Today in Politics, Bulletin 439. 8/13/26

… Text messages shared with MeidasTouch by a family member of a service member currently deployed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln paint a bleak picture of daily life on board, more than 8 months into a deployment that was supposed to end in May and instead has no announced return date.

… “Why isn’t there milk?!” the family member asked in one exchange. The sailor explained that the ship’s supply runs simply can’t keep perishables fresh long enough to make the trip out to the carrier. “So the supply ship that comes here can’t bring fruits and stuff cause it can’t stay fresh long enough with the time it gets them to get here. So we haven’t had anything fresh but meat cause it’s freezed. Sometimes it gets here rotten.”

… In a separate message, the sailor sent a photo of a plastic container of what looks like cereal, writing: “Hey honey I’m eating cereal rn. Wish there was milk tho. Haven’t had milk in 3 months.”

… The sailor also described a deployment that veteran crew members are calling unlike anything they’ve experienced. “This deployment is the worst one and I pray no other boat goes through the same. Even people that have been deployed a hundred times claim this one to be the worst and believe it can get worse than this. The Navy does not care.”

… These texts add a firsthand voice to reporting from Military Times, Stars and Stripes, and MS NOW over the past week, which detailed multiple attempted overboard incidents on the Lincoln, food and supply shortages, weeks without laundry or hot water, and a ship that has now set a Navy record for continuous days at sea.

… Meidas reporter Aaron Parnas reached out to sailors on the Abraham Lincoln and their family members to hear their stories. He posted several text messages on social media that he received:

… Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ): “The reports from the USS Abraham Lincoln about multiple sailors attempting to jump into the sea are disturbing. Long deployments are hard. They are a lot harder when the mission isn’t well defined and there is no end in sight.”

… Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “The Dept of the Navy must allow a bipartisan Congressional Delegation to visit the USS Lincoln to conduct oversight investigation into this horrible situation. CODELs have visited war zones to inspect the conditions of our troops. There is no reason to be denied access.”

… Politico: “The Pentagon is shutting congressional Democrats out of classified briefings — and even Republicans are shocked by the brazen partisanship. Pete Hegseth trekked to Capitol Hill at least twice in recent weeks to make closed-door pitches for his record $1.5 trillion defense budget. But lawmakers in both parties say he followed an increasingly familiar pattern of excluding Democrats.”

… “The freezeout underscores the Trump admin’s hyperpartisan approach to Congress — particularly the Pentagon’s penchant for secrecy under Hegseth. Whether keeping lawmakers in the dark about the rationale behind prolonged boat strikes in the Caribbean or a decoy Air Force One flight, the admin risks jeopardizing its main priorities by cutting out key players.”

… Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): “He calls himself the secretary of war, but ironically, he doesn’t want to go to war and win the argument with nearly half the members of the Senate. You got to engage.”

… “Blowing off Democratic lawmakers could doom Hegseth’s push to enact Trump’s unprecedented Pentagon budget increase, which worries Republicans who are largely supportive of it. Without Democratic support in the Senate, the effort could fail this fall.”

… On Republican senator on the Armed Services Committee: “They’re preaching to the choir when they have Republicans on the Armed Services Committee and they’re making a case for the budget. It’s a briefing that should be provided to 100 senators.”

… The Hill: “The Treasury Dept officially repealed a requirement for US companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership info to its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In addition to repealing the reporting requirement, the rule exempts Americans who have obtained FinCEN IDs from having to update or correct the info they provided to receive them. It also eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to report Americans who helped them register to do business in the US.”

… “The Treasury Dept during the Biden admin implemented the initial reporting requirement pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act, which Congress passed as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021. The requirement went into effect at the start of 2024.”

… It just so happens that Marco Rubio wrote the legislation for the Act that Scott Bessent is now attempting to ignore. This is what Rubio posted about it at the time when he was a senator:

• On Dec. 9, 2020: “My ‘Corporate Transparency Act’, the most significant anti-corruption and money laundering law in decades and which forces anonymous shell companies to disclose their true owners is going to pass as part of the end of year defense bill.”

• On Dec. 11, 2020: “My Corporate Transparency Act goes after anonymous shell corporations, often used for money laundering, sex trafficking and terrorism.”

… I wouldn’t count on Rubio saying anything now about the Trump admin had decided it is simply going to ignore the law he wrote to fight money laundering and sex trafficking.

… Telegraph: “ICE agents will be given gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks. Officers and agents could be fitted with the ‘conductive distraction and de-escalation devices’ by March, according to a notice published by DHS. The devices, called Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter (G.L.O.V.E.), have been used in recent years by some jails and police depts in the US.”

… “ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of them. They function as a normal pair of gloves, with the electric shock occurring when officers press a switch to activate an electrical mode. The gloves must be placed on skin to deliver the pain stimulus, which helps an officer gain compliance within seconds, according to the company.”

… Tom Homan on Fox: Q - “DHS plans to spend $20 million on electric shock gloves to aid federal agents. How would that work? Homan: It’s another device to help someone be compliant when they’re not. You can’t have the first thing you go for be lethal force.”

… Chandra Law Firm: “Today, Emily Moreno on behalf of her two-year-old daughter, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the US District Court for the N. District of OH against Rep. Max Miller, his attorney Aaron Minc, and the law firm Minc LLC, alleging that they recklessly published and distributed on the internet an unredacted nude photograph of Miller and Moreno’s daughter displaying her uncovered genitalia.”

… “The lawsuit asserts federal claims under 15 U.S.C. § 6851 (civil action relating to disclosure of intimate images), state-law claims for civil liability for criminal acts under R.C. 2307.60, wrongful-intrusion invasion of privacy, negligence, and civil conspiracy.
The statute makes it illegal for anyone to disclose intimate visual depictions without consent.”

… Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) on CNN:

• Q - “You received $10,000 from Max Miller’s PAC this election cycle. You have no plans to return the money. Miller has been accused of abusing his ex-wife and his daughter. Why have you decided not to return the $10,000? Lawler: I know Max very well. The fact that some in the media and my democratic colleagues have tried to turn it into a spectacle is wrong.”

• Q - “It sounds like you’re saying you’re not going to return Max Miller’s donations because you believe him. Lawler: Look, this is a private family matter. Max has also made allegations against his ex-wife. Nothing has been corroborated here. Do you have information that proves the allegations?”

• Q - “Why not just give the money back? Lawler: You just acknowledged you don’t have evidence to verify the allegation against Max Miller. Q - I’m not making the allegation. His ex-wife and his ex-father-in-law Bernie Moreno are. Why not just give back the money? Lawler: Thus far there’s been nothing to verify any of the claims that have been leveled.”

… Democrats’ House Majority PAC: “Mike Lawler will eagerly accept campaign contributions from his friends accused of abusing women and children.”

… Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) was also asked about contributions he received from Miller: Q - There are folks in your district calling for you to return campaign contributions from Miller. Barrett: Obviously the challenges that Max Miller is going through is obviously sad to witness. I’m somebody that believes in due process. That is a fundamental right we have to believe in as Americans.”

… Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on CNBC: Q - “Do you regret voting for RFK Jr? Cassidy: If you want to tell me that somebody didn’t tell me the truth, and I should’ve seen in the future they were not gonna tell the truth, you can say, ‘Bill you should’ve seen into the future’.”

… Yeah, because it was impossible to tell based on a decade of documented RFK Jr conspiracies and insane statements that this was going to happen. Cassidy knew what RFK Jr was all about, but at the time of the confirmation vote Cassidy was still hoping to get Trump's endorsement for his reelection race. So he voted for RFK Jr for his own selfish reasons. Then Trump endorsed his opponent anyway and Cassidy lost.

… NY Post: “WH press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement that she’s leaving her role stunned many insiders — who immediately began buzzing about who might replace her behind the briefing room lectern. Sources within and close to the admin told The Post that early front-runners for the role are believed to include Alina Habba and Breitbart DC Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.”

… “Other contenders could include former WH deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich, who departed that role last Sept to return to the private sector, and current WH communications director Steven Cheung. Also subject to heavy speculation are Katie Miller, a former aide to Elon Musk at DOGE and the wife of deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller.”

… “Other names bandied about include Scott Jennings and Kari Lake.”

… Daily Beast: “Trump repeatedly called his 28-year-old press secretary asking when she would be back during her brief maternity leave from the WH. Karoline Leavitt announced on Wed that she is quitting a post that no one younger than herself has ever held because doing it has meant she could not be ‘the best mom my two young children deserve.’”

… Insiders told the Daily Mail that the press secretary’s exit had been building for months. One source close to Leavitt told the newspaper that “she had been strongly weighing whether to quit during maternity leave, as the president would contact her often and repeatedly ask when she was coming back.”

… Another source: “It was a very stressful job to do with her children. She never got any sleep, and she didn’t want her performance to slip either.”

… The Mirror: “With Karoline Leavitt’s resignation, the saga of every single Cabinet departure under Trump’s admin being women continues. To date, all 5 officials who have left Trump’s second admin — whether through firing or resignation — have been women. The president has appointed men to succeed all 4 women.”

… Tom Nichols in The Atlantic on Trump hiding in the catering cart: “Imagine if something had actually happened to the decoy. Trump would later end up either having to lie or having to explain that he’d known that such a disaster was possible, and that he’d sent Air Force personnel and several American civilians—possibly including two Cabinet secretaries—to their death to cover his own escape.”

… “The larger issue is that Trump likely wanted this story buried because it makes him look cowardly and puts the lie to all his happy talk about the war. Trump has crowed—as he did at the time in Turkey—that the Iranians are beaten and pleading for a deal. In truth, the Iranians might have been planning to blow the president of the US and some of his top officials to smithereens.”

On Uncovered yesterday we did a deep dive into the election results in WI and MN, DSA, Trump’s crazy vaccine order, the catering cart controversy, Trump invoking emergency powers for midterms tampering, Fox coverage this week, the Trump Media insider trading scam, and lots more. Link to the show is here.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… John Hudson, national security reporter for WaPo: “CIA had ‘low confidence’ in Iranian threat to Trump in Turkey, but Secret Service took no chances. The assassination threat was relayed by the Israeli government to the CIA, where analysts viewed the intelligence skeptically. Despite US doubts about the intelligence, the elaborate plan enacted by the Secret Service was done out of an abundance of caution.”

… “Some US intel officials saw Israel’s sharing of the warning about threats to Trump’s life as designed less to inform than to influence the president’s decision-making and US policy in the region. To be threatened inside Turkey’s borders could weaken Trump’s trust in the Erdogan govt, which Israel views as a medium- to long-term