Attention to the Unseen

Rachel Reyes writes: This spring I watched Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing to become the homeland security secretary. It was most likely the first confirmation hearing I ever watched. I have never been a political person. I tuned in because Mr. Mullin’s words were of personal concern to me. In 2025 a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed my son, Ruben Ray Martinez, in Texas. He was 23 years old, a quiet, funny and gentle young man — and an…

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The New York Times reports: Federal agents around the country were told in recent days that the F.B.I. would no longer investigate confrontations with immigration agents — cases that sometimes yield evidence that could be used to prosecute Department of Homeland Security agents implicated in violent encounters, according to people briefed on the decision. If enacted, such a change would sharply limit law enforcement scrutiny of immigration agents, as the Trump administration draws mounting criticism over killings at the hands…

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CNN reports: An FBI agent arrived at a crime scene and saw something suspicious: tied plastic baggies containing unknown substances resembling illegal drugs. He would need to laboratory test the items to be sure. To do that, he would also get a warrant. The Houston incident, following one of the latest deadly shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, mirrors countless routine police encounters that happen daily across the country as officers find suspected drug paraphernalia and seek court…

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The New York Times reports: Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was still discussing whether to arrest the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he comes to New York City as expected for the U.N. General Assembly in September. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mr. Mamdani told Lulu Garcia-Navarro this week on “The Interview,” a New York Times show, referring to the home of the United Nations’ International Court of Justice. “He’s a war criminal…

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Quinta Jurecic writes: The most stunning exchange of Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing to serve as attorney general came in response to an amiable question. Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana, a Republican who appears favorably inclined toward Blanche, asked the nominee whether he considered himself to be the president’s friend. Blanche, who is currently leading the Justice Department in an interim role, responded: “I’m his lawyer.” Then, perhaps, realizing his mistake, he corrected himself. “Was his lawyer,” he said. “And now…

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  A former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice said Todd Blanche fired her after his appointment as deputy attorney general. Elizabeth Oyer said he did so after she refused to “rubber stamp a political favor for a friend of the president” as well as restoring gun rights for a convicted domestic abuser, too. “Mr. Blanche has repeatedly placed President Trump’s interest ahead of the interests of the country,” Oyer said.

Politico reports: President Donald Trump seemingly has a plan for the nation’s election apparatus: Dismantle the existing system with a series of cuts, firings and threats, rather than a sledgehammer blow. Just last week Trump eviscerated the relatively obscure Election Assistance Commission, alarming state election officials across the country who warned it could undermine cybersecurity resources for states and localities. That was just one of the moves the White House has made since Trump returned to office. The president has…

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The Associated Press reports: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press. David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life…

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Nick Miroff writes: Late last night, at the end of a day that started with the killing of a 26-year-old Colombian man in Maine, the second fatal shooting involving a vehicle stop in a week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Liana Castano sent out an email to top ICE supervisors around the country. “Effective immediately,” Castano wrote, “vehicle stops are suspended until further notice.” It was an extraordinary directive to ICE officers on the street, essentially telling them to…

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Politico reports: An “arbitrary fishing expedition.” “An unconstitutional effort to coerce.” “A convenient pretext for launching a criminal investigation.” Federal judges are increasingly peering under the hood at the Trump-led Justice Department’s use of grand juries aimed at well-known adversaries of President Donald Trump. And they don’t like what they’re seeing. These judges are scrutinizing the conduct of federal prosecutors and the legitimacy of high-profile probes that appear to stem from Trump’s personal vendettas or his efforts to bend perceived…

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Democracy Docket reports: Idaho’s Republican attorney general’s office accused President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice of potentially violating state ethics rules by threatening the state’s top election official with a criminal prosecution while suing him for the state’s voter rolls. In a sharply worded letter sent Friday, the office of Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador told DOJ Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon to stop contacting Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) directly and urged the department to dismiss its…

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WISN 12 reports: The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission has referred two complaints to the Brown County District Attorney after finding probable cause that Elon Musk violated the state’s election bribery law ahead of the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. The commission voted 5-1 in closed session late last week to find probable cause that Musk, the tech billionaire and one-time advisor to President Donald Trump, violated state law “by making a social media post that offered one million dollars to…

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