Mystery Flyers Sow Mass Confusion Ahead of Texas Election

Suspicious mailers from a nonexistent trans rights group are showing up in voters’ mailboxes in Texas ahead of the midterms.

Some residents have received pamphlets and fliers from the “Texas Transgender Student Union,” a made-up organization, advising them on how to emancipate from their parents and receive out-of-state medical care. The pamphlets seem to be leaning into right-wing hysteria over gender-affirming care for minors.

The branding on the flyers mimics that of the real-life Transgender Education Network of Texas, which disavowed the mailings on a statement on its website.

“We are aware of text messages and now physical mailers that have been circulated concerning TENT that appear to have been issued by or on behalf of the organization,” the website states. ”These text messages and mailers were not authored, authorized, approved, or distributed by TENT and are not affiliated with our organization. The texts do not represent the official position or communications of the organization.”

Republicans across the Lone Star State who received the literature, which seems to be specifically targeting them, are falling for the ragebait.

The mailings include an “LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide” flyer that has resources and websites aimed at helping transgender youth. The Concho Observer, an independent local news outlet based in San Angelo, Texas, found that the address provided for the Texas Transgender Student Union is a UPS Store in Flower Mound, Texas.

The Observer estimates that sending the mailings would cost between $3 million and $4.4 million, proving that they must have been part of a deliberate political operation. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has already poured nearly $190 million into the Texas Senate race, and has engaged in shady, legally gray tactics before. He, or another Republican megadonor, is likely responsible for the mailers.

The flyers come after suspicious text messages seemingly impersonating TENT went out to Texans last week purporting to offer help about gender-affirming care in the state and provide guides to “bathrooms and beyond for trans kids at school.” The organization sent out a cease and desist notice to two digital messaging companies to halt the campaign.

President Trump is offering up to $30,000 to anyone who calls in a tip pertaining to government fraud—all while turning a blind eye to the fraud being committed by his administration.

Trump made the announcement about the Justice Department’s new $25 million anti-fraud program on Tuesday afternoon alongside Vice President JD Vance, White House adviser Stephen Miller, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and right-wing provocateur Nick Shirley.

Trump explained the new program while handing a $10,000 check to Shirley, a 24-year-old YouTuber who gained notoriety for a shoddy investigation into Somali daycare centers in Minnesota that led to an increase in racist attacks on that community, culminating in the recent raid on the home of Somali American Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar.

The website seeking tips is Fraud.gov.

“If anybody turns anybody in [for fraud of] a billion dollars, $5 billion, $100 billion, you get a 1 percent commission,” Trump promised during the announcement. “The kind of money that’s been stolen is trillions from this country, by crooked politicians that made things, and set things up.… I can name all of them.

“All of those people that are willing to do the right thing and turn people in … they’re gonna become rich. When you get 1 percent of a billion dollars, 1 percent of a hundred billion dollars, it’s gonna be a tremendous amount of money,” he continued. “It’s the largest commission ever paid, probably for anything anywhere—because the numbers you’re talking about are in the trillions.”

Given the administration’s poor track record at tackling corruption, here are some tips you can submit to the website:

Just a week ago, U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle was forced to resign after reports that she allegedly threatened a host country official and offered pay-to-play access to Trump administration officials in return for $100,000.

Meanwhile, Trump himself is estimated to have gotten $2.7 billion richer since being elected in 2024. The Trump family’s crypto firm World Liberty Financial Fund made a $500 million deal with the United Arab Emirates, after which the country suddenly obtained U.S. AI chip technology. Trump sued the IRS after his tax returns were leaked during his own first term—and he then settled his lawsuit with the establishment of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to reward his allies.

A broker representing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was caught trying to invest in defense companies right before the administration started bombing Iran in February. Trump has rewarded countless donors with appointments and favors, used taxpayer funds to broadcast his own propaganda commercials, and has had his FBI and Justice Department drop bribery probes and disband offices looking into corruption, even in the middle of massive cases.

President Donald Trump has made supposed voting integrity a fundamental component of his brand since the 2020 presidential election. So why did his administration try to hack a voting machine?

Insiders that spoke to ProPublica shared that political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security had asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, to covertly obtain a voting machine, break into it, and report back to the White House.

The directive reportedly shocked CISA employees, who felt the request was antithetical to their mission of thwarting potential hackers. Furthermore, staff were concerned by another DHS request that would have restricted CISA from notifying the voting machine companies of their findings.

“My thought was they could keep it in their back pocket to invalidate any results they don’t like,” one former official told ProPublica. “This goes against everything CISA represents.”

The request was ultimately not fulfilled, in no small part because the agents capable of pulling off such an operation were terminated by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Eventually the political appointees stopped pressing the issue, according to ProPublica.

Over the course of Trump’s second administration, more than 1,000 employees have been pushed out of CISA—about a third of the agency. But CISA could be on the brink of more devastating cuts: The president’s 2027 budget proposal would shrink funding for the agency by $700 million, a number that could result in another 900 employees getting axed.

Against all democratic principles, Trump has repeatedly attacked the concept of voting and stoked election conspiracies for his own personal gain. He has continually made unfounded claims about voter fraud, pressured state election officials, strong-armed state legislatures to reshape their districts for the benefit of his agenda, and attempted to dismantle mail-in voting—all to remain in power and disregard or overthrow electoral results that he has perceived as less than favorable.

While the Trump administration is gearing up to interfere in November’s midterm elections, federal officials are secretly speaking with state governments and members of Congress on what to do.

The Washington Post reports that about 10 former and current employees with experience in the Department of Defense have been advising states on how to counter President Trump’s efforts under the radar. Some of the people have experience with opposing authoritarian governments overseas.

Two members of the group anonymously spoke with the Post, telling the newspaper that they were not motivated by political affiliation or bias but rather the fear that Trump is trying to damage democracy in the U.S. by undermining election integrity to protect himself and his Republican allies. The group, which also shared documents with the publication, has reportedly consulted with election officials, governors, and members of Congress comprising both Democrats and Republicans across 10 states.

The group is focusing on states and localities where races are expected to be close and could determine which party controls Congress after the midterms. The group is in constant contact with congressional staffers, and at least one state is holding ongoing meetings, according to the Post. In addition to raising awareness, the group is also trying to help states make their election protocols harder to for the federal government to exploit.

“All of them have said ‘We’re concerned but we don’t know what to do,’” one member of the group told the Post. “The outcome that we hope for is that states would be prepared for any contingencies should they arise.”

In a statement, the White House attacked the group and claimed Trump is only pushing for stricter election laws.

The Trump administration “is taking decisive action to protect our elections including prosecuting election crimes, strengthening election infrastructure security, and protecting vulnerable voters from fraud and coercion,” said White House spokesperson Lauren Bis.

Trump has continued to fuel election conspiracies and insist that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Administration officials have seized voting machines and ballots, demanded voter rolls from state governments, and taken legal action against Democratic states based on faulty or even fabricated evidence.

The White House has also sought to purge the federal bureaucracy of civil servants it deems disloyal to Trump, especially in federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI. Congress and state officials are right to be concerned about the election: Trump could interfere with the results, skirt or break laws, or outright disavow any losses without fear of legal action.

A 56-year-old father of three who died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention over the weekend was a lawful permanent resident, The Texas Tribune reported Monday.

Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias was found unconscious in his bed Saturday morning at the Rio Grande Processing Center. ICE had detained Andrade-Covarrubias on June 26, as he was returning to Texas from Mexico through the port of entry in Laredo. The agency claimed that he’d failed to disclose a prior arrest when applying for his green card in 2004.

Andrade-Covarrubias’s daughter, Estefani Andrade, told the Tribune that her father had disclosed his criminal record during his application process and was still approved. Andrade-Covarrubias was scheduled to appear at an immigration court hearing on November 2.

As of Monday, his cause of death was still unknown.

Andrade told the Tribune that her father had a heart condition, diabetes, high blood pressure, and experienced a lasting toll from being hospitalized with Covid-19 in 2021. She claimed that staff at the processing center had refused to give him his medication, and that when her father began reporting symptoms, such as a persistent cough, difficulty breathing, and tightness across the chest, medical personnel “would just ignore him.”

In a statement, ICE claimed that Andrade-Covarrubias received proper medical care.

A Bloomberg Law investigation concluded that 37 people died in ICE custody between October 2025 and September 2026, marking the fiscal year 2026 as the deadliest in the agency’s recorded history.

Under the Trump administration, ICE has subjected tens of thousands of people—including U.S. citizens, lawful immigrants, and immigrants with no criminal convictions—to overcrowded rooms, unsanitary conditions, and insufficient food and water. Immigrants have been denied adequate medical care and legal counsel, and were even locked in cages.