Breaking: Democrats Plot War Games to Prepare for Troops at the Polls
Trump vows to revive his fund to pay off supporters and reports suggest Iran war will escalate again
Good morning. I’m John Byrne.
The United States and Israel are preparing one of the harshest bombing campaigns of the entire war, with possible strikes on Iran’s power plants and refineries. A whites-only settlement in Arkansas is quietly recruiting new families to “preserve European identity,” led by a man who says the Nazis had “redeeming qualities.” Senate Democrats are running war games to prepare for the possibility that Trump sends armed troops to polling places this November. And Donald Trump admitted his $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was “dead,” then hours later vowed vociferously to bring it back.
One quick thing first, because today is the day it counts. We’ve added one day to our July subscriber drive because we’re a bit behind on our subscription goals. Here’s why we keep hammering on it. Almost every outlet that could hand you these stories keeps getting swallowed by a billionaire who needs something from Trump, and once that happens, the coverage quietly goes soft or goes away. The tough story gets shorter, then it gets buried, then it just stops running. Trump has made billions as President; why isn’t that getting blasted as corruption across network news? Because his billionaire friends don’t want you seeing it.
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U.S. and Israel Prepare Their Harshest Bombing of Iran Yet
Multiple sources tell CBS News that the U.S. and Israel are planning one of the most punishing bombing campaigns of the war so far, targeting Iran’s energy infrastructure, with strikes possible throughout the weekend.
The targets would reportedly include power plants and refineries – which experts have said could constitute war crimes.
One former U.S. military official put the logic plainly: hitting energy infrastructure would cripple the Iranian government’s ability to provide services, and govern. Not shockingly, there’s discussion of wrapping up the bombing before markets open Monday, because of what it could do to the global economy. As usual, Trump is timing destruction around the stock market.
A joint operation would mark Israel’s return to combat after it halted operations during the U.S.-brokered truce. Iran hasn’t struck Israel since the memorandum of understanding fell apart and the U.S. restarted combat in early July.
“We’ll be hitting them very hard,” Trump told reporters at a recent cabinet meeting.
White House aides who focus on politics were apparently opposed. They understand what the president apparently doesn’t: continuing a war with Iran is only bad for U.S. taxpayers, and will drive up prices for voters who have been clamoring for relief.
Inside the Whites-Only Arkansas Town Where the Founder Says Nazis Had “Redeeming Qualities”
Tucked into Arkansas’ Ozarks is a settlement of around 40 residents where applications to live are open exclusively to white people of full European ancestry. According to a report, they also reject homosexuality and embrace what the founder calls “traditional European values.”
The founder, Eric Orwoll, leads a group called Return to the Land, which claims over a thousand members and selects a handful of families to live on its 165-acre compound near the town of Ravenden. Social media videos show goats, chickens and children playing. But behind that image, the group’s leaders spread hard-right ideology. Children are allegedly homeschooled to believe the Holocaust and slavery have “two sides to the story.”
Orwoll insists he isn’t a white supremacist. But he’s praised former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, spoken about the prospect of a “second Hitler,” and keeps close ties to a network of extremists that includes Nick Fuentes. Orwoll himself claims the Holocaust death toll has been “exaggerated” and that the Nazis had “redeeming qualities.”
Left in bad shape are the children. One home-education expert warned that in a group this insular, kids can be denied the tools to form their own beliefs.
This is what’s being nurtured in rural America while Trump wages war on diversity. Orwoll avers he’s already helping members build more like it.
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Democrats Prepare for Trump to Send Troops to the Polls
Here’s a sentence I never expected to write: Senate Democrats are running war games to prepare for the chance that Donald Trump deploys armed federal personnel to polling places this November.
According to NOTUS, lawmakers led by Chuck Schumer ran closed-door exercises last week that gamed out exactly that scenario. Trump has refused to rule out sending troops or agents to the polls. He announced an “Election Integrity Army” in May, floated sending the National Guard or ICE to voting sites, and said in January that he regrets not using the Guard to seize election equipment in 2020.
It’s already illegal. The 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act bars the military from domestic law enforcement, and federal law makes deploying “any troops or armed men” to a place where voting is happening a crime punishable by up to five years. But there’s a narrow exception for responding to an armed threat, and Democrats fear Trump could come up with a “security incident” as a pretext.
California senator Alex Padilla leads the Democrats’ Election Protection Task Force. He says that even if agents never touch a machine, a wall of masked ICE agents at a polling place could scare people away from voting. His advice, and ours: if you can vote early or by mail, do it. This way, no one can intimidate you on Election Day.
Trump Says His $1.8 Billion Jan. 6 Slush Fund Is “Dead,” Then Vows to Revive It
On Friday, Donald Trump finally admitted his $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was “dead.” Hours later, he promised to “push hard” to bring it right back.
Trump’s nonsensical fund would funnel taxpayer money to January 6 rioters and those Trump insists were “victims of government abuse.” Two Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are refusing to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation until they get written proof the fund is dead. Both men leave the Senate in January; neither has much left to lose.
Trump took to Truth Social overnight and attacked both senators, claiming they were “upset because I wouldn’t Endorse them.” Then he threatened to keep Blanche as acting attorney general indefinitely and push the fund through anyway.
“It will immediately be back on the table,” he crowed, “and I will get it done.”
Tillis wasn’t having it. “The criminals who assaulted police officers and defiled our nation’s Capitol are not ‘great American patriots’ who are ‘victims of government abuse,’” he wrote. “Anyone who attacked law enforcement should still be in prison, not getting a check from the federal government.”
Trump wants his political prisoners paid. And he’s willing to sink his own attorney general to make it happen.
Before You Go, Help Us Reach Our Goal
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I’m John Byrne. Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent media. We’ll see you tomorrow.