Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America.
A Republican senator could be the one to sink Todd Blanche’s hopes of becoming attorney general after he abruptly cancelled a meeting with Blanche on the eve of his confirmation vote. A shocking new report finds dozens of ICE and Border Patrol agents have documented histories of sexual and violent crimes against women and children. Pranksters in Washington are plastering the city with “missing person” fliers for Mitch McConnell, who hasn’t been seen in public in over a month. And a Republican running for governor of Tennessee wants to ban mosques and non-Christian religions, claiming the First Amendment doesn’t actually apply to states.
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GOP Senator Signals Intent to Torpedo Todd Blanche’s Confirmation
A meeting between Senator John Cornyn and Todd Blanche, Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department, got canceled at the last minute. That meeting was scheduled the day before the committee’s scheduled vote on Blanche’s confirmation. Blanche could be the deciding vote to ensure Blanche never gets a vote by the full Senate.
Cornyn isn’t budging from his demand that Blanche put it in writing that Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion fund to compensate MAGA loyalists with taxpayer money — including for people who attacked the Capitol on January 6 — is dead for good.
Blanche said under the oath the fund isn’t moving forward. But during his confirmation hearing, Cornyn pulled out the actual settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS and got Blanche to admit that the fund could still one day be revived under the current language.
There may be a political grudge behind this, too. Trump endorsed Cornyn’s primary opponent, Ken Paxton, who went on to win Texas’ Republican Senate runoff in May. That effectively ended Cornyn’s Senate career. The former Senate majority whip doesn’t appear to be interested in going quietly.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican who clashed with Trump and chose to retire instead of run for another term, is also refusing to support Blanche until he gets the same written guarantee.
Tillis had previously demanded that Blanche meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein before getting his vote. Blanche agreed to the meeting, but survivors said it felt like Blanche was just checking a box.
The Justice Department missed Wednesday’s 4 PM deadline to produce the documentation Cornyn and Tillis are asking for. This means the confirmation vote could get pushed to next week, or Blanche could lose the vote.
ICE Agents’ History of Violence and Sex Crimes Against Children Revealed in New Report
The Ohio Immigrant Alliance just released a detailed report revealing that 59 ICE and Border Patrol agents have long histories of sexual and physical abuse, with most of it directed toward women and children.
According to the report, nearly 85 percent of the agents on the list have been charged with or convicted of sex offenses. 35 of those agents committed sex offenses specifically against children.
And the problem is only getting worse. Cases from 2025 and 2026 alone make up over 42 percent of the entire list. 2020, the previous peak year, had just six cases.
Many of these agents are longtime veterans of their respective agencies. One served for 20 years as a Border Patrol agent while being known as the East Valley Serial Rapist. Another Border Patrol agent murdered women he’d paid for sex. One ICE agent tasked with overseeing background checks for other agents, was himself convicted of soliciting prostitution involving a minor.
Lynn Tramonte, who authored the report, argued the evidence shows a deep problem within the culture of these agencies, which has only been exacerbated by the Trump administration effectively eliminating all prior vetting and training standards.
A former ICE training attorney called the current program “deficient, defective and broken,” and that 240 hours of vital training got cut from what used to be a 584-hour curriculum.
The report comes as more and more civilians being killed on American streets by immigration agents enforcing what are effectively civil laws. Not one federal officer involved in any of these deaths in 2025 or 2026 has faced any accountability at all.
As Tramonte put it, immigration enforcement is about paperwork. It should happen in conference rooms and in the mail, not with thugs wielding guns and terrorizing American neighborhoods.
Pranksters Blanket Washington with ‘Missing Person’ Fliers About Mitch McConnell
Fliers have been popping up all over Washington, D.C., showing Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky with the words “MISSING PERSON” printed on the top in bold red letters.
The description is also pretty funny: “84 years old. 5’9 feet. Turtle-like. Known for: Blocking something in the Senate.”
The fliers are a prank from anti-Trump group called the Save America Movement. But it speaks to a real problem: McConnell has been hospitalized since mid-June and hasn’t been seen in public for more than six weeks.
His office has offered only still photos and statements, which in turn fueled a wave of speculation about the octogenarian senator’s health. One MAGA activist claimed McConnell was braindead and being kept alive with machines.
McConnell’s office released a statement saying he was hospitalized after a fall that briefly rendered him unconscious, and that he also developed a mild case of pneumonia. The statement added the senator didn’t have a stroke, heart attack or suffer any broken bones.
The updates haven’t stopped the wave of questions. Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear sent McConnell a letter asking him to verbally prove he’s capable of serving or step down. A Republican congressman from Indiana told a reporter that he doesn’t know if McConnell is even still alive. Even Trump told reporters he has no idea how McConnell is doing.
Kentucky’s senior senator being consistently absent has also plagued the razor-thin Senate Republican majority, jeopardizing Trump’s agenda where every single vote is needed.
Republican Candidate for Governor Wants to Ban All Non-Christian Religions
Tennessee Republican State Representative Monty Fritts, who is running in the Volunteer State’s August 6 Republican gubernatorial primary, told an interviewer this week that he’d work to ban mosques and what he called “pagan religions,” including Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism, if he’s elected.
Fritts argued that the First Amendment’s ban on government establishing religion only applies to Congress, not to state governments. He specifically singled out Islam, calling it more of a political movement than a religion.
Fritts explicitly said he’s running for governor because he believes he was called to do so by God. He went on to describe having a series of “persistent” spiritual experiences. This apparently includes waking up randomly at 3 AM and having random strangers approach him to have what he would only call “a word.”
America isn’t a theocracy, and legal scholars settled this question decades ago. The First Amendment’s religious protections apply to state governments through the 14th Amendment. Of couse, that hasn’t stopped Fritts from demonizing entire religions practiced by billions of people around the world. Early voting is already underway in Tennessee.
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Thanks for watching. I’m British Chris, with Raw America. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Here are a few stories you may have missed:
Trump Now 0 for 18 in Cases Seeking State Voter Rolls. After a federal judge in New Jersey ruled against President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday in its attempt to seize New Jersey’s statewide voter database, the Trump DOJ has now officially lost 18 such cases across the country. 11 of those losses were handed down by judges appointed by Republican presidents, with eight of those judges being appointed by Trump himself.
Professors Keep Winning Cases Over States Banning ‘Woke’ Education. Earlier this month, a three-judge panel for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals — whose jurisdiction includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia — overturned Florida’s 2022 “Stop WOKE Act.” That decision is likely to be used as precedent to overturn similar laws in Alabama and Georgia. George Washington University law professor Mary Anne Franks told Bloomberg Law that federal courts are likely to uphold restrictions on viewpoint discrimination in public universities, saying the government “doesn’t get to control what those institutions say.”
Billionaire GOP Megadonor Contributes Thousands to Democrat John Fetterman. New campaign finance filings show that real estate billionaire Harlan Crow, who is known for his lavish gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, donated $7,000 (the maximum allowable contribution under federal law) to the reelection campaign of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) on June 30. Crow’s donations to Fetterman came shortly after the Pennsylvania Democrat announced he was launching a joint fundraising committee with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), which prompted speculation that Fetterman may be planning on switching parties before his 2028 reelection bid.
Ted Cruz Rails Against Billionaire Presidents Without Mentioning Trump. During a recent appearance on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s program, Sen. Rafael “Ted” Cruz (R-Texas) heaped criticism on New York City Zohran Mamdani (D), called him a “communist” and compared him to deceased Cuban President Fidel Castro. He added: “Castro was a billionaire. Putin is a billionaire. The leaders of communist regimes are always rich. They steal and rob from those they govern.” Neither Hannity nor Cruz mentioned Donald Trump, whose net worth is in excess of $6 billion.
Wisconsin Appeals Court Reinstates Anti-Union Law That Sparked Mass Protests. A Wisconsin appeals court on Wednesday reinstated Act 10, which was regarded as former Governor Scott Walker’s (R) most significant legislation, overturning a 2024 court decision that repealed the law. Act 10 severely limited unions’ ability to collectively bargain, prohibited unions from automatically withdrawing dues and required mandatory recertification votes for all unions on an annual basis. The law led to a significant drop in union membership across Wisconsin. Labor unions have said they plan to appeal Wednesday’s ruling to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which currently has a 5-2 liberal supermajority.
