He was a useless podcaster who got named head of the FBI in the Chump administration which searched every gutter to assemble the worst of the worst.
Once Ka$h Patel was installed as the head of the FBI, he let his inner greedy urchin surface and began traveling on the taxpayer dime to personal events and activities. His greed ran wild and even when it began to be noticed, he was too much of a fool and way too greedy to drop it.
And now? Now the questions are being asked on the record.
FBI
Director Kash Patel is facing renewed scrutiny for frequent trips,
luxury expenditures and personal activities he has disguised as official
business, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
Representative
Jamie Raskin and Senator Dick Durbin, Democratic ranking members of the
House and Senate Judiciary Committees, requested additional information
from Patel, 46, regarding his alleged misuse of government resources in
a July 8 letter.
“We write in light of the growing number of credible public reports and
non-public sources identifying episodes of your misuse and mismanagement
of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) resources,” the letter read.
“This abuse obviously comes at the expense of the American taxpayer and
ongoing bureau operations as it ties up bureau aircraft, Special Weapons
and Tactics (SWAT) teams, and agents in ways so outrageous that even congressional Republicans can no longer ignore them.”
The
swirling reports prompted Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley to
request additional details from Patel about his use of taxpayer
resources in May, Wednesday’s letter revealed. The Republican wants more
information from the bureau chief regarding his use of the FBI’s jet,
the agency’s purchase of a fleet of luxury BMWs and whether he has
reimbursed taxpayers for travel expenses.
FBI Director Kash Patel was reportedly called to the
White House on Friday, forcing him to cancel a planned weekend trip to
Chicago to see his girlfriend perform, as frustration with the bureau
chief has grown among senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to an exclusive report from MS NOW, Patel had been scheduled to travel in the bureau’s jet to Chicago, where his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins,
was set to perform Saturday at the White City Smokeout music festival.
But the outlet reported that Patel abruptly canceled the trip Friday
morning after being summoned to the White House.
MS
NOW reported that the precise reason for the last-minute meeting
remains unclear, though multiple sources said top administration
officials have become increasingly frustrated with Patel over a series
of controversies, including scrutiny surrounding his government-funded
travel.
Among the incidents cited by sources was Patel’s Friday morning response to MS NOW’s coverage of his travel, in which he wrote: “my jet ski is gold plated…dumbass.”
The
report also said Patel’s travel practices have attracted congressional
scrutiny. According to MS NOW, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) questioned Patel in a May letter about his use of FBI aircraft and the purchase of armored BMWs for his travel around Washington. Congressional Democrats separately raised concerns
after receiving information alleging Patel requested special
accommodations on official trips, including a jet ski excursion and a
helicopter tour. The FBI has disputed those allegations and said Patel
has complied with federal travel rules.
FBI Director Kash Patel is
starting to face real danger signs that his career is in jeopardy, MS
NOW correspondent Ken Dilanian told anchor Katy Tur — and it's the fact
that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is now getting involved in investigating the reports of his personal use of private planes and ordering of fancy cars with public money.
Tur noted that in April, Grassley defended Patel strongly, saying, "I've
never had an FBI director cooperate with me as much as Kash Patel has
cooperated with me on my request for information, my request for
documents." And it's likely that Grassley never intended his letter
demanding answers from Patel to go public.
That
said, she continued, "If they are sharing this with you, do you think
it is one step closer to their sharing the same information, perhaps
with the receipts we also desperately want to see with Senator
Grassley?"
Dilanian
corrected Tur, noting, "To be clear, Chuck Grassley's office did not
share this letter with me. I'm not sure they intended this letter to be
made public. In fact, they took steps to keep it secret, which is
interesting because normally these kinds of requests are made public."
Ka$h is the Idiot of the Week and, very soon, he'll probably be our former FBI director.
Friday, July 10, 2026. The buffoon Chump admits "I don't know" when it
comes to the war he started with Iran, he's pushing toxic chemicals
allowing them to be used in the US for the first time ever, his Pentagon
has a runaway budget and imagine how much worse it would be
economically if he had put boots on the ground in Iran, people are
demanding answers in the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo who was killed
earlier this week by ICE, and much more.
It's
been 133 days since Chump started the war with Iran. It wasn't a
needed war. But Senator Lindsey Graham coaches Netanyahu on how to sell
the war to Chump and Chump dove right in. 133 days later and Chump
doesn't know what to do.
As Lawrence O'Donnell noted last night on MS NOW, Chump's answer regarding the war is "I don't know."
Lawrence
O'Donnell: When asked on the airplane last night, "Are we returning to
full scale military conflict?," Donald Trump said, "I don't know." In
fact, he said it twice, "I don't know. I don't know." You would think
that that person who in the same discussion proclaimed himself to be
world's greatest peacemaker, greatest peacemaker of all time, greatest
peacemaker in human history would have some idea of how close to peace
he was in his war.
In the days before President Trump
signed his preliminary deal with Iran after a dinner at Versailles —
where World War I officially ended — he and his aides described their
strategy: The Strait of Hormuz would open to traffic, and the United
States would open the spigot so that Iran could sell billions of dollars
of oil.
The theory, Mr. Trump said,
is that after years of sanctions, Iran would quickly get addicted to a
torrent of revenue, and access to dollars in Western banks. It was a
“really good deal for Iran,” the president said in a call to a New York
Times reporter three days before he signed the June 17 memorandum of
understanding.
“They are actually proud of it,” he said of the Iranian negotiators. “I think they were tired of getting hit.”
Apparently
not. Less than a month into the accord, strikes on three ships passing
through the strait, in a channel beyond Iran’s control, led Mr. Trump to
revoke the waiver that allowed Iran to sell oil. The United States has
bombed more than 170 Iranian military targets over two nights. And no
negotiations are scheduled, at least for now, on the far larger, more
complex and ostensibly permanent agreement that the two sides had agreed
to negotiate in 60 days
Chump is an idiot who has surrounded himself with idiots -- by his own choice.
The
Defense Dept? It's headed by an idiot -- an unqualified idiot -- and
it's got a ton of problems. Where to start? How about with its
inability to manage a budget. Hegseth had no qualifications for the job
and he had a history -- Concerned Veterans for America -- of
allegations that he mismanaged finances. So the nonsense with the DoD's
budget right now? Completely predictable. Nikki McCann Ramirez (ROLLING STONE) reports:
The
budget of the American Department of Defense is eternally bloated. Like
a ballooned whale carcass that is fed on by a frenzy of contractors,
corporations, and ever-growing military operations, the DOD is the heart
of a financial ecosystem that spans the globe. With nearly a trillion
dollars allocated annually to its function, it's a bit of a shock that
the Trump administration is claiming the so-called "Department of War"
is about to run out of cash.
According to sources who spoke to NBC News,
the Pentagon is warning lawmakers that it could soon run out of cash on
hand should Congress not approve pending supplemental funding requests.
So what spending is driving the budget shortfall? Primarily, Trump's
war with Iran.
After initially
claiming that the war with Iran would cost roughly $25 billion, the
total estimated cost of the war - which Trump put back in active gear on
Wednesday - has ballooned to over an estimated $132 billion.
While
the outright cost of operations is one thing, the DOD is also
broadcasting to Congress that it will need additional funds to restock
arms stockpiles and weapons systems that have been depleted.
We may need to start "parking jets and turning off exercises" one former Pentagon official told NBC News.
In
the background, Trump is demanding another 44-percent increase in
annual Pentagon funds from Congress - on top of the $150 billion already
authorized by the "Big Beautiful Bill" in July of last year. The move
would balloon the budget of America's military apparatus to over $1.5
trillion in annual spending. The DOD itself is requesting $67 billion in
emergency supplemental funding from Congress.
The
demands have gridlocked Congressional Republicans, who are facing tough
reelection bids in the upcoming midterms, and are wary of dumping
billions more into Trump's deeply unpopular Iranian quagmire.
Chump vowed no foreign wars but now he's asking for more than $1.5 trillion in spending by the Pentagon.
Meanwhile
Chump continues to waste time and human power of the Justice Dept with
his delusional lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Khaya Himmelman (TALKING POINTS MEMO) notes:
The
FBI is ramping up its probe into the 2020 election in Fulton County,
Georgia — part of the Trump administration’s continuing effort to sow
seeds of distrust in the state’s election system and magically
materialize evidence of election fraud to support President Trump’s 2020
delusions about the election results there.
In
January, the FBI executed a search warrant at an election hub in Fulton
County (which is home to Atlanta and also ground zero for Trump and his
allies’ election conspiracy theories in 2020), seizing voting equipment
and ballots, and other records related to the 2020 election. According
to the warrant, investigators were looking for “all physical ballots
from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County; including, but not
limited to: absentee ballots to include envelopes; advanced voting
ballots; provisional ballots; in-person election day ballots; emergency
ballots; damaged or destroyed ballots; duplicated ballots; or any other
ballot that was used to cast a vote.”
In April, the DOJ got a grand jury subpoena demanding the personal information of thousands of Fulton County election workers. On Tuesday, though, a federal judge decisively shut down this effort, ruling that the “subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed.”
The
latest is that, per an internal FBI memo, the FBI helmed by Director
Kash Patel has found a new way to step up its seemingly bogus
investigation.
Last week, in what appeared to be a major expansion of the probe, the FBI ordered 260 analysts to assist in what is now reportedly being called a “priority” investigation related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, according to an internal memo obtained by MS NOW.
“In
support of the Director’s Office priority effort, the Directorate of
Intelligence (DI) and Criminal Division are requesting all FBI field
offices to immediately surge support to an FBI Atlanta priority
investigation,” the memo said.
The memo, which
does not give details on the investigations, notes that each staffer is
to conduct a total of 708 “record checks” by July 17.
“Looking
for derogatory information is the short answer. The idea is to build a
case. Look at associations between people, look into their social media,
their business activity, travel, contact with other investigative
subjects,” an anonymous official told MS NOW, in response to a question
about what exactly these staffers are supposed to be looking for in
these documents.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is accusing the US Justice Department of withholding access to unredacted files related to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the lack of cooperation is preventing the state from bringing justice to survivors.
“Every
day that the USDOJ withholds these records, the foundation upon which a
New Mexico prosecution could be built erodes,” Torrez wrote in a
scathing letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on June 30 that
was publicly released on Thursday. “Witnesses relocate and become
unreachable. Memories, already strained by years of trauma, fade
further. Physical and documentary evidence degrades, is lost, or is
rendered more difficult to authenticate with the passage of time.”
Torrez’s
letter marks the latest criticism of the US Justice Department’s
handling of the Epstein case as Congress forced the department to
release files related to the sex trafficker with a bipartisan bill late
last year.
Todd
Blanche is so busy covering up for Jeffrey Epstein -- who died in 2019
-- that he refuses to assist the government of New Mexico. And he wants
to be, Blanche wants to be, Attorney General.
This is how he treats the job when he's auditioning for it. Can you imagine how much worse he will be if he's confirmed?
Denmark
banned diflufenican – a herbicide never before sprayed on American
crops – specifically because it contaminates groundwater with
trifluoroacetic acid, a persistent PFAS. The EPA approved it for use on
American corn and soybeans on June 30, 2026.
That
single fact captures something important about the moment American
agriculture just entered. Two pesticides with no prior history of use in
the United States were cleared in one day for the country’s two largest
crops. A third chemical, already flagged in human urine samples at
rates approaching near-universal exposure, received its first-ever
approval for use on American food. And five days before any of it
happened, the Supreme Court removed one of the last legal avenues
Americans had to sue pesticide makers over cancer warnings.
The
sequence matters. The EPA’s new approvals and the court’s ruling didn’t
happen in isolation. Together, they mark a significant shift in who
controls what ends up on your food, and what legal recourse you have if
something goes wrong.
The
June 30 approvals included two new forever chemicals pesticides never
before used in the United States: diflufenican and epyrifenacil, both
cleared for corn and soybeans, with epyrifenacil also approved for
wheat. These are not reformulations of older chemicals. They had never
been registered for any American food crop before this decision.
According to USDA planting data,
farmers planted 95.3 million acres of corn and 85.4 million acres of
soybeans in 2026 – together covering an area larger than the state of
Texas. The scale of potential exposure from applying two newly approved
PFAS-related chemicals across that combined footprint is unlike anything
previously authorized for these compounds.
MAHA?
MAHA was a joke. You got punked by Chump and Junior. They were never
going to make America healthy again. Chump repeatedly poisons our soil
and water.
President
Trump rejected FEMA disaster aid requests from four blue states last
Friday, after accepting the aid requests of six red states just two days
before, according to Politico.
This continues his blatant trend of prioritizing petty political beef
over sorely needed FEMA funding—putting Americans at risk in the
process.
New York, New Jersey,
Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were all denied after requesting a total
of $227 million in aid following the brutal blizzard in February. All
four states were l well past the damage threshold required to trigger
aid consideration.
“After months of waiting,
President Trump today denied our request for a Major Disaster
Declaration following the blizzard that pummeled New York City, Long
Island and the Mid-Hudson in February of this year,” New York Governor
Kathy Hochul said in a statement
last week. “New York’s communities … deserve to have access to every
resource available to recover and rebuild. Instead they have a President
who is turning his back on his home state. … We will appeal to ensure
New Yorkers receive the federal assistance they deserve.”
Disaster
aid? He oversees it like he did the 250th anniversary: Only a select
few are allowed to participate. You have to celebrate him and suck up
to him and swear allegiance to him.
Otherwise, he's not even going to recognize you.
I
didn't vote for him but that doesn't mean I'm not an American citizen.
It doesn't mean that my state (which went for Kamala Harris) doesn't
deserve disaster aid. Chump is a lousy president because he is petty
and bitter.
President Donald Trump’s approval rating
is sitting at record lows across two national surveys released in early
July, underscoring a sustained period of deep public discontent during
his second term.
A new Economist/YouGov poll
conducted between July 3 and July 6 among 1,603 U.S. adult citizens
shows 35 percent approving of Trump’s job performance and 61 percent
disapproving, giving him a net approval rating (those who approve minus
those who disapprove) of minus 26—matching the lowest level recorded in
that series in May 2026.
Trump’s net approval of −26 also matches the lowest point seen across his two terms and Biden’s presidency, according to YouGov.
It found Trump’s net approval rating at minus 23—also described by the pollster as an “all-time low” in its series.
Presidential approval is one of the clearest indicators of political strength. When ratings settle at or near record lows across multiple polls, it suggests not just short-term dissatisfaction but a broader, more entrenched erosion in public confidence.
That is particularly significant heading into a midterm cycle, when sustained net-negative approval has historically been associated with electoral headwinds for the president’s party.
Gas prices have spiked in response to President Donald Trump's resumed attacks on Iran.
On Thursday, the average gas price in the U.S. spiked by five cents per gallon to nearly $3.85, according to data from AAA.
The
U.S. military said it hit approximately 90 targets in an attack on Iran
on Wednesday. Trump said he considers the ceasefire between the U.S.
and Iran "over."
Thursday's price spike is the biggest single-day increase since May 6, according to CNN.
The spike ends more than a month of steadily decreasing gas prices.
The average cost of gas dropped more than 70 cents from its peak
earlier this year. That decline was driven largely by the Memorandum of
Understanding that temporarily cooled the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
PepsiCo
on Thursday warned of higher commodity costs in the second half of the
year, at a time when the snack and beverage giant is increasing
investments and lowering prices to attract value-conscious consumers.
Shares
of PepsiCo, which slipped about 5%, were on track for their worst day
since April 2025 after the company kept its forecast intact and reported
a 2% drop in sales in its North American food business.
PepsiCo's
results underscore the challenges facing packaged food companies in the
U.S. as they try to revive snack demand by cutting prices and investing
heavily in product reformulations and healthier offerings to adapt to
shifting consumer preferences and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Additionally,
food and beverage companies are contending with rising packaging and
logistics costs as the Iran war keeps oil prices higher.
Although
PepsiCo is expecting higher input cost inflation in the second half of
the year, its CFO, Steve Schmitt, said refund claims for tariffs paid
last year and productivity savings should help cushion the hit.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
We noted him yesterday. worked in the United States for decades until recently when he was shot dead by ICE. Maria Verza (AP) reports:
Mexico
will request criminal charges over 17 Mexicans who died in ICE custody
or during immigration enforcement operations by the Trump
administration, officials said Thursday.
Mexican
Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco's announcement Thursday morning
further escalated tensions with the United States, as Mexico's
government has sharply criticized the treatment of its citizens under
U.S. President Donald Trump's push to increase deportations.
The
request, which carries no legal weight, will be submitted to state
prosecutors’ offices and the U.S. Department of Justice, asking them to
consider criminal charges against those responsible for the deaths.
It
will be accompanied by civil lawsuits against the companies that
operate the detention centers in an effort to put an end to human rights
violations in those facilities, Velasco said.
President
Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that Mexico decided to “move beyond
diplomatic channels” and escalate its complaints after an ICE agent
killed Mexican citizen Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston this week.
Sheinbaum said the killing “is not only sad and regrettable, but also
appears to have been targeted.”
“We are going to do
everything in our power, because we cannot stand silent” in the face of
the deaths of Mexicans “whose only crime is working honestly in the
United States,” Sheinbaum said.
Mexican
Foreign Minister Roberto Velasco said the move comes after repeated
failed attempts to engage with the U.S. through diplomatic channels.
"We
are going to move beyond the diplomatic sphere and go directly to U.S.
prosecutors to file complaints regarding these incidents, requesting
that they are investigated as criminal matters," Velasco said.
The
Mexican government will also file civil lawsuits against the private
companies that operate immigration detention centers in the U.S.,
Velasco added.
In the last
year and a half, ICE has repeatedly lied to the American people and to
the US courts. They have claimed that someone tried to ram their
vehicle when nothing of the sort occurred. One woman, Marimar Martinez,
ICE attacked her and shot her five times lying that she had tried to
ram their vehicle. U.S.
Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum in fact rammed her and turned into her
car. After the government lost the case against Martinez in court,
they tried to prevent the release of the footage as well as the release
of Exum's texts bragging about shooting Martinez.
February
3rd, Martinez shared her story with a bicameral public form chaired by
US House Rep Robert Garcia and Senator Richard Blumenthal. Her opening
remarks included:
Two weeks before the Government dismissed all the charges in my case, I sat in a
federal courtroom and watched from 20 feet away as the Border Patrol agent who
attempted to kill me testified at a hearing. Agent Charles Exum. Charles Exum. My
attempted executioner was Charles Exum. I hope the government does not consider
my use of his name here to be considered doxing. But I think it is important now that
the truth of this case is exposed that people know his name. Charles Exum.
Exum was in that courtroom testifying attempting to weave a coherent story
explaining why he took his vehicle that I allegedly rammed out of the secured FBI
Evidence garage and drove it back to Maine where the Border Patrol onsite mechanic
was ordered to “buff out” the damage to the vehicle. This was all done prior to me or
my attorneys having the ability to examine the vehicle. Because he did this, no expert
witness would ever be able to prove that it was Exum who swerved into my vehicle.
Watching Charles Exum testify made me sick to my stomach. I grew up revering law
enforcement. Prior to this incident I had great respect for local and federal law
enforcement. I knew every day they put their lives on the line to keep me safe, to keep
the kids at my school safe, and I thought to keep everyone in our community safe.
But seeing what ICE was doing in our community at this time changed my view of
law enforcement. This administration has misled the American people by claiming it
would focus on the “worst of the worst” while their actions show otherwise. Evidence
from these operations including statements made under oath, reveals a pattern of
misleading the public. The Government told the people they were targeting the “worst
of the worst” but their actions demonstrated otherwise. They are not targeting the
worst of the worst, they are targeting individuals who fit a certain profile, who simply
have a certain accent, or a non-white skin color just like mine.
This raises serious concerns about fairness, discrimination, and abuse of authority.
The lack of accountability for these actions is deeply troubling. We the people are
tired of this misconduct and demand transparency and accountability. Seeing Charles
Exum sit in a federal courtroom and lie about what happened that day completely
eroded all of my trust in law enforcement. I know just because Exum is not telling
the truth that I cannot hold that against all other law enforcement but to be honest I
do not know if I will ever view law enforcement the same way again
As my attorney showed the Court the disgusting text messages Exum sent to his
fellow border patrol buddies literally bragging about how many times he shot me, I
got sick to my stomach. Seeing how a federal law enforcement officer would talk this
way about shooting me, a woman who he swerved into, was both eye opening and
heartbreaking. Thankfully I survived Exum’s attempted murder of me and was able
to shine a light on his lies, but what about all the others who either did not survive,
or were not fortunate enough to have videos proving the agents lies? I know deep
down this was God’s purpose in having me survive Exum’s 5 bullets. It was for this
moment to happen, so that the world could see these text messages which were a
window into the soul of the U.S. Border Patrol at this critical time in our country’s
history.
Fourteen days after Exum was confronted with his own disgusting text messages, my
attorney called me with the wonderful news that the government was dismissing all
the charges against me. We showed up in Court later that day and some of the same
parents from my Montessori school who came to support me at my arraignment were
there again, this time with tears in their eyes as they heard Judge Alexakis tell me I
was free to go and the charges were dismissed with prejudice.
I have learned that surviving the physical wounds was only the beginning of this long
and painful journey. The real battle started after. In the weeks that followed I
thought I would feel great but I still struggle. I struggle with the memories of that
day. The initial swerving into me by Agent Exum. The shots ringing out and the
burning sensation as the bullets ripped through my skin and body. The images of the
puddles of blood dripping from my bandages listening to FBI agents argue about
whether the jail would accept me in this condition, later in federal prison staring out
the small window looking out onto Clark street.
And I struggle every day with the physical pain and suffering. I cannot close my hand
yet to hold a pen. I try to play with the children at times at school and I am in
significant pain as I attempt to do things I was so easily able to do before October 4.
I attend weekly physical therapy sessions to work on these issues and hope one day I
can move in the same ways I was able to move prior to October 4.
I know that what happened to me in the matter of seconds on October 4 will
unfortunately be with me for a lifetime. The physical scars will always be there. In
the mornings and evenings when I get dressed I stare at my body, now permanently
disfigured by the five lead bullets Exum fired into me. They will be there this summer
when I head to the beach with my dog and friends. They will be there when I get down
on the floor with my students and work with them on their motor skill activities. And
perhaps even worse, the mental scars will always be there as a reminder of the time
my own government attempted to execute me and when they failed at that to vilify
me..
Renee Good, Alex Pretti, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez should all be here today. I know
each of them would trade my bullet wounds and lifetime of mental distress in a
heartbeat to be able to be back with their loved ones this afternoon, and we must also
remember the countless others souls who lost their lives at the hand of those
entrusted with authority.
With that in mind, no, ICE doesn't get the benefit of the doubt, they've lied too much and too often.
A
Texas prosecutor accused federal authorities on Wednesday of sidelining
local officials from the investigation into the fatal shooting of a
Mexican national by an immigration officer in Houston.
Harris
County District Attorney Sean Teare stated in a social media post that
federal agencies were exclusively managing the probe into the death of
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was killed Tuesday during a traffic stop
arrest by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Teare said
that his office typically conducted a “parallel investigation” into any
local death involving law enforcement, but federal authorities had
blocked that access.
“Mr. Salgado Araujo’s family and
our community deserve the truth,” Teare wrote in the post, appealing for
eyewitnesses to submit photos or videos of the encounter.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reupped his call for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the killing of a Mexican immigrant in Houston by the agency.
“Lorenzo
Salgado Araujo called Houston home for 35 years. On Tuesday, an ICE
agent shot and killed him. His family learned of his death from a video
before anyone bothered to knock on their door,” Mamdani wrote on social
media Thursday.
“New York City stands with the
Salgado family in demanding a full, independent investigation and real
accountability. To the Salgado family and any immigrant family in this
city living in fear: we grieve with you and we will continue to stand
beside you in the pursuit of justice. Abolish ICE,” he said.
“He wanted nothing else in life but to provide for his wife and see his
sons become great people,” said Ronaldo Salgado, one of Mr. Araujo’s
sons. “That’s how I want the world to know my father — not as someone
who got shot and killed, but as a family man, a man who understood that
good things come to those who put in hard work.”
U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a 20-year-old man
who plays in a mariachi band—and is married to a U.S. citizen—one day
after he filed paperwork seeking a green card, his attorney told local
outlet KENS 5. Herbert Kaleth Ibarra Castro’s June detention has drawn
attention as Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro, whose district
includes part of the San Antonio area, has called for his release.
Castro
said in a post to X that a detention facility worker taunted Ibarra
Castro, saying, “If you sing me a song, I’ll let you go.”
[. . .]
Ibarra
Castro had two court hearings in Pearsall, Texas, on Wednesday, one of
which was a bond hearing and the other a removal hearing.
“This
morning, the Immigration Judge granted our request for bond and issued
an order authorizing Herbert’s release upon payment of the bond,” a
spokesperson from Ibarra Castro’s legal team told Newsweek in an email
Wednesday afternoon.
“We anticipate that the
bond will be posted and expect Herbert to be released within the next
couple of days,” the statement continued.
According
to his lawyer and San Antonio Express-News, the musician sang “The
Star-Spangled Banner” to mark July Fourth while in custody at the
detention facility.
Chump is trying to farm out some of the immigration tasks to local police. Former Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon (USA TODAY) notes several problems with that:
This
is more than a budget story; it’s a public safety story. The question
is not whether immigration laws should be enforced, but whether federal
dollars are now driving police, sheriffs, prosecutors and other justice
agencies toward a mission that could pull them away from their core
responsibilities: preventing crime, solving serious cases, protecting
victims and maintaining public trust.
[. . .]
Local
law enforcement already faces a demanding public safety agenda:
reducing shootings, solving cases, responding to disorder and sustaining
cooperation from residents who may be reluctant to report crimes or
serve as witnesses.
Now those same agencies
are being asked, pressured or paid to shift attention toward
immigration. Given that Congress has approved funding for enforcement,
detention and deportation at unprecedented levels through the end of
Trump’s term, the actions underway today could be just the tip of the
iceberg.
The Trump administration argues
that this approach improves safety by removing dangerous people from
the country ‒ and some of those arrested by ICE have serious criminal
histories. But data shows that the immigration push is not focused on
the most serious threats.
Less than 14% of the nearly 400,000 arrested by ICE in 2025 had been convicted of or charged with violent crimes, according to internal documents obtained by CBS News, while nearly 40% had no criminal record.
There
is another cost. When immigrant residents fear that contact with local
police could lead to detention or deportation, some will avoid reporting
crimes, cooperating as witnesses or calling for help. The impact of
their hesitation does not fall on immigrant communities alone. It
affects all of us by weakening the flow of information police need to
solve crimes, prevent retaliation and protect victims.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Senator Murray reiterates that even
as we are still working to understand how AI will change the future of
work, Congress should pass a pro-worker, pro-family legislative agenda
now—emphasizing that there is no need to delay on policies like national
paid leave, universal health care, affordable child care, and stronger
labor laws
Murray has opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to stamp out state-level regulations of AI
Seattle, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) hosted a roundtable discussion on artificial intelligence (AI) in
Seattle focused on how leaders can work to deploy AI safely,
transparently, and in a way that benefits working people—not just giant
corporations and billionaires. At the roundtable, Senator Murray spoke
with leading AI experts about the challenges and opportunities
associated with AI. Senator Murray made clear that while policymakers
can’t yet predict exactly how AI will change our economy and how we
work, there is no reason for Congress to delay in passing so many of
Murray’s longstanding legislative priorities that would benefit working
people like stronger labor laws and enforcement, national paid leave, universal health care, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, affordable child care for every working family, and much more.
Joining Senator Murray for the discussion today were: Alexandra
Holien, Interim CEO at ADA Developers Academy; Professor Noah Smith,
Vice Provost for AI at the University of Washington; Cherika Carter,
Secretary Treasurer at the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO;
Yifan Zhang, Managing Director at the AI House; Professor Franziska
Roesner, Professor, University of Washington Paul G. Allen School of
Computer Science and Engineering; Chad Kruger, Associate Vice President
for Research Advancement and Strategy at Washington State University;
and Gretchen Peri, State Chief Technology Officer at Washington Technology Solutions.
“I’m not here today with a stack of AI bills to sign. This
technology is still taking shape, and anyone who tells you they’ve got
it all figured out isn’t being straight with the American people,” said Senator Murray. “But
here’s the thing: we do not have to wait to find out exactly how AI
impacts our economy to understand what workers need right now. I have
pushed a legislative agenda that puts working families first in our
economy for a long time. I am hopeful that as we stare down this new
technology, there will be a growing sense of urgency to strengthen the
American social safety net—now. We need a national paid leave policy,
universal health care, child care every working family can afford, the
freedom to join a union, and strong labor laws and strong enforcement.
These are things we can do right now to steady the ground under
workers.”
“At Washington State University, AI is a cornerstone of our work
as a future ready land grant university,” said Chad Kruger, Associate
Vice President for Research Advancement and Strategy.
“WSU researchers are applying AI to real-world challenges in
agriculture, rural health care, energy resilience, sustainable
aquaculture and fisheries, and rural education. Backed by more than $72
million in AI and machine learning research, WSU is helping position
Washington as a leader in responsible, community focused innovation. We
appreciate Senator Murray’s leadership in bringing folks together today
to help ensure AI’s future remains focused on the public good, creating
healthier communities, stronger industries, and greater opportunity for
the people across our state.”
“Size is no longer an advantage in the age of AI—it can actually
be a disadvantage,” said Yifan Zhang Managing Director, AI House.
“The places that help founders, startups, and Small Tech thrive will be
where AI creates the most jobs, innovation, and opportunity.”
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping how governments serve
the public, and we have a responsibility to ensure that transformation
is safe, transparent, and equitable,” said Gretchen Peri, State Chief Technology Officer at Washington Technology Solutions.
“In Washington state, we’re focused on accelerating innovation while
strengthening the guardrails needed for public trust. Our focus is on
practical, transparent, and equitable implementation: building workforce
readiness, improving data foundations, and supporting agencies with
approved tools, guidance, and repeatable practices that scale what works
to protect privacy, and expand opportunity for every community. I
appreciate Senator Murray bringing leaders together to elevate this
conversation. Our commitment is to an AI future that strengthens
services, enhances operations, supports our workforce, and protects the
rights and trust of the people we serve.”
As vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray
negotiated the Commerce‑Justice‑Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill for
Fiscal Year 2026, which is currently the largest federal investment in
AI standards and testing ever passed through a CJS bill. The CJS bill
includes $1.8 billion for the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) overall, an increase of $690 million over last year’s
funding level. This includes no less than $55 million for AI research,
an increase of $20 million, and up to $10 million for NIST’s Center for
AI Standards and Innovation to advance AI research, standards, and
testing. Senator Murray fiercely defended science agencies from
President Trump’s proposed reductions, which threatened to cut NIST by
more than 28 percent.
Senator Murray also played a key role in helping to pass the bipartisan Chips and Science Act
which makes historic investments in American manufacturing, and
research and development. The bill included AI scholarships through NSF,
funding for the Department of Energy’s research and development on AI
and machine learning, support for NIST’s work on AI and quantum
information science, and resources for the creation of a NSF Directorate
for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships which will focus on
domestic development of AI and other quantum computing.
Senator Murray has also been outspokenagainst President Trump’s efforts to ban states from regulating AI. She recently introduced legislation
to halt the A.I.-Driven Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction
(WISeR) model which is overruling doctors and delaying care for Medicare
beneficiaries.
Next
up, Graham Platner and Chump. Graham Platner announced he was
abandoning his Senate run yesterday. He refused to take
accountability. Lawrence O'Donnell did a strong commentary on the
topic. Wednesday night at the top of his show.
Sadly, MS NOW has not posted that segment. But you can listen to the audio of it at the start of the video below.
But if you ever doubted that Platner was guilty, all you have to know is that Chump is defending him. Those predators really stick together, don't they?
By
the way, yesterday there were rumors that Patrick Dempsey (the actor)
might run. Today, Dempsey's announced that is not happening. But
Jordan Woods is seeking the office. Molly Sprayregen (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
Jordan
Wood threw his hat in the ring for the Senate seat in 2025 but decided
to run for the House of Representatives instead after his congressional
district’s incumbent announced his retirement. Wood came in third in the
primary and, in the wake of Platner’s resignation, has now switched
back to running for the Senate seat.
Wood
announced his candidacy on Thursday morning. “I have been told that I
am too progressive, that I am too young, that a gay man can’t win,” he
said in a statement posted to social media. “These cynics are wrong.
They have been wrong all our lives. They remain wrong today. I’m asking
for your support to take back control of our party and our country.”
“Maine
doesn’t need Washington insiders picking our senator,” he added,
speaking directly to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). “For my entire life,
the wealthy have gotten a head start from politicians that they have
bought, while working people can’t even get a phone call returned from
the representatives that are supposed to serve us.”
An analysis from the Cook Political Report did not place Wood in the top four contenders to replace Platner, but The Hill identified him as a fifth option,
behind former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, who said he is
“very, very interested”; Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Director Nirav Shah; Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; and Maine
Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban.
Maine
State Representative Valli Geiger (D) told local media on Wednesday
that embattled Democratic Party U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner is
supporting her to replace him on the November ballot.
Geiger, a Democrat who serves Rockland, is currently in her third term and was an early Platner supporter.
Platner is supporting her? She thinks that's something to share? She thinks the disgraced Platner gets a say in this?
Last
night, Lawrence O'Donnell interviewed Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Andersonand she talked about how
Platner thought he was going to have a say or wanted to have a say and
that no one needed to hear from him. I agree.
Thursday, July 9, 2026. Chump takes to the world stage to play a
blithering idiot, th 'cease-fire' is off, he's declared Spain to be
persona non grata, his supporters are losing faith in him, the courts
are ruling against him, ICE shot and killed another person, and much
more.
President
Donald Trump’s declaration Wednesday that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was
“over” thrusts him and his administration back into a familiar corner:
mired in an unpopular war that Trump cannot seem to end, with midterm
elections less than four months away.
Republicans were cautiously optimistic after Trump and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding
last month to end the war — the latest in a string of fragile and
ultimately unsuccessful ceasefires since the war started in February.
GOP leaders had warned the White House that rising gas prices
exacerbated by the conflict could cost them in November’s midterms.
Now,
with that deal in tatters, Republicans face those elections tied to a
war most voters oppose, unable to end it but also, for the most part,
unwilling to break with the president who started it.
More
war is a definite headache for Republicans on November’s ballot, said
Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership,
which supports GOP lawmakers in competitive congressional districts.
Republican
voters were stomaching higher gas prices for a few months to support
Trump, Chamberlain said, but now the summer driving season is here and
there may not be any relief.
Representative Greg Casar, Democrat of
Texas, called the move “outrageous” and criticized President Trump for
“extending his disastrous, illegal war with Iran.” A number of
Democratic lawmakers noted recent votes to call for an end to the war unless approved by Congress.
Republican
leaders of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees in both
chambers were silent on the latest strikes and Trump’s declaration that
cease-fire talks with Tehran were a “waste of time.”
Senator
Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, said in a social media
post that his party remained united in their “efforts to end this
illegal war immediately and permanently.”
The political consequences of Donald Trump’s policy mayhem are now coming into view: “Maga” America is getting pissed.
It has been a sight to see how every one of the president’s policy initiatives has sabotaged
some core constituency or other. From farmers and rural Americans to
manufacturing workers and every American struggling to make ends meet,
Trump has torched pretty much his entire political base. For all his
efforts to rig the midterm elections in his favor, it’s as if he is daring the Maga faithful to drop him.
And now, according to the most recent survey by Harris for the Guardian,
even voters who identify as foot soldiers of the president’s political
army are becoming impatient with the state of affairs, increasingly
willing to blame the government for their economic troubles.
About
56% of respondents who identified as members of the Maga coalition said
they were either having trouble meeting their debt payments or worried
they would be struggling soon. The same share admitted similar troubles
meeting housing payments. Fifty-seven per cent said the same about
affording healthcare costs. Fifty-eight per cent claimed the same about
their utility bills, 61% about affording groceries, 63% about paying for
gas.
Many of these stressors stem from Trump’s
policy preferences. Trump’s decision to end government subsidies is
largely at fault for the rising cost of health insurance. The rise in
energy costs and rebound of inflation since March are direct
consequences of Iran’s throttling of the strait of Hormuz. Resurgent
inflation interrupted the Federal Reserve’s campaign to ease monetary
policy and interrupted the gradual decline
in mortgage rates. Manufacturers have culled nearly 100,000 jobs since
Trump took office, in part due to Trump’s tariffs. Farmers have been
whacked by higher costs of energy, fertilizer and machinery.
In a blow for Chump's Dept of 'Justice,' a judge has ruled against their demand for a lengthy prison term. Chris Perez (LAW & CRIME) reports:
Hannah
Dugan — the former Wisconsin judge who was found guilty last year of
impeding ICE during a courthouse arrest — has been ordered to pay a
$5,000 fine, rather than serve any prison time or probation for
obstructing federal agents.
"For several
reasons, prison is not necessary to satisfy the statutory purposes for
sentencing," U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said before sentencing
Dugan on Wednesday, according to local ABC affiliate WISN.
"This
is a defendant who made a bad decision in the moment," Adelman said.
"She appreciated the wrongfulness of her conduct, but this is
nevertheless a few minutes of conduct for a person that has dedicated
her life in service to the needy."
Dugan, 67,
was indicted last year for helping an immigrant named Eduardo
Flores-Ruiz evade ICE officers shortly after he appeared in her
Milwaukee County Circuit courtroom in connection with a domestic abuse
case. Federal prosecutors alleged during her trial that Dugan impeded
ICE agents during the attempted courthouse immigration bust by helping
Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who was facing misdemeanor battery
charges, leave through a jury door after a hearing.
A
federal judge has ruled that the Department of Justice cannot obtain
the names and personal contact information for every individual who
worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County. The
decision, handed down on Tuesday, blocks a grand jury subpoena issued by
the Justice Department in April.
The
subpoena had sought the personal details of county employees and
volunteer poll workers. This request came amid persistent,
unsubstantiated claims by Donald Trump of widespread voter fraud in
Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, which he alleges cost him
victory in the state in 2020.
Fulton County had
moved to quash the subpoena, arguing it was designed to "target, harass
and punish the President’s perceived political opponents" and was
"grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need."
U.S.
District Judge William Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump,
sided with the county. In his ruling, he stated, "Given the low need for
the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the
disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be
quashed," describing the scope of the request as "staggering."
A
New York federal judge on Wednesday ordered that E. Jean Carroll be
paid $5 million plus interest for damages from a jury verdict that held
President Donald Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing and defaming
the writer.
The order came a day after Trump's lawyers urged
Judge Lewis Kaplan not to disburse nearly $5.8 million to Carroll from
funds that president deposited three years ago with the court to satisfy
the May 2023 jury award.
Kaplan, in
his order Wednesday directing the money to be disbursed to Carroll,
pointed to the language of an agreement between her and Trump that
called for the money to be given her if the Supreme Court denied his
request that it hear his appeal of the verdict in her favor.
The Supreme Court rejected Trump's request on June 29.
Kaplan's
order brushed aside arguments by Trump's attorneys that Carroll cannot
be paid the money unless the Supreme Court rejects the president's new,
long-shot bid for reconsideration of his petition that the high court
take his appeal.
Chump loves to steal money from others but he loathes having to pay his own bills. Leigh Kimmins (DAILY BEAST) notes another personal legal defeat for Chump:
A
federal judge has tossed a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed by
President Donald Trump’s social media company against the Washington
Post, dealing a sharp defeat to Trump Media and Technology Group.
U.S.
District Judge Thomas Barber, based in Tampa, ruled that Trump Media
“failed to present evidence that would allow a jury to find by clear and
convincing evidence” that the Post “published the allegedly defamatory
statements with actual malice.” He granted the Post’s motion for summary
judgment and denied Trump Media’s. A full written opinion is
forthcoming.
Chump's a con artist, a
grifter. And the thing about those types is for them to steal money
they need a mark. And a lot of marks are starting to speak. Chris Morris (MONEYWISE) reports:
Donald
Trump and his family generated at least $2.2 billion in income last
year (1), which is nearly four times more than he reported in 2024. Much
of that money came from his supporters who invested in his businesses,
such as Trump Media and Technology Group, or bought his $TRUMP meme
coin.
Their fortunes, however,
didn’t fare nearly as well. In fact, Trump’s supporters are reportedly
down an estimated $7 billion after investing in the president’s business
ventures.
Trump Media shares have
lost 56% of their value in the past year (2) , while the Trump coin’s
value also tumbled about 81% in that time (3). Many of the retail
investors who sunk their savings into those ventures — often as a sign
of loyalty to Trump — have seen the money vanish right as economic
volatility began to spike. And they’re not happy with Trump, or the
members of his inner circle.
“We’re
just poor cattle to them,” Chad Nedohin, who was once the unofficial
captain of Trump Media’s shareholders, told Forbes (4). “He doesn’t care
about anyone.”
Nedohin is one
of many investors who are vocally criticizing Trump and his ventures.
Another, Vadim Fistikan, invested $205,000 in Trump Media in the days,
weeks and months after it went public via SPAC (5). He invested the
money he and his family had planned to use to buy a waterfront property
in Florida.
Today, that investment is worth just $30,000. When
he voiced his frustrations on Truth Social, Fistikan (a three-time
Trump voter) was lambasted by Trump supporters on the social media site.
“I’m
like, ‘Hey, this is a scam,’” he posted, according to Forbes. “And a
lot of people were like, ‘No, you’re just a Trump hater.’ I’m like, ‘No.
I was on board since day one. … I’m now broke. Pretty much my whole
life savings [was] in this one stock. This is the greatest theft, con
job he has ever done.”
Kristi Noem may be out as Secretary of Homeland Security but her destruction remains. As does her attempts to cover it up. Henry Giardina (QUEERTY) notes:
This
year, Kristi Noem went from high-level Tr*mp official to tabloid fodder
in the space of about three seconds. After ICE Barbie was fired in
March, she was hit with a fresh wave of scandal
when news broke that her faithful Christian husband Bryon had been
secretly spending thousands on his crossdressing “bimbofication” fetish.
Things got even worse when the sex workers servicing Bryon’s kink
started speaking to the press.
Honestly,
as comeuppance goes, that’s a pretty solid dose. But this is Kristi
Noem we’re talking about, so her chances of continuing to step in it
even in her post-Tr*mp era are still quite high. Consider her most
recent scandal, an infidelity breach that’s followed her from her ICE
days to the present.
While Bryon was exploring
his kinky side with several OF workers, Noem was allegedly engaged in
her own pretty openly-discussed cheating scandal concerning her close
relationship with fellow Tr*mp enabler Corey Lewandowski.
Rumors
about an affair between Noem and Lewandowski are nothing new, but new
court documents just revealed the potential extent of some juicy
communication between the two.
Joseph
Guy, Noem’s former DHS deputy chief of staff, apparently wiped a Signal
group chat including texts from Lewandowski, Noem, and other DHS
officials earlier this year. Considering that DHS contractors claimed
they were coached to pay Lewandowski for his help during the Homeland
Security transition that put Noem in charge of Tr*mp’s mass deportation rollout just a week before the deleted messages, the timing is a little bit suss.
This
move also happened on Guy’s final day in office. As you can imagine,
none of this looks great for Lewandowski, or for Noem. We don’t know the
content or context of the group chat, but the fact that Guy wiped his
phone weeks after a probe threatened to expose the nature of Noem and
Lewandoski’s relationship (and their DHS and FEMA-related contract
scandal definitely isn’t the least guilty move you could make.
The
Signal wipe also happened shortly after Noem swore to Congress that
Lewandowski had absolutely nothing, zero, zilch to do with contract
approval. On March 18, the team was warned that if they shredded
sensitive documents concerning the matter, they would be breaking the
law.
Technically deleting isn’t shredding, but
Guy, whose wife works for the anti-LGBTQ+ Heritage Foundation and is
considered to be one of the many authors of Project 2025, went ahead and
did it anyway. He came clean about deleting the group chat files during
a deposition in early May.
A
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a man
during an arrest operation in Houston on Tuesday after authorities said
he ignored commands to stop and drove his vehicle toward federal
officers.
The Department of Homeland Security
said the shooting happened after the man, identified as 39-year-old
Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, allegedly tried to flee and
attempted to ram an ICE agent with his vehicle.
ICE
has repeatedly falsely claimed that someone tried to ram them with a
vehicle. While ICE is under new management with Secretary of Homeland
Security Markwayne Mullen, it's too soon to give them the benefit of the
doubt. They're going to need to earn trust with the public and with
the courts. They're going to have to demonstrate that they can follow
the law before they'll be seen as lawful. Dan Gooding (NEWSWEEK) notes, "Congresswoman
Sylvia Garcia, who represents the Magnolia Park neighborhood where the
incident took place, shared a statement on X calling for a full
investigation."
Family members and local officials are calling for a full
investigation into the shooting death of a man killed by ICE agents in
Houston.
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot yesterday as ICE agents
tried to arrest him. Federal officials say he tried to flee and -- quote
-- "weaponized his vehicle toward an ICE officer who opened fire in
self-defense." Salgado Araujo was shot in the abdomen and taken to a
hospital, where he later died.
ICE says he was a Mexican national
living in the U.S. without legal status. His family and immigration
advocates are questioning the official account, saying ICE has yet to
provide evidence to support their claims.
One of his sons spoke at a news conference today.
Ronaldo Salgado:
I am calling for a full investigation into the events
that transpired yesterday -- yesterday, July 7. He did not deserve to
die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of Mexican man shot
and killed by ICE. He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado
Araujo, a husband, a father, and a job creator for dozens of men who
also wanted the American dream.
Geoff Bennett:
Colleen DeGuzman joins us now. She's a reporter for The Texas Tribune.
So, Colleen, thank you for being with us.
So,
DHS says Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle, that he ignored repeated
commands and that he tried to run over an ICE officer. What evidence,
if any, have they provided to support their accounts?
Colleen DeGuzman, The Texas Tribune:
We have received very little evidence and very little
explanation. What we do know is that ICE was in unmarked vehicles when
they stopped Salgado Araujo.
And what we heard from -- today from
the brother -- from the son, Ronaldo, is that his dad -- he believed
that his dad would not have tried to flee from ICE, let alone run over
an agent with his vehicle. The vehicles that ICE were using were
unmarked, which is the reason why his son Ronaldo believes that his dad
did not know that he was being pulled over by ICE.
His dad was a
construction worker and was always worried that his tools were going to
be stolen. So that's why he thinks his dad thought he was going to get
robbed and why he tried to escape.
Geoff Bennett:
Were there eyewitnesses? And, if so, what are they saying about what transpired?
Colleen DeGuzman:
We have not been able to contact any eyewitnesses or receive any video footage yet.
But,
today, at a press conference with a lot of Houston local leaders, they
are pressing for body footage camera and any camera footage that there
is out there on what happened in Houston's East End, which is a very
Latino neighborhood.
Geoff Bennett:
What more have you pieced together about Salgado Araujo,
his life, his life in Houston, and what brought ICE agents to arrest
him?
Colleen DeGuzman:
Those are the same questions that we have right now. We
are unsure of whether this was targeted, whether this was just a normal
traffic stop.
I was at that intersection yesterday, and there was a
lot of construction in that area. And so we're wondering if this was
targeted or if this was random. But what we do know is that Salgado
Araujo had three sons. And, today, we heard from Ronaldo, who is a
teacher who is a proud University of Houston graduate.
His second
son is 27 years old. He's also named Lorenzo, Lorenzo Lorenzo Jr., and
he went to Tufts University, and is an engineer. And he has at least one
grandson. He moved to Houston 35 years ago and has built a construction
company here in Houston, and he's very proud of it.
He builds
homes in North Houston. And he, according to his son, was a very simple
man who had a routine in the morning to get up really early. He would
pet the dog goodbye and kiss his wife, who was his high school
sweetheart, goodbye before work. And every day, when the day ended, he
would sit by his porch outside to soak up the sunset.
He was a very simple man with a very strict routine. So that's what we know about him.
Again,
ICE has blown to the benefit of the doubt. They lied repeatedly to the
people and to the courts. They have not followed the law. Another
example of their not following the law? Nicole Charky-Chami (RAW STORY) reports:
A
federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered
ICE to release the nursing mother of a 6-month-old from ICE custody,
according to reports.
Judge David C. Joseph of
the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
ruled that Karina Alvarez San Juan, who has three other minor children
who are U.S. citizens, was detained in violation of ICE's policy against
detaining most pregnant or postpartum mothers.
It’s
“Constitution-free” because ICE has decided that the Fourth Amendment,
which reads, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated…” is just a suggestion, rather than one of the
foundational guarantees of American liberty; just an obstacle standing
between the Trump administration and the police state it’s steadily but
relentlessly building.
In
Washington, D.C., for example, a construction worker got waved over by
the Park Police for a minor traffic matter, and within a minute ICE agents had surrounded his truck,
asking where everyone was from and whether they were in the country
illegally. Two of his passengers were taken away, and nobody would tell
him where.
ICE is also now paying
state and local police to help, and the money is staggering. One
estimate says the total could hit two billion dollars this year alone.
In Florida, police departments pocketed nearly forty million dollars for
vehicles and gear. In the Florida Keys, agents threw up a checkpoint on the only highway in and out, a tourist route, and made more than three hundred arrests.
They’re
stationed at courthouses, bus stations, train terminals, and airports
too, snaring domestic travelers who never came near a border. The ACLU’s
Naureen Shah put it plainly. “We’ve never seen this financial incentive
scheme exist.”
Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:
Pentagon’s independent
watchdog found that Trump administration defunded and blocked reforms to
protect civilians during war, potentially violating federal law
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren
(D-Mass.) led nine members of Congress in pressing Secretary of Defense
Pete Hegseth on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) defunding and
deprioritizing of programs that prevent and respond to civilian harm in
war. The letter follows a new report by
the DoD Inspector General (DoD IG), which found that under Hegseth’s
leadership, DoD has put service members and civilians at risk and has
potentially violated federal law. It also follows the recent U.S.
military strikes on Iranian water treatment facilities, which damaged
thousands of civilians’ access to drinking water.
“The Trump administration’s military adventurism overseas, combined
with its obvious disregard for civilians, do not make the American
people or our service members safer. We () request clarification about
the steps the Department is taking to address these deficiencies and to
protect civilians in line with the Department’s strategic, legal, and
moral obligations,” wrote the lawmakers.
Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie
Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Patty
Murray (D-Wash.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined in signing the
letter.
Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) also joined in signing the letter.
In May, the DoD IG released a review of DoD’s implementation of its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response (CHMR) Action Plan (CHMR-AP),
which outlined critical steps to prevent, mitigate, and respond to
civilian harm. The DoD IG’s report found that the Trump administration
may have violated federal law by defunding and blocked civilian
protection efforts.
The DoD IG report confirms that all of the objectives of the plan –
including training for assessing and investigating civilian harm – are
“at risk” under Hegseth’s leadership. The report also found that the
Trump administration’s failure to implement the plan means DoD is
failing to comply with congressionally-mandated obligations to protect
civilians during armed conflict.
“These revelations make real the concerns that we have previously
raised about your complete ‘disregard for the strategic, legal, and
moral imperative to minimize civilian harm,’” the lawmakers said.
During the DoD IG’s investigation, staff and combatant commands
warned that eliminating CHMR funding and personnel “harms readiness” and
“increases risk to military personnel and objectives and mission
success.”
“The Department’s failure to implement the CHMR-AP has profound
consequences for civilians in conflict zones and makes service members’
jobs harder and riskier,” the lawmakers continued.
DoD officials, veteran and family organizations, and other national
security experts have repeatedly emphasized the importance of civilian
protection. In their confirmation hearings, CENTCOM Commander Admiral
Brad Cooper said that civilian harm “risks degrading our credibility and trust and puts troops at risk,” and SOCOM Commander Frank Bradley called protecting civilians “critical to our success.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, has also touted the positive impacts of the DoD CHMR programs at combatant commands.
The report also revealed that DoD failed to cooperate with the
office’s investigation, including by blocking investigators’ attempts to
observe an implementation meeting and withholding access to DoD’s
implementation tracking tools.
The lawmakers pressed Secretary Hegseth to explain DoD’s failure to
implement civilian protection policies, account for changes in
resourcing and staffing for civilian protection efforts, explain what
DoD is doing to comply with federal law requiring civilian protection
policies and institutions, and provide any analysis DoD has done on the
impact of recent strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran by July 19,
2026.
Senator Warren is a long-time champion of civilian harm prevention reforms for the U.S. military:
In April 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Van Hollen (D-Md.) led nine senators in opening a new investigation into
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s role in weakening civilian harm
prevention programs and the catastrophic civilian impacts of President
Trump’s war in Iran.
In March 2026, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) raised her concerns to
the commanders of United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and United
States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) about the Trump administration’s
sidelining of the military’s Judge Advocate General Corps (JAGs), who
are responsible for providing independent legal advice to commanders.
This sidelining risks increasing the chances of civilian harm as the war
against Iran continues.
In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Armed
Services Committee, along with Senators Van Hollen (D-Md.), Kaine
(D-Va.), Schatz (D-Hawaii), Senate Democratic Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.)
and 41 colleagues, pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for
a full investigation on the airstrikes on a school in Minab, Iran, and
other civilian casualties in the Trump administration’s war on Iran. The
senators are also calling for accountability for those responsible.
In March 2026, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee (SASC), spoke on the floor of the Senate, calling on Congress to end President Donald Trump’s reckless war in Iran and investigate civilian harm in Iran.
In December 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Schatz (D-Hawaii) led 10 senators in launching an investigation into the role of the U.S. military in distributing humanitarian assistance to Gaza following the October ceasefire.
In July 2025, At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Personnel Subcommittee, secured commitments from
the nominees to be Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)
and Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), on integrating and
protecting reforms from Republican and Democratic administrations on
civilian harm prevention. Senator Warren also secured support from Vice
Admiral Bradley to partner with outside experts to conduct a
longitudinal study of blast overpressure.
In March 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services
Subcommittee on Personnel, questioned the nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)) about his vision to prioritize civilian harm prevention.
In December 2024, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter requesting the
Department of Defense Inspector General investigate reports that the
DoD mishandled a case involving U.S. Marines killing civilians in
Haditha, Iraq, and DoD’s continued efforts to cover up the alleged war
crimes.
In March 2024, at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the
Commander of the United States Central Command and Commander of the
United States Africa Command about measures needed to prevent and
respond to civilian harm caused by weapons and assistance provided by
the United States to its military partners.
In December 2023, following reports that Israel was using explosive
weapons against civilian targets, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Kaine
(D-Va.), Sanders (I-Vt.), Merkley (D-Ore.), and Heinrich (D-N.M.), wrote
to President Joe Biden, pushing for closer oversight of Israel’s use of U.S. weapons to ensure the weapons will not be used to cause preventable civilian harm.
In September 2023, at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Department of Defense to improve investigations into civilian harm by collaborating with civil society organizations on the ground.
In July 2023, Senators Warren (D-Mass.),and Van Hollen (D-Maryland),
along with Representative Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), sent a letter to
then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, with concerns that a May
2023 U.S. airstrike in Syria may have killed a civilian. The lawmakers pushed the Defense Department to publicly release as much of their internal investigation into the airstrike as possible.
In December 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Sara
Jacobs (D-Calif.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin
III, raising concerns that the Department of Defense’s (DoD)
September 2022 report to Congress on civilian casualties appeared to
undercount civilian casualties from U.S. military operations and that
DoD was not exercising its authority to make amends to civilian victims
and survivors.
In September 2022, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), Sanders (I-Vt.) and Lee
(R-Utah) sent letters to the Department of Defense and the Department
of State, calling on the Departments to
thoroughly investigate how U.S. military support to the Saudi-led
coalition fighting in Yemen may have led to civilian harm and analyze to
the effectiveness of civilian harm reduction efforts by the Saudi and
Emirati governments.
In April 2022, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Markey (D-Mass.), Leahy
(D-Vt.), Durbin (D-Ill.), Merkley (D-Ore.), Sanders (I-Vt.), and Van
Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter to Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, III, urging the Department of Defense to
brief Congress on its progress in preventing civilian harm and
highlights a series of issues and priorities that the DoD should focus
on in the CHMR-AP.
In March 2022, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned the
Commanders of the United States Central Command and United States
Africa Command on the steps they are taking to prevent civilian harm,
following the release of Defense Secretary Austin’s directive to the
Department of Defense (DOD) to develop an action plan to prevent and
investigate civilian harm.
In February 2022, during a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), questioned LTG
Michael “Erik” Kurilla’s, then-nominee to be General and Commander of
United States Central Command, about civilian casualties that have
resulted from U.S. operations.
In November 2021, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Senator
Jack Reed (D-R.I.), then-Chairman of the Senate Armed Services
Committee, requesting that the Committee launch a
formal inquiry to review the findings and implications of a recent New
York Times report detailing how the U.S. military hid an airstrike in
Baghuz, Syria that killed dozens of civilians and was flagged as a
potential war crime by legal analysts.
