Today
TRUMP HID IN A CATERING TRUCK AND LEFT HIS OWN STAFF ON AIR FORCE ONE AS A DECOY, ICE IS SPENDING $20 MILLION ON ELECTRIC SHOCK GLOVES, A FORMER ICE AGENT’S GROUP WAS AWARDED $158 MILLION TO REPRESENT THE CHILDREN ICE DETAINS — AND A JUDGE BLOCKED THE POSTAL SERVICE FROM ENFORCING TRUMP’S ORDER ON MAIL BALLOTS

The president of the United States hid inside an airport catering truck… the kind used to load meals onto planes… and was driven to a smaller military jet while his own staff, reporters, and crew sat on Air Force One as decoys.

The Washington Post reported that Trump secretly switched planes at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8… the night after he ordered strikes on Iran. The Secret Service believed Iran might try to shoot down Air Force One. Their solution: put Trump on a hidden C-32 military jet and leave everyone else on the plane Iran would be aiming at.

NBC News confirmed the details. Video from the tarmac shows the catering truck pulling up to Air Force One right after Trump boarded. It drove to the C-32 four minutes later. Reporters on the main plane were told all windows had to stay closed for the entire flight. Trump never came back to the press cabin. A pool report later called the flight “uneventful.”

Steven Cash, a former CIA officer, said: “It appears that the idea was we can reduce the danger to President Trump by offering up his staff and press as decoys.” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said: “He put people in harm’s way to save himself.”

The White House told the country the president was on Air Force One. He was not. The people on that plane did not know they were bait. And the man who started the war that created the threat hid in a food truck while his own people flew the target.

HE STARTED THE WAR. IRAN TARGETED HIS PLANE. HE HID IN A FOOD TRUCK. HIS STAFF FLEW THE DECOY.

BREAKING

ICE Is Spending Up to $20 Million on Electric Shock Gloves for Its Agents — the Manufacturer Says Not to Use Them on Children, Pregnant Women, or the Elderly

ICE is buying thousands of gloves that deliver electric shocks. The Department of Homeland Security published a contract notice on Monday for $10 to $20 million worth of CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E. devices… which stands for “Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter.” The AP was first to report the plan. CNN, NPR, Bloomberg, and Axios confirmed it.

The gloves are made by Compliant Technologies of Lexington, Kentucky. A button on the wrist turns them on. When the glove touches skin, it delivers a painful electric shock. NPR reported that video demos “appear to show it inflicting pain.” The company calls it a “distraction and de-escalation device.” Human rights groups call it a form of “invisible force” because observers may not see the shock being applied.

The manufacturer’s own user guide says the gloves should not be used on children, pregnant women, the elderly, or people with serious health conditions. ICE detains all of those groups. The contract is expected to move through a no-bid process.

This week the government revealed it used its own staff as human decoys on a plane. Now it is buying gloves that shock people through a handshake. The machine does not de-escalate. It electrifies.

EXPOSED

A Group Founded by a Former ICE Agent Was Awarded $158 Million to Represent the Same Immigrant Children That ICE Detains

On August 1, the federal contract that paid for lawyers to represent unaccompanied immigrant children expired. The government did not renew it. Roughly 25,000 children lost their legal help overnight. Now the replacement contract has been awarded… to a group founded by a former ICE agent.

The group received $158 million to represent the same children that ICE arrests, detains, and processes for deportation. The agency that puts children in the system is now connected to the group that is supposed to defend them inside it.

Immigration lawyers and child advocates have raised alarms. The role of a child’s attorney is to fight for the child’s interest… which in many cases means fighting against deportation. The question is whether a group with roots inside ICE will fight the agency it came from.

The government took away the children’s lawyers on August 1. Then it handed $158 million to a group whose founder came from the agency doing the detaining. The machine fired the advocates. Then it hired its own.

“It appears that the idea was we can reduce the danger to President Trump by offering up his staff and press as decoys.”

— Steven Cash, former CIA officer, on the Air Force One catering truck operation

DEVELOPING

A Federal Judge Blocked the Postal Service from Enforcing Trump’s Executive Order on Mail Ballots

A federal judge blocked the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing a Trump executive order that would have changed how mail ballots are handled ahead of the November midterms. The ruling came Tuesday as early voting deadlines approach in several states.

The executive order directed the Postal Service to implement new rules that critics said would slow down ballot delivery in heavily Democratic areas. The judge ruled the order exceeded the president’s authority because Congress controls the operations of the Postal Service… not the White House.

This is the second time in two weeks that a federal court has stopped the administration from acting without Congress. Last week, a court blocked the White House from building a ballroom. This week, a court blocked the Postal Service from following orders on mail ballots. The pattern: the president issues an order, skips Congress, and a judge says no.

The government used its own staff as decoys on a plane. It is buying shock gloves for its agents. It hired a former ICE agent to represent children. And now it tried to change how mail ballots work without asking Congress. The machine does not ask permission. It moves until a court says stop.

 Connecting the Dots 

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from one week. The president hid in a catering truck and left his staff on a plane he believed Iran might target. ICE is buying $20 million worth of electric shock gloves whose own maker says not to use on children… while ICE detains children. A group founded by a former ICE agent was handed $158 million to represent the children that ICE arrests. And a judge had to step in to stop the Postal Service from following a presidential order that would have slowed mail ballots before the midterms.

The press covers each on its own page. A “security story.” A “procurement notice.” A “contract award.” A “court ruling.” But the thread is the same in every one.

The machine protects itself and controls everything else. The president gets a hidden plane. The staff gets the decoy. The agents get shock gloves. The children get a lawyer with ties to ICE. And the voters get a mail system that was about to be bent until a judge said stop. Every tool, every contract, every order flows in the same direction: power toward the people who run the machine, risk toward everyone else. The man in the food truck is safe. The people on the plane are not. That is the system working exactly as it was designed.

When the president hides in a food truck and the agents get shock gloves… the machine is not pretending anymore. That’s the Seventh Floor.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.