Attention to the Unseen

Democracy Docket reports: The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court order that blocks the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from executing the president’s March executive order attacking mail voting. The decision means President Donald Trump’s sweeping assault on mail voting won’t be carried out in 23 states and the District of Columbia. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 against the Trump administration’s motion, with one – Judge Joshua D. Dunlap, a Trump…

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Will Sommer writes: Prominent manosphere influencers and accused sex traffickers Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested by U.S. marshals in Miami last weekend, as they were set to host—what else?—a bare-knuckle boxing match. Video of their arrest, which quickly went viral, showed Andrew Tate dressed in clamdigger pants and an unusual purple shirt unbuttoned down almost to his navel. But maybe the most surprising thing is that it happened on American soil at all. That’s because, despite years of accusations…

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Jake Tapper reports: “Someone’s going to get killed.” The warning, from an agent of the federal Homeland Security Investigations division, sent a chill through the other officials in the room. It was early January 2026.  The HSI agent explained how the team was afraid about what was coming, about what seemed preordained as the Trump administration sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Customs and Border Protection officers, Border Patrol agents and controversial Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino into Minneapolis for…

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J. Brian Atwood and Kevin Byrnes write: When Elon Musk and his youthful Department of Government Efficiency warriors boasted of taking a “chainsaw” to the U.S. Agency for International Development, they did more than destroy a government agency. They violated the law by summarily firing USAID’s public servants while placing millions of people around the world in mortal danger. The thousands of public servants, fired without due process, care deeply about the agency’s mission. They did not deserve to be…

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The Associated Press reports: How many women hold executive-level positions at top U.S. companies? What is the racial and ethnic breakdown of those roles? What is the gender and racial breakdown of the lowest-paid roles at those companies? The Trump administration is making it harder for the public to know, moving to toss aside a 60-year-old requirement for tens of thousands of private sector employers to submit workforce demographic reports each year to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency…

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Politico reports: The Justice Department has been lavishing nine-figure policy wins on Alaska — and openly touting what a “huge” time it’s been for the state — as attorney general nominee Todd Blanche is scrambling to lock down support for his confirmation from its senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. A July 7 settlement over the federal government’s unfinished work on the port of Alaska resulted in a $180 million payout to Anchorage — an announcement Blanche, who is currently the…

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ABC News reports: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., called it “unacceptable” Tuesday that attorney Alan Dershowitz failed to appear Monday for a scheduled transcribed interview as part of the committee’s probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Your counsel failed to provide a reason for your refusal to testify,” Comer wrote In a letter sent Tuesday to Dershowitz. “When Committee staff followed up with your counsel via email on July 15 and 17, 2026, your counsel again failed…

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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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