Podcast · ms.now
Deadline: White House
Nicolle Wallace, MS NOW
Drawing on years of experience as communications chief for President George W. Bush and senior advisor for the McCain-Palin campaign, Nicolle Wallace provides political insight and clarity on where the decision-makers stand on complex issues. Join her for analysis and discussion with the key newsmakers every weekday.
172 claims
True85% confidence9 sourcesOct 22, 2026The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for striking Iran, to be executed after the midterm elections.Said by AMultiple sources (NYT original report, Reuters, Times of Israel, Haaretz, The Age, El Pais) report that US and Israeli militaries had developed specific plans for renewed strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, with targets including energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile/drone arsenals. The claim's 'only after the midterm elections' timing matches the reporting, and the sources as of 2026-10-22 support it; the report notes Trump has not approved the strikes, which the claim does not deny.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True90% confidence7 sourcesOct 22, 2026The Pentagon press corps has been kicked out of the Pentagon building.Said by 3DThe claim is supported as of 2026-10-22: Reuters reported dozens of journalists vacated their Pentagon offices and returned credentials in October 2025 after refusing new access rules, and a later War Department release confirms most of the press corps lost building access then. The post's wording matches the passage, and later events (the March 2026 closure of Correspondents' Corridor and the move to an annex) only add to the picture.True90% confidence8 sourcesOct 22, 2026Pete Hegseth served as a weekend cable news host before leading the Department of Defense.Said by AMultiple sources establish that Pete Hegseth was a weekend co-host of Fox & Friends (2017 to 2024) before being sworn in as Secretary of Defense (Department of War) in January 2025. The claim's core, that he was a weekend cable news host before leading the Pentagon, is supported; the extraction faithfully reflects the passage's 'weekend cable news host' framing.True90% confidence6 sourcesOct 22, 2026Staff members working for Pete Hegseth dropped an Eisenhower globe while moving it, causing damage to the shell near Antarctica.Said by AMultiple independent reliable sources (The Hill, NBC News, NPR, Snopes, Reuters-syndicated AP-style coverage) confirm that staff working for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dropped a WWII-era Eisenhower globe while moving it, damaging its shell near Antarctica; the Pentagon acknowledged the accident. The post's text names 'Pete Hegza's staff' and the claim's 'Pete Hegseth' is the same person, and the February date and 'several inches' gash are peripheral details that do not contradict the core assertion.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True90% confidence6 sourcesOct 22, 2026The 2026 midterm elections are less than two weeks away from October 22, 2026.The midterm elections were set for Tuesday, November 3, 2026, which is 12 days after October 22, 2026, so the midterms were less than two weeks away on the posting date. The claim's wording is awkward but its substance matches the sources, and the post itself said the midterms were 'just less than two weeks away'.True60% confidence6 sourcesOct 20, 2026Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security requested that CISA secretly acquire and hack a voting machine at the beginning of President Trump's second term.ProPublica's October 19, 2026 investigation reports that DHS political appointees asked CISA to secretly acquire and hack a voting machine a few months into Trump's second term, citing two former administration officials. No source contradicts this, but the other outlets largely repeat ProPublica's reporting, and the DHS and CISA did not respond to questions, so the claim rests on a single investigation with anonymous sources.True95% confidence4 sourcesOct 20, 2026The 2026 midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026.Multiple tier1 sources (AP calendar, Reuters, BBC) and several others state that the 2026 midterm general election is on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, matching the claim. The post's own passage says midterms are two weeks away from October 20, consistent with a November 3 date, so the claim does not depart from the passage.True95% confidence6 sourcesOct 20, 2026Donald Trump fired Chris Krebs from his position as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.Multiple tier1 and tier2 sources (AP, Reuters, BBC, NPR, CNN, ABC) report that President Trump fired Chris Krebs as director of CISA on November 17, 2020, via a tweet. The claim's core assertion is directly corroborated; the post's phrasing about firing 'for making sure the election was secure' matches sources describing the firing as tied to Krebs's election-security statement.True70% confidence8 sourcesOct 20, 2026A group of about ten current and former U.S. national security officials has been advising state governments and congressional lawmakers on how to prepare for potential interference by the Trump administration.Multiple outlets, including the Washington Post original report from 2026-10-20 and later syndications and follow-ups, report that about ten current and former U.S. national security officials have been discreetly advising state governments and congressional lawmakers on preparing for possible Trump administration interference in the midterms. The coverage traces back to one Post report based on anonymous participants, and the White House disputed the concerns without denying the group's existence.True72% confidence6 sourcesOct 20, 2026CISA employees were unable to fulfill the request to hack a voting machine because the agents capable of doing so had been laid off by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative.ProPublica reports that CISA employees told political appointees the hacking request was impossible, in part because the agents capable of such an operation had just been laid off by DOGE, and that the request was not acted on. The claim drops the qualifier "in part" but otherwise matches the reporting; independent 2025 reports corroborate that DOGE cut CISA red-team staff.True90% confidence8 sourcesOct 20, 2026Chris Krebs helped create CISA during the first Trump administration.Said by DMultiple tier1 and tier2 sources state that Chris Krebs was CISA's first director and that CISA was created under Trump's first administration (signed 2018), with Krebs appointed in 2017 and confirmed in 2018, so he helped create the agency during Trump 1.0. The extraction's 'had a hand in creating' is a faithful paraphrase of the passage, and the claim is not contradicted by any source.True90% confidence7 sourcesOct 20, 2026Tulsi Gabbard enacted a plan in Puerto Rico to research voting machines.Said by DReuters and NBC News, both reporting in February 2026, confirm that Gabbard's Office of the Director of National Intelligence obtained and examined Puerto Rico's voting machines in 2025 to look for security vulnerabilities, which matches the claim. The claim drops the passage's word 'similar' and does not say the plan was the same as the CISA request, but that is a faithful paraphrase of the core action and does not change the verdict.