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Reid asks FBI to probe threat of Russian election tampering

Aug 29, 2016 | 8:00 PM

WASHINGTON — The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign. (all times EDT):

9:40 p.m.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is asking the FBI to investigate the threat of Russian tampering with U.S. elections, including potentially falsifying election results.

Reid argues in a letter to FBI Director James Comey that “evidence of a direct connection between the Russian government and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign continues to mount.”

He points to ties between the Trump campaign and Russian interests and notes evidence of Russian efforts to intervene in the electoral process, including hacks of Democratic political organizations. Reid says it’s vital to investigate the circumstances including any “complicit intermediaries” between the Russian government, the leakers and “any U.S. citizen.”

Calling the prospect of a hostile government seeking to undermine our elections a grave threat, Reid insists the public deserves a full accounting before the election.

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7:50 p.m.

Republican donor and fundraiser Meg Whitman is hitting the campaign trail for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The Hewlett-Packard executive will meet with business leaders in Denver on Tuesday to talk about Clinton’s plans for jobs and the economy.

Whitman endorsed Clinton earlier this month over fellow Republican Donald Trump, saying she cannot support a candidate who has “exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division.”

The former eBay CEO ran unsuccessfully for California governor in 2010, spending $144 million of her own money while losing to Democrat Jerry Brown.

Whitman was the national finance co-chair of Republican New Jersey candidate Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential campaign before he dropped out and endorsed Trump.

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7:15 p.m.

Donald Trump says San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem is a “terrible thing.”

Trump tells KIRO radio in Seattle that Kaepernick “should find a country that works better for him. Let him try, it won’t happen.”

Kaepernick drew national attention when he sat through “The Star-Spangled Banner” before an NFL exhibition game Friday. The quarterback says he plans to sit through the anthem until he sees significant progress in race relations in the United States.

He has also criticized both major presidential candidates, calling Trump “openly racist” and saying Hillary Clinton has “done things Illegally.”

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6 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is telling supporters that she doesn’t know “which Donald Trump” will show up at the presidential debates.

Clinton told supporters at a private fundraiser in New York’s East Hampton Monday that she is “running against someone who will say or do anything.” The Democratic presidential candidate said her Republican opponent may try and convey “gravity” or he could seek to “score points.”

Clinton called this year “the most unpredictable electoral season.” Her remarks were audible to reporters held in a nearby room.

She stressed that the race was not over yet and said that she had recently been warned that many people “will be paying attention for the first time” when they tune into the debates. She said the campaign can’t “assume they have followed anything.”

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5 p.m.

The Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Indiana is declining to say whether he’s comfortable with Donald Trump serving as commander in chief and possessing the nation’s nuclear launch codes.

Congressman Todd Young avoided directly answering the question several times in an interview with The Associated Press. Finally the former Marine declared that Trump “has not disqualified himself from getting a top-secret security clearance,” while Democrat Hillary Clinton has.

Young is supporting Trump in a state the Republicans are all but certain to win. He is opposing Democrat Evan Bayh, a former senator.

Democratic Senate candidates are working hard to tie their GOP opponents to Trump, but Bayh is not using that strategy, given Trump’s support in the state and the presence of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as Trump’s running mate.

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1 p.m.

Donald Trump is praising the decision of Hillary Clinton’s top aide to separate from husband Anthony Weiner. And he’s blasting Clinton in the process by suggesting Weiner could have endangered national security.

Trump says Huma Abedin “is making a very wise decision” and that “she will be far better off without him.”

Abedin announced Monday she is leaving the former New York congressman after the New York Post published photos it said showed Weiner “sexting” again.

Trump, in a statement, criticized Clinton’s “bad judgment” in allowing Weiner “close proximity to highly classified information.” He offered no evidence that Weiner had access to classified material.

Trump said it’s possible “that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this.”

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11 a.m.

Donald Trump will call rival Hillary Clinton crooked, corrupt and un-presidential. But at least he won’t say she smells.

During a flurry of Twitter activity Monday, the Republican nominee re-tweeted a supporter who had written, “I know of NO ONE voting for Crooked Hillary! Her rallies are held in port-o-potties & she still has room. She Smells!”

Trump sent out a modified version of the message to his followers, tweeting: “Her rallies are held in (blank) & she still has room” instead.

Trump also says he thinks high crime in inner cities will drive minority voters to his candidacy.

He says: “African-Americans will vote for Trump because they know I will stop the slaughter going on!”

He is also going after Clinton’s intellect, saying her “brainpower is highly overrated.”

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6:00 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is rolling out a comprehensive plan to address millions of Americans coping with mental illness. She’s pointing to the need to fully integrate mental health services into the nation’s health care system.

Clinton’s campaign is releasing a multi-pronged approach to mental health on Monday. Her agenda would focus on early diagnosis and intervention and create a national initiative for suicide prevention.

It would also try to integrate the nation’s mental and physical health care systems to focus on the health of each individual in a seamless way. It would also aim to increase access to community-based treatment opportunities.

Clinton would also convene a White House conference on mental health within her first year in office if she’s elected.

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3:30 a.m.

Donald Trump says he’ll deliver a detailed speech on his proposal to crack down on illegal immigration on Wednesday in Arizona — but it’s anyone’s guess what he might say.

The announcement came late Sunday in a tweet by the GOP presidential nominee after days of wavering — and at least one cancelled speech — on a question central to his campaign: Whether he would, as he said in November, use a “deportation force” to eject the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. On Sunday, led by vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence, Trump’s surrogates fanned out across the televised talk shows to reiterate other parts of his proposal but none could answer that question. And they wouldn’t say whether it was worrisome that such a consequential proposal remained unclear so close to the Nov. 8 election.

In one case, the chairman of the Republican National Committee refused to speak for the GOP nominee at all.

“I just don’t speak for Donald Trump,” Reince Priebus said Sunday.

The Associated Press