Good evening, everyone. It was a busy day: Todd Blanche’s nomination is hanging in the balance again as he’s hauled into court to explain why he hasn’t complied with a judge’s order on the Epstein files. Mitch McConnell was allegedly released from the hospital to his home, but I have questions. Trump is fuming over the fact that America is running out of munitions. And so much more.
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Here’s the news:
Epstein:
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is escalating pressure on the DOJ over its handling of Epstein files in a lawsuit brought by MeidasTouch reporter Katie Phang against Acting AG Todd Blanche, scheduling an August 13 status hearing after finding the department still hasn’t complied with key portions of his earlier orders. Sullivan specifically faulted the DOJ for failing to provide documentation supporting its claims that certain redacted names belong to victims, ruling the government’s mere assertion that attorneys had requested victim status “does not comply with the Court’s Order.” He also renewed scrutiny of the FBI’s withheld handwritten interview notes, rejecting DOJ’s argument that they’re too similar to already-released typed reports, and noting the government has already published comparably sensitive draft indictments. The order reflects Sullivan’s ongoing insistence, dating to his July ruling, that the Epstein Files Transparency Act requires substantiated justifications for redactions rather than conclusory claims from government lawyers.
The third issue Sullivan flagged involves the Transparency Act’s requirement that every redaction come with a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress, a deadline the DOJ and Phang’s team now dispute whether the department has already missed. This latest order comes amid a broader pattern of DOJ struggles in the case: the department missed its June deadline to formally answer Phang’s complaint, and rather than responding, it filed a motion asking Sullivan to retroactively pause all deadlines and grant 60 additional days after preliminary injunction proceedings conclude. Phang’s legal team countered that the government is technically in default since it never sought an extension, and asked Sullivan to compel an answer by August 10 instead of allowing a belated motion to dismiss. Notably, the DOJ’s extension request was filed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Taken together, Sullivan’s Thursday order signals he remains unconvinced by the DOJ’s explanations across all three disputes and wants direct, in-person answers rather than written assurances. At the August 13 hearing, DOJ attorneys will need to explain why victim redaction documentation still hasn’t been produced, why handwritten FBI notes remain withheld despite the court’s prior order, and when the department intends to satisfy the Transparency Act’s public-justification requirement for every redaction. The judge’s language throughout the order suggests growing impatience with what he sees as the government’s pattern of incomplete or evasive compliance. The case adds to a rough stretch for the DOJ this week, as it simultaneously fends off accusations of missed deadlines and default in the broader Phang litigation.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Thursday that most constituent mail and calls her office receives oppose confirming Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, though she declined to say how she’ll vote, telling reporters she’ll issue a formal statement rather than answer “in little dribs and drabs.” She raised concerns about Blanche’s settlement shielding Trump, his family, and his businesses from certain IRS audits, saying constituents ask “how is that right?” and that it “sure seems like” preferential treatment.
On allegations that Blanche was dismissive toward Epstein survivors during DOJ meetings, Murkowski said she’s heard conflicting accounts from both sides but stressed survivors deserve to be heard, recalling a handwritten note from an Alaska survivor asking to talk with her. With Susan Collins already a no vote and McConnell absent, Blanche can lose no more than two Republican votes if Democrats stay unified, putting intense pressure on Murkowski as one of the Senate’s most independent Republicans.
Mitch McConnell:
I’m still digging on this one because the statement doesn’t fully add up, and there’s still no video of McConnell. Senator Mitch McConnell says he’s been discharged from the rehabilitation center where he’d been recovering after a fall and will continue his recovery at home, thanking Kentuckians and medical staff and saying he’ll keep up an “intensive regimen of physical therapy” while staying engaged with Senate business. But nearly two months after his June 14 hospitalization, and weeks after his July 12 statement revealing he’d fallen, been briefly unconscious, and developed pneumonia, there’s still no video of the 84-year-old speaking or moving, only two photos released by his office. McConnell, who is 84 and not running for reelection, has offered no timeline for when he’ll physically return to the Capitol, even as Republicans face vote scheduling problems in his absence.
The lack of any video, combined with his office’s pattern of sparse, repetitive statements and camera-shy staff, is exactly why questions about the severity of his condition keep resurfacing rather than going away with this announcement. His July statement ruled out broken bones, a concussion, heart attack, stroke, tumors, or hemorrhage, but offered no real detail on what actually caused the fall or unconsciousness in the first place. Being “discharged to continue recovery at home” after a rehab stay is a normal medical step, but for a sitting senator this consequential to GOP vote counts, and this opaque about his condition for two months, it raises as many questions as it answers. I’ll keep pressing on this and update as I learn more.
Other news:
Trump has privately fumed over media reports on the U.S.'s dwindling munitions stockpile, believing the disclosures make America look weak just as he's pushing Iran toward a deal, according to six officials familiar with a tense Camp David Cabinet meeting last week. CNN reported the military has burned through nearly 80% of its THAAD interceptor inventory and roughly half its Patriots since the war began, numbers that also worry Gulf allies who rely on U.S. air defense systems and fear being exposed to Iranian retaliation if Trump escalates further; Iran has reportedly warned regional nations that renewed U.S. strikes would trigger attacks on energy and desalination facilities. Trump insisted on Truth Social that the U.S. has "massive amounts" of munitions while simultaneously vowing "long term jail sentences" for whoever leaked the stockpile data, tasking the Justice Department with hunting down what he calls "treasonous" leakers, though officials say his anger is directed at leakers rather than Defense Secretary Hegseth, whom he publicly praised.
The official White House Instagram is now posting Spider-Man-style ICE propaganda showing immigrants literally trapped in webs before being deported.
Federal appeals judge Jennifer Mascott, appointed to the 3rd Circuit in October 2025, spent months actively running Washington PR firm Adfero, which she inherited from her late husband Jeff Mascott, overseeing staffing, client relations, and marketing signoffs even while serving as a full-time judge, according to 14 former employees and clients. Her hands-on leadership, including firing top staff, requiring approval on materials, and steering the firm toward more partisan GOP-aligned consultants, triggered mass resignations and the loss of major clients like PhRMA, ultimately forcing Adfero to shut down on June 30 after two decades in business. Judicial ethics experts say the arrangement falls into a legal gray area since judges may retain family businesses but are barred from activities that consume excessive time or exploit judicial prestige, with one expert noting Adfero's work "sending out a message" for clients makes her situation especially unusual compared to a typical family business.
A federal judge has temporarily paused an order requiring Trump to hand over detailed financial records to the BBC in his libel suit over the network’s 2024 January 6 documentary, giving Judge Roy Altman time to weigh Trump’s bid to narrow the lawsuit. Trump’s lawyers want to drop claims that the documentary harmed his business interests and focus solely on reputational harm, a shift that could undercut the BBC’s argument that it needs his financial records at all. The BBC counters that Trump’s business value is still relevant since his public reputation is tied to his success as a businessman, and notes his proposed amended complaint still seeks $10 billion in damages, an amount they say would be hard to justify on reputational harm alone. The dispute centers on an edited clip of Trump’s January 6 speech that the BBC has apologized for but still says isn’t defamatory. The case is one of several Trump has brought against media outlets, alongside a separate $10 billion suit against the Wall Street Journal over its Epstein birthday-book reporting and now-withdrawn subpoenas against New York Times reporters.
Trump signed two executive orders Thursday targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, calling the Supreme Court’s earlier block of his original order “very unfortunate” and arguing people are “buying their way in” through automatic citizenship. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the first order expands categories of people ineligible for birthright citizenship, including “alien enemies,” members of foreign terrorist organizations, and those acting on behalf of foreign governments, while the second bans birth tourism outright by denying visas to those seeking to enter the U.S. to give birth or who organize such trips, which Miller called “a fraud on the American system.” Trump said the administration would enforce the orders with “very big crackdowns” and expressed confidence they’d survive legal challenges, while Staff Secretary Will Scharf said the orders rely on “legally validated means” that avoid conflicting with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The text of the orders had not been released as of publication, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
John Gannon, a 75-year-old lifelong Republican and Texas businessman who voted for Trump, now says he regrets that decision after his fiancée, Venezuelan-born Yasmin Suarez Reyes, was arrested by ICE agents at Houston’s airport in late July while the couple prepared to fly to a furniture industry convention. Suarez Reyes, who entered the U.S. legally in 2023 under the Visa Waiver Program using her Spanish citizenship and later filed a still-pending asylum application, had a valid work permit and Texas driver’s license, but was detained for deportation processing after her original entry authorization lapsed. Her attorney, Anne Kennedy, another lifelong Republican, said Suarez Reyes has no criminal record and would have had a path to a green card had she been able to marry Gannon first; she’s currently held at a Texas detention facility. Gannon, choking up, described his fiancée as “good as gold” and said he’d ask Trump directly, “What are you doing?” arguing ICE should target actual criminals rather than “destroying families.” Her case is part of a broader wave of airport arrests under Trump’s deportation crackdown, which drove ICE detentions to a record monthly high in July, often ensnaring immigrants in legal gray areas with pending cases and expired status rather than criminal backgrounds.
Trump’s Truth Social has seen its mobile app’s daily active users plunge from 436,000 in July 2025 to just 261,000 a year later, according to SimilarWeb data cited by the Financial Times, dwarfed by X’s roughly 130 million and Facebook’s over 2 billion daily users. The White House defended the platform as Trump’s “authentic voice,” while TMTG head Kevin McGurn insisted the company’s business model “absolutely stands up” even after Trump eventually exits as its main draw, saying his goal is attracting more creators to the service. Trump launched Truth Social in 2022 after being permanently banned from Twitter following the January 6 riots, and though his account was reinstated after Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022, Trump rarely posts there. The user exodus comes as TMTG’s new $100,000-a-month premium tier, offering Wall Street firms early access to Trump’s market-moving posts, has drawn sharp backlash from finance executives, with one calling it “scandalous” and another telling NPR that “in another administration, this would be considered criminal.”
Trump warned that if Abdul El-Sayed “succeeds,” Democrats would gain four senators, eight congressmen, sweep electoral and popular votes, and end up with a 23-justice “stacked” Supreme Court, claiming he would become “the last Republican President” despite what he calls a great job in office. The numbers are exaggerated and don’t track with how Senate, House, or Supreme Court composition actually work, there’s no mechanism for a single candidate’s win to produce that scale of shift, and the current Court has nine justices, not 23.
The FCC voted 2-1 along party lines to eliminate the 39% cap on how much of the U.S. television audience a single company’s stations can reach, a rule in place since 2004, replacing it with a case-by-case review process. Republican Chairman Brendan Carr called the cap “outdated,” arguing it hobbled local broadcasters while national streaming and social media platforms face no similar restrictions, but the sole Democratic commissioner, Anna Gomez, called the move “unlawful on its face” and warned it merely shifts leverage to large national station groups rather than protecting genuinely local broadcasters. The decision is a major win for Nexstar Media Group, the country’s largest local TV station owner, which is pursuing a $6.2 billion acquisition of rival Tegna that would reach over 60% of U.S. households, though a federal judge has paused that deal amid an antitrust lawsuit from eight state attorneys general.
Scientists at Stanford and the Arc Institute used an AI model called Evo, trained on roughly nine trillion nucleotides across the tree of life, to design entirely new viral genomes rather than just replicate existing ones. After training Evo specifically on the harmless bacteriophage Phi X-174 and its close relatives, researchers generated 700,000 candidate genomes, synthesized 285 of them, and found 16 produced viable new viruses that infected bacteria, some multiplying even faster than the natural virus. The viruses pose no threat to humans since researchers deliberately excluded any training data on viruses that infect people, animals, plants, or fungi as a safety precaution. Experts called the result a milestone with potential upside for medicine and biotechnology, but also warned it underscores how far the science has outpaced any regulatory guardrails, especially since a new NIH policy on high-risk life science research doesn’t clearly cover AI-generated pathogens that don’t yet have a known “entity of concern” to flag them. One biosecurity researcher summed up the core problem: “What is the risk of what I’ve never seen before?”
Sen. Bernie Moreno told CNN he sent his daughter Emily Moreno, granddaughter, and wife “out of state to a secure place” amid escalating abuse allegations against Rep. Max Miller, Emily’s ex-husband, who denies wrongdoing. Miller disputed the claim, showing CNN emails in which Emily communicated flight details and arranged a video visit with their daughter, and his spokesperson said Emily simply took the child to see family in Florida, calling the “bunker” characterization misleading. Moreno had already said over the weekend that Miller “should not serve” in Congress and called him “a danger to my daughter.” The dispute follows police videos CNN obtained in June in which Emily emotionally described abuse allegations, including that Miller once held a gun to her, while Miller has denied ever abusing her and separately called her “manipulative” and alleged she struggles with mental illness; Miller vowed Tuesday to remain in his reelection race.
The National Treasury Employees Union, representing career IRS auditors, has joined a lawsuit challenging a controversial settlement that would grant Trump and his family members immunity from certain IRS tax audits, arguing the carveout is unlawful and unconstitutional. The amended complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, calls the arrangement “an unprecedented, unlawful, and breathtakingly corrupt attempt” by Trump and his cabinet to secure benefits unavailable to other Americans, and stems from the same underlying case that produced the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” for those who claim to be victims of political targeting, including potentially Jan. 6 rioters. Both the audit carveout and the fund originated from a lawsuit Trump’s family filed against the government over the leak of his tax returns by a former IRS contractor who was later imprisoned.
Senate Republicans on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 8-5 along party lines to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress after he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a contentious hearing last week, declining to answer questions more than 100 times. Chairman Rand Paul argued Fauci couldn’t claim the privilege because he received a preemptive pardon from Biden before leaving office, and said the committee would immediately refer the matter to the DOJ and the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, though any prosecution would require a grand jury indictment and a full Senate vote likely wouldn’t clear the 60-vote threshold. Fauci’s attorney called the vote “a crude political stunt,” and Georgetown law professor Abbe Smith said Republicans’ legal theory about the pardon negating his Fifth Amendment rights is shaky, noting the scope of preemptive pardons remains legally untested.
Ukraine struck oil refineries deep inside Russia, including facilities in Bashkortostan and Yaroslavl over 700 miles from the front, along with Russian military patrol boats and “shadow fleet” vessels in the Black Sea, part of Kyiv’s ongoing campaign to undermine Moscow’s wartime economy and cause fuel shortages. Meanwhile, Russian strikes killed at least three civilians and wounded 22 others overnight, following a Wednesday blitz that killed 17 people in the Kyiv region, as Zelenskyy scrambles to secure more Patriot interceptor missiles from NATO allies since supplies have been depleted by the separate Iran war. The UN reported that 1,396 civilians were killed and nearly 8,000 wounded in Ukraine in just the first half of this year, a 37% jump from last year, while Zelenskyy also announced Ukraine is accelerating development of its own ballistic missile and anti-ballistic defense capabilities, expecting results this year and next. UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned escalating attacks from both sides, citing record civilian casualties and growing destruction on both Ukrainian and, increasingly, Russian territory.
See you soon.
— Aaron
