|
The Department of Homeland Security ran a secret surveillance operation called “Operation Puppet Master” against labor unions, climate groups, and progressive organizations in Minnesota. The AP, the New York Times, and CNN all confirmed the operation from court documents filed Thursday. DHS deployed 3,000 federal officers to Minneapolis in what the department called its “largest immigration enforcement operation ever.” Agents infiltrated group chats. They spied on meetings at libraries and churches. They secretly obtained financial records from organizations that were never accused of a crime. The targets included the Communications Workers of America, the SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and the Sunrise Movement. A DHS subpoena sent to FedWire… the money transfer system run by the Federal Reserve… said: “You are requested not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time.” The government did not just spy on these groups. It told the banks to keep quiet about it. The operation came from National Security Presidential Memo 7… which lets the government call someone a potential domestic terrorist for speaking out against federal policy. Fifteen people have been charged with conspiracy. CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said: “Our union has become the latest target of a corrupt administration that weaponizes the legal process against law-abiding Americans.” The machine sent 3,000 agents to a city. It infiltrated unions, churches, and group chats. It pulled financial records from people who had committed no crime. And it called it “Puppet Master”… as if the people protesting were the ones being controlled. | |
|
BREAKING Trump Said the USS Lincoln Deployment Was “Not Nearly Long Enough” — After Sailors Tried to Jump Overboard, Families Begged for Help, and the Ship Ran Out of Soap |
On Friday, a reporter asked President Trump if the USS Abraham Lincoln’s deployment had gone on too long. The ship has been at sea for more than 260 days. At least six sailors tried to jump overboard. Families said their loved ones were running out of food and soap. Trump said: “No, no, no. Not nearly long enough.” When told that families had raised concerns about conditions on the ship, Trump said: “No, they’re not.” NPR reported that a family member called the comments “shameful.” A wife of an officer told Newsweek the remarks were “selfish” and “disconnected from reality.” Rep. Debbie Dingell said parents of sailors had contacted her office directly to ask for help. NBC News reported that military leaders have been “privately raising concerns inside the Pentagon and the White House about low morale and widespread fatigue” among the 50,000 troops deployed to support the Iran war. The Lincoln’s last port visit was in Guam… in December. The USS George Washington is heading to replace the Lincoln. The Pentagon confirmed the rotation. But there is still no return date. And the man who sent them to sea and kept them there for nine months looked at the cameras on Friday and said it was not long enough. |
EXPOSED A White House Memo Gave Private Companies the Power to Hack and Sabotage Foreign Cyber Actors — Privatizing a Function That Used to Belong to the Military | |
A White House memorandum signed last week gives private businesses the ability to sabotage or spy on certain foreign actors in cyberspace. NPR reported Friday that the memo is “thin on details” but marks a major shift: the government is handing offensive cyber operations… a function that used to sit with the military and intelligence agencies… to private companies. The memo does not name which companies get the power or what rules apply. It does not say who signs off on a strike. It does not define “foreign actor.” What it does is create a legal path for private firms to do the kind of work that used to need a presidential order and a call to Congress. The defense industry already builds the weapons, runs the prisons, and staffs the logistics. Now it gets to run the cyber war too. The Pentagon spent $37.5 billion on the Iran war. The oil companies made $54 billion. And now a memo says private firms can hack on behalf of the state… without the public knowing which ones or what they did. The machine does not shrink. It outsources. When the government hands its weapons to companies, the war does not end. It gets a board of directors. | |
|
DEVELOPING Kushner Held a Rare Meeting with Hamas in Egypt — a New Push on the Gaza Ceasefire That Netanyahu Rejected Last Week |
Jared Kushner… the president’s son-in-law and senior advisor… held a rare meeting with Hamas leadership on Sunday in Egypt. NPR reported that the meeting is part of a new diplomatic push to make progress on the stalled Gaza ceasefire plan that Netanyahu publicly rejected last week. The meeting is rare because the U.S. has not formally engaged with Hamas at this level in years. Kushner is not a diplomat. He is a real estate developer who happens to be married to the president’s daughter. He has no Senate confirmation. He has no security portfolio. But he is the one sitting across the table from Hamas. Last week, Netanyahu told his cabinet and the world that Israel “does not accept the 15-point document.” Hamas said it would comply. The plan was Trump’s biggest foreign policy effort of the year. And the ally who rejected it just sent the president back to the table… this time through his son-in-law. The machine surveils its own unions. It tells its sailors the deployment is not long enough. It hands cyber weapons to private companies. And when its peace plan fails, it sends a real estate developer to sit with Hamas. The machine does not send its best. It sends its family. |
| |||
|
They rely on the shadows. |