ Bloomberg Law: Abbott’s Elon Musk Records Can Be Seen by Election Opponent (2) The New Republic: Don Jr.’s Hunting Trip Reveals He’s Closer to Putin Ally Than We Knew Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices