Good evening — quick note: today looked calm on the surface, but the past 24 hours delivered a bombshell. Donald Trump appears to have publicly posted what looked like a private directive to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding prosecutions of his political enemies — at the same time the Justice Department shuttered a bribery probe into his border czar Tom Homan, despite reporting that Homan was caught on tape accepting $50,000 in cash at a Cava restaurant.
Let’s be blunt: if this were any other president, there would be immediate outrage and calls for accountability. Instead, many are ready to shrug because it’s Trump. That double standard is dangerous — it erodes the rule of law and normalizes a presidency run for personal vendettas.
Make no mistake: the campaign of attacks on his critics is escalating, and people like me who call this out will be targets. I’m not backing down. I will keep investigating, reporting, and speaking truth to power — but I can’t do it alone.
If you want independent scrutiny and real reporting that holds power to account, subscribe today. With your support I can keep this fight going — for facts, for fairness, for democracy. Thank you.
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With that, here’s what you missed:
President Trump stunned his administration by posting on Truth Social what looked like a private directive to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding swift prosecutions of his political foes — including James Comey, Adam Schiff, and Letitia James — after ousting a U.S. attorney who had not charged James; the post, which read like a text message, left DOJ and White House officials uncertain if it was meant to be secret, but Trump doubled down by later appointing his former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan to the role and publicly insisting “justice must be served now.”
President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan was caught in an FBI sting allegedly accepting a $50,000 bribe in a bag from the restaurant chain Cava in exchange for promises of immigration-related contracts, but the Justice Department later shut down the probe as politically motivated and found no credible evidence of wrongdoing.
The White House said the new TikTok deal will give the U.S. control over the platform’s algorithm and data, with Oracle managing privacy aspects and six Americans holding seats on the seven-member U.S. board, marking a shift to majority American ownership amid national security concerns.
President Trump said Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are likely to play a role in the U.S. TikTok deal, alongside Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, as part of a plan to shift majority control of the platform’s algorithm and board to American ownership.
A newly surfaced 2011 email shows Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, calling Jeffrey Epstein a “supreme friend” despite his sex-crime conviction; her spokesperson said it was written under pressure to fend off a defamation threat, but the revelation has reignited scrutiny of the royal family’s ties to Epstein and Prince Andrew’s past scandal.
The Pentagon imposed new rules requiring journalists to get government authorization before reporting even unclassified information, threatening credential revocation for noncompliance; press groups and lawmakers condemned the move as censorship and an assault on press freedom, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended it as necessary for security.
The U.K., Canada, and Australia formally recognized a Palestinian state, breaking with U.S. policy; Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the move as a “prize” to Hamas, while leaders like Keir Starmer, Mark Carney, and Anthony Albanese framed it as a step toward reviving a two-state solution amid the ongoing Gaza war.
Israeli strikes in Gaza killed more than 40 people, including women and children, as Western allies moved to recognize Palestinian statehood; the attacks deepened Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, drew mass protests in Israel for a ceasefire and hostage deal, and coincided with Pope Leo XIV condemning the “forced exile” of Palestinians.
A tiger handler, Ryan Easley, was fatally mauled at Growler Pines Tiger Preserve in Hugo, Oklahoma; the refuge remembered him as a devoted caretaker and wildlife advocate, while PETA renewed calls for ending direct human interaction with big cats.
A 23-year-old former employee, Hunter Nadeau, was charged with second-degree murder after a shooting at Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, killed 59-year-old Robert Steven DeCesare and injured several others; witnesses said DeCesare tried to stop the gunman to protect his family, while authorities continue investigating Nadeau’s motive.
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to claim that Tylenol use during pregnancy is linked to autism, despite medical guidelines affirming its safety; officials also plan to promote leucovorin as a potential autism treatment, with Trump calling Monday’s upcoming announcement one of his administration’s “most important.”
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
