Today in Politics, Bulletin 420. 7/16/26

… Navy Blue Angels pilots performed another reckless and dangerous flyover at extremely low altitude over a crowed beach in Pensacola, FL. Previous flyovers from military pilots over the past several months resulted in disciplinary investigations that were quickly killed by Pete Hegseth with the sign off, “Carry on, patriots!” This one was no exception.

… Rob Elgas with ABC7 Chicago: “Years ago, I flew with the Blue Angels when they were in Chicago and they were so cautious and meticulous! It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. We never came down this close to the Lake Michigan shore like this! This video is jarring and dangerous, it doesn’t make sense. Uncharacteristic of the Blue Angels. Wild!!!”

… Hegseth posted: “The flyovers will continue until morale improves.”

… Eric Trump: “Can’t stand the manufactured outrage by the low-T mainstream media. This was undoubtedly the highlight of these people’s day.”

… Dave Greenidge: “The decibel level of F-18 hornet at 50 feet doing a low pass is around 130 dB. The threshold of pain for human hearing is 110 dB. There were children clutching their heads and crying after this.”

… NYT: “Pete Hegseth announced a new mandatory screening program to test all service members age 30 and older, including women, for testosterone deficiency annually. Hormone treatment for troops with low testosterone will be voluntary. Troops under 30 can volunteer to be screened, and anyone with low hormone levels will have the option to receive testosterone replacement therapy.”

… Hegseth: “Our most decisive tactical advantage will always be the individual warfighter. We have a sacred duty to maintain that advantage. This will be a High-T Department of War. It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capability.”

… “Hegseth’s focus on testosterone levels at a moment when US forces are ramping up attacks in Iran is unorthodox. Defense secretaries typically focus on larger strategic questions, involving alliances, war and weapons production.”

… Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) on MS NOW: Q - “Your thoughts on this program to screen for testosterone deficiency and your thoughts on Pete Hegseth priorities?
Duckworth: Well, it sounds like gender affirming care to me. So I'm glad he has come around to supporting gender affirming care.”

… Duckworth: “Frankly, this is just more performative bullshit from the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation's history. He's failing at the war in Iran. He has no strategy. He has no plan. He needs to be focused on that and less on testosterone.”

… TX Democratic senate nominee James Talarico on MS NOW: “When I first heard this low-T thing, I had to look it up. Guys my age aren’t really worried about that kind of thing.”

… Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT): “I think it is indicative of the fact that there are so many people in this admin that have some weird, intense, homoerotic, feelings towards men while also being incredibly homophobic, and not just homophobic, but like hate-mongering, fear-mongering about the LGBTQ community.”

… “So, let me be clear. I don’t think the homoeroticism is the weird part. The weird part is that they pretend that that’s not what it’s about. Pete Hegseth is the example of this, like the manly, man, rugged, macho man. I don’t know if you know who Tom of Finland is - he is a gay male porn that was drawn by a man. And Pete Hegseth is the embodiment of that.”

… “So I feel like they must be looking at that as their example for what men look like. And in terms of not promoting women, we know what this is all about. The military has always been merit-based. The people who are the best of the best rise to the top. So the fact that he has systematically been keeping down women and people of color gives up the whole game. It’s actually not about a merit-based system anymore.”

… Joe Rogan pressed JD Vance about a military commander who told troops that bombing Iran is part of God’s divine plan to bring back Jesus Christ:

• Rogan: “This guy said the only way Jesus can return is by bombing Iran. Vance: I did not hear about this. Rogan: He told the troops that they don’t need to be afraid of the war because Trump was anointed by Jesus. Vance: Let me just say… Rogan: Hold on let me read the quote from one of the non-commissioned officers who was there”:

• “The commander urged us to tell the troops that this was all part of God’s divine plan and cited numerous citations out of Revelations referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said Trump was anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon to mark his return to earth.”

• Rogan: “This is the type of right wing thinking that I don’t like. The commander had a big grin on his face when he said all this. Vance: “I don’t endorse that, but we do need to have humility in God’s plan. I would’ve told those Christians troops to trust in God. Rogan: You don’t know if these troops are Christian. You’re telling them Jesus wants us to bomb Iran. I would’ve left the military.”

• Vance: “I’ve never heard of this particular story, but I know the press likes to spin stories a certain way so who really knows. Do I endorse that? No. Rogan: How do you not know about this story when you’re the Vice President of the United States?”

… Pete Hegseth endorses it. Hegseth encourages it. It’s the same kind of stuff Hegseth says to the troops all the time. So despite Vance's claims that he doesn't support this insane stuff being told to our troops, he actually does because he just laughs it off as he did on this podcast.

… MS NOW: “On Thursday last week, Secret Service agents groused among themselves as they prepared to deliver another perk to JD Vance’s family: join a military helicopter crew to fly his young son to his golf lesson. The planned trip on Marine Two was canceled at the last minute due to severe thunderstorms and high winds in the DC area that day.”

… “Vance planned to travel with his son on the flight to Joint Base Andrews - which includes a secure, world-class golf center. But the Secret Service staff’s complaints about a planned chopper ride for an elementary school student reflects a building morale problem inside the team of agents assigned to shield Vance and his young family.”

… “Agents have shared concerns internally about Vance and his office pressing them for trips and assignments that some agents consider an inappropriate or even unprecedented use of govt resources compared to prior vice presidents. The agents pulled in to protect Vance and his family have also become ‘fed up’ with the last-minute travel demands that Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, frequently place on the security team.”

… “There’s no formal Secret Service policy prohibiting the use of a govt helicopter for transporting a VP’s child to a local event, but former and current Secret Service supervisors agreed the request for a chopper for this purpose has no precedent. They said that prior VPs eschewed using such expensive govt perks for the convenience of their children’s schedule, and agents typically drove children locally in sports utility vehicles.”

… CNN: “Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and FBI Director Kash Patel helped personally orchestrate a sprawling investigation last week at the WH aimed at determining who in the govt leaked info about the security deficiencies of a Qatari-gifted airplane meant to be used as Air Force One – with some officials being asked to turn over their phones to investigators on WH grounds.”

… “Trump had fumed over disclosures about the new plane, and his admin quickly stood up an intense leak probe that roiled the govt. As the investigation unfolded, at least one federal agency emailed employees warning that if they were contacted by outside agencies requesting info and devices, they needed to immediately contact their own agency’s attorneys.”

… “Sources said Patel - who had been preparing to travel to Chicago - was diverted to the WH on Friday to take a hands-on role in running the probe, which became public early the next morning when the NYT reported that DOJ had issued subpoenas to 4 of its journalists who reported on security concerns surrounding the new plane. Patel posted up in an office next to Wiles’ for roughly 7 hours, as the two established what one source referred to as a ‘war room’ in the West Wing.”

… “In addition to asking for cell phones, investigators sought info from those who were traveling with Trump or had a role in the trip, including officials across various agencies. Not all officials who were asked to turn over their devices did so. The effort reflects the extent to which the WH was willing to exert control over a law enforcement investigation - a significant breach of DOJ’s historic independence, though one that has become somewhat common in Trump’s admin.”

… WSJ: “The NNY filed a motion to quash the Trump admin’s subpoenas of several reporters, saying the requests were part of an effort to punish the Times for its coverage and violated journalists’ constitutional rights. FBI agents served subpoenas to Times journalists Julian Barnes, Eric Lipton and Eric Schmitt, demanding they appear before a grand jury and disclose confidential sources.”

… The Atlantic: “The president overruled his own admin after getting furious pushback from his MAGA base over the ICE order suspending most vehicle stops. WH officials told us that Trump had heard a litany of complaints from hard-line allies over the past day. The final straw was the cable-news segments that Trump watched.”

… “The negative coverage from right-wing media was accompanied by a torrent of public and private criticism from figures including the MAGA influencer Tomi Lahren, former Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino, and podcaster Steve Bannon. Trump, one official told us, ultimately concluded that ICE abandoning traffic stops now would ‘make them all look weak.’”

… Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) on Newsmax: “I have people talking about killing Trump in upstate NY. This is the No Kings, resist movement that are extremely aggressive. A lot of them look like 70-year-old hippies from the Vietnam era. They have normalized this kind of rhetoric.”

… Politico: “Trump is promising to reveal ‘really big news’ on election security. Many Republicans wish he wouldn’t. The president’s speech comes amid renewed hostilities with Iran, which are once again driving up fuel prices ahead of an election that most strategists still expect to turn on cost-of-living issues.”

… “But instead of touting the recent good news on declining inflation or hyping the new housing law, Trump plans to talk about 2020 and ‘free and fair elections,’ alarming some in the GOP who worry he will continue to make baseless claims or repeat debunked conspiracies.”

… A former Trump admin official: “The people I talk to are scared shitless. It’s not scared shitless about the text of what he’s going to say, it’s, what does he add to the text?”

… CBS: “Part of Trump’s speech Thursday night will touch on previously unreported Chinese meddling in US elections. Cabinet officials are expected to be in the audience during his remarks. Among those invited are the heads of CIA, FBI, ODNI and DHS, as well as other agencies and staff.”

… Rachel Cohen, Comms Director for Sen. Mark Warner: “This is, in fact, not new info. It has long been known China gained access to some voter info in several states. This is the same voter files that are available to the public. If you have $485, you can buy it directly from the state of Georgia.”

… Warner to Meidas: “He knows that if there are free and fair elections this fall, the American people are going to reject Trump. And since he can’t win on substance, he’s trying to cook the books.”

… MS NOW: “They won’t say who attended. They won’t say where it happened. They won’t even say - on the record - what day it took place. What House Democrats are willing to acknowledge is that more than two dozen lawmakers gathered this week for a closed-door strategy session to game out how they would respond if Trump or his admin sought to interfere with this year’s midterm elections.”

… Rep. Joseph Morellle (D-NY), who organized the meeting: “The president will do anything that he can to subvert the election, he’s made that clear. It’s not as though we’re going to be caught unaware.”

… “Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, has emerged as the point-man for House Dems as they look to counter the president’s potential efforts to meddle in the elections. He said his team is gaming out ‘north of 100’ potential scenarios in which Trump or his allies may try to intervene.”

… “House Democrats said they fear the president’s SAVE Act push is merely a pretense, and that, if the legislation stalls, Trump will instead declare a state of emergency and implement some electoral rule changes administratively.

… Morelle said Democrats’ overall strategy boils down to educating voters and local officials about the law and their rights, while also being prepared legally. He said they have attorneys lined up around the country ready to file lawsuits for virtually any scenario: “It’s organizing, it’s litigating, it’s agitating, it’s communicating, and it’s educating,. We’re doing all of those things simultaneously.”

… FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested on NewsNation that TV stations who don’t air Trump’s speech could lose their broadcast licenses: “Any time the president stands up there in primetime to deliver info or news or content, broadcasters should make sure the American public can see it. Q - Do you think the networks have a responsibility in terms of their TV licenses to air it? Carr: Broadcasters have an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

… ABC: “When Trump approached the podium to deliver his State of the Union address in Feb, one of the few people who knew what he was about to say was allegedly setting himself up to profit from the president’s words. Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator is believed to have made tens of thousands of dollars by placing bets on that speech and more than a dozen others on the prediction market Kalshi, federal investigators with the CFTC found.”

… “Gabriel Perez, a technical assistant to the president who has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, is in talks with federal regulators to settle allegations he used his inside knowledge of the president’s speeches to win more than $100,000.”

… “In addition to the SOTU, CFTC investigators discovered that Perez placed bets on more than a dozen Trump speeches over a 3-month period, including a December primetime address, a January speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Trump’s remarks in March during a Medal of Honor ceremony.”

… “Perez continues to serve as one of Trump’s teleprompter operators - a role he has served since Trump’s first presidential campaign. Of all Trump’s closest aides, sources say Perez typically has the final eyes on nearly all of the president’s prepared remarks - and is often known to take last-minute edits from Trump himself.”

We have the Maine senate debate tonight at 7 ET and Trump’s insane speech at 9 ET. I will be watching both and will have a full recap in tomorrow’s Bulletin. I am especially interested in the Maine debate since I hope to be elected on Sat as one of the 601 delegates who will have the privilege of voting in that election next week and I want to make a smart choice.

On yesterday’s Uncovered we talked about Hegseth’s testosterone announcement, the confirmation hearings of Todd Blanche and Jay Clayton, ICE shootings, the Iran war back on, my prediction on Trump’s address to nation tomorrow, more Reflecting Pool lies, the various theories about Mitch and Lindsey, and a lot more. Link to the show is here.

… AP: “Elon Musk likely broke WI law when he promised to hand out $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election, a bipartisan panel has found. The WI Elections Commission last week referred two complaints to the Brown County DA’s office, which can choose to bring criminal charges over violating the state law against election bribery. Prosecutors have 40 days to report back to the commission.”

… “Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground WI. The tech titan and groups he supported spent at least $20 million on the candidate backed by