July 12, 2026

Today's news has an unusual share of surprising stories, some of them cinematic, but all of them at least mostly real, beginning at the top.  

⭐Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died Saturday night, his office said in a statement early Sunday morning. 'On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,' according to the statement.... [At 2:40 am ET,] this is a developing story and will be updated.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You can't fool me. Lindsey did this only because Mitch has been getting all the attention. ~~~

     ~~~ Graham's New York Times obituary, by Robert Jimison, is here. 

Kathianne Boniello of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump has been enraged by reporting on the new Air Force One’s security flaws, according to a report. The president is 'fuming' after the scandal over the $400 retrofitted jet erupted in the press this week, sources told CNN. The story leapt into the spotlight after The New York Times asked Trump to explain why he wasn’t taking the new aircraft ... home from the NATO Summit in Turkey. Trump claimed the aircraft was instead being sent to military bases so it could be shown to soldiers. The explanation raised eyebrows and prompted intense criticism from those who didn’t believe the commander in chief.... MS NOW’s Carol Leonnig ... said US Secret Service sources have told her the president is 'embarrassed' by the Air Force One story. On Friday, the Trump administration issued subpoenas to four reporters from The Times — a shocking legal move that the outlet linked to its reporting revealing the aircraft’s security flaws.” There is speculation that Trump's anger also explains why Kash Patel had to cancel his Chicago play date at the last minute and rush to the White House. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Julia Jacobs & Zach Montague of the New York Times: “As the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts prepares for major renovations, former project managers there have sent Congress internal documents that they say show how the institution bypassed government contracting norms in work carried out under ... [Donald] Trump. The documents — sent to a Senate and a House committee last month by lawyers for unidentified clients referred to as whistle-blowers — detail how vendors were selected for work without competitive bidding under rationales that are depicted as flawed.... 'Renovations were rushed to meet the deadlines driven by the president’s desire to host official events at the center,' the letter says. 'Federal contracting laws and regulations were ignored.'... The center said in [a] statement that it had confirmed with the Office of Management and Budget that, as an independent entity, it was not bound by federal contracting regulations and that it had updated its procurement policy to be both fair and agile when making renovations.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Erica Green & Dylan Freedman of the New York Times: This past week, Donald Trump twice posted “a video of Somali American kindergartners in blue caps and gowns ... [one video] punctuated by a comment from an anonymous right-wing account...: “Every girl is in a hijab… in kindergarten.” In the 14-second video, the children are singing an upbeat Somali educational song.... Minnesota’s large Muslim and Somali communities ... expressed indignation that the president was again vilifying them, and disbelief that he was doing so by targeting children.... National civil rights organizations and state leaders added to local activists’ condemnation of the posts over the course of the week.... For more than a year, Mr. Trump has relentlessly attacked Minnesota’s Somali community in a series of xenophobic tirades.... [He] has long used his social media account to amplify racist imagery and vilify immigrant groups.

Little Marco Gets His Wish to Be President ... of Venezuela. Tyler Pager & Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: Marco Rubio “runs Venezuela from Washington. In the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro’s bedroom door and snatched him in the dead of night, Mr. Rubio has become the de facto viceroy of Venezuela, holding sway over a sovereign nation in a way that no American official has since L. Paul Bremer III arrived in Baghdad in 2003 to run U.S.-occupied Iraq. Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government.... While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over, the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr. Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis, with the imprimatur of the United States.... The relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez is ... a manifestation of Trump-era American power, in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and international law.” The link appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Reports and speculation had it that Kash Patel was forced to abruptly cancel his weekend plans because the White House objected to said weekend plans. (See links on yesterday's page.) But no. As we know, the Department of Justice --of which Kash's little operation is a part -- is no longer a quasi-independent, uncompromised arm of the federal government. ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: “The White House directed Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, to oversee a leak investigation into reporting by The New York Times about security issues with the new Air Force One, leading to a flurry of subpoenas to several Times reporters Friday night.... Mr. Patel scuttled a planned trip to Chicago and spent roughly eight hours at the White House on Friday, running the investigation from there rather than F.B.I. headquarters — a major departure from historical practice. Mr. Patel also briefed senior administration officials on the investigation, two people said.... The White House’s deep involvement in the case came after officials said that ... [Donald] Trump was enraged about the coverage of the Qatari-donated plane, which The Times reported Thursday lacks the same defensive countermeasures of the previous Air Force One....

“Mr. Patel’s role in the investigation, in close coordination with top administration officials, reflects a further dismantling of the wall that had separated the White House and the F.B.I. in previous administrations. The government’s effort to immediately seek information from journalists, when such cases are typically centered first on identifying potential internal wrongdoing by officials, comes as the Trump administration has intensified pressure on news organizations.” On the other hand, in 2016 Bill Clinton, the husband of Hillary Clinton, once spent a few minutes in an impromtu conversation with Attorney General Loretta Lynch where they chatted about their grandkids and all -- and right when the FBI was investigating the emails! And wow! that was bad. Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link.

Ha! Did an International Criminal Get the Better of Jared & Ivanka? Bennito Kelty of the Raw Story: "A Miami businessman wanted in Albania for alleged drug money laundering is suspected of faking deeds to the land where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner hope to build a multi-billion-dollar resort, new reports show. Albania's anticorruption prosecution service is investigating whether Artur Shehu transferred land to Albania Land Development, a Kushner-linked company, with forged deeds and falsified titles, according to reporting by Al Jazeera and Reuters.... Ivanka and Kushner's announcement that they plan to build a $1.6 billion luxury resort on Sazan Island, a protected nature preserve on Albania's largest island, already sparked mass protests. However, it hasn't stopped the couple from moving forward with the deal and snapping up coastal land. Shehu sold a strip of pristine Albanian coastline to Kushner's company in April, according to reporting by Reuters." ~~~  

     ~~~ Marie: A word of caution: sometimes when you pal around with criminals, your dreams turn into nightmares. In this case, love in the afternoon on a pristine island with proximity to large population centers of potential customers does not necessarily lead to condominial bliss. I'm sure Jared is a first-class negotiator and all (see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread), but it does help to know whom you're negotiating with. 

Sitting Ducks. Tara Copp & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: “It was March 1, barely a day into the U.S. war against Iran. [A] drone hit in the center of the building at Port Shuaiba [in Kuwait], its concussive blast hurling troops into walls and igniting a deadly fire, survivors of the strike told The Washington Post.... Many expressed anger toward [Brig. Gen. Clint] Barnes and the commander above him, Maj. Gen. John Hinson, alleging that both leaders ignored intelligence warnings that Port Shuaiba was a probable Iranian target. They are angry that the generals sent troops there despite internal assessments that advised against the move, in part because the facility lacked adequate defenses against drones, the soldiers said. The assessments were described to The Post by troops familiar with their details.” 

Arelis Hernandez, et al., of the Washington Post: “Videos that capture the minutes leading up to and immediately after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot an undocumented Mexican immigrant in Houston early Tuesday morning show agents aggressively following a white work van and then approaching the vehicle on foot. Security camera footage from nearby businesses and residences, obtained and analyzed by The Washington Post, provides a nearly continuous, six-minute-long view of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s van as he is pursued by federal agents. But the agents were not wearing body cameras, and the videos do not clearly capture the moment an ICE agent fires his gun shortly before 7 a.m. local time — a finding that may complicate any investigation into whether ICE personnel were justified in using deadly force against Salgado Araujo.” The article includes a narrated compilation video & some still photos from the videos.

Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: “The country is in the midst of a nationwide outbreak of explosive diarrhea caused by a parasite the CDC stopped surveilling at the federal level in July 2025. That’s around the same time the Trump administration began haphazardly attacking and defunding federal health and science agencies under the guise of 'government efficiency,' with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. separately also pushing out critical federal scientists and researchers. Prior to that date, a collaborative CDC program called FoodNet helped federal and state regulators track eight foodborne pathogens. Among them was cyclospora, a heat-loving spherical parasite that’s sickened 1,000 people in an ongoing outbreak in Michigan (the state’s worst), with similar illnesses cropping up in 28 other states.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I normally would not wish illness on anyone, but let's just say that if three people must get exploding diarrhea, let those three be Donald and Elon and Bobby Jr. And woe be to those who stand behind them. 

Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: “On Wednesday afternoon, [Rep. Ro] Khanna [D], the congressman from Silicon Valley who is exploring a 2028 presidential run, was visiting the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta, a tiny Palestinian Bedouin village in the southern West Bank that was abandoned after escalating attacks from settlers and then demolished. Suddenly, a car of men holding guns pulled up and blocked the narrow road out of the village. The men began taunting the congressman and his team, swearing at them in Hebrew and Arabic and kicking the tires of their minibus.... Soon, a Jeep with more men arrived. When two cars from the Israeli military pulled up, Mr. Khanna assumed the soldiers were there to help him pass. Instead, the soldiers smoked cigarettes, chatted with the men and after the settlers left, moved a car to block the road, he recounted.... The military disputed that its soldiers had participated in blocking the exit and said that the identity of the armed civilian was being reviewed.” The link appears to be a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The short video here has a few stills of Khanna's captors. (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Oh dear. Why are workmen replacing the flooring at Mitch McConnell's D.C. home? To get rid of forensic evidence? Is this why Elaine rushed home from China? To pick out the parquet? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks to RAS for the link. 

     ~~~ AND are Senators John Thune & John Barrasso part of the conspiracy? They were the first to announce "I just got off the phone with Mitch."

Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: “In an ... interview with The Washington Post, Leonard Glenn Francis — the legendary con man better known as Fat Leonard — revealed for the first time, in cinematic detail, how he bamboozled U.S. authorities in 2022 by escaping house arrest and fleeing to Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela before he was caught and returned to the United States 15 months later.... Early on [a] Sunday morning over Labor Day weekend, while a private security guard was AWOL, he sheared off the electronic monitoring bracelet clamped around his ankle and hopped in an Uber. Within 30 minutes, he had safely crossed the Mexican border and sped to an airfield in Tijuana, where a private jet he had chartered was waiting to fly him to Havana in style. Meanwhile, in San Diego, the lifelong Elvis fan left in his home a mannequin of the King of Rock-and-Roll wearing a watchman’s hat — as a farewell taunt to U.S. officials, who didn’t discover he had disappeared until a few hours later.... 'It wasn’t rocket science,' he said of his escape. 'There was a lot of negligence on the government’s part.'”

~~~~~~~~~~  

Iran War. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Iran War. From the pinned item at 6:25 am ET: “The United States conducted its most intense round of strikes against Iran in recent days and Iran fired at U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf overnight, with no signs of diplomatic progress to try to salvage a cease-fire that has been steadily unraveling. U.S. Central Command said that the Iranian navy had attacked a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, and that in response it had hit about 140 Iranian military targets, the heaviest U.S. bombardment in nearly a week of back-and-forth attacks. In response to the overnight U.S. strikes, Iran said it had targeted American military assets in Jordan, Oman and Qatar. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait also reported incoming fire.”

Carlo Martuscelli of Politico: “Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Saturday swore that Iran would avenge the killing of his father, the former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. 'We pledge to avenge your pure blood and the blood of all the martyrs,' said Khamenei, who took his father’s place as the head of Iran’s leadership after a deadly Israeli airstrike in late February.... Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public for months, and has been rumored to have been left disfigured after being injured by an airstrike.” (Also linked yesterday.)

The following sounds like a fictional Japanese spy movie, but apparently it's true: ~~~ 

~~~ Russia/Japan. Jane Bradley, et al., of the New York Times: “Soon after troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western leaders expelled hundreds of Russian spies from their capitals and blacklisted companies with ties to the Kremlin. The coordinated effort was intended to make it harder for the Kremlin to collect intelligence and buy equipment like microchips, transmitters and the machinery used to make weapons. Since then, officials say, dozens of those banished spies have turned up in an unexpected place: Japan. The country’s weak espionage laws and flourishing high-tech industry have made it a crucial piece of the Russian war effort. Ninety percent of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components, according to Ukrainian government estimates. At the heart of the operation in Tokyo is a secretive Russian military intelligence unit known as the 20th Directorate.... Posing as diplomats or businesspeople, its officers work to buy or steal battlefield technology and smuggle it into Russia.... 

“The man overseeing the 20th Directorate’s operation in Tokyo maintains a cover identity as an employee of the Russian state airline Aeroflot, according to current officials from four of those intelligence agencies. He plays a crucial role in supplying Russia’s war machine.... Russia persists [in its war against Ukraine] in part, officials say, because of its continued access to technologies like those it acquires from Japan.”