Right now, I’m sitting here with a pack of sour candy in hand, waiting for the Jets’ first preseason game to start (yes, I know… being a Jets fan is its own form of suffering). But while the rest of the world is tuned in to the latest headlines or sports scores, I want to talk about the stories falling through the cracks — the ones that matter deeply, but get buried under the noise.
And I’m going to do something different tonight: a Q&A. Paid subscribers will get priority, but I’ll try to answer as many questions as possible over the next 24–48 hours. Ask me anything in the comments — the work is worth it if it means keeping you informed and reassured. Subscribe today to make sure your question is prioritized:
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Here’s what’s on my radar:
1. The Epstein Scandal and Survivors’ Fight for Justice: Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse — ignored for years by the justice system — are becoming a political force the Trump administration can’t ignore. Yet instead of centering victims, the White House is resisting calls to release Epstein-related files, some of which reportedly reference Trump himself. Key meetings on the crisis have excluded survivors, and convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has received unusual leniency, prompting fears of a future pardon. For victims’ families, this isn’t just a political scandal — it’s a repeat of decades of neglect and cover-up.
2. The Republican Budget Bill’s Devastating Impact: The Senate Republican budget bill is a sweeping redistribution of wealth upward. It cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, threatening rural hospitals and community health providers, and imposes strict work requirements that could strip millions of health coverage — including working parents, people with disabilities, and lawful immigrants such as refugees and trafficking survivors. The bill also slashes food assistance, raises grocery and healthcare costs, and risks collapsing safety net programs entirely. At the same time, it delivers enormous tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy, raising the estate tax exemption to $30 million per couple and extending millionaire-friendly business deductions — adding $3.3 trillion to the deficit in the process.
3. Federal Workforce Purge: In its push to downsize government, the Trump administration has fired thousands of federal employees across more than a dozen agencies. Supreme Court rulings have allowed many of these layoffs to resume, including at the State Department, which just cut 9% of its staff. While the Department of Veterans Affairs reversed plans for mass layoffs, the cuts elsewhere are widespread — disrupting operations, hollowing out agencies, and reshaping the civil service in real time.
4. The CECOT Deportations: Four months ago, the Trump administration deported more than 230 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, branding them gang members without presenting evidence. Most had no serious U.S. convictions, and nearly half were legally in the country mid-immigration case. Many were targeted largely because of tattoos — an unreliable gang marker — and some had been approved for voluntary return to Venezuela but were instead sent to El Salvador. Accounts from detainees include alleged torture, family separation, and lasting trauma. They were freed in a July prisoner swap, but the damage remains.
Your subscription doesn’t just keep the lights on — it keeps watch when the rest of the country is asleep. The people writing these bills and making these calls are counting on you being too distracted, too busy, or too disheartened to notice. That’s how they get away with it.
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This isn’t about partisanship. It’s about accountability. It’s about confronting the dangerous lengths power will go to protect itself. It’s about making sure that when they bury a vote at 11:59 p.m. or hide their agenda in 900 pages of fine print, someone’s there to pull it into the light.
That’s why I’m growing this team — so we can keep going when the truth gets ugly, and so you always have the facts you need. But I can’t do it alone.
Stand with me. Help build something stronger. Help ensure that, no matter how dark it gets, there’s always someone shining the light.
With gratitude and urgency,
Aaron