Trump screws his voters again: He just denied disaster aid to Maryland (while giving it to red states). But I took a look. Turns out the ailing Maryland counties are in Appalachia and backed him by 40 and 54 points.

On the pod, @stevebenen and I discuss:
newrepublic.com/article/202263… When Trump denied disaster aid to Maryland, he apparently thought he was punishing a blue state. But afflicted areas are Garrett and Allegany counties. Western MD is Appalachia. Those counties are deep in Trump country.

Details on pod w/ @stevebenen:

newrepublic.com/article/202269…

Trump's agents shot Marimar Martinez, a US citizen, multiple times for allegedly menacing them with her car in Chicago. Only hours later, Kristi Noem and DHS started spreading disinfo about the shooting.

Now the official line is crumbling. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/201957… DHS said agents were "boxed in by 10 cars," and suggested she brandished a gun, which "forced" an agent to open fire. She "drove herself to hospital."

But charging doc only discusses two cars, doesn't mention gun, and ambulance took her to hospital. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/201957…

News on Trump boat bombings --> Now that SouthCom Commander Alvin Holsey resigned, likely over bombings, ranking Armed Services Dem Adam Smith tells me committee Ds will demand Holsey's sworn testimony and press Rs to join them.

Smith spoke to us on pod:
newrepublic.com/article/201905… This fiasco has gotten worse. Some highlights from my pod talk w/ ranking Armed Services Dem Adam Smith: First, he says SouthCom Commander Alvin Holsey was likely pushed out over the boat bombings and that he's heard stuff to this effect from inside:

newrepublic.com/article/201914…

This week, MAGA figures claimed Kristi Noem "stared down" violent antifa protesters in Portland. Turns out they were talking mostly about a guy in a chicken suit.

This opens a window into MAGA propaganda and MSM's failure to cope with it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/201669… Trump and Stephen Miller have relied on an army of MAGA "influencers" disseminating a fraudulent picture of Portland in chaos, to bolster the case for deploying military.

NYT has a good piece on this. But it made several missteps worth highlighting. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/201669…

Appalling: JB Pritzker tells me he hasn't been able to get a single convo with Kristi Noem or any other top Trump officials to even discuss their Chicago operations. Pritzker just wants heads up for logistical reasons. Nada.

Pritzker opens up on the pod:
newrepublic.com/article/201604… JB Pritzker has also been emphatically placing Trump's mental decline front and center. On our pod, he adds a new element: People around Trump are using his decline to manipulate him, so they're less likely to intervene. More Dems should say this.

newrepublic.com/article/201606…

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics and have developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems must reckon w/Miller's understanding of the moment.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/201453… Stephen Miller believes that if he supercharges the debate over Trump's abuses of power with enough propaganda, he can polarize it and nudge low-info voters into accepting authoritarianism. Pritzker/Newsom get that this requires an info-war in response.

newrepublic.com/article/201453…

Trump's tweet that Portland is "war ravaged" just backfired. A Trump-picked judge cited it in blocking National Guard deployment to Portland, declaring him "untethered from facts."

On the pod, Oregon AG Dan Rayfield explains the ruling and what's next:
newrepublic.com/article/201408… Highlights from this pod w/Oregon AG Dan Rayfield: He tells me Dem AGs are preparing for likelihood that Trump will expand efforts to federalize National Guards and deploy them in more cities.

Trump is trying to normalize troops in US cities, he says.

newrepublic.com/article/201409…

Everyone should listen to Chris Murphy's warning about Trump on our pod. First, he says the logic must be that the more lawless he gets, the stiffer the resistance.

"If I give in and consent to these kinds of tactics then it just normalizes it all." 1/

newrepublic.com/article/201311… Chris Murphy says Dems should lay down a simple marker for Trump: No support for anything that funds lawbreaking.

"if you want our votes, it can’t be for rampant lawlessness. This isn't a normal time...world [is] watching to see what we stand for." 2/

newrepublic.com/article/201311…

Russell Vought's sadistic threat to kill projects in blue states will blow back on GOP. One getting defunded is reportedly a huge hydrogen project in northwest that would also serve Montana. Its GOP governor has hailed it as a big job creator.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/201286… In upstate New York, vulnerable House GOPer Mike Lawler defended Trump by claiming, Hey, these cuts will hurt my district, too! He didn't realize he was admitting that Russ Vought's cuts will hurt Trump voters as well.

(h/t @atrupar)

newrepublic.com/article/201286…

News --> Steve Bannon tells me he fully expects Trump to use the Texas ICE office shooting as the hook to unleash law enforcement on liberal immigration groups by linking political violence to anti-ICE rhetoric.

This is going to get ugly. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/200976… Stephen Miller said calling ICE authoritarian "incites violence and terrorism." This wasn't just fascist bluster. It was a signal.

I asked Bannon if Miller will seek to prosecute groups that use this language about ICE.

Read our exchange below. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/200976…

News --> Anna Gomez, lone Dem on FCC, tells me Trump admin's pressure to oust Jimmy Kimmel may be unlawful as well as unconstitutional. FCC chair Brendan Carr may be committing censorship in violation of federal law.

That and much more in my new piece:

newrepublic.com/article/200649…
Extraordinarily corrupt. I watched FCC chair Brendan Carr's full interview on Hannity. Carr basically said straight out that coverage of Trump he deems overly hostile can be decreed contrary to the "public interest," and thus grounds for yanking licenses:

newrepublic.com/article/200649…

Many media types and Dems continue to operate as if Trump is a politically invincible figure, or "Teflon Don." But in truth he's become a weak, failing, diminished, unpopular, naked-emperor figure, and it's time to treat him as such. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/200096… Trump's jobs report fiasco is a case in point. He knows his mystique depends on perceptions that he always wins/wields mastery over foes. So last month he fired the data person to appear strong/decisive. Then it blew up in his face w/awful new report. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/200096…

As you watch the extraordinary spectacle of Trump's government attempting to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, let's not lose sight of just how lawless and indefensible Trump's misconduct has been all throughout.

Here's a thread recapping all of it. 1/ DHS Sec Kristi Noem's announcement of this states AS FACT numerous charges against Abrego. But the admin couldn't produce real evidence of MS-13 ties despite trying for MONTHS. He has been convicted of NONE of the criminal charges lodged here. Guilty until proven innocent. 2/

Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who has been released, have been informed by ICE that he could now be subject to deportation to Uganda, and he's been told to report to ICE next week, a source confirms to me.

A few points about this, b/c there will be a lot of BS about it. 1/ What this confirms is how deeply corrupt and indefensible Trump and Stephen Miller's handling of this has been all throughout.

Those of us commenting on this have argued all along that Trump *always* had the option of bringing him back and proceeding through lawful channels. 2/

NEWS --> An internal DHS memo suggests Trump's use of military for domestic enforcement is about to get worse. It details top-level talks between Defense Department and DHS on what this should look like. Experts say it's alarming.

We obtained the memo:
newrepublic.com/article/198708… The DHS memo lays out the agenda for a July 21 meeting among top level officials from DHS and Defense Department. It was authored by Philip Hegseth (yes, he's Pete Hegseth's brother), a top adviser to DHS Sec Kristi Noem and liason to the Pentagon.

newrepublic.com/article/198708…

Striking: Zohran Mamdani's video about returning to Uganda racked up 4.5 million Instagram views, 56% among nonfollowers, per data given to me.

He's offering a new answer to Dem digital woes. I talked to his team in depth about it. Fascinating. 1/

(link)
newrepublic.com/article/198482… Zohran's campaign provided me with data on the reach of a number of his most recent videos on Instagram. We're talking millions and millions of views on content about things like traffic and city council bills impacting street vendors.

Details below. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/198482…

NEWS --> Sen Ron Wyden writes to Pam Bondi, urging DOJ to probe $1.5 billion in Epstein financial transactions that banks flagged for Treasury Dept. He lays out roadmap for DOJ to examine money flow related to sex trafficking. Calls Bondi's bluff.

Read:
newrepublic.com/article/198247… “I am convinced that DOJ ignored evidence found in the Treasury Department’s Epstein file [involving] mountains of cash Epstein received from prominent businessmen...to finance his criminal network,” Wyden says.

Wyden's investigators viewed these docs:

newrepublic.com/article/198247…

The real story behind the new DOJ referral for Adam Schiff is *Trump's* corruption. It's based on the findings of an inspector general, but experts and a former IG looked at the details and they tell me the whole process is highly suspect.

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/198074… Trump's claim of fraud rests on a Fannie Mae memo resulting from an IG request for info on Schiff's loans. It's not clear what drove any of this or how WH got it.

“From beginning to end, this process is highly irregular,” former IG Michael Bromwich says.

newrepublic.com/article/198074…

Awful: Stephen Miller is urging red states to build their own versions of "Alligator Alcatraz." And buried in the budget bill is funding that states can try to tap for exactly that.

This could become a route to MAGA glory for young GOPers. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/197899… “We want every governor of a red state: pick up the phone, call DHS, work with us to build facilities in your state,” Stephen Miller said on Fox.

Gubernatorial offices contacted by Fox were eager to boast of their plans for new detention centers. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/197899…

BREAKING: Emails given to Congress by DOJ whistleblower reveal new details about Abrego Garcia fiasco. They show how Trump officials searched for ways to paint him as dangerous criminal & gang "leader" and couldn't find any. But smears continued.

New:
newrepublic.com/article/197793… DOJ insider Erez Reuveni filed whistleblower complaint in June which you read about. Buried in complaint is also damning info on Abrego Garcia case

Reuveni has now supplied emails. Here's an exchange about admin's effort to paint Abrego as MS-13 "leader"

newrepublic.com/article/197793…

For 50 years GOP has used 3 big scams:

*deficits pose dire threat only when Dem is in WH
*tax cuts for rich pay for themselves
*safety net cuts needed to purge welfare cheats

w/this bill, Trump's "working class GOP" is supercharging all three

New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/197600… You've heard of the GOP's "Three-Legged Stool."

Well I'm introducing the "Three-Legged Scam" to describe the three-part swindle the GOP has used to push plutocratic priorities for a half century.

Populist Trump has maximized all three of them.

newrepublic.com/article/197600…