What Ghislaine Maxwell Told The Feds: "He Was a Gentleman"
Plus: FBI raids home of prominent Trump critic. Judge rules against Alligator Alcatraz (to protect the alligators). DC troops will now be armed. And News That Doesn't Suck for stargazers.
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I had a fun conversation with Reed Galen, host of The Home Front podcast and former Republican strategist turned co-founder of the Lincoln Project. We talked about why so many people are tuning out the news (understandably), how to reach folks who feel politically homeless in the center, and Trump's escalating crackdowns. He made the case for building mutual aid networks. We also dove into Hollywood's silence, AI's impact on creative industries, California's redistricting battle, and Gov. Gavin Newsom's rising profile. Reed asked great questions and it was nice for me to be on the other side of an interview.
In today's newsletter: the Trump Administration's first raid on the home of a very public administration critic; Ghislaine Maxwell becomes an unlikely character witness for Trump; why alligators got better legal protections than humans in one Florida detention center; armed National Guard troops now patrolling DC while crime reporting gets a Fox News makeover.
Plus some News That Doesn't Suck about tennis' move to let you see the stars.
Interview: WTF Just Happened? With Reed Galen
Here Are Your Headlines:
Retribution: FBI agents raided former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s Maryland home and DC office this morning. Sources described the move as being part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records” — a convenient allusion to the investigation into classified records found in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bedroom. In reality, this raid appears to be the most serious retributive action taken against a person deemed a political enemy of Trump thus far. Trump claimed he didn’t know about the raid in advance — he said he learned about it by seeing it on TV — but agreed he is “not a fan” of Bolton, whom he called a “lowlife” who “might be a very unpatriotic guy.” The two have feuded since Trump fired Bolton from his position as national security advisor in September 2019. Earlier this month, Bolton noted that Trump has “already come after me and several others,” referring to Trump’s decision within hours of taking office in January to cancel Bolton’s secret security protection. In 2022 the Biden Justice Department charged a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with attempting to assassinate Bolton, meaning the Trump administration removed protection from someone Iran actively wants dead. “It is a retribution presidency,” Bolton warned.
Think of the Alligators: A federal judge yesterday ordered the federal and Florida governments to dismantle much of Alligator Alcatraz and stop sending detainees there. Not because of the horrific treatment of inmates — who report horrific overcrowding, inadequate medical care, kennel-like conditions — but due to damage to the sensitive Everglades ecosystem in which the immigration detention facility was constructed. “In their haste to construct the detention camp,” the judge wrote, “the state did not consider alternative locations.” This ruling is preliminary and will likely be appealed. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ spokesperson responded by saying “the deportations will continue until morale improves.” Yes, he really said that. Did the alligators just get better legal protection than the humans?
Trump’s Character Witness: Ghislaine Maxwell wants you to know Donald Trump is … a gentleman. The DOJ released hundreds of pages of transcripts of the interview between convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Todd Blanche, Trump’s Deputy Attorney General (and former Trump lawyer). Maxwell’s memory seemed conveniently spotty, but she felt confident enough to say she “never witnessed [Trump] in any inappropriate setting in any way.… In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.” She also said:
She doesn’t believe Epstein committed suicide.
She didn’t recruit masseuses from Mar-a-Lago.
She didn’t recall Trump sending a letter/drawing for Epstein’s 50th birthday. She never saw Trump in Epstein’s house. She never saw Trump receive a massage.
She did not introduce Epstein to Prince Andrew.
There is no Epstein client list.
She never witnessed Bill Clinton receive a massage. She said he never went to Epstein’s private island.
She went on a dinosaur-bone-hunting trip with RFK and Epstein. She said she never saw RFK do anything inappropriate. Notably, she added that “somebody’s inappropriate and mine may be different,” though insisted “we’re not talking about anything that resembles the accusations that we’ve discussed here.”
She also felt moved to praise Trump, saying, “I just want to say that I … admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. I like him, and I’ve always liked him.”
On the other hand, she had unkind words for those prurient and small-minded Americans who are merely a “mob who can’t understand the lifestyle” of powerful men like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. “A man wants sexual favors, he will find that,” she argued. “They didn’t have to come to Epstein for that.”
The DOJ gave her limited immunity for the testimony, though Deputy Attorney General Blanche told Maxwell he was “not promising to do anything” to help her in return for her cooperation. Days after their conversation she was moved to a low security prison.
Read more details here. Check out the transcripts and audio recordings here.
Hostile Takeover: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth today announced that going forward members of the National Guard in DC will be armed. With 1,900+ troops deployed to DC, this clearly increases the chances of an accidental violent escalation. And today Trump threatened “a complete and total Federal takeover” of DC if Mayor Murial Bowser refused to “stop giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures.” (He legally can’t do that without Congressional approval, but, details.) The DOJ last week opened a probe into DC’s crime reporting data. That probe will be led by the US Attorney for DC, who is now Janine Pirro of Fox News fame. Her office announced earlier this year that violent crime in DC is at a thirty-year low. Apparently that was before they needed different numbers.
Law and Order Theater: Trump toured the city with local police and National Guard troops yesterday. “It’s like a different place, different city,” he said. Washingtonians tell me that the troops are mostly in the parts of DC that tourists and the media frequent and not in the areas with high crime.
Human Impact: Residents agree that DC feels very different now that armed troops patrol the streets, park armored vehicles next to tourist attractions, and set up checkpoints across the capital where people are asked to prove their immigration status. But despite Trump’s insistence that “even Democrats” are pleased with this militarization of the nation’s capital, in reality almost 80% of residents oppose it. Parents across the city, and particularly in areas with more immigrants and people of color, describe the difficulty of soothing their children’s fears; some have banned their kids from taking public buses, organized walking groups for safety in numbers, and even considered switching to virtual learning.
Peace (In Two Weeks): Russia just threw cold water on Trump’s peace plan. Russia’ foreign minister today said Putin is “not ready at all” for a meeting with Zelenskyy, directly contradicting Trump’s claim that the two leaders would soon convene to discuss an end to the war. White House officials warn peace talks have devolved into a “grind,” with Russia refusing to back down from demands Ukraine and much of the West dismiss as non-starters. Meanwhile, Trump yesterday suggested Ukraine “play offensive,” criticizing Biden for supposedly not letting “Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only ‘DEFEND.’” And when asked today what he’d do if Putin continued to refuse to come to the table, Trump became defensive. “I know exactly what I’m doing,” he said. “I’ll see whose fault it is. I’ll know in two weeks what I’m gonna do.” For context, he’s been saying some version of this since late April.
More Talks: Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is open to restarting talks with Hamas with the aim of returning all hostages and ending the war. He won’t address a temporary ceasefire proposal crafted by Egypt and Qatar, to which Hamas reportedly agreed. That deal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 more in return for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners and bodies. Israel has begun its assault on Gaza City, including calling up 60,000 reservists and warning hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians to evacuate. The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared that parts of Gaza, including Gaza City, are experiencing a “man-made” famine. The report warns that without a truce “avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.” In Israel tonight activists blocked traffic on a well used highway to call for an immediate end to the war and return of the hostages. Israel’s far-right government also approved a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem in the West Bank, which the UK’s foreign secretary warned would “critically undermine the two-state solution.”
Cuts Are Coming: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell today suggested the central bank is open to cutting interest rates in September. However, he warned any cuts will be limited and gradual, and that the Fed will “proceed carefully” as the effects of tariffs and other Trump policies continue to materialize. He explained that “downside risks to employment are rising,” and that “if those risks materialize, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment.” The stock market climbed in response to the news.
Buying In: The US government today purchased a 10% stake in the California-based chipmaker Intel.
Get That In Writing: The EU and US released more details of their trade deal yesterday. Tariffs on European cars will remain high until the EU lowers its own levies on certain US goods. Other European goods, like pharmaceuticals, will be capped at the general rate of 15%, which is good news for anyone reliant on foreign-made medicines like Ozempic, Botox, cancer medication Keytruda, and more.
Playing Lawyer: Turns out even Trump’s lawyer can’t just cosplay a federal prosecutor. A federal judge ruled yesterday that former Trump lawyer Alina Habba has been unlawfully acting as US attorney for New Jersey since Trump appointed her almost two months ago. “She is not currently qualified,” the judge noted, and therefore “must be disqualified from participating in any ongoing cases.” And her actions since being appointed on July 1 may be voided. Oops!
Medical Records Raid: The federal government demanded a children’s hospital hand over patient records — including the Social Security numbers and home addresses — for every child who received gender affirming care. Newly revealed court documents show the sweeping request included “every writing or record of whatever type” related to the treatments.
Visa Roulette: The Trump administration announced yesterday it will review over 55 million people with valid visas in a process called “continual vetting.” Approved visitors could see their permissions suddenly revoked. So a valid visa today might not be valid tomorrow. Good luck to the tourism business!
Free At Last: Five months after being wrongfully deported to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is finally free. He was removed to El Salvador in March in the Trump Administration’s first pass at deporting detainees to third countries. Though Abrego Garcia got international media attention, the Trump administration has since quietly deported at least 550 people to countries that aren’t their countries of origin. This week Honduras and Uganda agreed to accept people removed from the US. They join 10 other countries, ranging from Panama to Kosovo, that have struck similar deals with the US.
News That Doesn’t Suck
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