Today in Politics, Bulletin 416. 7/10/26

… Trump has not had any press or public events since returning from the NATO summit which he concluded by announcing that “the Islamic Republic of Japan just fired 10 missiles at us,” and has no events on his schedule this weekend. Maybe he’s visiting Mitch McConnell.

… Trump also made only one Truth Social post on Thursday, which is highly unusual for him. He did make a few today (or Natalie Harp did): “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the US has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”

… Iran, once again, denied they requested talks.

… Axios: “The Trump admin is demanding that Iran issues on Saturday a public statement acknowledging the Strait of Hormuz is open and committing to stop firing on commercial ships, US officials said in a briefing with reporters Friday.”

… Fox host Brian Kilmeade: “I don’t think that Witkoff and Kushner should be the ones doing this. They’re business guys. They have not been effective in Ukraine, not been effective in Gaza. They have not been effective in this. We have a State Dept for a reason.”

… Some of us have been saying that for 18 months.

… Gas market analyst Patrick De Haan: “That escalated quickly - national average now at $3.85 a gallon as recent oil price rise and new Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries has added to the jump. For now, we’re likely to break the 8-week streak of gas prices falling.”

… Wait until someone tells Trump that Ukraine bombing Russian oil refineries affects the price of gas in the US since it is a global commodity. I can definitely see an angry Truth Social post demanding that Zelensky stop bombing Russian refineries.

… Trump told the NY Post that if Iran assassinates him, “I’ve left instructions to just literally bomb them at levels never seen before.”

… Iranians in Mashhad burned a giant LEGO-style Trump effigy during Khamenei’s funeral procession. Things are going well for the FIFA Peace Prize winner.

… Trump also posted that he won’t sign the Housing Bill: “I will not sign the Housing Bill, in PROTEST over the fact that the Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE ACT, which is polling at 97% with the Republican Party, and very high with the non-politician Dumocrats. The Dumocrats will TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, if and when they ever get the chance to do so, in their very first hour - And I will no longer be able to call them Dumocrats again! The title of DUMB will revert to the Republicans who allowed this horrible calamity to happen to our Party, and our Nation, itself!”

… He won’t veto it either though because Congress would override it and Republicans are desperate to have this bill to run on so they can say they at least tried to do something about affordability. So the bill will become law at midnight.

… Politico: “Mike Johnson and House GOP leadership, along with WH officials, all worked over the last 10 days to try to persuade Trump not to veto the bill. Johnson said in an interview shortly before he officially transmitted the bill to the WH that he was still trying to persuade Trump to sign the legislation. House GOP leadership had also conveyed to the WH that they had the votes to override him if he chose to veto it, and that congressional Republicans would do it.”

… RNC Chair Joe Gruters on Fox: “We saw what happens when Democrats can control, like the shutdown. They’re gonna have investigations, they’re gonna obstruct, they’re gonna impeach, it’s gonna be total chaos. Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, America Derangement Syndrome is real. We have to win. We need everybody to give us your time and treasure.”

… Some of them might not have any treasure left after investing in Trump crypto.

… WaPo reported that Graham Platner filed official papers late on Friday and is officially off the ballot for November, according to the Maine Secretary of State’s office.

… Maine Democrats released the rules for Senate candidates trying to qualify for the convention: By next Wed at 5 pm, file a declaration of intent, which includes a headshot and a 300-word max statement about how your campaign will channel Maine’s “grassroots energy.” By Monday July 21, they have to collect and submit at least 500 signatures from Democratic voters.”

… That’s not a small number for Maine.

… There were efforts to draft actor and Maine native Patrick Dempsey as well as journalist Heather Cox Richardson. Dempsey actually said he seriously considered it given the current state of the country but decided not to. Sadly, Heather was a quick no (she would get my vote).

… Brenden Moore with Capital News IL on Maine senate candidate Nirav Shah: “Shah was GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner’s public health director. If he’s nominated and wins, he’d serve alongside Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who called for his resignation in 2018 over the Rauner admin’s response to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the IL Veterans’ Home in Quincy.”

… Duckworth responded: “Maine deserves better than someone who put his public image before the safety of our Veterans. Too many of our heroes lost their lives under Nirav Shah’s watch as IL Public Health Director. I called for his resignation then, and I strongly oppose his run for Senate now.”

… Payday Report: “Rep. Summer Lee barred Daniel Moraff from her 2022 campaign after receiving at least 3 complaints of sexual misconduct against him. Now, Moraff, who recruited Graham Platner to run for Senate, is at the center of a massive controversy after he admitted that he spent only a few days vetting Platner, who just withdrew from the Senate race after he was accused of rape.”

… Given the fact that both Lee and Justice Dems stopped working with Moraff following these accusations, questions have been raised about why so many on the left trusted him to give a thorough vetting and assessment of Platner. A woman who said she was sexually harassed while working on the Lee campaign: “Birds of a feather, flock together and Moraff and Platner were predators.”

… “Platner’s guru and top strategist, Moraff was the grandson of Seymour Ginsburg, the founder of Toys R Us and its first president. Moraff was barred from Lee’s campaign following at least 3 complaints of sexual misconduct leveled against him, leading Lee to ban Moraff not just from his previous leadership positions in her campaign, but from even attending campaign events for Lee.”

… PA Dem consultant Tom Duerr: “Having worked in Pittsburgh politics since 2016, these complaints against Moraff were well known and made him the most hated staffer in the region by the time he left - or rather was chased out. He should have never gotten another campaign job again after this.”

… Puck: “While candidates accused of egregious misconduct are expected to face blowback, strategists rarely become targets. But in the aftermath of Graham Platner’s implosion, a number of veteran Democratic operatives are putting the blame on Morris Katz, the self-styled wunderkind and former Mamdani campaign advisor who helped recruit the Nazi-tattooed alleged rapist.”

… “Katz had argued that the oyster farmer’s outsider appeal and rugged charm could redefine and broaden the party, and various operatives credited him with creative TV spots and media strategies for both Mamdani and Sen. John Fetterman. But they bristled at his claim to have cracked the code for electing a new generation of populist candidates that could succeed in notoriously swing districts or states.”

… One Dem strategist: “Trying to take credit for Mamdani is like Phil Jackson trying to take credit for Michael Jordan. It’s nothing brilliant he’s figured out. We put flipping the Senate in jeopardy because of his ego.”

… NYT: “ICE agents who killed a man during a traffic stop in Houston on Tues had been searching for a different person, according to a DHS spokeswoman. The targets of the ICE investigation were two people from Guatemala, one of whom the agents believed was in a white van being driven by the man, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.”

… “But the Guatemalans were not in the van. Araujo was on his way to work with 3 other men. When agents tried to stop the vehicle, the encounter quickly escalated, and an agent shot Araujo in the abdomen. He died at a hospital hours later. DHS officials said Araujo had tried to use his vehicle as a weapon, though no video or other evidence for that claim has emerged.”

… Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: “The ICE story around the man it shot is unraveling rapidly, with no evidence that he rammed anyone and video showing ICE actually rammed his vehicle. Making matters worse, ICE had no body cameras, despite having gotten $29.9 billion in 2025 that they could have used to buy them.”

… Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens on the Katie Phang show: “There were 3 others with him in that vehicle. Those individuals are now being pressured to sign self-deportation orders. They’re trying to get rid of them as witnesses as well.”

… Homeland Security Committee Dems: “DHS is trying to deport the witnesses to Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s killing. It’s the same playbook every time: rush out a lie, then watch it unravel as facts emerge. They did it after the shootings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Julio Sosa-Celis. They have no credibility.”

… Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT): “ICE killed a man without wearing body cameras all because someone in his van ‘resembled the target’ though it wasn’t them. Now we’ve learned that the agents lied about what happened, mocked the man they shot as he was dying, and stripped his ID from him when they brought him to the hospital.”

… “This comes just weeks after Republicans gave $70 billion to immigration enforcement without any accountability measures and it’s disgusting. Agents acting on behalf of OUR govt must be accountable to the public they’re meant to protect and serve. We must dismantle ICE.”

… Reuters: “Trump terminated the last 3 members of the Election Assistance Commission, the ‌independent commission that assists election admin officials nationwide. The remaining 3 commissioners of the 4-member bipartisan commission were forced out of the commission in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other two Democratic appointees were fired. The fourth commissioner departed the commission ​in April.”

… “The terminations follow the recent Supreme Court decision that granted the president more power to fire members of ⁠independent agencies, and a push by Trump for more federal intervention in voting processes, traditionally the purview of the states, as midterm elections approach ​in Nov.”

… “The election commission was established by Congress in 2002 through the Help America Vote Act. The 4 commissioners are appointed by the president, are required ​to be evenly split with two Democrats and two Republicans. The 3 ⁠remaining commissioners who were forced out, Thomas Hicks, Benjamin Hovland and Christy McCormick, were all unanimously confirmed by the Senate.”

… Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): “This should concern every American, regardless of party, because the EAC was established by Congress as an independent, bipartisan body to help states administer secure and credible elections. Removing every remaining commissioner just months before the midterms is an extraordinary step that demands an immediate explanation from the admin and raises profound concerns about political interference in the institutions that support our elections.”

It is going to be 82 degrees and sunny here in Maine tomorrow and I am looking forward to my day off where we will be kayaking on a river that connects two lakes while I try to stay off the internet for the day. Big sigh of relief that Platner filed the paperwork today so we can move on and don’t have to worry about that.

I will be back with the Weekend Bulletin on Sunday night. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… NYT: “NM’s AG accused DOJ of obstructing the state’s criminal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s activities on a sprawling high-desert estate south of Santa Fe by withholding unredacted records. Raúl Torrez first requested original documents related to the convicted sex offender’s Zorro Ranch property in Feb. He said he reiterated the request 5 times in the following months, through a range of channels, but DOJ officials so far had not responded.”

… The records, he said, contain names of survivors, witnesses, co-conspirators and other individuals who may aid the long-delayed state investigation into the deceased financier’s crimes in NM. His letter to Todd Blanche: “DOJ’s continued withholding of