Good morning, everyone. Grab your coffee — it could be a long day. I’m continuing to track the expanding National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., while pressing the White House relentlessly for answers on everything Epstein-related.
I want you to know this: I’m not intimidated. I’m resolved. The truth is too important to walk away from, and I won’t stop until we get it.
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With that, here’s the news:
The Trump administration plans to deploy up to 1,700 National Guard troops across 19 mostly Republican-led states to support ICE and crime crackdowns, with duties including fingerprinting, DNA swabbing, and clerical work. Texas is expected to receive the largest contingent. Officials say the troops won’t carry out arrests, but critics warn the expansion blurs lines between military and law enforcement as Trump also threatens to send “regular military” into cities like Chicago and New York.
The National Guard deployments are slated for 19 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
Trump’s federal takeover of DC policing saw crime drop moderately in its first week (property crimes down 19%, violent crimes down 17%), but immigration arrests spiked more than tenfold, with 300 undocumented people detained. Critics say the crackdown is a pretext for mass deportations and undermines sanctuary laws, while the White House hails it as a public safety success. Most DC residents oppose the occupation, and lawsuits are pending over its legality.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said agents won’t be present at D.C. schools on the first day of classes, but did not rule out future visits in cases like welfare checks on unaccompanied minors or emergencies. His remarks come amid fears from parents and educators after ICE’s “sensitive locations” policy was rescinded, with past enforcement near schools linked to higher student absences and anxiety.
The Trump administration released transcripts of Ghislaine Maxwell’s courthouse interview with Deputy AG Todd Blanche. Maxwell denied that Trump or other high-profile figures were tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and insisted there was no secret “client list” or blackmail scheme. She praised Trump, distanced him from Epstein, and even speculated Epstein hadn’t killed himself, though she offered no evidence.
Blanche’s questioning appeared deferential, focusing more on Clinton than Trump, and dropping lines when answers hinted at Trump administration ties. Victims’ families condemned her cushier treatment and the release, accusing Trump of cutting her a “sweetheart deal.”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man mistakenly deported in March and later returned to the U.S., was released from a Tennessee jail to await trial for human smuggling charges under home detention in Maryland. His case has become a flashpoint in Trump’s immigration agenda, with defense lawyers calling the charges retaliatory while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem denounced his release as a “new low.” Abrego Garcia, who has an American family and protection from deportation to El Salvador, still faces possible removal to a third country.
ICE has notified lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia that he may be deported to Uganda within days under a new U.S. third-country agreement.
Trump’s push to broker direct peace talks between Putin and Zelenskyy hit a setback after Russia said no summit will happen until Ukraine accepts key demands. Trump, who had touted a breakthrough earlier in the week, now says he’ll decide in two weeks whether to impose new sanctions or tariffs on Moscow. European leaders warn that ceding land to Russia would be “a trap,” while Russia has escalated attacks, launching one of its largest aerial barrages of the year.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, after the agency’s June assessment of U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities contradicted Trump’s claims that the sites were “obliterated.” Kruse, appointed in 2024 and expected to serve until 2027, was removed for “lack of confidence.” Other top officers, including Navy Reserve chief Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore and SEAL commander Rear Adm. Milton Sands, were also dismissed, continuing a sweeping purge of senior military leaders under Hegseth.
A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration from cutting off funding to 34 cities and counties — including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle — over their “sanctuary” policies. Judge William Orrick ruled that Trump’s executive orders threatening to withhold funds were unconstitutional coercion. The injunction also prevents the administration from adding immigration-related conditions to certain grants, protecting billions of dollars at stake for these jurisdictions.
The Trump administration announced it has taken a 10% stake in Intel, valued at about $11 billion, marking a rare move for the federal government to hold equity in a major company outside a crisis. The stake, funded through CHIPS Act grants and other federal programs, comes as the U.S. seeks to strengthen control over semiconductor production in the AI arms race with China.
The Texas senate has given final approval to a controversial redrawn congressional map that heavily favors Republicans, potentially allowing them to gain up to five additional seats. The measure, requested by Donald Trump, now heads to Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it quickly. Democrats argue the map dilutes the voting power of communities of color and have vowed to challenge it in court under the Voting Rights Act.
The Justice Department said it will not defend the Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant program, arguing it’s unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling. The program funds over 500 colleges where at least 25% of undergrads are Hispanic. Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions sued, while Hispanic-serving universities are stepping in to defend the grants as essential for equity.
Democrats and immigrant rights advocates are demanding the immediate closure of the new Camp East Montana detention site at Fort Bliss, Texas, calling it a “shameful misuse” of military land amid Trump’s accelerated deportation agenda. The sprawling tent facility, which opened last weekend, currently houses about 1,000 men but is slated to expand to 5,000 beds under $1.24bn in private contracts—making it the largest immigration jail in the country.
A new state report found alarming levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in the blood of people living and working near Cannon Air Force Base in Curry County, New Mexico, with concentrations about 10 times higher than those outside the contamination zone. The pollution stems from PFAS-laden firefighting foam historically used by the military, which has tainted at least 100 private wells and a public well in nearby Clovis.
Lyle Menendez was denied parole on Friday, a day after his brother Erik’s bid was also rejected, keeping both men imprisoned nearly 35 years after the infamous 1989 murders of their parents in Los Angeles. The brothers, sentenced to life in 1996, have long claimed they killed their father and mother after years of sexual and emotional abuse, a defense that has drawn renewed attention through documentaries and social media.
Eddie Horne, a 75-year-old survivor of abuse at Florida’s notorious Dozier School for Boys, finally received his high school diploma at a Pinellas County ceremony decades after dropping out as a teenager. Horne attended Dozier in the mid-1960s, where he endured severe beatings and neglect at the state-run reform school, which later became infamous for systemic abuse and at least 100 documented deaths before its closure in 2011.
See you this evening.
— Aaron
