Trump GUTS election watchdog — right before midterms

Well, most of you told us you don’t trust the official narrative — and you were right.

New video footage contradicts ICE's claim that the man shot and killed by ICE, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, attacked agents.

Salgado Araujo — a Mexican man who had lived in the United States for 35 years — while he was driving his construction crew to a job site in Houston. DHS has since confirmed he was not the intended target of the arrest.

Three other people were in the van with him; a representative for their families told The New Republic that the government is now pressuring those potential witnesses to self-deport. His son found out his father was dead from a Facebook post.

Salgado Araujo is the tenth person killed by immigration officials since Trump's second term began — and the administration's response to each one follows the same script: lie first, then make the witnesses disappear. Mexico is moving to take legal action against the U.S. for mistreatment of its citizens.

The U.S. has struck nearly 200 sites in Iran over the last two days, killing 14 people — while a senior Trump official simultaneously told Axios, "We're going to slap them a bit so they understand we're not fucking around." Another official insists the ceasefire is still technically in effect.

Iran is firing missiles at U.S. military bases in Jordan, Qatar, and Kuwait. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. The Israeli military is on alert. This is three months into a "ceasefire."

The Trump administration started this war believing it would end so fast Iran wouldn't have time to close the strait. Iran closed the strait. Now the U.S. has no clear endgame, no defined objectives, and a quagmire that looks more like Iraq every week — just with a ceasefire label slapped on top so no one has to say the word "war.”

Even Joe Rogan, who helped deliver Trump's base, said on air that Trump "might've f**ked up" taxpayer spending with the Iran war. You think?

Trump just fired the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission — the independent, bipartisan agency created after 2000 to keep elections running fairly across the country — and he did it via a form email saying "thank you for your service."

The two Democratic commissioners were terminated. The last Republican resigned. All four seats are now vacant, months before November's midterms.

The White House cited a recent Supreme Court ruling expanding presidential power over independent agencies as cover. The EAC manages the national voter registration form — the same one Trump tried to weaponize last year by requiring proof of citizenship, a move a federal judge blocked.

Trump has also pushed redistricting grabs in red states and railed against mail-in voting — while Melania and Barron both voted by mail in Florida.

There's a word for dismantling election infrastructure right before an election you need to win. It's not "securing democracy."

Ted Cruz went on Sean Hannity's radio show this week and accidentally made the case for James Talarico. "I do think he has a real chance," Cruz told guest host Gov. Greg Abbott, warning Republicans not to sleep on the Democratic state rep from Austin just because Texas has been reliably red.

Cruz called Talarico "radical" and "charming" in the same breath — which is a pretty good endorsement, actually. The GOP's attack lines so far: Talarico once said God is nonbinary, and he didn't serve meat to his campaign staffers in 2022.

Meanwhile, their own candidate, Ken Paxton, was impeached by a Republican-led state House in 2023 for bribery, abuse of office, and obstruction of justice. Cruz declined to mention that part.

FBI Director Kash Patel — a former MAGA podcaster with zero law enforcement experience — has been using bureau jets for date nights in Nashville, ordering armored BMWs instead of the standard Chevy Suburbans, and assigning federal agents to drive his 27-year-old country singer girlfriend's drunk friends home after parties.

Now even 92-year-old Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has had enough, writing to Patel demanding he explain whether he reimbursed the FBI for personal flights "as required by law."

Patel has also been caught demanding official meetings happen during jet ski outings and helicopter tours, chugging beers with Team USA at the Olympics, and taking a VIP snorkeling trip at the USS Arizona Memorial — while supposedly on official business.

Democrats on the Judiciary committees, including Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Richard Durbin, noted they "appreciate Chairman Grassley raising these concerns." When Chuck Grassley is the accountability guy, things have gotten very bad.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board — a Rupert Murdoch property — has published a scorched-earth critique (behind a paywall, naturally) of Trump's tariff policy, arguing it has done little to promote economic growth and is actively destroying jobs.

Separately, Fox host Brian Kilmeade called out Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff as ineffective negotiators on Iran.

When Murdoch's own outlets are running this material, the GOP donor class is sending a message. Watch for this to accelerate if the Iran war keeps burning money.

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