Another indictment: A Virginia grand jury indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on two criminal charges Thursday following intense pressure from Trump to bring the case. The move comes two weeks after Lindsey Halligan, the president's newly installed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, also secured an indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, report Carol Leonnig, Ken Dilanian and Vaughn Hillyard. Halligan presented the evidence against James alone, after a senior supervisor told colleagues that she did not see probable cause. Trump has vowed to punish a long list of perceived enemies, publicly singling out James and Comey multiple times. Read more.
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Relief in the Middle East: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet approved the first phase of Trump's 20-point peace plan on Thursday, ushering in a welcome ceasefire across war-torn Gaza. But this early success is just a first step, writes Defense Priorities fellow Daniel R. DePetris. Israel and Hamas haven't yet come to terms on the entirety of the complicated plan. And Trump’s administration will need to keep pressure on all sides if it truly wants to prevent more rounds of fighting in the future. Read more.
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Frozen ICE: The Trump administration's decisions during the shutdown speak volumes, especially when it comes time to pay bills. While the Environmental Protection Agency sent home 89% of its staff, the Department of Homeland Security furloughed only 8%, writes Zeeshan Aleem. The priorities are clear. While DHS is continuing immigration enforcement, the White House shut down the Office of Detention Oversight, which inspects detention centers to make sure they comply with federal standards for the safe and humane treatment of migrants. Read more.
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Trump's Guard: The Trump administration is currently attempting to send federalized National Guard troops from other states into Oregon to deal with the allegedly "war-ravaged" streets of downtown Portland. If successful, this would essentially lift all meaningful limits on the president's powers over the National Guard despite the objection of a state's elected officials, writes Loyola law professor Jessica Levinson. A district court judge already found that the situation on the ground did not warrant sending in troops, but the administration is hoping it can win on appeals. The president does not need free rein over the National Guard — and Congress should step in if the courts don't. Read more.
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Amazon subprime: As Amazon hypes its "Prime Big Deal Days" this fall, it's worth taking a closer look at the people behind the numbers. The biggest obstacle to the company's same-day and next-day delivery guarantees is the "last mile" problem — how to get a package to the doorstop of the person who ordered it, writes Julie Su, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. Amazon doesn't pay these delivery drivers directly, hiring them through third parties or an online platform. As a result, many workers report low wages, unpredictable schedules and a lack of benefits such as paid sick leave. (But at least those new headphones arrived on time!) Read more.
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On the opening day of this Supreme Court session, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wore a necklace made of intricately coiled South Carolina sweetgrass. The distinctive piece exemplifies the artistry of the Gullah Geechee people who used their roots in West Africa to create a distinct culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry, writes Michele Norris, who interviewed the justice via email for this powerful essay. Jackson, the nation's first Black woman justice, was given the necklace during her recent visit to the International African American Museum in Charleston, located at a historic entry point, where as many as 40% of the captured Africans sold into slavery arrived in North America. And this wasn't the first time that she's used a piece of jewelry to pay tribute to her ancestors, either. Read the column here.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith, newsletter editor |
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