Attention to the Unseen

Tom Burgis writes: A crusading prosecutor in the Balkans comes under pressure to drop a big case. Vietnamese villagers learn they are to be evicted. A convicted crypto kingpin in the Gulf receives a pardon. All have one thing in common: they appear to be connected to the Trump family’s campaign to amass riches around the world. Since Donald Trump’s re-election a year ago, warnings that his use of presidential power to advance personal interests is corroding American democracy have…

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The New York Times reports: President Trump and his top aides have said that drug cartels present one of the most pressing dangers to the United States, and have promised to eradicate them from the Western Hemisphere. As part of that effort, Mr. Trump signaled on Saturday that he was ratcheting up his campaign against drug cartels, saying in a social media post that airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” Less than 24 hours…

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Juliette Kayyem writes: Before an Afghan refugee, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, yesterday shot and seriously injured two National Guard members who had been deployed by President Donald Trump to Washington, D.C., military commanders had warned that their deployment represented an easy “target of opportunity” for grievance-based violence. The troops, deployed in an effort to reduce crime, are untrained in law enforcement; their days are spent cleaning up trash and walking the streets in uniform. Commanders, in a memo that was included in…

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Stuart Anderson writes: In a new social media post, Donald Trump hinted that he might stop nearly all legal immigration to the United States. The post came after an Afghan national killed a National Guard member in Washington, D.C. during an attack. In 2020, during Trump’s first term, the president suspended the entry of nearly all immigrants and temporary visa holders, citing the economic conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic. In a Truth Social post on Thanksgiving evening, Donald Trump…

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The New York Times reports: The married couples filed into a federal building in San Diego last week for green card interviews that they believed would secure their future together in the United States. Half of each pair was American. Stephen Paul came with his British wife and their 4-month-old baby. Audrey Hestmark arrived with her German husband, days before their first wedding anniversary. Jason Cordero accompanied his Mexican wife. It was supposed to be a celebratory milestone, the final…

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Politico reports: The Trump administration’s bid to systematically lock up nearly all immigrants facing deportation proceedings has led to a fierce — and mounting — rejection by courts across the country. That effort, which began with an abrupt policy change by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 8, has led to a tidal wave of emergency lawsuits after ICE’s targets were arrested at workplaces, courthouses or check-ins with immigration officers. Many have lived in the U.S. for years, and sometimes…

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The Independent reports: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly gave a verbal order to leave no survivors behind as Donald Trump’s administration launched the first of more than a dozen attacks on alleged drug-running boats that have killed more than 80 people over the last three months. On September 2, U.S. military personnel fired a missile striking a vessel in the Caribbean that carried 11 people accused of trafficking drugs into the United States. When two survivors emerged from the wreckage,…

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Reuters reports: In his second term, Donald Trump has turned a campaign pledge to punish political opponents into a guiding principle of governance. What began as a provocative rallying cry in March 2023 – “I am your retribution” – has hardened into a sweeping campaign of retaliation against perceived enemies, reshaping federal policy, staffing and law enforcement. A tally by Reuters reveals the scale: At least 470 people, organizations and institutions have been targeted for retribution since Trump took office…

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David Cole writes: On Monday Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, directed the Pentagon to investigate Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain who flew combat missions during the gulf war and took several spaceflights as an astronaut before he was elected to serve Arizona’s citizens in Congress. His potential crime? Telling members of the armed services that they do not have to follow illegal orders. But saying so is not a crime; it’s a true statement of the law….

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  Trump’s former criminal judge, Judge Chutkan, has just granted summary judgment to force the IMMEDIATE release, among other things, of all Trump-Epstein correspondence. Michael Popok explains what just happened and what happens next.