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Trump moves to end protections for 44 million acres of U.S. forests
The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects the nation's forests from logging and other industry activitiesReply source -
Everything You Need To Know About The Clinton-Era Road Rule Trump's USDA Wants To Demolish
The Trump administration paved the way for new roads Tuesday, moving to demolish a "roadless rule" with its origins in the waning days of the Clinton era.Reply source -
Trump talks about grass as he shows off White House renovations – video
Reply sourceThe US president waxed lyrical about grass being added around the new White House helipad in front of the media. 'You know, grass has a life like humans have a life,' Trump said
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Trump shows off White House renovations and ornate new helipad
Reply sourceFormer real estate developer leads press corps on tour of grounds and says ‘one thing I know how to do is build’
As the US national debt climbed past $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, and the war with Iran he started nearly six months ago dragged on, forcing Americans already struggling to pay the bills to spend more on fuel, Donald Trump led the press corps on a tour of the extensive remodeling of the White House grounds he is personally overseeing in his role as the self-styled “builder-in-chief”.
The tour, during which Trump showed off upgrades such as a new granite driveway and refurbished columns, and expounded at length on newly laid grass, culminated in Trump autographing the back of a stone, inscribed with his name, to go in the center of the ornate new helipad he insists he needs.
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Inside Trump’s Failed Hunt For Noncitizen Voters
Reply sourceThis story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license.
It was late March when Joe Teirab, the second-in-command at Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office, received an urgent email from Washington.
The federal government was scrambling to find criminal cases to back up President Donald Trump’s claims that illegal voting by noncitizens was tipping the scales in American elections. Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a massive federal law enforcement agency, had been dispatched to work leads across the country, including hundreds in Minnesota.
Teirab was already under pressure. In an earlier missive, Nick Davis, a high-ranking Justice Department appointee helping to lead the election fraud crusade, had reminded him the cases were so high priority that Teirab and his staff couldn’t decline to move forward on them without express approval from agency higher-ups. On March 24, Davis demanded a status report — within hours.
Teirab, a former Marine and a Harvard Law graduate who’d run unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican, responded with a blunt reality check.
“Bottom line up front,” he replied in an email reviewed by ProPublica. After subpoenaing records on about 130 people, only one had been referred for prosecution, his staff had told him. Agents had deluged local election offices with calls and demands for voting histories, demonstrating “a complete lack of understanding” of illegal voting investigations.
“The HSI task force has been disjointed and disorganized,” Teirab wrote. The entire process, he said, had been “dysfunctional.”
Since Trump regained the White House, his administration has launched a series of unprecedented initiatives to find and prosecute voting by noncitizens, which he’s long claimed, without evidence, is rampant.
He’s stepped up this push in recent weeks, saying in a nationally televised speech that the American election system was “so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it.” To support that assertion, the Department of Homeland Security, HSI’s parent agency, released documents asserting it had found more than 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in just four states, all led by Democrats. The documents included no explanation of how that number was calculated.
It’s well known the administration has tasked HSI — a force established to combat drug cartels, terrorism and other cross-border criminal enterprises — with leading the campaign to find election fraud cases in the United States.
But an investigation by ProPublica reveals for the first time how the Trump administration came to harness HSI’s personnel, technology and sweeping legal authority in service of its election agenda — and how meager the results have been, despite the prodigious resources sunk into the effort.
According to interviews and internal emails reviewed by ProPublica, career staffers at the Justice Department warned that transferring voter rolls to HSI to enable it to search for noncitizen voters could violate federal privacy laws. Similarly, longtime HSI insiders cautioned that using the agency’s databases and tools to search these lists would yield mismatches and wildly inflated results.
The administration plowed forward anyway.
HSI’s involvement in the hunt for election fraud traces at least to summer 2025, when agency supervisors embraced a proposal from a midlevel agent who’d publicly echoed Trump’s claims about elections. He argued the agency’s powerful databases and tools could find noncitizens even on the voter lists that states make publicly available, from which the most confidential information has been redacted. Under Trump, the Justice Department had collected many public voter rolls as part of a controversial effort to compel states to turn over the unredacted versions.
Those searches went forward, ProPublica’s reporting shows, helping to generate tens of thousands of leads regarding illegal voting across the country. But when HSI agents were sent to investigate them, the results were similar to what Teirab reported from Minnesota.
Between January 2025 and May 2026, a ProPublica analysis of Justice Department data shows, fewer than 150 alleged noncitizen voters were referred for prosecution. Even fewer — 41 — were charged with voting illegally or other election-related crimes. (More than 150 million people voted in the most recent presidential election.)
In response to questions from ProPublica, administration officials insisted the effort spearheaded by HSI was producing meaningful results.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in response to ProPublica’s request for comment. “Noncitizens voting is a crime. Anyone breaking the law will be held accountable.”
A DHS spokesperson didn’t answer questions about why so few prosecutions have resulted from HSI’s work. The agency wouldn’t specify what tools or techniques HSI had used, but confirmed it had cross-referenced “publicly available data” from state voter rolls with information on “known illegal aliens” in its systems. “It’s not rocket science,” the spokesperson wrote of this initiative in a response to ProPublica’s questions. “It’s an easy step to secure our elections.”
Teirab and the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota declined to comment.
There’s an array of reasons why Trump’s campaign to document claims of widespread voter fraud hasn’t succeeded. Most obviously, it’s exceedingly rare, as countless studies and state audits have found. Noncitizens often get on voter rolls by accident or when government officials make errors. Last month, New Jersey disclosed that a mistake involving its Motor Vehicle Commission caused 6,600 noncitizens to be registered (fewer than 400 voted).
The administration’s critics say its hunt for noncitizen voters aligns with Trump’s attempts to seek more federal control over elections while stoking doubt and fear about the voting process. Since taking back the Oval Office, Trump has tried to impose new restrictions on voter registration, mail-in ballots and voting machines, though judges have shut down most of these efforts.
Former officials at DHS and the Justice Department called the move to involve HSI a further escalation and questioned the propriety of aiming the agency’s muscle and technology at individual cases of illegal voting.
“It’s one thing if you’re going after Pablo Escobar,” said Steve Bunnell, a former DHS general counsel and senior intelligence adviser who handled voting fraud prosecutions during more than a decade at the Justice Department. “It’s another thing if you’re going after some cleaning lady who’s been working in the United States for 20 years and taking care of her 80-year-old mother and taking her little kids to church.”
“The Swiss Army Knife of Federal Law Enforcement”
Trump’s enlistment of HSI in his election fight is no accident. Cobbled together in the aftermath of 9/11, the agency has 7,100 armed, highly trained agents and another 800 criminal analysts, as well as access to troves of confidential data about hundreds of millions of Americans.
Though part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency has historically stayed out of immigration cases. During the first Trump administration, leaders of 19 HSI regional offices — virtually its entire top field hierarchy — signed a letter calling for HSI to become a standalone agency, arguing that ICE’s deportation work dissuaded people from cooperating with its investigations. But when Trump returned to the White House, it swiftly became clear that the agency would play a central role in investigations related to the president’s twin obsessions, illegal immigration and noncitizen voting.
Trump picked his field general for repurposing HSI even before taking the oath of office. In December 2024, he named Anthony Salisbury, a 50-year-old career agent who’d run the agency’s Miami office, as a deputy homeland security adviser, reporting to White House policy chief Stephen Miller. He was also given a dual appointment as head of HSI.
Salisbury was colorful: A mixed martial arts enthusiast, he once appeared at the agency’s headquarters with his face bruised and eye blackened from a recent bout. He’d sometimes entertain colleagues by pulling out a bridge that covers his missing front teeth.
To agency veterans, however, he was forever linked to a 2011 operation he’d overseen in Mexico in which one agent was killed and another wounded in a highway ambush by a drug cartel. An agency review submitted to Trump in April 2020 concluded that errors by HSI supervisors, including Salisbury, contributed to the outcome; it urged the administration to consider disciplinary action. None was taken against Salisbury, however.
Salisbury did not respond to requests for comment from ProPublica. A White House official called him “a critical member of the Trump administration” who was “cleared” in every review of the Mexico incident and was subsequently “promoted six times under multiple administrations.”
Once elevated to his new posts, Salisbury took charge of carrying out the second Trump administration’s agenda for HSI, personally issuing staffing directives, reassignments and promotions, current and former agency officials told ProPublica. (A number of them spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution.)
Starting in early 2025, Salisbury oversaw the unprecedented reassignment of more than 6,000 agents to immigration enforcement, diverting most of the agency from its normal duties. He then also pointed HSI at noncitizen voting, presiding over multiple meetings with officials at DOJ and Homeland Security focused on election fraud, according to emails reviewed by ProPublica and agency supervisors who worked with him.
“Stephen Miller has an HSI deputy for a reason,” said Eric Balliet, a high-level HSI manager who retired in 2024 after 23 years with the agency. (Like many HSI veterans, Balliet has remained in close contact with former colleagues.) “Salisbury is going to salute and execute, and he is going to make sure that from the HSI side, they fall in line, and there’s going to be no resistance or pushback. HSI has been turned into the Swiss Army knife of federal law enforcement.”
In early July 2025, Frank Quiñones, an HSI special agent who’d worked under Salisbury in Florida, approached leaders at the HSI Innovation Lab with an idea for using the agency’s technology to find noncitizen voters on state voter rolls, sources at the agency told ProPublica. Quiñones had been transferred to Washington to oversee a unit that had previously handled cases involving the theft of government benefits but that had been enlisted into voting investigations.
The lab, housed in an unmarked office in a D.C. suburb, had access to the government’s most sensitive databases, from suspicious activity reports to arrest records. Staffed by a combination of HSI experts and outside consultants, it developed software tools to comb the data for information that could help agents pursue criminal suspects.
Quiñones was a true believer in Trump’s claims about election fraud: In multiple Facebook posts and reposts, ProPublica found, he promoted claims that the 2020 presidential vote had been stolen. At a meeting with the Innovation Lab’s overseers, according to sources who worked in the lab, he pitched using the lab’s technology to identify illegal voters — even though the agency lacked voter rolls that included identifiers such as partial Social Security numbers. (Quiñones did not respond to ProPublica requests for comment.)
For proof of concept, Quiñones proposed using a February 2021 public voter list he’d obtained for New Jersey and running it through HSI’s databases. The lab staff viewed his idea as “a little insane,” one recalled — both unreliable and improper. Since the public rolls don’t include voters’ unique identifiers, people at the lab also knew linking them to HSI’s data would produce mismatches — what the staffer called an “ungodly” number of false positives. The lab team also worried about violating longstanding safeguards limiting use of private citizen data. They “didn’t want to touch this,” the staffer added. Quiñones defended his idea, repeatedly declaring: “The president wants this!”
Tom Hodge, an HSI data analyst at the meeting, proposed running the voter information through the Athena Toolbox, an analytical platform developed by the Sandia National Laboratories that had access to all of HSI’s databases. (Hodge did not respond to ProPublica requests for comment. Sandia referred ProPublica’s questions to the facilities’ parent agencies, including the Department of Energy, which did not respond to our requests.)
Hodge and the Sandia team spent the next six weeks on the project, reporting they’d found large numbers of noncitizens on Quiñones’ 2021 New Jersey list. According to one former HSI official, they said they’d found “5,000 high-confidence illegal voters” in just a single New Jersey county. (Officials at the New Jersey secretary of state’s office, which oversees the state’s voter rolls, declined to comment on the claim. Beth Thompson, head of a group for local New Jersey election officials, called the number impossibly high, even accounting for the mistake disclosed by the state.)
The apparent breakthrough couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Trump administration’s other efforts to identify noncitizens on state voter rolls were running into a variety of roadblocks.
The administration had hoped to persuade states to check their voters’ citizenship status using a system called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, but many didn’t. Most states also refused the Justice Department’s demands to turn over their unredacted voter rolls, including partial Social Security numbers, which thwarted the agency’s plan to run them through SAVE. Courts have stymied the DOJ’s attempts to sue for the records, citing the Constitution, which gives primary control over elections to the states.
In an Aug. 21 email to a half dozen administration officials, Quiñones touted the solution he’d brought to the HSI Innovation Lab: using HSI’s platform to search voter rolls. The results, Quiñones noted, could fuel both criminal and immigration investigations.
By the end of the month, those in top election-related roles at DHS and the Justice Department were actively promoting what they dubbed the “HSI Tool” as a preferred alternative to SAVE, according to people familiar with the matter. Among them was Heather Honey, the prominent election denier appointed as a senior counselor at DHS, who is helping lead the government’s efforts to identify noncitizens on voter rolls. (Honey did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. In an email responding to questions to her, DHS said Honey’s “expertise in election administration” was “invaluable to the Department’s efforts to protect critical infrastructure.”)
The White House, too, got behind the idea. In a November email, J. Brian Sikma, special assistant to the president, excitedly noted that the New Jersey trial cross-checking voter rolls with DHS data appeared to have identified a “very significant number” of “potential non-citizens.” (Sikma didn’t respond to a request for comment.)
The DOJ, Sikma reported, had already obtained public voter rolls for many other states. He included a list of them, adding: “It is of paramount importance that these also be reviewed expeditiously.”
Running “Roughshod” Over Privacy
As the push to use HSI’s tech to search voter information gained momentum, a new problem emerged.
Career attorneys at the Justice Department, including specialists on privacy law, raised concerns that transferring voter rolls wholesale from the agency to DHS might not be legal, according to internal emails reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with several former officials.
The voter rolls the DOJ had collected contained sensitive information on millions of Americans. Even the public versions, which political parties and candidates routinely obtain to target ads and messages, included voters’ addresses, birth dates and party affiliations. For the 16 states that have agreed to share their unredacted voter lists, the DOJ had citizens’ partial Social Security numbers or driver’s license information, too.
Federal laws, particularly the Privacy Act, dictate what data government agencies can collect, what it can be used for, how it can be shared, and how it must be protected. Agencies have to disclose their plans in advance, gathering public comment. A person’s information can’t be released or shared without their consent, subject to limited exceptions.
From the outset, the Trump administration’s effort to combine data across federal agencies has repeatedly drawn criticism from courts and whistleblowers for failing to adhere to restrictions meant to keep data private and secure. In June, for example, a judge prohibited the government from using SAVE for mass searches, ruling the administration had violated federal privacy laws by giving DHS access to Social Security data to enhance the tool. The administration has appealed that ruling.
In July 2025, as word got around that the DOJ might hand over voter data to DHS, a half dozen career attorneys who had been reassigned into the voting section voiced their unease to supervisors, according to two former DOJ lawyers. Their concerns were disregarded, prompting most to resign.
Instead, the DOJ’s office of legal counsel pushed forward with plans to share the public voter rolls, claiming a Privacy Act exception allowed HSI to receive such data without public notice as long as it was for law enforcement purposes. DHS just needed to submit a letter officially requesting the data for those purposes, an attorney in the legal counsel’s office explained, according to internal emails.
But this exception was meant to be used to get information on individual criminal suspects, not to gain mass access to data on people suspected of no wrongdoing, according to Nikhel Sus, chief counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has sued the Trump administration on behalf of voter and pro-privacy groups, filing the case that eventually limited SAVE’s use.
Peter Winn, a 29-year Justice Department veteran who had served as the agency’s acting privacy chief for nearly a decade, drafted a letter to set out the data-sharing agreement between the DOJ and DHS, according to internal documents reviewed by ProPublica.
In a Feb. 12 email to two top DOJ officials, he said he’d rewritten an initial draft memo to “make the information sharing arrangement far easier to defend, if and when it is challenged in court.”
Rather than simply handing over the voter rolls, Winn proposed having DHS request “pertinent and relevant” information about specific people from the DOJ, then having technical staff at Justice and Homeland Security “coordinate” to fulfill the requests.
“Having slept on it,” Winn wrote, “I ended up deciding that our initial idea of sending a huge amount of raw unprocessed voter registration data to DHS, involved taking far too much unnecessary legal risk, given that 99% of the data would implicate the privacy and civil liberties of United States Citizens, and would risk adding to the false narrative in the establishment press of DOJ and DHS being unconcerned with the privacy and civil liberties of Americans.”
Winn attached his proposed letter, to be signed by Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE.
Winn’s suggested restrictions were quickly abandoned, however. A second draft of the letter, dated March 4, contained altered language providing that the voter information would be “transferred” to HSI, with one exception: Voters’ party affiliation would be redacted, if possible, it said.
The final letter, signed by Lyons and sent to the DOJ just two days later, abandoned even that limitation. Just three paragraphs long, it permitted HSI to use the voter rolls to pursue any “appropriate investigation of potential violations of federal election law.”
In response to questions from ProPublica, Winn said “I can’t really comment on internal drafts of correspondence.”
A Justice Department spokesperson defended the government’s actions, saying “no one should oppose intergovernmental data sharing and coordination that enable swift investigations and prosecution of illegal alien voting.” DHS echoed the DOJ’s view, calling such information sharing “essential to protecting America’s election process by keeping noncitizens off voter rolls” and “an easy step to secure our elections.”
Sus said that by pooling voters’ sensitive personal identifiers, along with their party and voting histories, the administration has “run roughshod” over privacy laws and is creating a “1984-style database” that could be used to surveil political participation.
CREW filed a lawsuit in April on behalf of the nonprofit advocacy group Common Cause that argues it’s illegal for the administration to use the law enforcement exception to justify mass sharing of voter information.
Balliet, the former HSI agent, expressed similar concerns, saying that handing over voter rolls to run through DHS’ systems amounted to “a mass data-collection effort by the government against its own citizens in a non-criminal setting.” On a practical level, he added, the data sharing increased the risk of breaches that can open law-abiding citizens up to identity theft.
“As a citizen, I want the government to take seriously the protection of my private data,” he said. “If it falls into the wrong hands, it’s not the government that suffers. It’s me.”
Collapsing Claims
By January 2026, scores of HSI agents were fanning out across the country to investigate thousands of leads about illegal voting.
About 25,000 of them involved people SAVE had identified as potential noncitizens on state voter rolls. Another 15,000 were given to HSI’s cross-border financial crimes unit, which was told to prioritize them over money laundering and fraud cases, a former high-level HSI official said. Quiñones’ unit led a separate effort to find additional cases by reviewing whether people who’d recently become citizens had voted before they were naturalized, then lied about it in naturalization interviews.
Still more leads came from running public voter rolls through the HSI lab’s databases, though it’s not clear how many. Agency sources told ProPublica that the rolls of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were searched using the Athena Toolbox. When DHS announced it had found more than 250,000 noncitizens on the registered voter lists of four Democrat-led states, it said that included “as many as” 35,152 in New Jersey and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. Both states have asked DHS to provide the source of the numbers.
Once federal investigators started digging into these cases, however, they often fell apart.
Through May, prosecutors had charged fewer than four dozen people with crimes related to noncitizen voting, ProPublica’s analysis of DOJ data and federal court filings shows, getting convictions or guilty pleas in 14 cases.
The largest cluster of cases was brought in the Southern District of Florida, headed by Jason Reding Quiñones (no relation to the HSI agent), a staunch Trump ally who has led investigations of the president’s political opponents. Voters have been sentenced in eight of the office’s cases; seven others are pending.
Prosecutors have initiated a total of seven noncitizen voting cases as of May in the four states where DHS claimed to have found more than a quarter million noncitizens on the rolls. Collectively, these states have more than 40 million registered voters.
Overall, the paltry numbers reflect the realities HSI investigators confronted on the ground as they tried to convert leads into cases, a ProPublica review of records obtained by voting-advocacy groups Campaign Legal Center and Democracy Forward shows.
Emails between agents and local election officials in Texas and Ohio indicate much of the federal information on purported noncitizens was inaccurate, the consequence of flawed data matching. When agents demanded voting histories and registration forms, they often discovered people weren’t registered in the counties where HSI thought they were. When voters register, they must attest that they are U.S. citizens; agents found some, however, who’d been put on voter rolls in error after disclosing they weren’t citizens. Many had never voted.
Most HSI agents, steeped in pursuing complex international crimes, had no experience in pursuing voting fraud. In his email to Nick Davis at the Justice Department, Teirab, the top deputy in Minnesota’s U.S. attorney’s office, described the chaos that ensued when the state and at least six counties got subpoenas for voters’ records. The demands “presented a host of issues,” Teirab wrote to Davis. (Davis did not respond to a request for comment.)
“An unknown number of agents are constantly arriving in Minnesota without any knowledge of the investigation, the issues already discussed and decided, and the processes they need to follow,” Teirab complained. “Instead of getting up to speed and learning, they have demanded many calls and subpoenas, most of which demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of the investigation.”
In Stearns County in central Minnesota, HSI agents subpoenaed voting histories on 13 people, county officials told ProPublica. Only six turned out to live there.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said the effort revealed federal investigators’ ignorance about “the nuance of elections administration.” The rate of purposeful election crime is “microscopic,” he said. “The very human errors that can happen are not some sort of plot or scheme to dirty up the voting rolls, but are just everyday human beings making mistakes, not intending at all to violate any law.”
As of May, only one illegal voting case has been referred for prosecution in Minnesota. The state has more than 3.8 million registered voters.
Even Republican-led states like Ohio, which has shared its unredacted voter rolls with the DOJ and run them through the SAVE system, have struggled to meet Trump administration demands to deliver cases.
In October, the Ohio secretary of state referred more than 1,000 voters identified as possible noncitizens to the federal government, claiming 167 had voted at least once since 2018. At least nine HSI agents in Cincinnati and Cleveland began to investigate, emails obtained by Campaign Legal Center and shared with ProPublica show.
The agents bombarded local election officials with requests for voting histories and other records, some dating back decades. “Sorry again for piecemealing these to you,” one agent wrote to an official in Butler County, outside Cincinnati, after making five separate requests over two weeks. Mohamed Al-Hamdani, a Democratic member of Montgomery County’s Board of Elections, which received similar inquiries, said they amounted to “witch hunts” that ate up staff time.
In February, Davis sent an email pressing Ohio’s two U.S. attorneys’ offices for an “election integrity” update, asking: “How close are we to complaints/indictments, how many subjects, what issues you’ve run into, how many referrals have been closed and why, how helpful HSI has been.”
As of May, just two voting cases had been referred for prosecution in Ohio and no one had been charged, federal data shows. The state has nearly 8 million voters.
In the past, it was uncommon for federal prosecutors to pursue charges against noncitizen voters who didn’t understand that it was against the law for them to vote. Without evidence of a coordinated effort or plot, it didn’t make sense to put resources into such prosecutions, a former DOJ official who oversaw election cases said.
Now, however, U.S. attorneys’ offices are taking a different approach, pursuing prosecutions that could result in prison terms or deportation.
In May 2025, federal prosecutors in Florida filed illegal voting charges against a mother and daughter, both Ukrainian citizens, who’d registered after becoming permanent U.S. residents, then voted in the 2024 presidential election. They’ve pleaded not guilty, with the mother saying in an interview with investigators that she thought having a green card meant she could vote. They and their attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment from ProPublica. The prosecutor handling the case for the Southern District of Florida also didn’t respond to questions. The mother and daughter are scheduled to go to trial in September.
“Far-Reaching Consequences”
Experts on both elections and national security warn there may be profound longer-term costs to unleashing the federal government’s investigative and prosecutorial might to try to prove the president’s claims about noncitizen voting.
Current and former HSI agents say critical investigations — including task forces aimed at drug rings, human trafficking and money laundering — have languished as the agency has pivoted to take on noncitizen voting and immigration enforcement.
In February 2026, according to court files and emails reviewed by ProPublica, an HSI agent in Ohio who’d been leading a multistate child sex abuse investigation was abruptly assigned to pursue dozens of leads on suspected noncitizen voters, work that took months. It wasn’t until May that he made an arrest in the other case. Prosecutors have filed child exploitation and pornography charges against the man, 38, in connection with acts involving at least five 14-year-old girls.
Cases like this “don’t just stop,” said Balliet, the 23-year HSI veteran. “When you pull people off them for an extended period of time, those criminal networks will adapt, and people get killed and kidnapped.”
Federal data hints at a broader slowdown in what had been HSI’s most urgent work. According to an annual government report, the number of wiretaps obtained by DHS — often to investigate drug trafficking — plummeted to 23 in 2025, from 133 the previous year. In the report, DHS attributed the decline to several factors, including “changes in administration enforcement and prosecutorial priorities.”
“It’s never been a better time to be involved in transnational organized crime,” said John Tobon, a high-ranking HSI official who retired in early 2025.
In its statement, DHS denied HSI has neglected its core mission, saying the agency has increased its efforts to combat criminal cartels, gangs and drug traffickers in response to multiple Trump executive orders.
Though HSI’s voting-related investigations have yielded only a small number of prosecutions, voter advocacy groups worry the Trump administration will use them to justify more extreme interventions.
Its latest tactics include threatening to withhold funds from states it says are refusing to check their voter rolls for noncitizens and saying it will prosecute state election officials who “knowingly” fail to remove noncitizens. Trump has also continued to press Congress to enact the SAVE America Act, which would require people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a measure advocates have criticized as a barrier to voting. Democrats are preparing for the prospect of federal troops being sent to the polls to intimidate voters.
“Those concerns are playing out in real time, with far-reaching consequences,” said Dax Goldstein, a director at the States United Democracy Center, a nonprofit group that works to build confidence in elections. “When federal agencies are misused and weaponized, people lose trust in government itself.”
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Mike Lindell offers to fund recount in Minnesota Republican primary for governor
Reply sourceMyPillow founder and Trump ally lost primary to Lisa Demuth by 11 points, but still refuses to concede defeat
The pillow salesman, Donald Trump supporter and election denier Mike Lindell has offered to personally fund a recount and audit of every paper ballot cast in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary, which he lost last week.
Lindell’s announcement on Wednesday escalates his bid to challenge the results of last week’s vote, after finishing a distant second to the Minnesota house speaker, Lisa Demuth.
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DOJ Attempts Another Head-Fake in Davey Hearn Case
Reply source
Since Friday, there have been four new filings in the Davey Hearn case. The most importantly, procedurally, is the government’s argument that the case against Hearn should be dismissed without prejudice. Hearn has a week to sur-reply.In its background paragraph, it implies that the case against Hearn should be dismissed without prejudice because there may be other instances of vandalism … presumably, meaning by others, and that, by itself warrants holding open the possibility of reindicting Hearn.
At the outset it should be noted that the government sought this indictment in good faith after the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) provided evidence, albeit incomplete, that there was vandalism to the Reflecting Pool. However, based on newly received Brady materials from DOI, the government could not sustain its burden that the defendant’s actions caused further damage to the liner beyond the condition that Bay 4 was already in, Accordingly, consistent both with its evidence, its burden of proof, and its ethical obligations, the government was required to move to dismiss the case pursuant to Rule 48. This, however, does not suggest that there was no vandalism to other areas of the Reflecting Pool.
All that sounds like a desperate attempt to avoid antagonizing Trump any more by contradicting his false claims about vandalism.
The filing does a variety of things to deny the clear evidence that the original indictment involved various kinds of misconduct, virtually all of which are nonsensical. Perhaps the most cynical is a show of providing Judge Todd Edelman some grand jury transcripts (before it spends two paragraphs relitigating whether Hearn’s release of descriptions of grand jury transcripts violated the protective order or not).
2 The defendant separately moved to dismiss the indictment in a publicly filed Motion and Supplement that cherry-picked references and direct quotations from grand jury transcripts. Defendant’s public filing sought to undermine the public’s confidence in the grand jury proceedings, while also capitalizing on the government’s limited ability to respond given the secrecy requirements imposed by Rule 6(e). The government is submitting its summation and instructions to the grand jury to the Court ex parte for its in camera review, which will confirm for the Court that there were no irregularities with the grand jury proceedings as the defendant claims.
Except, that’s not what Hearn asked for when he asked for grand jury transcripts in July.
He asked for for the complete transcript.
Accordingly, Mr. Hearn respectfully moves, pursuant to Superior Court Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)(3)(E)(i, for disclosure of (1) the legal instructions provided to the ‘grand jury concerning the elements of the charged offense; and (2) the complete transcript or minutes of all grand-jury proceedings related to this matter.
When he renewed his request a day later, after getting more transcripts showing impropriety, he asked for the complete grand jury minutes, which would include the summation and the introduction and any additional witness testimony.
For the reasons set forth above and in his Motion for Disclosure of Grand Jury Minutes and Legal Instructions, Mr. Hearn respectfully requests that the Court order the government to disclose the complete grand jury minutes in this matter and the legal instructions given to the grand jury on the elements of D.C. Code § 22-303, or, alternatively, conduct an in camera review of the requested material.
Hearn’s response to DOJ’s motion to dismiss renewed that request.
Should the Court determine that additional factual development is needed to support dismissal with prejudice, the Court should grant Mr. Hearn’s pending request for disclosure of the grand jury materials or, in the alternative, conduct an in camera review before deciding whether dismissal with prejudice is appropriate.
There’s one big reason to suspect providing just the summation would be inadequate.
In yesterday’s filing, DOJ claimed that, given the testimony of two Parks Department witnesses (Hearn identified further inconsistencies in the primary witness’ testimony last week), the only thing left for the grand jury was to assess economic loss.
The government’s investigation included interviews with two National Park Service (“NPS”) employees, W-1 and W-2, who were working at the Reflecting Pool when the defendant approached the area where they were working, W-I stated they observed the defendant using his cellular telephone to take what the NPS employee believed to be video or a photograph(s) of the damage to the reflecting pool. However, the United States Park Police never took possession of the defendants phone to verify if any additional damage was done. The NPS employee, W-1, stated that the defendant then knelt, placed both hands into the reflecting pool—below the surface of the water—and started to “violently” tug at a portion of the blue pool coating, At no time was the defendant seen removing anything from the pool. The NPS employee, W-1, asked the second NPS employee, W-2, to contact, police and requested that the defendant not touch or rip at the coating, The defendant told W-1 that the NPS personnel were “awfully sensitive about the pool.”
The only question relevant to charges was the economic loss.
Except it had just admitted that DOJ had no idea — and had not yet sought evidence — of whether “any additional damage was done.”
That is, DOJ confessed they had no idea whether Hearn had done any damage to the pool, but nevertheless moved immediately to testing whether he did enough damage to charge with a felony.
It’s not entirely clear what Hearn has received so far.
But by description, DOJ is providing just a fraction of what Hearn has asked for which, in the Broadview 6 case, withheld the most damning parts of the grand jury transcript.
New filings:
280814 Discovery: Files a discovery letter sent the same day
260814 Supplement: Points to Trump’s whining and inconsistencies with primary accuser; the filing submits three partially new exhibits
260818 Dismiss Response: The government argues that Hearn is not entitled to dismissal with prejudice
260818 Motion to Compel: Hearn lays out all the discovery he has not yet gotten, including what they seized from his phone
The post DOJ Attempts Another Head-Fake in Davey Hearn Case appeared first on emptywheel.
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«Fjord», une Palme d’or qui étrille la protection de l’enfance et séduit les réactionnaires
À partir de l’affaire médiatisée d’un placement d’enfants en Norvège, «Fjord» du Roumain Cristian Mungiu, Palme d’or 2026, veut susciter un débat sur les angles morts des démocraties les plus progressistes. Sous couvert de pensée complexe, le film peine à décrire avec précision les rouages d’un système très délicat.Reply source -
Sur les marchés obligataires, les taux mis sous pression par l’IA
Les taux à long terme des grandes puissances économiques ont atteint, mardi 18 août, des niveaux jamais vus depuis quinze à vingt ans. Un phénomène qui traduit la concurrence croissante entre les géants de la tech et les États pour leurs financements.Reply source -
Kim Jong-un’s sister casts doubt on Trump’s claims of secret US-North Korea talks
Reply sourcePresident says he plans to meet dictator this year but Kim Yo-jong says Washington remains Pyongyang’s enemy
Donald Trump has said he is planning to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un later this year, though the reclusive leader’s younger sister cast doubt on their communications and dampened hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough between them.
Trump, who also claimed North Korea had 57 nuclear weapons, had suggested he and Kim were holding secret negotiations on Tuesday after announcing the US would downgrade its participation in military exercises held by South Korea, a US ally. Asked whether Kim had responded to his request for a conversation, Trump said: “Yeah, he has.”
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DSA member Angie Nixon upsets Trump impeachment witness Alex Vindman in Florida Democratic Senate race
Far-left Florida state lawmaker Angie Nixon shocked retired Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman in Tuesday night's special Democratic Senate primary. With most of the expected vote in, Nixon led Vindman, 56% to 44%, giving the far left a major success on an otherwise disappointing night in the Sunshine State. Nixon is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, while Vindman served as a key witness in President Trump's first impeachment trial over his demand that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigate then-former Vice President Joe Biden's family business entanglements in exchange for the release of $400 million in military aid. Nixon will take on incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) in November. The winner of that race will serve the remainder of the six-year term that Secretary of State Marco Rubio won in 2022...Reply source -
This Week In The Big Picture
Reply sourceStop me if you’ve heard this one before: Republican president wins the electoral college despite losing the popular vote; he then wins a second term with a narrow popular vote victory, which he misreads as a mandate, leading him to overreach with his second term agenda; his mismanagement of a costly and unpopular war in the Middle East helps drive his approval rating into the low 30s, fueling a blue wave midterm election in which Democrats win back both chambers of Congress.
Twenty years ago, this was precisely the trajectory of George W. Bush’s rise and fall. And this year, history is repeating.
In tomorrow’s piece, digs into the similarities between 2026 and 2006, and explores what lessons Democrats can take away from that cycle as they prepare not just to repeat Democrats’ 2006 midterm performance, but their 2008 result as well, when a massive presidential victory fueled the expansion of their congressional majorities.
And in case you missed it yesterday, broke down the growing bipartisan backlash to the rapid expansion of data centers, which are driving up electricity costs and causing ill health effects for those who live near them. As Trump remains firmly behind the expansion, can Democrats harness the populist anger against these data centers, even as many labor unions see them as a boon for jobs and wages?
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DSA Goes for Florida
Surprise victory for DSA candidate: In Florida's Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat, Angie Nixon—an underfunded, ultraprogressive, card-carrying Democratic Socialists of America member candidate—scored a victory against Alex Vindman, who had a fair bit of national name recognition as a witness in President Donald Trump's 2019 impeachment proceedings. Nixon will now go up against Republican incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody in November—a race in which Moody is favored. Nixon, a state representative from Jacksonville, joined the DSA earlier this summer. She promises Medicare for All, a $25-per-hour federal minimum wage, a billionaire tax, state-provided childcare (with "living wages" for those workers), and a national rent freeze...Reply source -
Mélenchon et les biorégions : l'urgence de déjacobiniser LFI
Reply source
Dernièrement, Mélenchon a présenté son plan pour réorganiser l'hexagone sous forme d'« écorégions ». Pour le moins que l'on puisse dire, celui-ci nous laisse plus que perplexes. Présenté comme une mesure majeure de son programme dans le cadre de l'organisation de sa future planification écologique, il vise à redécouper les régions en se basant prioritairement sur l'eau et les bassins versants.
Si, en soi, l'idée de rompre avec l'abominable découpage précédent de Hollande – uniquement pensé dans une logique néolibérale de compétition entre les territoires – pour le remplacer par un nouveau prenant mieux en compte les réalités naturelles et les écosystèmes locaux paraît louable, elle pose de nombreuses questions quant aux modalités de sa mise en œuvre, et au respect de la volonté des populations concernées.
Une Bretagne toujours amputée du Pays Nantais
Point positif pour commencer : la Bretagne n'étant pas structurée autour d'un seul bassin versant mais autour d'une « arborescence de rivières », Mélenchon nous explique qu'il ne serait pas prévu de disparition de la région Bretagne a ce stade. Il y a quelques semaines, la publication sur les réseaux sociaux d'une carte non validée par LFI avait en effet fait couler beaucoup d'encre.
Pour le reste, c'est le flou total. Si la Bretagne ne disparaît pas, elle reste toujours amputée de la Loire Atlantique sur la carte présentée jeudi 30 juillet par Mélenchon. Cela alors même que le réseau hydrographique du Pays nantais justifierait à lui seul la réunification : comme le rappelle la Coordination démocratique bretonne dans un communiqué récent : « près de 45 % du réseau hydrographique de la Loire-Atlantique ne relève pas du bassin versant de la Loire, tandis que les enjeux environnementaux de l'estuaire dépendent directement des politiques maritimes de la péninsule bretonne ».
L'argument de l'eau ne permet donc en rien d'expliquer le maintien de la partition de la Bretagne dans le projet de LFI. Bien au contraire !
Pire, lors de son discours de Paimpont à l'occasion du 14 juillet (no comment), Mélenchon a semblé, une nouvelle fois, fermer définitivement la porte à toute possibilité de réunification, alors qu'il était pourtant clairement attendu sur le sujet. Singulier quand on sait que se projet de redécoupage est présenté comme encore non définitif, perfectible, et qu'il sera censé prendre en compte l'avis des populations.
Lors de son allocution destinée à présenter publiquement son projet de biorégions, il a expliqué, faussement étonné, que lorsqu'il a commencé à évoquer autour de lui l'idée de redécouper les régions, la première question qui lui était posée portait sur les frontières de la Bretagne. On a ainsi pu le voir s'exclamer avec dédain « Pourquoi la Bretagne ? Je ne sais pas… ».
Doit-on rappeler qu'en 2018, une pétition demandant la tenue d'un referendum est parvenue à réunir plus de 105 000 signatures d'habitant-es du Pays-Nantais ?Soit plus de 10 % du corps électoral du département ? Que depuis des décennies, la quasi-totalité des études d'opinion montre qu'une large majorité des Breton-nes sont favorables à la réunification ? La dernière enquête en 2021 montrait qu'en cas de referendum, 63 % des habitant-es du département se prononcerait en faveur de la réunification… Ce taux montant même à 79 % chez les sympathisant-es insoumis-es ! Qu'en 2014, plus de 30 000 personnes défilaient dans les rues de Nantes en faveur du retour du Pays-Nantais en Bretagne administrative ? Tout ceci malgré des décennies de propagande de la région Pays de la Loire ? Que la partition de la Bretagne fut décidée arbitrairement sous Vichy sans aucune consultation populaire ? Que lors de la création des départements les députés bretons firent expressément en sorte que la Bretagne ne soit pas diluée comme les autres dites « provinces » ?
Lors des dernières élections municipales, William Aucant, tête de liste insoumise à Nantes, s'était engagé à faire pression en faveur d'un referendum sur la réunification lors de la prochaine campagne présidentielle : « pour que le peuple décide. Le département est une terre de gauche qui doit le rester. Le rattachement à la Bretagne serait un signe politique en forme de résistance. » Mensonge purement électoraliste ? Ou paroles sincères recadrées depuis par la direction parisienne du parti ?
Toujours est-il qu'encore une fois, Mélenchon semble avoir tranché seul et pour tout le monde, avec comme seule boussole ses lubies jacobines, quitte pour cela à occulter les réalités démocratiques, culturelles, historiques, et même écologiques qui convergent toutes en faveur de la réunification.
Un projet sincère ? Ou juste un argument de comm bidon visant l'électorat écolo ?
Sur le papier, le projet de biorégions a tout pour plaire. En décrivant des régions aux pouvoirs élargis et ayant la main sur l'agriculture, les agences de santé, les transports, et l'environnement, afin d'adapter au mieux les politiques de planification écologique aux réalités locales, LFI porte une idée très proche des revendications de notre collectif, et de la gauche autonomiste et indépendantiste bretonne en général. Mais derrière les belles paroles, quelles compétences auront en réalité ces régions ? Avec quel pouvoir législatif et quels moyens budgétaires ? Quelle autonomie réelle vis-à-vis de l'État et de Paris ?
Pour l'instant, le projet ressemble surtout à un joli plan de comm pensé depuis Paris pour rafler les voix d'un électorat écolo et citadin.
Lors de son allocution de présentation, Mélenchon, a ainsi dit tout et son contraire, déclarant : « Il faut changer en comprenant que la défense écologique ne peut pas simplement être le résultat de structures verticales et étatique (…) ne peut pas simplement être une addition de bureaucraties. »… pour nous vendre un projet décidé dans un bureau, par une commission présidée par deux député-es, sans aucune consultation des populations concernées. La différence avec la méthode employée par le gouvernement Hollande lors de sa réforme de 2014 n'est pas frappante !
Du reste, la comparaison entre la carte pour l'instant proposée par LFI, et celle des bassins versants, fait plus que douter du sérieux et de la sincérité du projet.
En plus du Pays Nantais dont le maintien de la séparation avec le reste de la Bretagne ne semble être motivé que par de pures raisons idéologiques, la Normandie se voit diluée dans une infâme région englobant Paris et s'étendant jusqu'à la Champagne, alors même qu'à l'instar de la Bretagne, elle possède essentiellement un réseau de petits fleuves côtiers qui justifierait largement son maintien en tant que région.
Le Marais Poitevin se retrouve scindé en deux régions alors que son importance environnementale et patrimoniale majeure justifierait à elle seule la création d'une région unifiant le Poitou et la Saintonge (soit l'ancienne région Poitou-Charente plus la Vendée). L'hydrologie ne justifie non plus absolument en rien la séparation de Marseille du reste de la Provence…. Et la liste est encore longue !
Dans les faits, ce découpage en bassins versants montre assez vite ses limites et ouvre la porte aux dérives technocratiques les plus arbitraires.
Disons-le clairement, nous ne croyons absolument pas en la sincérité de la brusque mue fédéraliste de Mélenchon et de LFI. Celle-ci est en contradiction avec quasiment l'ensemble des positions tenues par le parti ces dernières années, du vote contre la loi Molac à l'opposition récente à l'Assemblée contre la re-création d'une région Alsace, pourtant souhaitée par 80 % des Alsacien-nes.
Biorégions, 6e République, referendum d'initiative citoyenne, referendum révocatoire… LFI promet à tout va, sans pour autant jamais vraiment expliquer comment tout cela est censé finir par s'imbriquer.
Lors des débats à l'Assemblée nationale portant sur l'Alsace, Emmanuel Fernandes, député LFI du Bas-Rhin, décrivait le projet porté par LFI une fois au pouvoir sous la forme d'un triptyque « Etat, département, commune ». Soit un projet évoquant furieusement la France d'avant Mitterrand et la création des régions, ainsi que celui du RN qui, lui, défend ouvertement la suppression de l'échelon régional.
Jacobinisme et mépris de classe
Pour nombre de Breton-nes, Mélenchon est une figure honnie, et il est difficile de leur donner tort.
En 2007, dans une note de blog toujours lisible sur Internet, il qualifiait le breton enseigné de « pseudo langue-bretonne » créée sur demande des nazis : « J'écris « pseudo langue bretonne » car ce qui est nommé de cette façon n'est aucune des cinq langues parlées historiquement mais une « langue unifiée » dont le vocabulaire et la grammaire furent fixés à la demande de l'occupant nazi ».
Outre qu'à notre connaissance, aucun linguiste sérieux ne découpe le breton en cinq dialectes différents – la langue bretonne formant, comme toute les langues non-unifiées par un Etat-nation, un continuum divisible en un nombre variable de dialectes sans frontière clairement définie – le nombres de néo-locuteurs parvenant à converser avec leur grands-parents, leurs voisins, ou encore qui mettent un point d'honneur à parler le breton propre à leur famille ou à leur lieu d'origine, prouve chaque jour à quel point cette affirmation est mensongère et absurde. Il suffit d'écouter les radios en langue bretonne pour savoir à quel point les dialectes restent pratiqués et enseignés. Ce qui n'empêche pas des militant-es de gauche, ne parlant (comme Mélenchon) pas un seul mot de breton, de régulièrement reprendre cette thèse d'un néo-breton qui serait à la fois totalement chimique et crypto-nazi.
En 2008, il qualifiait les écoles Diwan de « secte » dans une prise de parole où il se qualifiait aussi « fier d'être un jacobin ». Position réitérée en 2021 par la consigne donnée aux parlementaires du groupe insoumis de voter contre la Loi Molac et l'enseignement immersif en langues dites régionales.
En 2013, il traitait les Bonnets rouges d'« esclaves qui manifestent pour les droits de leurs maîtres », qualifiait le mouvement de « bêtise régionaliste », et appelait à un contre-rassemblement le même jour que la grande manifestation du mouvement à Quimper. Contre-rassemblement pathétique qui fut un échec cuisant puisque n'étant basé sur aucune assise populaire.
Difficile, dans ces conditions, de voir la décision de maintenir la Loire-Atlantique séparée du reste de la Bretagne comme autre chose qu'un caprice parisianiste et personnel contre l'unité bretonne.
Le mépris de Mélenchon ne semble pas viser que les Breton-nes.Récemment lors d'une conférence de l'Institut la Boétie où il cherchait à expliquer son concept de « créolisation », il qualifiait Bruno Retailleau de « sortant du fond de la Vendée là bas, ou ils ont jamais vus la mer » et immédiatement de poursuivre « Alors là c'est pas la peine de parler avec eux, par ce qu'ils comprennent même pas de quoi on parle ! ». Les positions racistes et xénophobes de Retailleau sont ainsi ramenées à ses seules origines vendéennes, et l'ensemble des Vendéen-nes sont essentialisé-es et condamné-es, par leur origine et leur situation sociale supposée, à ne pouvoir que partager ces mêmes positions.
Enfin, le leader insoumis a visiblement fait passer la consigne en interne d'abandonner toute tentative de s'adresser à ceux qu'il nomme les « fâchés pas fachos », ses classes populaires blanches rurales et périphériques gagnées par le vote RN. Dans un auditorium on peut ainsi l'entendre s'exclamer « il n'y a pas de fâchés pas fachos. Ils sont fachos, qu'ils soient fâchés ou pas. Et d'abord racistes ! ». Difficile de faire plus beau cadeau à l'extrême droite que de condamner ainsi publiquement tout un pan des classes populaires à une bascule irrémédiable dans le fascisme.
En fétichisant les individus sur la base de leur vote, réel ou supposé, Mélenchon élude les processus sociopolitiques lourds qui poussent toujours plus ces populations dans les bras de l'extrême droite.
Etonnament, les belles idées de la gauche, qui pense en terme d'individus forgés d'abords malgré eux par leur environnement social, ne semblent pas concerner les populations en dehors des grandes villes. Pour celles-ci, il est autorisé de retomber dans le champ de l'affect, de l'essentialisation, et de la morale, propre à la droite.
Dans son ouvrage « Ascendant beauf », l'autrice Rose Lamy explique pourtant clairement comment cette figure du prolo de droite, stupide et réac, est érigée en élément de distinction bien commode par toute une frange des classes moyennes et supérieures citadines pour camoufler son propre racisme – tout parallèle avec la sociologie d'une large frange de l'électorat blanc de LFI étant évidemment purement hasardeux et fortuit. Elle explique également comment cela permet d'invisibiliser, voir même de justifier, la violence vécue par toute une partie des classes populaires (inégalités d'accès aux soins, corps détruits par le travail, inégalités de santé et d'espérance de vie, suicides, accidents de travail mortel, alcoolisme, mortalité routière etc.).
Aux législatives de 2024, le RN a doublé ses scores en Bretagne par rapports à celles de 2022. Cette même année, aux élections européennes, nous avons, la boule au ventre, vu le RN arriver pour la première fois en tête dans la quasi-totalité des communes bretonnes.
Personne ne nous fera croire pour autant qu'en l'espace de deux ans, une part significative de nos proches, de nos voisin-nes, de nos collègues sont devenus nazis. La Bretagne fait partie des endroits où la digue face à l'extrême droite aura cédé en dernier. Pourtant, nous ne somme pas dupes sur le fait que, pour nombre de militant-es de gauche, cela ne fera que confirmer l'idée préconçue depuis des décennies que notre pays est, par essence, un pays de fachos en raison de sa forte identité.
L'origine du jacobinisme
Jacobinisme et mépris vis-à-vis des ruraux à gauche trouvent leur source dans la Révolution française, moment charnière qui a durablement ancré le clivage droite/gauche. A cette époque, la bourgeoisie, emprunte des idées des Lumières, cherche à substituer à la figure du roi, autrefois seule garante de la légitimité de l'État et de l'unité de la nation, celle du Peuple français souverain. Mais cette figure abstraite de peuple français va vite se heurter au réel : l'ancien royaume est un agrégat de populations aux langues, coutumes et mœurs variés, sans aucune cohérence réelle entre elles.
Pire : dans nombre d'endroits, et particulièrement le Massif armoricain (Bretagne, Vendée, Anjou, Maine et Basse Normandie), l'euphorie collective retombe rapidement pour laisser place à l'hostilité sourde, puis à la révolte armée.
Aujourd'hui encore, l'immense majorité de la gauche continue de présenter les chouans et les insurgé-es vendéen-es comme des arriéré-es réactionnaires.
L'origine de la révolte trouve pourtant son origine dans des conceptions radicalement opposées du progrès humain auxquelles aurait dû aboutir l'abolition des privilèges, et opposant, d'un côté, une bourgeoisie citadine, nouvelle maîtresse du pouvoir et pleine de grandes idées philosophiques, et de l'autre, des populations rurales toujours empruntes de fort liens de solidarité communautaire, et totalement imperméables à des concepts abstraits tels que ceux de « nation » ou de « citoyens ».
On ne peut que recommander la lecture de Michel Ragon, écrivain anarchiste d'origine vendéenne et auteur de La mémoire des vaincus. Dans son livre 1793 L'insurrection vendéenne et les malentendus de la liberté, il explique ainsi :
« a-t-on réfléchi que, pour la population rurale d'alors, l'État disparaissait si le roi qui l'incarnait n'existait plus ? Le roi mort, la population rurale retrouve ses instincts d'autonomie, d'anarchisme fondamental. Elle se sent dégagée de la tutelle étatique, libre des ses choix, de son identité. ».« En Vendée, deux conceptions de la liberté s'affrontent en 1793. Les Vendéens s'insurgent sur une idée populaire de la liberté : la liberté communale (contre le pouvoir centralisateur), la liberté religieuse (contre la laïcisation obligatoire), la liberté de la langue (le patois contre le français administratif). Les républicains combattent l'insurrection au nom d'une idéologie de la liberté, donc d'une abstraction. Leur théorie philosophique de la liberté, héritée des philosophes encyclopédistes, est toute intellectuelle. C'est une théorie d'avocat. La certitude des révolutionnaires d'être dans la vérité les conduit à imposer cette perversion : une dictature de la liberté. ».
Les guerres de l'Ouest engendrèrent un traumatisme qui a fixé pour longtemps le paysage politique.
Encore aujourd'hui des pans entiers du Massif Armoricain sont de droite depuis cette époque. Mais elles ont aussi imprimé à gauche le cliché de populations rurales perçues comme par essence arriérées, stupides et réactionnaires. C'est là l'origine du jacobinisme : le progrès ne peut émaner que de centres instruits et éclairés, qui doivent l'imposer à des périphéries obscurantistes et réfractaires, par le sang s'il le faut.
Cette vision a imprégné par la suite le marxisme, jusqu'au bolchevisme et au stalinisme, qui ont mené une véritable guerre contre la paysannerie et les minorités nationales de l'ancien empire russe, à coup de famines organisées, de massacres et de déportations. En France, elle a été aussi pendant longtemps à gauche une des principales justification de la colonisation.
C'est aussi à la suite de cette histoire, et au nom de cette vision unilatéral du progrès, que le français fut imposé. Quitte pour cela à traumatiser deux ou trois générations d'enfants, et même si le seul effet en terme d'égalité fut d'accroître les privilèges de la bourgeoisie francophone et de Paris sur le reste de l'hexagone.
Comme le disait Barère : « Le fédéralisme et la superstition parlent bas-breton, l'émigration et la haine de la République parlent allemande ; la contre-révolution parle l'italien, et le fanatisme parle le basque. Cassons ces instruments de dommage et d'erreur. ».
l'urgence de déjacobiniser la gauche (et LFI) !
Le projet de biorégions porté par LFI s'inscrit clairement dans cette filiation jacobine. Dans une récente interview donné à la chaîne Le Média, la députée Claire Lejeune commence en se référant explicitement à la création des départements à la place des anciennes provinces au moment de la Révolution française. Dans les deux cas, l'idée est la même : faire table rase de tout en fonction du plan d'une petite élite éclairée est légitime et nécessaire pour réellement changer les choses en profondeur.
Au cours de la discussion, elle oppose ainsi un « ancien monde », incarné par les régions de Hollande au découpage dicté par des raisons strictement économiques, au « nouveau monde » proposé par LFI dans lequel le découpage régional serait cette foi dicté par des critères strictement écologiques.
Economie contre écologie, au final on ne fait que remplacer une vision purement technique du monde par une autre tout aussi purement technique.Les bases sont simplement différentes. Le sentiment d'appartenance des populations, leurs identités locales, l'attachement à une terre, les données culturelles et historiques, sont considérés comme des affects irrationnels et archaïques.
Plogoff, Le Pellerin, Le Carnet, Notre Dame des Landes, marée noires, Paysans travailleurs, défense des marais salants, projets miniers, lutte contre le remembrement, contre l'agriculture intensive et les algues vertes… Si, depuis des décennies, la Bretagne est un modèle en terme de luttes écologistes, c'est pourtant bien par ce que celles-ci s'y incarne dans la défense d'une terre et d'un peuple, et non pas à travers une écologie simplement morale, technique ou abstraite. Une écologie qui refuse de prendre en compte les réalités identitaires, culturelles, historiques et spirituelles des populations – c'est-à-dire qui est construite malgré elles et contre elles – est une écologie vouée à l'échec.
Le concept de Nouvelle France aurait pu être l'occasion d'une reconnaissance commune des populations issues de l'immigration post-coloniale et des particularismes et spécificités des autres populations de l'hexagone. Cela aurait été le meilleur moyen de couper l'herbe sous le pieds du RN et de l'extrême droite. Au lieu de ça, en prétendant tout reconstruire à partir de rien, le projet de biorégions nie encore une fois les identités populaires, laissant ce champ libre aux réactionnaires et à l'extrême droite.
Qui croit sérieusement que supprimer la Normandie, l'Alsace ou l'Auvergne va aider en quoi que ce soit la transition écologique ? Que la création de nouvelles régions factices dans laquelle les populations ne se reconnaissent absolument pas va pousser les gens à se réapproprier les outils démocratiques comme LFI prétend vouloir le favoriser ? Si la Bretagne est dans la situation catastrophique sur plan agricole qu'elle connaît aujourd'hui, c'est bien parce qu'une poignée de décideurs à Paris a décidé d'en faire l'usine agro-industrielle de la France en promettant en échange monts et merveilles aux Bretons et aux Bretonnes. Merci, mais en terme de centralisme jacobin sous couvert de belles idées, on a déjà donné.
En 2022, les sympathisant-es insoumis-es accusaient Roussel et ses 2,28 % d'avoir empêché Mélenchon d'accéder au second tour. Mais s'est-on demandé quel nombre de voix les positions ultra-jacobines de Mélenchon lui ont fait perdre ? Notamment dans les territoires à forte identité comme la Bretagne ou les Pays d'Oc ? Idem pour les prises de positions et les votes contre l'enseignement immersif en langues dites régionales. Aujourd'hui, on entend les zinzinsoumis faire la chasse aux abstentionnistes plus à gauche qu'eux, pendant que leur leader insulte les habitant-es d'une région entière, et que leur partie cherche à bloquer les aspirations démocratique de l'immense majorité des Alsacien-nes. Drôle de priorité pour gagner des voix !
Dans son allocution de présentation du projet de biorégions, on pouvait entendre Mélenchon dire : « Les cartes qui tournent autour de l'eau sont souvent en même temps des cartes politiques de l'ancien régime et du temps long. » puis « Il y a donc un rapport immédiat entre les grands facteurs géographique structurants, la culture et la politique. Il n'est pas question pour nous tout d'un coup d'effacer la culture et la politique… Parce que tout simplement ça ne fonctionnerait pas… »
Voilà au moins un constat que nous partagerons avec Mélenchon. Il est donc plus que temps pour une gauche qui espère vaincre de sortir de ses ornières et d'appliquer à la lettre ses prétentions démocratiques.
Une fois ce constat posé, notre rôle n'est pas d'attendre une inflexion de la part du grand leader.
Il est d'imposer nos thèmes et nos revendications dans la campagne, afin de s'engouffrer dans la brèche ouverte par la FI sur l'aberrant découpage régional de 2015. C'est pourquoi nous vous donnons rendez vous dans les rues de Nantes pour la défense de la réunification et de l'autonomie le 26 septembre prochain !
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Is the US actually too chicken to take on China for trade?
Reply sourceA weak yuan guarantees Beijing massive trade surplus even as the White House tries tamp down on Chinese imports
Since China offered a truce in the trade war last October following its threat to deprive the United States of rare-earth magnets, the Trump administration has been happy to stop escalating. After all, imports from China have been falling, down by 40% in the year to June, compared with the same period in 2024. Best to declare victory and call it a day.
But the US hasn’t won this battle – and there’s strong evidence to show it’s too chicken to really try.
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Mignaloux-Beauvoir (Vienne) : « Moins de greens, plus de racines »
Reply sourceLa Nouvelle République/ samedi 15 août 2026
Ils ont également versé du ciment dans des trous et sur plusieurs buses d’arrosage, tout en semant des graines et en plantant des carottes sur les greens. « Il est urgent de repenser l’usage de l’eau, notamment l’été : quelles activités sont soutenables dans un monde en pleine urgence climatique ? Il faut prioriser ce qui est vital pour l’être humain et le vivant », avancent les activistes dans un message non signé, avant de proposer, avec un brin d’ironie, « que les greens des golfs et leur système d’arrosage soient mis au service de la population, en les transformant par exemple en jardins potagers partagés ».
Les jardiniers du Domaine de Beauvoir ont pu remettre les trous en état dès vendredi et le parcours est accessible aux golfeurs, ce week-end.*****
franceinfo/ lundi 17 août 2026Lorsque les clients et les salariés sont arrivés, dans la matinée du vendredi 14 août, sur le green du golf de Mignaloux-Beauvoir (Vienne), ils s’attendaient à voir un terrain propre et vert, comme ils l’avaient laissé la veille. Mais ce n’est pas ce qu’ils ont vu. Loin de là. « C’est le travail d’une année, donc quand on a vu ça, cela nous a mis un sacré coup« , précise François Gauthier, intendant du parcours.
Dans la nuit du 13 au 14 août, des activistes écologistes ont en effet dégradé le golf. Les greens des trous 3 et 1 ont été endommagés, notamment avec du béton. « Il y a eu une découpe de la surface en profondeur« , précise Édouard Guillaumet, le propriétaire des lieux. « Ils nous ont également laissé un message écologique. »
« Moins de greens, plus de racines » : voilà ce qu’ont écrit ces activistes. Ils souhaitaient, en effet, alerter sur « la crise hydrique et son lot d’injustices sociales« . Ils dénoncent notamment l’hypocrisie de « gaspiller de jour comme de nuit pour un loisir de quelques privilégiés« . « Ce luxe est indécent« , assurent-ils dans un communiqué envoyé le 15 août.Au même moment, ils estiment que de nombreux pans de la société sont impactés par la sécheresse. « Les syndicats agricoles redoutent des pertes considérables dans la production de nourriture« , précisent-ils, indiquant également que « 40 000 personnes » doivent faire face à des coupures d’eau. « Il est urgent de repenser l’usage de l’eau, notamment l’été« , estiment-ils.
Les activistes proposent de transformer les greens de golf et leur système d’arrosage « en jardins potagers partagés« , pour que l’endroit « soit mis au service de la population« . De son côté, Édouard Guillaumet précise que [on s’en fout ; NdAtt.]
Le propriétaire comprend le message écologique de cette mobilisation, mais il s’oppose donc « à la forme » qu’a prise cette action. Il a décidé de porter plainte. […]
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Paris : La cour d’appel ordonne l’extradition de Gino en Allemagne
Reply sourceLe Monde/ mercredi 19 août 2026La cour d’appel de Paris a ordonné, mercredi 19 août, la remise à l’Allemagne du militant antifasciste albanais surnommé « Gino », que la France avait refusé précédemment de remettre à la Hongrie par crainte pour ses droits fondamentaux.
Rexhino Abazaj, alias « Gino », « se pourvoit en cassation », a annoncé à la sortie de l’audience Youri Krassoulia, son avocat, dénonçant une décision « scandaleuse ». Le trentenaire est accusé par la Hongrie de violences contre des néonazis qui défilaient à Budapest en février 2023. Il encourt une peine allant jusqu’à 24 ans de prison dans ce pays et jusqu’à 10 ans en Allemagne, des victimes présumées étant de nationalité allemande.En avril 2025, la France avait refusé de le remettre à Budapest, invoquant des « risques » d’un « traitement inhumain » en prison et l’incertitude de lui garantir un procès équitable dans ce pays membre de l’Union européenne.
Le militant antifasciste était donc depuis au cœur d’une autre procédure, enclenchée depuis 2025, l’Allemagne le réclamant pour les mêmes faits. « Gino » est libre – il doit être remis à l’Allemagne dans dix jours et avait trois jours pour se pourvoir en cassation – et vit à Paris.
Lors d’une précédente audience en juin, Laurent Pasquet-Marinacce, autre avocat de « Gino », avait soulevé un « risque » : « Nous n’avons pas les moyens de savoir si la Hongrie a condamné en son absence notre client : si la France le remet à l’Allemagne, est-ce que la Hongrie ne va pas le réclamer pour qu’il exécute sa peine là-bas ? »
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Trump nominates abortion opponent Heidi Overton to be head of FDA
Reply sourceOverton has said that Congress should strictly regulate abortion drug mifepristone ‘to protect women and children’
Donald Trump nominated Dr Heidi Overton – an abortion opponent who stood next to the president as he made false claims about vaccines – to be commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Today I am honored to nominate the wonderful Dr. Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, as our next FDA Commissioner. Dr. Heidi has been a ROCKSTAR in my Administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE Health Agenda in History. She is known to take on the HARDEST issues, and bring me solutions that work best for the Country,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
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Penmarc’h (Finistère) : « Non aux résidences secondaires »
Reply sourceLe Télégramme/ mardi 18 août 2026
Un nouveau message a été découvert mardi 18 août près du port de Kérity, à Penmarc’h, sur le mur privé d’une propriété située à proximité de l’ancienne capitainerie. L’inscription « Non aux résidences secondaires » succède ainsi au tag anti-touristes – « Tourists go home » [le tag complet dit : « Tourists go home – Refugees welcome » ; NdAtt.] – signalé la veille dans la commune.
Ce nouvel acte déplace le débat sur la question complexe de l’habitat et du logement en Pays bigouden. En ciblant la présence des résidences secondaires, il pointe du doigt une problématique bien réelle sur le territoire : la prolifération de logements fermés une grande partie de l’année et la difficulté croissante pour les actifs locaux d’accéder à la propriété ou à la location.
Si la municipalité applique déjà une majoration de la taxe d’habitation sur les résidences secondaires, la tension autour du foncier demeure vive. La création de logements sociaux et d’habitations accessibles à l’année figure d’ailleurs parmi les priorités affichées par la mairie pour répondre au manque de solutions de logement pour la population permanente.
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Trump Tyranny Tracker | Day 570: Aug 12, 2026
Reply source
The seal of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is displayed outside the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, July 25, 2026 in Washington. Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesWelcome to today’s Trump Tyranny Tracker…
ICE threatening an American citizen, Trump expanding federal control over elections, government surveillance of political activists, and the growing costs of the Iran war were among today’s top stories.
Today at a Glance
•ICE agent points a gun at a U.S. citizen.
• DHS deploys federal agents to advance Trump’s election lies ahead of the midterms.
• Government intel centers monitor activists organizing against mass surveillance.
What We Need to Pay Attention To
ICE agent points gun at Virginia woman who shouted at them in video that conflicts with government’s narrative
What Happened: An ICE agent pointed a gun at Virginia therapist Carolina Molina after she shouted insults at agents during an immigration operation. DHS accused Molina of trying to run agents over, but dashcam and cellphone footage disputes key parts of that account and shows agents blocking her vehicle as she tried to leave.
Why It Matters: A federal agent pointed a gun at a U.S. citizen after she criticized ICE, and DHS then portrayed her as a dangerous “agitator” who tried to run agents over. Once again, the abuse was caught on video, exposing the lies used to justify it.
Source: CNN
Corruption
Suit Challenges Plan to Sell Early Access to Trump’s Truth Social Posts
What Happened: The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump over a Truth Social service selling faster access to his posts for up to $100,000 a month. More than 10 customers, mostly trading firms, have signed up, potentially giving them early access to presidential announcements capable of moving markets.
Why It Matters: Trump controls policies that moves markets while his company profits from selling faster access to his announcements. The lawsuit is challenging one of the more blatant ways Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself and his family.
Source: New York Times
Trump administration finalizes ownership reporting exemption for US firms
What Happened: Trump’s Treasury Department finalized a rule exempting U.S. companies and individuals from requirements to disclose their true owners to FinCEN, making permanent the rollback of a major anti-money laundering safeguard. Treasury will also delete beneficial ownership information previously submitted by Americans from the government database.
Source: Reuters
Power Consolidation
Markwayne Mullin uses Homeland Security to further Trump’s voter fraud crusade
What Happened: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has expanded DHS’s role in investigating “voter fraud,” deploying Homeland Security Investigations agents to pursue voter records and threatening election officials with penalties or even prison. DHS claimed more than 250,000 potential noncitizens were registered in four states but provided no names or methodology. Agents investigating individual cases repeatedly found false matches and people who had never registered or voted.
Why It Matters: Trump is turning DHS into an election enforcement operation built around his election lies. Federal agents are now pursuing voters and election officials months before the midterms, with states threatened with funding cuts and election officials threatened with prosecution if they resist.
Source: CNN
A New Draft Rule for the Census Seeks Sweeping Changes to How Political Power Is Allocated
What Happened: A draft Trump proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants and broad categories of other noncitizens from the population count used to allocate seats in Congress and eliminate the collection of race and ethnicity data from the Census. The changes would likely shift representation away from Democratic-leaning states while eliminating data used to challenge racial discrimination in voting.
Source: Talking Points Memo
DOJ legal office says Trump’s outside advisers can be shielded by executive privilege
What Happened: Trump’s Justice Department issued a legal opinion saying executive privilege can extend to private advisers who do not work for the federal government, potentially shielding their communications with Trump from congressional and legal investigations. The opinion comes months before the midterms, when a Democratic takeover of Congress will trigger investigations into Trump and his advisers.
Why It Matters: Trump’s DOJ is expanding executive privilege to people who don’t even work for the government, creating another shield around his inner circle just as he faces the possibility of congressional investigations.
Source: CBS News
Trump refuses to back down as Supreme Court blocks major policies
What Happened: Trump is pursuing new ways to impose policies the Supreme Court recently blocked, including restrictions on birthright citizenship, efforts to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and new tariffs. After the Court upheld birthright citizenship, Trump said, “We’re ending it a different way.”
Why It Matters: Trump is treating Supreme Court rulings as obstacles to get around rather than decisions he has to follow. If a president simply finds another way to do what the courts ruled he cannot do, judicial checks on presidential power become meaningless.
Source: The Washington Post
Weaponization of Institutions
Justice Department sends team to monitor Minnesota primary elections
What Happened: Trump’s DOJ deployed about 20 staffers to monitor voting in Hennepin and Ramsey counties during Minnesota’s primary, despite Hennepin County rejecting its request to place monitors inside polling locations. State law required the federal monitors to remain at least 100 feet from polling sites.
Why It Matters: Trump is pushing federal law enforcement deeper into state run elections months before the midterms. DOJ tried to put federal personnel inside polling places over the objections of local election officials.
Source: The Hill
Ex-Southern Poverty Law Center official faces federal fraud charges
What Happened: The DOJ charged former Southern Poverty Law Center official Heidi Beirich with fraud, false statement, and money laundering conspiracies, expanding its criminal case against the civil rights organization. The indictment comes after whistleblowers alleged DOJ officials rushed the original case despite objections from career prosecutors.
Source: MS NOW
Media Suppression & Authoritarian Tactics
The Government is Monitoring Anti-Flock TikTok and Instagram Accounts
What Happened: State, local, and federal law enforcement fusion centers are monitoring social media accounts and planned events associated with opposition to Flock license plate surveillance cameras. Intelligence bulletins identified activists, listed cities participating in upcoming protests, and urged police to increase patrols around the cameras while linking the broader movement to separate acts of “vandalism.”
Why It Matters: Government intelligence networks are tracking people organizing against mass surveillance and lumping lawful political activity together with criminal vandalism. Using government surveillance to track people protesting government surveillance is a great example of how a surveillance state operates.
Source: 404 Media
Human and Civil Rights Abuses
DHS cites recent policy shift after not disclosing death of Guatemalan man who had been in custody
What Happened: ICE did not publicly report the death of Guatemalan immigrant Jose Chajon-Raxon, who suffered an apparent seizure one day after entering Delaney Hall and was released from ICE custody while hospitalized. Under a policy adopted this year, ICE no longer investigates or reports deaths occurring within 30 days after someone leaves its custody.
Why It Matters: ICE can release critically ill detainees from custody and then avoid investigating or publicly reporting their deaths. The new policy creates a loophole that makes deaths connected to ICE detention easier to hide from Congress and the public.
Source: Associated Press
‘Shoved the tube so hard it tore my nose’: Kurdish film-maker recounts ‘inhumane’ ICE force-feeding
What Happened: ICE repeatedly force fed Kurdish asylum seeker and filmmaker Gabar Choli during a hunger strike, shackling and pinning him down while medical staff inserted a feeding tube through his nose and into his stomach. The practice continued intermittently for close to eight months, leaving him with injuries to his nose and esophagus, stomach problems, and psychological trauma.
Source: The Guardian
Government Disruption
FEMA’s ‘Shadow Administrator’ Was Paid by a DOGE Member’s Startup for Months
What Happened: Court filings show Kara Voorhies, an outside contractor described as FEMA’s “shadow administrator,” continued working inside DHS while being paid through a subcontracting chain involving a company owned by DOGE operative Kyle Schutt. Voorhies, who had no previous government experience, reviewed FEMA contracts and grants worth more than $100,000 while working alongside DOGE.
Why It Matters: A DOGE operative had access to FEMA systems while his own company was being used to pay a contractor influencing FEMA spending. People with private financial interests were being given power over billions in government funds.
Source: WIRED
Doctors say Trump’s vaccine order will raise fears, cause confusion and endanger kids
What Happened: Doctors and medical organizations warn Trump’s overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule will create confusion, increase vaccine hesitancy, and leave children vulnerable to preventable diseases. Trump called for separating and spacing out vaccines while again promoting conspiracies that childhood vaccines are linked to autism. This comes as the U.S. faces its largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years.
Source: Associated Press
Head of US travel association sounds alarm on potential expansion of visa bond program
What Happened: Trump made permanent a policy allowing the government to require visitors from 50 countries to post bonds of up to $20,000 for tourist or business visas. Visa issuances in those countries have fallen 83%, while overall overseas travel to the U.S. is down 4.3% this year and Canadian travel has fallen 25%.
Source: Reuters
Imperial & Geopolitical Watch
U.S. and Ukrainian Forces Went Head-to-Head in an Exercise. Ukraine’s Drones Won.
What Happened: Ukrainian drone operators defeated a U.S. armored brigade during a major Army exercise in Germany, locating vehicles and scoring simulated strikes so quickly that U.S. units had to be repeatedly returned to the exercise. The drill exposed U.S. vulnerabilities to the small drones that have transformed warfare in Ukraine.
Why It Matters: Trump continues to attack Ukraine instead of taking advantage of the battlefield expertise it has offered to share. Now U.S. troops are facing the same drone attacks from Iran that Ukraine has spent years learning how to defeat.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Strait of Hormuz ship traffic near three-month low as U.S.-Iran deal in doubt
What Happened: Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is about 90% below prewar levels as Trump’s agreement with Iran to reopen the waterway remains stalled. Iran says it will not fully reopen the strait until the U.S. meets its demands, while an interim June agreement has collapsed.
Source: CNBC
Far-Right & Russian Influence Watch
Sell Ukraine 10% of US Patriots and ‘we will destroy all the Russians’ ballistic missiles,’ Zelensky tells CNN
What Happened: Zelensky said Ukraine has only about 1% of the U.S. Patriot interceptor stockpile and is receiving 2.5 times fewer interceptors than in 2025, even as Russia has doubled its monthly ballistic missile attacks. He said 5% of U.S. stocks would protect Ukraine through the winter, while 10% would allow it to intercept all Russian ballistic missiles.
Source: CNN
Unmasking RussiaSweden Disrupts Russian Spy OperationWhile Europe is still dealing with the fallout from last week’s Russian terrorist attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport and revelations, literally on the same day, that Russian intelligence plotted to assassinate the head of a German drone manufacturer, Sweden announced Monday that it had disrupted yet another Russian intelligence operation…Read more7 days ago · 305 likes · 13 comments · Olga LautmanEconomic News
Workers’ Wage Gains Have Been Erased by Inflation
What Happened: Workers’ inflation adjusted hourly earnings fell 0.1% in July as inflation wiped out wage gains. Annual inflation reached 3.4%, with fuel prices up 39.1% from a year ago as Trump’s Iran war and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz drives energy costs higher.
Source: NOTUS
US officials warn of higher oil and gas prices due to Strait of Hormuz shutdown
What Happened: Trump’s Energy Information Administration raised its oil and gasoline price forecasts because of continued restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz. Gas is now projected to average $3.78 a gallon, up from $2.98 before the Iran war. Only eight vessels crossed the strait in a day compared with roughly 120 per day before the war.
Why It Matters: Trump says the Strait of Hormuz is open, but his own government says restrictions are continuing and driving energy prices higher. Americans are paying the price for a war Trump claimed was over in March.
Source: CNN
Resistance
Check out 50501 for local and nationwide events…
Source: 50501
By the Numbers
250,000+ — Noncitizen voter registrations DHS claimed without providing names, evidence, or methodology
$100,000 a month — What trading firms can pay for faster access to Trump’s market-moving posts
83% — Drop in visa issuances in countries subject to Trump’s visa bond program
90% — Drop in ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz from prewar levels
1% — Share of the U.S. Patriot interceptor stockpile Zelensky says Ukraine currently has
39.1% — Increase in fuel prices over the past year
$3.78 — Projected average gas price this year, up from $2.98 before Trump’s Iran war
What to Watch Next
DHS is deploying federal agents around Trump’s election lies — How far will the regime go in pressuring voters, election officials, and states before the midterms?
DOJ is expanding its presence around elections — Will federal election monitoring expand into more states as the midterms approach?
Trump is looking for ways around Supreme Court rulings — What happens if the courts say no and Trump continues to do it anyway?
ICE changed how deaths after detention are reported — How many deaths connected to ICE custody will disappear from public reporting under the new policy?
The government is surveilling political activists — Will Congress or courts step in as law enforcement networks are used to monitor Americans engaged in lawful political activity?
Key Takeaways
War Costs Rise — The Iran war is pushing fuel prices higher, disrupting nearly all traffic through Hormuz, and consuming military resources needed elsewher
Election Power Grab — DHS and DOJ are expanding their roles in elections while Trump pushes his election lies and threatens officials who resist federal demands.
Rule of Law — Trump is searching for ways around Supreme Court decisions while his DOJ builds new legal protections around his private advisers.
Surveillance State — Government networks are monitoring activists organizing against surveillance while ICE abuses continue with no transparency and accountability.
Vaccine Chaos — Trump is upending the childhood vaccine schedule and promoting conspiracies about autism as the U.S. faces its largest measles outbreak in more than 30 years.
Call to Action
Document Everything: Document purges, corruption, and power grabs. Share credible information with journalists, watchdogs, and legal experts. Silence enables authoritarianism—see something, say something.
Defend Press Freedom: Support independent journalism by subscribing to and sharing reporting that challenges Trump’s power grab.
Contact Lawmakers: Demand accountability for Trump’s unchecked power and war on oversight.
Mobilize for Action: Organize or join legal efforts and resistance movements to protect democracy and human and civil rights.
Thanks for reading the Trump Tyranny Tracker. Stay tuned for more updates.
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Donald Trump’s White House Declassified the Eric Swalwell File to Affect His Election
Reply source
The most important date you need to know about the Eric Swalwell files (Swalwell investigative file, Fang informant file) that John Solomon oversold, again, the other day, are not the ones that show that Eric Swalwell was probably fucking a Chinese spy in the same time frame that he reportedly had a “fling” with then Congressional Intern Katie Waldman around 2014, nor that the investigation into whether Swalwell knowingly accepted foreign donations from Christine Fang lasted into the time he served on the Intelligence Committee.The most important date is the date the White House declassified the files: March 23, several months in advance of the California gubernatorial primary on June 2, and several weeks before Swalwell dropped out of the race on April 12 in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct.
The story the files tell is only damning to the extent it reveals Swalwell would fuck a young woman who showed up at his door uninvited, as he described doing with Fang, without thinking twice about it.
But we learned far worse than that from the reporting leading up to his resignation.
The files describe that FBI started testing whether Fang would make a worthwhile informant about the Chinese intelligence ties her family had in March 2013. But in June 2013, the FBI discovered she had solicited donations on behalf of Swalwell, and the FBI switched focus from Chinese spies to a Democratic Congressman (Fang seems to have had closer ties to then-Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison than Swalwell). The following spring, the FBI closed Fang as an informant and then laid out a plan, using an informant, to test whether Swalwell would accept donations from China. They formally opened the investigation targeting Swalwell in June 2014. In 2015, they tried to get Swalwell to accept a donation via Fang. On April 30, 2015, the FBI did a defensive briefing for Swalwell, and Swalwell offered up numerous details about Fang (and asked whether she may have surveilled his campaign). Days later (presumably having discovered he was neither hiding nor protecting her), on May 5, 2015, the FBI did a formal interview, where Swalwell admitted he had had sex with Fang. The FBI continued to interview others — the intern Fang placed in Swalwell’s office, the winery owner who had provided Fang assistance, and the Burger King owner who had also supported Fang — who had ties to Fang’s introduction to Swalwell.
The latter interview is interesting for the observation that he “did recall FANG being upset in the past when SWALWELL had a girlfriend.” After all, the period when Fang was cultivating Swalwell squarely overlaps with the period when Stephen Miller’s future wife reportedly had a fling with Swalwell.
In October 2015, FBI gave up its plan to try to get Swalwell to accept Chinese donations; it turns out Fang had figured out the FBI informant was an FBI informant.
In March 2016, the FBI interviewed Swalwell again to obtain testimony to present to a grand jury. He told them about the time Fang showed up at his door and they had sex, in more detail (but he claims he couldn’t remember details because he had taken an Ambien). He also told them about the shit show fundraising event at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, where Fang hadn’t delivered the donations she promised but had tried to get him into her grand suite, that had originally raised concerns.
In February 2017, the FBI closed down the part of the investigation targeting Swalwell. While Fang had tried to donate to him, he had returned the donations she attempted to give him. She had committed a crime, FBI had concluded; he had not, a clearer exoneration than the one Robert Mueller came to about Trump’s knowing acceptance of help from Russians in 2016.
In May 2017, the FBI shut down the investigation. Not because Jack Smith was going easy on a Democrat, as frothy right wingers are claiming, but because Fang had fled the country and in any case, the Special Agent in Charge in San Francisco, “determined that prosecution is non-viable due to national security reasons.”
When you publicly release details of the FBI’s counterintelligence operations, as Trump now has, you help foreign spies.
In fact, some of this was aired in real time. On March 28, before Swalwell dropped out of the gubernatorial race, WaPo reported that Kash was planning on releasing the files.
FBI Director Kash Patel is pressing to release a decade-old investigative file involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, recently dispatching agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to quickly redact the files before they are released publicly despite no evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell, according to three people familiar with the effort.
Two days later, still before Swalwell dropped out of the gubernatorial race, WaPo reported that Norm Eisen and Sean Hecker sent a cease and desist letter to stave off the release.
Swalwell’s attorneys, Sean Hecker and Norman L. Eisen, wrote in Monday’s letter that releasing the Swalwell documents would violate several laws, including the federal Privacy Act of 1974. It would also violate the First Amendment, they added, since it would amount to targeting Swalwell for his outspoken views about President Donald Trump.
The cease-and-desist letter also warned against running afoul of the long-standing Justice Department norm that law enforcement agents should refrain from taking any public investigatory steps against a political candidate in the 60 days before an election, to prevent even the appearance of the department using its power to sway the vote.
“For these reasons, we demand that you cease and desist from all efforts to publicly disclose any investigative files concerning Congressman Swalwell, including any effort to dispatch agents to gather, redact, and prepare such files for release,” the letter said.
And now we find out that some unnamed person at the White House did declassify those files, all ready to go to affect an election.
The day after Swalwell stepped down, Katie Miller complained that the timing of all this was suspect, complained about a “coordinated takedown” the likes of which the White House already had planned for Swalwell.
Back in March, when the release of these files were only a potential future hit job, WaPo revealed that Kash was considering sending Agents to China to seek dirt on Swalwell.
As FBI director, Patel has focused on trying to bring a criminal case against the outspoken Democrat, reassigning multiple agents in San Francisco to work on the matter, the current and former officials said. FBI leaders have even discussed sending agents to China to talk to the suspected intelligence operative, believing she could have damaging information about Swalwell, according to two of the people familiar with the investigation.
[snip]
The lengths that Patel’s circle is going to in the bid to pursue a political foe of the president have raised alarms within the bureau, where some officials fear that releasing the files — even with redactions — could compromise law enforcement sources and investigatory methods, making it harder for the FBI to gain trust with potential witnesses.
They also said they feared the repercussions of sending agents to the territory of an adversarial nation to dig up information on a sitting congressman. Such an interview, legal experts said, would be impossible without Chinese interference, and Fang would be considered an unreliable witness.
Since then, Kash’s favorite mouthpiece for propaganda, Jana Winter, revealed that Kash — who had at least used to own $5 million in Shein stock — had traveled to China himself in late July.
Patel returned from a trip to Beijing in late July, and a similar trip to Russia has been tentatively planned for October, according to FBI officials.
In exclusive interviews with Reuters, Patel described the FBI’s initiatives with what he called “non-traditional partners” as selective and limited to specific types of transnational crimes such as global child pornography networks and cyber scam centers that prey on Americans.
[snip]
During his trip to Asia last month, Patel met with Chinese Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Vice Minister Xu Datong to deepen what Chinese state media described as “practical cooperation” on a range of criminal activities.
Winter’s credulous piece also served to prep Kash’s trip to Russia in October.
Kash Patel didn’t just redact the Fang files in March. The White House declassified them, in the middle of an election campaign.
Which is a far more damning detail than anything in the actual files.
The post Donald Trump’s White House Declassified the Eric Swalwell File to Affect His Election appeared first on emptywheel.
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Canicule en prison : de la torture institutionnalisée
Peut-on vivre une canicule en prison comme n'importe où ailleurs ? Dans cet entretien, la chercheuse et autrice Hélène Nogues-Brunet revient sur son livre "Surveiller, punir et réinsérer en Anthropocène", qui relit le travail de Michel Foucault à l'aune…Reply source -
Canicules : 7 300 morts en excès selon Santé publique France
Reply source
Le bilan provisoire de la surmortalité lors des vagues de chaleur de l'été 2026 s'élève désormais à 7 300 morts, a annoncé mercredi 19 août Santé publique France. Au moins 1 243 décès en excès, toutes causes confondues, ont été enregistrés rien que du 3 au 22 juillet, date à laquelle s'arrête ce bilan provisoire.
Lire la suite - En bref / Santé , Canicule
Près des trois quarts de ces disparitions « concernent les personnes âgées de 75 ans et plus », plus vulnérables car elles souffrent souvent de comorbidités. Cet épisode (…) -
Unhinged White House response shows senator’s ‘Natalie’ barb struck a nerve
Reply sourceSenator Jon Ossoff, who is up for re-election, came up with arguably the standout line of the midterm elections so far
Jon Ossoff really struck a nerve. That much is clear.
The US senator for Georgia, running for re-election in November, came up with arguably the standout line of the midterm elections campaign so far when discussing Donald Trump at a rally on Sunday.
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« Une des plus grandes maladies de nos rivières françaises, c’est l’incision »
Reply source« Jusqu'à présent, le sport national c'était d'envoyer le plus vite possible l’eau à la mer. L’enjeu aujourd’hui, c'est de garder l'eau sur le bassin versant. »
Cet article « Une des plus grandes maladies de nos rivières françaises, c’est l’incision » est apparu en premier sur La Relève et La Peste.
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Les Américains disent non aux data centers d’IA : face à la fronde, les Big Tech sortent le carnet de chèques et les Etats serrent la vis
Reply sourceLa fronde continue de grossir aux Etats-Unis contre les projets de méga data centers. Les grandes entreprises technologiques doivent composer avec cette opposition des populations locales. Ce mouvement est suffisamment important pour commencer à peser sur les projets et pousser les responsables politiques à intervenir.
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La justice française ordonne la remise à l’Allemagne du militant antifasciste «Gino»
Le ressortissant albanais est accusé de violences commises en marge d’un défilé néonazi à Budapest en 2023. Libéré en avril après que Paris a refusé son extradition vers la Hongrie, il fait l’objet d’un nouveau mandat européen émis par Berlin.Reply source -
Canicule: 1 243 morts «en excès» en juillet lors de la deuxième vague de chaleur
Avec 1 243 décès excédentaires enregistrés du 3 au 22 juillet, la deuxième vague de chaleur de l’été 2026, moins meurtrière que celle de fin juin, porte à 7 300 morts le bilan encore provisoire des victimes des fortes températures cette année, a annoncé mercredi Santé publique France.Reply source -
Decoding America: Why Maga vaccine scepticism might be catching – podcast
Reply sourceIn this episode of Guardian Australia’s US politics podcast, co-hosts Reged Ahmad and Jonathan Yerushalmy look at what the reported food shortages and mental health crisis on the USS Lincoln say about whether the US military is stretched too thin as the war on Iran drags on.
They also look at Donald Trump’s vaccine executive order and why experts are fearful it could spread vaccine hesitancy to Australia. Finally, what’s the update on Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s long-running bromance?
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« Les cartes zombies sont de retour en ligne » : comment une faille Visa permet de ressusciter des cartes expirées
Reply source
Trois chercheurs ont démontré qu'une carte bancaire périmée peut, dans certaines conditions, redevenir opérationnelle en paiement sans contact.
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US treasury doubles debt buyback to steady bond market amid inflation fears
Reply sourceInterest rates, now sitting at about 3.5-3.7%, expected to go up if inflation doesn’t come down to Fed’s 2% target
The US treasury is doubling its buyback of government debt in an effort to balance out the bond market as officials at the US Federal Reserve remain divided over how to deal with high inflation.
The yield rate on 10-year, 20-year and 30-year treasury notes all hit 20-year highs this week, with the 30-year treasury yield rising to its highest rate since 2007. The rapid rise was concerning news for borrowers as major loans, including mortgages, are backed by treasuries.
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« Offensives sur l'urbanisme » : la loi Montagne officiellement publiée
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La loi « pour une montagne vivante et souveraine » a été publiée le 19 août matin au Journal officiel. Cette nouvelle législation constitue un « détricotage » de la protection des milieux montagnards, déplorait l'association Mountain Wilderness auprès de Reporterre lors de son vote à l'Assemblée nationale cet été.
Lire la suite - En bref / Montagne
« Offensives sur l'urbanisme »
Au nom de la simplification, la loi assouplit les règles d'urbanisme pour faciliter le développement immobilier en montagne, qui devait jusqu'ici (…) -
Claude peut désormais envoyer des mails à votre place, même sans validation
Reply source
Claude peut désormais rédiger, transférer et envoyer des mails directement depuis Gmail, a annoncé Anthropic le 18 août 2026. Une nouvelle étape vers un assistant capable d’agir à votre place, avec une validation humaine activée par défaut.
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Info.gouv.fr : attention vos données fuitent, étonnant, non ? (Non)
Reply sourceMême si elles ne sont pas piratées vos données personnelles partent vers des boites privées
Nous vous le racontions dans un récent édito, Google en sait plus sur vous que votre moitié ou que vos parents. Même punition avec la plupart des plateformes et les data brokers. Ce qui est particulièrement énervant, c’est que même les sites publics « monétisent » vos visites. Exemple avec le site du gouvernement info.gouv.fr
Nos données personnelles fuyant dans l'immensité du cyberespac, circa 2025 (Allégorie)
Vous pensiez peut-être que lors d’une visite sur le site du gouvernement français, les données personnelles qui accompagnent votre « surf » ne s’éparpillaient pas aux quatre coins de la planète et plus précisément sur des serveurs et dans des lacs de données d’entreprises privées qui les utiliseront peut-être pour gagner de l’argent en les revendant ou qui risquent d'être piratés un jour ? Erreur.
Reprenons. Nous vous racontions dans un édito récent que lorsque vous chargez une page sur le Web, un certain nombre d’informations sont envoyées au serveur que vous consultez.
Par exemple, votre adresse IP qui est généralement géolocalisable, la version exacte de votre système d’exploitation, celle de notre navigateur, l’adresse de la page qui vous a amené là si vous avez cliqué sur un lien, la taille de votre écran (ce qui donne une indication sur votre device) et sa résolution (une information sur vos moyens financiers).
Si le site visité garde ces informations dans ses logs sans rien en faire à part de la mesure d’audience avec un logiciel dédié et hébergé par ledit site, pourquoi pas (c'est ce que nous faisons chez Reflets, et encore, vous pouvez désactiver cela dans votre espace personnel).
Mais que se passe-t-il s’il délègue la mesure d’audience à Google comme 80% des sites. Ou à un autre opérateur privé ? Que se passe-t-il si le site construit ses pages à la volée (lorsque vous la chargez) en utilisant des composants fournis par des entreprises tierces ?
Par...
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Trump says US and Canada have reached last-minute deal to delay 50% US tariffs on Canadian imports
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was delaying the 50% U.S. tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports after the two countries reached a last-minute deal less than two hours before the sanctions were to go into effect. The announcement, which Trump made on his social media platform, buys time for more negotiations and avoids, for now, another strain in already tense relations between the historic allies.Reply source -
Who Is Natalie Harp? NYT Reporter Maggie Haberman on Trump's Aide & His Attacks on Women Reporters
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Maggie Haberman is the co-author of the new book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump. In the book, Haberman and her fellow New York Times journalist Jonathan Swan provide an inside look at how the administration has handled many of the biggest crises of Trump's second term. Haberman, who has been reporting on Trump since the 1990s, details his frequent attacks on the press over critical reporting, particularly against female reporters. She also discusses the renewed controversy over his close aide Natalie Harp, whom Haberman describes as "something like a human binky" for Trump.Reply source -
L'acétamipride réautorisé : la loi d'urgence agricole est officiellement adoptée
Reply source
La loi d'urgence agricole a été promulguée mercredi 19 août. Elle autorise la réintroduction dérogatoire de l'acétamipride et du flupyradifurone, deux pesticides interdits en France. Ce texte va également permettre de faciliter les tirs de loups et les procédures pour la construction de mégabassines — afin de doubler les volumes d'eau stockés d'ici 2035 — et de fermes-usines.
Lire la suite - En bref / Pesticides , Agriculture , Politique
Dans la foulée, Mathilde Panot, la présidente du groupe de La France Insoumise à l'Assemblée nationale, a annoncé (…) -
Open Thread: Ask Broadcast TV Viewers, “Natalie Who?”
Reply source
[NB: check the byline, thanks. /~Rayne]I have the unenviable opportunity to consume far too much broadcast TV these days, albeit second hand. I also have the unenviable opportunity to do this inside the same broadcast media market where Mar-a-Lago resides.
What I noticed after the end of the barrage of MAGA-laden Florida primary ads and coverage on Tuesday-Wednesday this past week is that viewers who rely on broadcast TV for their news will have learned abso-fucking-lutely nothing about Trump’s aide Natalie Harp or how the White House freaked out after Sen. Jon Ossoff mentioned her in a campaign speech last weekend.
You’ll see what I mean if you go to YouTube and do these searches:
abc world news tonight august 2026
nbc nightly news august 2026
cbs evening news august 2026
You’ll see videos of the telecast programs each of these three major broadcast TV networks have published online.
You’ll also see that ABC and NBC do a nice job of breaking out links to each of the stories they cover and including those links in the summary area below the video.
CBS, however, doesn’t do this. You’ll have to go through the news program to find each story they covered.
CBS also has an other interesting difference from ABC and NBC: there’s no August 19, 2026 program uploaded to YouTube at all. The telecast from the day before and the day after are both there, but not the 19th. Was this telecast video purged? Is this Bari Weiss and David Ellison’s work?
What all three networks share in common: not a single mention of Natalie Harp or Jon Ossoff’s mention of her.
A sizable swath of voters learned nothing about this national security risk, or how the White House has tried to protect Harp in spite of the risk she and her lack of security clearance have posed.
These broadcast TV viewers have been saturated with news about celebrity Hayden Pannetiere’s death, they’ll have learned more than they wanted about Meghan Markle and her spouse Prince Harry moving back to the UK, they’ll have been informed about damage from natural disasters and aircraft crashes.
But not a damned thing about Trump having handled Harp’s security clearance after she refused to get one for a year while working as his aide.
Cable news is very different; much of what the very-online learned about Harp’s relationship to Trump has been shaped by reporting by MS Now and CNN. These networks have programs published on YouTube which include coverage, discussion, and analysis of Harp’s relationship with Trump. (Did I check Fox News? Hah, of course not.)
The largest newspapers also pose a problem.
NYTimes has an article in Thursday’s issue, on A15; see the blurb at the bottom of the front page which reads, “’With all my heart, Natalie’ President Trump’s devoted White House aide and gatekeeper Natalie Harp is always by his side. What, exactly, does she do?”
https://d2dr22b2lm4tvw.cloudfront.net/ny_nyt/2026-08-20/front-page.pdf (Change the day’s date in the URL to see 8/19-8/22 front pages.)
But nothing more mentioned on Friday’s or Saturday’s front pages.
And nothing appeared on the front pages of these major US city newspapers:
Washington Post
https://dedq39jz5ilmb.cloudfront.net/20260819/A01_RE_EZ_DAILY_20260819.pdf (Change the day’s date in two places in this URL to see 8/19-8/22 front pages
Chicago Sun-Times
https://d2dr22b2lm4tvw.cloudfront.net/il_cst/2026-08-19/front-page.pdf (Change the day’s date in the URL to see 8/19-8/22 front pages.)Chicago Tribune
https://d2dr22b2lm4tvw.cloudfront.net/il_ct/2026-08-19/front-page.pdf (Change the day’s date in the URL to see 8/19-8/22 front pages.)Los Angeles Times
https://d2dr22b2lm4tvw.cloudfront.net/ca_lat/2026-08-19/front-page.pdf (Change the day’s date in the URL to see 8/19-8/22 front pages.)If the same voters relied on these papers as well as broadcast network TV for their news, they don’t know about Natalie Harp let alone that she poses an enormous national security risk to the US as well as Trump.
If asked today these same voters are likely to respond, “Natalie who?”
Granted, you may also have zero interest in Trump’s fangirl-office-wife-side-piece. But if you’ve been reading this site regularly, you know Harp is a national security risk.
Imagine broadcast news media similarly failing to report on other national security risks. It’s not a stretch because I know the three major broadcast news networks are NOT reporting on Trump’s war on Iran in any depth as just one example; they’re not connecting it to inflation experienced in the US along with the rest of the world. The war gets the same or less coverage than any celebrity issue du jour.
It’s going to be on each of us to fix this — becoming our own form of distribution system, supporting news outlets doing better coverage — as our broadcast TV news media and major newspapers continue to fail us. Disney-ABC may finally have gotten a spine to fight back against Trump’s censorship, but they’re still under his thumb in their refusal to confront Trump by tackling controversial topics involving him.
This is an open thread, bring your off-topic material here as well as your media criticism.
The post Open Thread: Ask Broadcast TV Viewers, “Natalie Who?” appeared first on emptywheel.
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Atelier d'écriture aux prisonnier.es -L'Argentière
Reply source
A partir de 18h30 venez a l'espace saint Jean a l'argentiere la bessee pour un atelier d'écriture au prisonnier.es
Venez rencontrer les gens qui offrent le café aux familles devant la prison à Gap et qui, ce 26 aout, au centre social de l'Argentiere, ramènent stylos, feutres et envellopes pour ecrire a des enfermé.e.s qui cherchent des correspondant.e.s pour lutter contre l'isolement carcéral.
Pas besoin d'être un.e crack en orthographe ou en dessin, pas même besoin de savoir écrire le français ! Pas besoin non plus de connaître la prison, d'y avoir un proche (mais si c'est le cas, on vous aidera a faire la 1ere lettre avec plaisir). On vous apporte des adresses et des combines et puis on s'y met ensemble... on peut même partager un apéro ensuite !
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Les éleveurs rattrapés par la sécheresse jusque dans les alpages
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Les troupeaux souffrent de la sécheresse et du manque d'eau dans les alpages. Dans les Pyrénées, la situation devient critique et contraint certains éleveurs à redescendre précipitamment leurs bêtes.
Lire la suite - Reportage / Agriculture , Montagne , Canicule
Seix et Aleu (Ariège), reportage
« La situation est catastrophique. Je viens ici depuis vingt-deux ans et je n'avais jamais vu cela. » Près de la cabane de Subéra, dans les Pyrénées ariégeoises, environ 130 bovins errent sur des prairies jaunies par le soleil, à la recherche d'herbe fraîche. (…) -
Disposer de son corps, une lutte encore inachevée
Contraception, avortement, stérilisations forcées pour les unes mais interdites pour les autres: le corps des femmes japonaises est toujours sous contrôle, malgré des décennies de mobilisations. L’archipel attend toujours d’elles qu’elles fassent avant tout des enfants. Troisième volet de notre série.Reply source -
Le pouvoir des monopoles technologiques passé au crible
Dans son dernier ouvrage, «The Rulers», l’économiste Cecilia Rikap décrit la nature originale de la domination exercée par les géants du numérique. Leur contrôle direct et indirect sur l’ensemble de l’économie et l’intelligence artificielle renforce encore le phénomène.Reply source -
Dans l’urgence du séisme, la Colombie réoriente sa diplomatie en s’alignant avec Tel-Aviv et Washington
Investi le 7 août, Abelardo de la Espriella doit affronter les conséquences du phénomène sismique qui a frappé le pays trois jours plus tard. Au milieu du marasme, le chef d’État d’extrême droite a esquissé une diplomatie de rupture avec la ligne de son prédécesseur.Reply source -
Natalie Harp Is the Unsupervised Gatekeeper to the Man with the Nuclear Buttons
Reply source
The first story I unpacked about Natalie Harp was this one, from Marc Caputo, who was and remains exceedingly well-connected with right wing Floridians (Though the first time I mentioned her discussed how unvetted her 2020 Convention speech to Trump was.)In a story that broke the news that Harp had posted a video promising Trump would bring about a “unified Reich,” Caputo instead focused on her gatekeeping role.
Perhaps more than anyone else, Harp gatekeeps much of what Trump sees on social media and reads in the news.
“IF YOU WANT THE PRESIDENT TO SEE SOMETHING, the best route is Natalie,” says a knowledgeable source who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the internal workings of Trump’s inner team and who has passed information to the candidate via Harp. “Don’t underestimate her importance.”
Much later in the story, Caputo described that Trump’s campaign staffers didn’t supervise Harp.
“No one spends as much time on this campaign around him as Natalie,” said one insider. “If people think she’s an airhead because of her looks, they don’t understand how smart she is and how much the president relies on her.”
The campaign’s co-managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, don’t directly oversee Harp and, the source said, and essentially leave her alone.
“Natalie fills a role and Chris and Susie know that’s what he wants,” the source said, “so they focus on other things.”
In the WSJ’s story from yesterday introducing Harp to those just checking in, they describe her the same way: She’s the gatekeeper.
To Democrats, Harp is one of the president’s chief enablers. For Republicans, she is Trump’s gatekeeper. A well-timed text to Harp can unlock access to Trump, giving well-known lobbyists and fringe figures alike an audience with the most powerful man in the world.
They, too, emphasize that no one supervises Harp — still not Susie Wiles, not Trump’s comms team, not what they euphemistically call his national security team.
The shortest path to getting something on the Resolute Desk, the people said, is often through Harp. One person close to the White House said that Harp’s cellphone number is even more precious than Trump’s.
White House officials say Harp hasn’t taken a single vacation day since joining the Trump administration and remains in constant contact with the president, sitting in on Situation Room meetings, Oval Office meetings and meetings aboard Air Force One in his private office.
While all executive staff work for the president, Harp reports exclusively to Trump and no one else, according to people familiar with the dynamic. She has at times ruffled feathers among White House aides by immediately following through on Trump’s directives without first checking in with the chief of staff, the communications office or the national-security team.
In the wake of Jon Ossoff’s mere suggestion that Trump was traveling with Natalie rather than focusing on winning a war, several new anecdotes have come out.
Just a week after we learned that Harp was among the aides who snuck out of Old Air Force One in a catering cart — a story that Trump went to unprecedented lengths to squelch, in part because only Harp and a few other people knew about the story — we learn that Trump went on a similarly paranoid hunt in 2024 when her devotional letters were leaked by one of the “tiny number of people” who had access to them.
It was late November 2024. Donald Trump hadn’t even been sworn back into office yet, and yet he was already busy ordering up the kind of sweeping leak hunts that would come to define much of his second presidency.
The president-elect was absolutely livid, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told me. On Nov. 25 that year, the New York Times ran a story that quoted from a series of leaked “devotional letters” that close Trump aide and confidant, Natalie Harp, had written to her boss. Eyebrow-raising lines included, “You are all that matters to me.”
“I want to bring you joy,” Harp warmly penned, “to feel like we can get through a day without ever having to talk ‘work.’”
Trump, the sources said, was furious about this for days, and ordered advisers to conduct what one of the sources called an expansive “mole hunt” to figure out who leaked the private correspondence – or, “love letters,” as some Trump advisers mockingly called them. The president-elect privately bellowed about how there were a tiny number of people, including himself, who had access to Harp’s letters, and that he considered it a towering “invasion of privacy” for anyone to leak them.
One of the three sources says they were “interviewed” by Trump officials for the informal leak probe, and that they were asked to hand over their phone for inspection. It is unclear if Trump ever found the “moles” responsible.
I gotta believe that Harp is one of the few people Trump would never suspect of leaking his most sensitive details.
Then there are the multiple stories — one describing her living in the Bedminster locker room to evade Secret Service distancing, another describing her squishing into an SUV to ensure she would be at his court appearance — which have been presented as testament to just how nutso Harp is about her boss.
White House aide Natalie Harp’s closeness to Trump had “alarmed” the Secret Service and unnerved his 2024 campaign staff.
Matthews’ comments, made during an appearance on CNN’s Laura Coates Live on Monday, came a day after Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, singled out Harp by name at a campaign rally, accusing Trump of preferring to “travel with Natalie” instead of doing his job.
“They tried to get her to not stay at Bedminster that summer while they were on the campaign trail, because even campaign staff recognized that it was a weird relationship between the two,” Matthews said, referring to efforts by Trump’s 2024 campaign staff to keep Harp from staying with him at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club.
“So what did Natalie Harp do? She found a workaround. She stayed in the women’s locker room all summer long. So I think that it’s fair to point out the sycophancy of her in particular, and their close relationship.”
Or, they could be viewed as a measure of the extent to which she will go to ensure she retains her gatekeeper role.
The far right wants to pretend Ossoff’s comment was a slur about an innocent young lady who is in fact a gutter racist who is, at 35, pushing middle age, especially by Trump’s standards. They want to pretend this is a debate about whether the old man with cankles that look like pumpkins is fucking the aide that looks like Ivanka.
And all the while we’re not talking about what it means that anyone with a trusted relationship with Harp could learn anything about Donald Trump, could learn the content of all his meetings, all his messages, all his phone calls, could pass him — and pass on, in his name — any kind of untoward message.
Natalie Harp may be just what the far right wants to pretend she is: A staffer who has gone nutso for her boss, and therefore lavishes the kind of treatment on him that his increasingly fragile ego needs to function in the face of Narcissistic injuries.
But if she were something else, no one would be in a position to know about it.
Correction: I originally said that Trump and Harp snuck out of the Flying Bribery Palace. But it was Old Air Force One.
The post Natalie Harp Is the Unsupervised Gatekeeper to the Man with the Nuclear Buttons appeared first on emptywheel.
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Cet opérateur téléphonique veut nous éloigner des écrans
Reply source
L'opérateur mobile Telecoop et son modèle coopératif détonnent dans le secteur des télécoms. Son forfait qui récompense la sobriété numérique rencontre du succès auprès de ceux qui cherchent des alternatives éthiques.
Lire la suite - Reportage / Économie , Quotidien , Numérique , Alternatives
19ᵉ arrondissement de Paris, reportage
« Moins vous consommez, moins vous payez. » La promesse sur laquelle repose le modèle économique de Telecoop, petit poucet des télécommunications est pour le moins curieuse. Débarquée sur le marché des opérateurs téléphoniques en 2020, (…) -
Trump is full speed ahead in making money off being the US president | Margaret Sullivan
Reply sourceSome restraint on Trump’s excesses might be accomplished if November’s midterm elections give Democrats more power
Donald Trump is essentially unrestrained when it comes to enriching himself during his second term, with no sign of stopping. If anything, he’s ramping things up.
The numbers so far are astonishing. He amassed $2.2bn in 2025 revenues, the Guardian and other news outlets have reported.
Continue reading... -
Ligue 1+ : une infime partie des matchs sera proposée en 4K UHD pour la saison 2026/2027
Reply source
La plateforme Ligue 1+ s'apprête à lancer le coup d'envoi de sa deuxième saison. Deux nouveautés cette année : 100 % des matchs chaque week-end, et quelques affiches en 4K UHD.
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L’Américain Groq lève 350 millions de dollars et se réinvente en cloud d’inférence après son accord avec Nvidia
Reply sourceGroq veut tourner la page. La start-up américaine vient de boucler une série A de 350 millions de dollars (300 millions d’euros environ). L’opération, menée par la société d’investissement Disruptive, valorise désormais l’entreprise à 3,5 milliards de dollars, contre 6,9 milliards de dollars il y a moins d’un an.
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Les autorités polonaises ont-elles recours à des drones pour repérer les chiens maltraités ?
Reply source
Source :Compte Facebook, le 17 août 2026
Etiqe :aucune preuve
Contenu :
La Pologne a-t-elle déployé des patrouilles aériennes pour endiguer la maltraitance animale ? A en croire plusieurs internautes, Varsovie aurait recours à des drones « équipés d’imagerie thermique et de caméras puissantes » pour localiser des chiens attachés pendant de longues heures ou bien dans de mauvaises conditions.
« Les caméras thermiques peuvent détecter la chaleur émise par un animal, tandis que les caméras zoom peuvent aider les inspecteurs à voir les conditions autour de lui sans passer des heures à [fouiller] des propriétés grandes ou éloignées. Pour un chien laissé à l’extérieur dans un temps glacial, ces heures sauvées pourraient avoir une importance importante », explique un internaute, visiblement bien renseigné.
Le président de la République polonais, Karol Nawrocki, a bien promulgué, le 27 juillet, une nouvelle loi relative au bien-être animal qui interdit aux propriétaires de chats et de chiens de les garder attachés, sauf exceptions (transport, vétérinaire, le temps d’une course…). La précédente loi autorisait à restreindre l’animal pendant 12 heures. Mais le texte n’entrera en vigueur que dans un an. Et surtout, il ne prévoit aucun dispositif de repérage des contrevenants à l’aide de drones.
Aucun article de presse polonais ne rapporte l’utilisation de drones à imagerie thermique pour repérer les chiens immobilisés par leurs propriétaires. La première occurrence de cette rumeur figure sur un site commercial faisant la promotion de produits de beauté et contenant de nombreux articles piège-à-clics. L’article en question ne cite aucune source à l’origine de cette information.
Contacté, le ministère de l’Agriculture polonais n’a pas donné suite à nos sollicitations. L’antenne de la police nationale de la région de Varsovie affirme, quant à elle, « ne pas conduire de telles activités ».
Si l’existence des drones patrouilleurs polonais reste très hypothétique, l’imagerie thermique aérienne est bel et bien employée ailleurs dans le monde, non pas pour repérer des chiens attachés, mais pour retrouver des animaux perdus ou abandonnés.
Auteurs :
Auteur : Nicolas Turcev, journaliste
Relectrice : Clara Robert-Motta, journaliste
Liens d’intérêts ou fonctions politiques déclarés des intervenants à l’article : aucun
Secrétariat de rédaction : Nicolas Turcev, journaliste
L’article Les autorités polonaises ont-elles recours à des drones pour repérer les chiens maltraités ? est apparu en premier sur Les Surligneurs.
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