Attention to the Unseen

David A. Graham writes: An old truism says that logistics wins wars—a recognition that outcomes on the battlefield are a result of the systems that underpin the military. Similarly, the still-mushrooming fiasco of Jack Teixeira’s disclosure of national secrets is not just about a single service member or incident, but a cascading failure of systems within the armed services. Teixeira, who was arrested in April, is accused of using his position in the Massachusetts Air National Guard to share top-secret…

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Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump just needs a few names. In recent months, the former president has asked close advisers, including at least one of his personal attorneys, if “we know” all the names of senior FBI agents and Justice Department personnel who have worked on the federal probes into him. That’s according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter and another person briefed on it. Trump has then privately discussed that should he return to the White…

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Juliette Kayyem writes: As Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Stewart Rhodes yesterday to 18 years in prison—the longest yet for a defendant involved in the January 6 insurrection—he explained why the leader of the far-right group the Oath Keepers needed to be behind bars for a long time. “You pose an ongoing threat and peril to our democracy and the fabric of this country,” Mehta told Rhodes. Mehta was right about that. At his sentencing, Rhodes was unrepentant. In a 20-minute…

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The Washington Post reports: Two of Donald Trump’s employees moved boxes of papers the day before FBI agents and a prosecutor visited the former president’s Florida home to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena — timing that investigators have come to view as suspicious and an indication of possible obstruction, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the…

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Norm Ornstein writes: The crisis in legitimacy in American political institutions is palpable. Radical partisan and racial gerrymandering have undermined confidence in legislatures across the country—and contributed to outrages like the expulsion of Black lawmakers in Tennessee. Radical district judges in Texas have abused their authority in order to attempt to force nationwide bans on an abortion medication and on critical parts of the Affordable Care Act. But nowhere is the challenge greater than in the United States Supreme Court. Over the past couple of months, astonishing…

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Mother Jones reports: The Texas legislature passed a series of bills on Monday that amounted to a sweeping power grab giving Republicans more control over how elections are run and administered in the state’s most populous Democratic county, which includes the city of Houston and is home to nearly 5 million people. One bill would allow the secretary of state, who is appointed by the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, to remove local election officials for “good cause” based on…

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Mark Joseph Stern writes: Congress has regulated the Supreme Court for as long as the two institutions have existed. For more than a century, Congress compelled justices to travel around the country to serve as appellate judges, often on horseback. It forced the court to hear certain cases and denied it the ability to hear others. It added and subtracted seats, increased and decreased its budget, and postponed a term to avoid an adverse decision. According to attorneys for billionaire and GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow, however, there is one thing…

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Rolling Stone reports: The first time Gina Bisignano ran afoul of the law in Washington, D.C., she was recorded standing on a ledge in front of a broken window on the U.S. Capitol Building’s West Terrace, adorned in a Louis Vuitton sweater and Chanel boots. “We the people are not going to take it anymore. You are not going to take away our Trumpy Bear!” the Beverly Hills cosmetologist bellowed through a bullhorn on Jan. 6. “Everybody, we need gas…

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ProPublica reports: An image of a shooting target — with two bullet holes to the head and five scattered around the chest — serves as a warning to visitors who climb the brick steps and pass the American flag to reach Eric Jensen’s front door. “If you can read this you’re in range,” the sign says. Another warning, posted near the doorbell, states: “No Solicitation. … This property charges $50 per minute to listen to any vaccine/medical advice.” He ordered…

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The New York Times reports: With security concerns about the looming indictments in such a high-profile investigation weighing on county officials, Ms. Willis said that she would reduce staffing in her office by about 70 percent and rely on remote work on days when grand juries were in session from July 31 to Aug. 18. She said that there would be exceptions to the remote work plan, including “my leadership team” and “all armed investigators.” Ms. Willis noted in the…

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