Morning, Kitties. ICE is spending heavily on phone tracking and signing contracts potentially worth billions, a former FEMA official found by a judge to have deleted evidence is now leading a DHS fraud task force, and major television networks are fighting the White House over access after CNN was removed from pool duties. Meanwhile, world leaders are calling for controls on frontier AI, air traffic systems on both sides of the Atlantic are having a very bad week, Trump business interests are expanding in a former Soviet republic, and Epstein survivors are taking records directly to the public. Apparently transparency has become a scavenger hunt with subpoenas.
The Latest Chaos
Former FEMA Official Lands Top DHS Fraud Job
Karen Evans is leading DHS’s Waste, Fraud and Abuse Task Force after a federal judge found she deliberately deleted communications she had been ordered to preserve during litigation over FEMA staffing. DHS has defended Evans and her record.
ICE Quietly Spends More on Phone Tracking
The PunchUp reports ICE has expanded spending on technology capable of locating or identifying mobile devices. The purchases add to growing questions about how immigration enforcement agencies acquire and use commercially available surveillance capabilities.
Epstein Survivors Take the Records on Tour
Epstein survivors are taking records directly to communities while the congressional fight over additional disclosure returns to Washington. The effort puts survivor voices and primary documents together at the center of the continuing transparency battle.
Minnesota Challenges DHS Over Immigration Enforcement
Dworkin examines another confrontation between Minnesota officials and DHS involving federal immigration authority and state power. The dispute is another example of courts being asked to define where federal enforcement authority ends and state authority begins.
Follow the Money Through America’s Expanding Security System
The Leah Files follows financial relationships behind the growing American surveillance and security infrastructure. The important question is increasingly not whether Americans are being tracked, but which public agency or private contractor owns the fucking receipt.
Secret Service Expands Polygraph Screening
The Secret Service is expanding the use of polygraph examinations as part of internal security and personnel screening. Supporters view the tool as another security safeguard, while critics have long questioned the scientific reliability and appropriate use of polygraphs.
Trump Tower Heads to Another Former Soviet Republic
Trump business interests are pursuing another development in a former Soviet republic whose government has been moving closer to Moscow. The project renews questions about how presidential family business interests intersect with American foreign policy.
World Leaders Call for Greater Control of Frontier AI
Twenty two world leaders have backed a Finnish and Norwegian initiative calling for independent testing, shared safety standards, greater transparency, and international coordination over advanced AI systems. Humanity has apparently reached the point where please keep the machine under human control needs to become international policy.
CNN Is Removed From White House Pool Duties
CNN was removed from White House television pool duties as its dispute with the Trump administration over press access escalated. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are challenging restrictions they say violate constitutional protections, while the administration argues it has authority over access to presidential spaces.
Another Air Traffic Outage Hits Britain
A fresh air traffic disruption in the United Kingdom caused cancellations and delays, adding to concerns about the resilience of aviation infrastructure. Apparently the international aviation system has entered its have you tried turning civilization off and back on again phase.
Moscow’s Problems Challenge Putin’s Image of Control
Jason Jay Smart argues that mounting economic, military, and infrastructure problems expose weaknesses behind the Kremlin’s presentation of stability. The broader conclusions are analysis, but the underlying developments offer useful context for assessing Russia’s wartime resilience.
ICE Signs Contracts Potentially Worth Billions
Project Salt Box reports ICE has signed a large collection of contracts potentially worth billions as immigration enforcement expands. Contract ceilings do not necessarily equal money ultimately spent, but the scale demonstrates how rapidly a private industry is growing around federal immigration policy.
Firm Linked to Trump Ballroom Donor Gets Sanctions Relief
ICIJ reports the administration authorized a company linked to a Trump ballroom donor to conduct business involving a sanctioned Russian bank. The authorization does not itself establish misconduct, but the relationships make transparency around the decision particularly important.
FAA Communications Failure Snarls Thousands of Flights
A telecommunications failure and accidentally severed backup fiber line disrupted major Northeast airports, contributing to roughly 7,000 delayed or canceled flights before service was restored. The incident again exposed vulnerabilities in aging American air traffic infrastructure.
FAA’s New AI Tool Makes Airlines Nervous
The FAA is testing an AI assisted system designed to recommend alternative flight routes and reduce congestion, while airlines have raised questions about implementation and safety. The system is currently being tested in a limited role rather than replacing human air traffic controllers.
Trump Tower Project Raises Foreign Policy Questions
The proposed Trump Tower development in a former Soviet republic is drawing scrutiny because of the country’s increasingly close relationship with Russia. The business deal does not by itself establish improper government action, but it illustrates the continuing overlap between presidential family business and geopolitics.
Charlie McGonigal’s Case Still Has Unanswered Questions
Hacking But Legal revisits former FBI counterintelligence official Charles McGonigal, his criminal convictions, Russian connections, and remaining questions surrounding his activities. The case remains an extraordinary example of a senior official responsible for investigating foreign influence later becoming entangled with a Russian oligarch.
Questions Surround Mike Johnson and the Epstein Disclosure Fight
Christa Brown examines Speaker Mike Johnson’s role in congressional decisions surrounding Epstein related records and disclosure efforts. The useful questions concern documented actions, communications, scheduling decisions, and what Congress has or has not released.
Support for Trump’s Canada Trade War Is Thin
Navigator Research reports limited public support for Trump’s trade confrontation with Canada among surveyed voters. As with all polling, methodology, timing, sample composition, and question wording matter when interpreting the results.
Flock Safety Spent More Than $2 Million Lobbying
Flock Safety has spent more than $2 million on federal and state lobbying since 2025 while its automated license plate reader network faces growing scrutiny from lawmakers and privacy advocates. Apparently the cameras watching your car have lobbyists watching Congress.
Trump’s CNN Ban Triggers a Wider Media Revolt
Major television networks have pushed back against the White House’s removal of CNN from pool duties, with the traditional television pool suspending participation in solidarity. The escalating dispute is now testing the boundaries between presidential control of access and independent press coverage.
Closing RK Thoughts
Today’s stories are about control.
Control of information. Control of data. Control of borders. Control of journalists. Control of artificial intelligence. Control of airspace. Control of sanctions. Control of government contracts.
The uncomfortable part is how often those systems now overlap.
A surveillance company hires lobbyists. Immigration enforcement hires contractors. Political families conduct international business. Governments experiment with AI while world leaders warn that humans must remain in charge. The White House battles reporters over who gets close enough to document the presidency.
Power rarely announces itself with a villain speech. Usually it arrives as a contract, a database permission, an access rule, a sanctions waiver, or a fucking checkbox nobody bothered to read.
Follow the money. Follow the contracts. Follow the data. Keep the receipts.
Claws out.
Featured Resisters and Resources
- STOP (Stop Taking Our People) is a movement framing and organizing initiative that names the political machinery behind immigration enforcement and the criminal punishment system. It highlights how policing, detention, deportation, and surveillance work as one interconnected apparatus powered by anti-Blackness and state control. Because the violence is not isolated, STOP reframes enforcement as systemic harm, not isolated “immigration issues.”
- Red cloaks. White bonnets. Zero chill for theocracy. Handmaid Army DC uses silent, striking protest to call out the real-life dystopia creeping through our courts and capitols. When rights are stripped, resistance gets theatrical.
What We Are Watching Today
- 9:00 AM EDT
President Trump Set to Address U.N. General Assembly Live - 9:30 AM EDT
U.S. Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI) Holds Press Conference on Gas Prices Live - 10:00 AM EDT
New York Fed’s 2026 Treasury Market Conference Live - 11:30 AM EDT
Vice President Vance Holds News Conference on Fraud - 12:00 PM EDT
Governor Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) Visits Ag Education & Trade Show - 12:00 PM EDT
U.S. House Candidate Matt Dunlap (D-ME) Holds Endorsement Press Conference - 2:00 PM EDT
House Democrats Hold Forum on Protecting the Right to Vote - 2:30 PM EDT
Witnesses Testify on Prisoners and Detainees in China - 3:00 PM EDT
U.S. Senate - 3:30 PM EDT
Justice Department Holds News Conference on Election Integrity - 3:30 PM EDT
Sen. Blumenthal & Rep. Garcia Hold Forum on Deadly ICE-Involved Shootings
Today’s Call to Action
1. Read Today’s Resistance Survival Guides
2. Sign these Petitions and Send These Pre Written Letters
- Stop Trump from putting propaganda outside the Smithsonian
- Tell Congress: Investigate Hegseth’s secret Pentagon influencers
- Tell Congress: Investigate ICE’s Austin Shooting Now
- Sign if you agree: Justice Samuel Alito, who made millions from fossil fuel investments, should recuse himself from the upcoming Supreme Court case on climate change.
- Please add your name to the petition to Congress: Bring down energy costs by putting an end to Donald Trump’s war against affordable, renewable electricity generation.
- Please add your name to the petition urging congressional leaders to pass the ACT for ALS Reauthorization Act, which continues federal support for vital ALS research and therapies, before the September 30 deadline.
- Sign if you agree: Congress must reject Donald Trump’s massive increase to defense spending, which his Republican allies plan to pay for by cutting social spending.
- Sign the petition: Authorities should investigate Donald Trump’s enormous, cash holiday gifts to four close aides.
- Tell USDA: Don’t Shoot Wolves — Listen to Them
- Sign the petition: Protect immigrant families from the Trump administration’s attack on tax credits!
3. Verify your voter registration status and help at least one other person check theirs
4. Save contact information for local legal aid and voting support organizations
5. Attend a Virtual Event
- Tuesday, September 22 at 6:00 p.m.: Politics Chat with Heather Cox Richardson. Join the live political history discussion and audience question session.
- Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m.: Holler for Democracy: The Monthly Briefing. Hear updates on democracy issues and learn about upcoming Indivisible actions.
- Thursday, September 24 at 6:00 p.m.: Politics Chat with Heather Cox Richardson. Join the second live politics discussion of the week.
- Any day this week: Virtual Phone Bank for North Carolina Democrats. Contact voters from home and help support Democratic turnout in critical congressional races.
6. Contact Your Lawmakers Directly
- Protect Press Freedom: Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY, ZIP CODE]. I am calling to ask the lawmaker to condemn the White House ban on journalists and support protections against government retaliation. Please defend the First Amendment and demand congressional oversight.
- Support Epstein Survivors: Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY, ZIP CODE]. I am calling to ask the lawmaker to cosponsor and support the Survivors’ Rights Restitution Act. Survivors deserve meaningful financial and medical support after the federal government failed to protect them.
- End the Unauthorized Iran War: Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY, ZIP CODE]. I am calling to demand a War Powers vote to end unauthorized hostilities against Iran. Please oppose further military action without congressional authorization and support immediate diplomacy.
7. Who Are We Boycotting This Week?
- AutoZone for aggressively opposing workers trying to form the company’s first union.
- Starbucks until it delivers a fair contract for unionized baristas.
- Target for retreating from its diversity commitments and abandoning communities that helped build its brand.
