The Note: Top Political Stories From Today

27 days until Election Day.

ByABC News
October 12, 2016, 6:01 PM

— -- COUNTDOWN TO ELECTION DAY: 27 days

Donald Trump Sees ‘Sinister Deal’ Behind Republican Revolt. Donald Trump seemed to suggest today that Paul Ryan and other members of the GOP are involved in a “sinister deal” against him. “There is a whole deal going on and we’re going to figure it out. I always figure things out. But there’s a whole sinister deal going on,” Trump said. Though Trump doesn’t spell out what the “deal” is, the candidate criticized Ryan for not showing support of his performance in the second presidential debate. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH, ADAM KELSEY and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI report on Trump’s campaign rally in Ocala, Florida this afternoon: http://abcn.ws/2d7WlzG

Trump on Clinton: 'I Don't Want to Invade Her Space.' Donald Trump today took a swipe at his Democratic opponent and claims that he loomed over her in an intimidating way at the debate, saying "I don't want to invade her space." "They said he invaded her space. I invaded her space," he told the crowd in Florida. "Believe me. The last space that I want to invade is her space. Believe me." ABC’s CANDACE SMITH has more. http://abcn.ws/2dMZ96Q

What We Learned From the Purported John Podesta Emails From Wikileaks. The anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks has dumped thousands of emails this week that it claims came directly from the inbox of Hillary Clinton’s campaign Chairman John Podesta. So far, the Clinton campaign has neither confirmed nor denied the authenticity of the emails. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS notes the highlights of what’s in the leaked emails: http://abcn.ws/2e1Y4n1

Topics Announced for the Final Presidential Debate. The Commission of the Presidential Debates released a statement today, announcing the topics for the third presidential debate picked by Fox News host Chris Wallace. The topics for the final faceoff between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump include immigration, the Supreme Court, economy, and fitness to be president. Wallace is the first moderator chosen from Fox News. The debate will be held on Oct. 19th in Las Vegas.

TALES FROM THE TRAIL

ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ: Hillary Clinton, speaking to a large and diverse crowd (including several Latino families), lashed out at Donald Trump for running, what she described as, a "desperate" campaign during her campaign event here in Pueblo, CO. “Donald Trump is taking a very different tone,” Clinton said. “His campaign said today that they are going to use a quote 'scorched earth' strategy for the remaining 4 weeks of this race. Now that just shows how desperate they are, that’s all they have left, pure negativity. Pessimism." She also made a big push for people to send in their early voting ballots as soon as possible, so as to "avoid a big back log on election night,”

ABC’s INES DE LA CUETARA: Speaking at Liberty University, Mike Pence hit Clinton for what he calls "bigoted, anti-Catholic, anti-evangelical remarks" in the new batch of Wikileaks emails. He called on her to denounce those remarks and apologize. Pence also spent a lot of time encouraging evangelicals to get out the vote.

ABC’s MATTHEW CLAIBORNE: The lights went out twice while Bill Clinton was talking at his first event in Indianola, Iowa. It caught everyone off guard and he joked about getting ready to do stand up comedy. “I almost went into my stand up comedy routine. I’d like to give you a few examples. That’s what I get for bragging on wind power. “

ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS: After ruling Monday to push the Florida voter registration deadline back one day to Wednesday, October 12, Florida federal judge Mark Walker ruled this morning to extend the voter registration six more days because of Hurricane Matthew. The deadline was previously slated for October 11.

AD ROUNDUP with ABC’s RYAN STRUYK

Trump’s Ad Accuses Clinton of ‘Pay to Play.’ Donald Trump’s campaign released a new ad called “Corruption” attacking the Clinton Foundation. “Pay to play politics. Staggering amounts of cash poured into the Clinton Foundation from criminals, dictators, countries that hate America,” the voice says. “Hillary Clinton only cares about power, money and herself.” http://bit.ly/2dK4MAf

Clinton’s Nevada Ad. Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a new Spanish language digital and television ad today called “Nevadense.” The ad features an DREAMer in Nevada: “As President, only Hillary Clinton will protect DREAMers and families like ours. Talk with your loved ones. Our future is in your hands, if you can vote, vote.” http://bit.ly/2dcVvwx

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"I’m beyond being moved or surprised, have been for a long time." – Bill Clinton campaigning in Iowa, in response to question about Trump’s pre-debate news conference.

HAPPENING TONIGHT:

--7:45 PM – Bill Clinton holds an early vote event for Hillary at Waterloo, Iowa

--10:30 PM – Hillary Clinton holds an early voting event in Las Vegas, Nevada

WHO’S TWEETING?