Today
TRUMP THREATENED TO BOMB OMAN — THE COUNTRY MEDIATING HIS OWN PEACE DEAL, ICE TRACKED A MAN TO HIS HOUSE, HIS FLIGHT, AND HIS HOTEL OVER A CRITICAL EMAIL, BLANCHE REFUSED TO PLEDGE DOJ INDEPENDENCE — AND A JUDGE BLOCKED IDAHO FROM PROSECUTING DOCTORS

Oman is America’s ally. It has a free trade agreement with the U.S. It has been mediating between Washington and Tehran for months. On Monday, the president said: “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.”

Trump said it in an interview with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst. He also told reporters in the Oval Office: “I don’t think they behaved very well, but we’d handle them very easily.” He said the U.S. “has no time schedule” and is “not in a hurry” to end the war.

The threat came on the same day the 60-day window for peace talks expired. The U.S. and Iran agreed in June to reach a deal in two months. That deadline passed Monday with no agreement. Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz nearly stopped over the weekend… just 13 ships went through, including three on Sunday.

Senator Tim Kaine said he will introduce a war powers resolution barring action against Oman when the Senate returns. Rep. Ro Khanna said: “At this point we may just need to file war powers resolutions for the 192 other countries.”

The machine started a war with Iran. It asked Oman to help mediate. Oman said yes. And now the president is threatening to bomb the country that tried to bring peace… because it talked to the wrong side.

60-DAY DEADLINE EXPIRED. 13 SHIPS THROUGH HORMUZ OVER THE WEEKEND. AND THE PRESIDENT THREATENED TO BOMB THE MEDIATOR.

BREAKING

ICE Agents Drove 330 Miles to Track a Man to His House, His Flight, and His Hotel — Because He Sent a Critical Email to the Former Head of ICE Five Months Earlier

David Streever of Rochester, New York, sent an email to the former acting director of ICE in January. The email was angry. It was written after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizen observers in Minneapolis. It compared the ICE director to a Nazi. Five months later, two ICE agents drove 330 miles from Jersey City to his front door.

His wife told the agents he was in Europe. So they tracked his return flight. They were waiting to confront him at JFK Airport when he landed on June 25. He managed to clear customs without being stopped. The agents then pulled his hotel from his CBP travel records and went there too. The hotel did not confirm whether he had checked in.

ICE’s assistant director for investigations said the email had “potential threatening undertones.” Court filings show the investigation was closed on June 30 after agents “exhausted all investigative leads.” Streever has filed a First Amendment lawsuit against DHS and ICE. DHS is defending the investigation in court.

A man wrote a harsh email. The government sent agents across a state, tracked his plane, and pulled his hotel from federal travel records. They did not charge him. They did not arrest him. They showed up… and that was the point. The machine does not need to prosecute you. It just needs you to know it is watching.

EXPOSED

Attorney General Blanche Refused to Pledge That the DOJ Will Operate Independently from the White House

Less than two weeks after being confirmed at 4 a.m. by a single vote, Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked whether the Department of Justice would operate independently from the White House. He refused to commit.

The question matters because the DOJ is supposed to be the one part of the executive branch that does not take orders from the president on who to investigate, who to charge, and who to protect. That wall has been the norm… at least in public… since Watergate. Blanche would not say he would keep it.

This is the same man who blocked New Mexico’s Epstein investigation. Who pledged on a leaked call to “make Dobbs permanent in every single state.” Who scrapped a $1.8 billion fund to buy his own confirmation. Who shielded the president and his sons from IRS audits. And who was confirmed in a vote held after midnight while the country slept.

The attorney general of the United States was asked if the law is above the president. He would not say yes. The machine does not hide its plans. It announces them… and waits to see if you are paying attention.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them.”

— President Trump, on Fox News, about the country mediating his peace deal

DEVELOPING

A Federal Judge Blocked Idaho from Prosecuting Doctors Who Provide Life-Saving Abortions

A federal judge blocked Idaho from enforcing a state law that would have allowed prosecutors to charge doctors for performing abortions… even when the procedure was needed to save the patient’s life. The ruling came Monday and applies while the legal challenge works through the courts.

Idaho’s law had no clear exception for health-saving procedures. Doctors said they were forced to wait until patients were on the edge of death before acting… because treating a patient too early could put them in prison. The judge said this created an impossible choice between medical ethics and criminal law.

The ruling came the same week that Blanche refused to pledge DOJ independence and weeks after he vowed on a leaked recording to “make Dobbs permanent.” The attorney general wants abortion banned in every state. A judge in Idaho just said the law he supports forces doctors to watch their patients die.

The machine threatens to bomb its own mediator. It tracks citizens over emails. It refuses to promise that the law is above the president. And it writes laws that force doctors to choose between saving a life and going to prison. One judge in Idaho drew the line. One.

 Connecting the Dots 

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from one Monday. The president threatened to bomb the country that was trying to broker his own peace deal… on the day the deadline for that deal expired. ICE sent agents 330 miles to track a man to his house, his flight, and his hotel… over an email he wrote five months earlier. The new attorney general was asked if the DOJ will operate independently from the White House and refused to say yes. And a federal judge had to step in to stop Idaho from putting doctors in prison for saving lives.

The press covers each on its own page. A “foreign policy threat.” A “civil liberties case.” A “confirmation story.” A “court ruling.” But the thread is the same in every one.

The machine does not recognize limits. It threatens allies. It tracks critics. It refuses to promise independence. And it writes laws that punish doctors for practicing medicine. Every institution that was built to check power… diplomacy, free speech, judicial independence, medical ethics… was tested this week. And in every case, the machine pushed past it. The only thing that stopped it was a judge. Not Congress. Not the press. Not the public. One judge in one state on one law. That is how thin the line has gotten.

When the machine threatens the peacemaker and tracks the emailer… the question is not what it will do next. It is who is left to say no. That’s the Seventh Floor.

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