Somebody has to read the 136 pages. That’s how we found the Trump regime’s own lawyer telling a federal judge that no court could stop this government—right before a court did exactly that. Readers like you are the reason we opened it. Gift a subscription to someone who needs a win today, or upgrade to Founding Member and fund the next dig.

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ICE Showed Up At The Gate. One Worker Said No.

The officer didn’t have a warrant signed by a judge. Plus: a Bush appointee halted Trump’s ballroom, and the jobs he bragged about never existed.

Scott Dworkin Aug 9

Happy Sunday! I hope you’re having a great weekend. With all of Trump’s chaos, I’m glad to have some great news for you today. Thanks for being here.

Before we jump in, hit the ❤️ like button and restack this before you scroll. Likes and restacks help us fight the MAGA propaganda machine by bringing this news to the top of people’s feeds who wouldn’t hear a word of these stories otherwise.

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Paid subscribers also get my campaign analysis three mornings a week—where you can learn how the map will flip—built off my 23 years of running races. Join our movement today, I’d love to have you:

They Brought The Wrong Kind Of Warrant

On July 25, an ICE agent walked up to a Southwest gate in Dallas and told the gate agent he needed to get on board the Orlando flight to arrest a passenger.

The gate agent asked him for a warrant signed by a judge. But he didn’t have one. All he had was an administrative warrant, which is the kind ICE fills out themselves. It doesn’t involve a judge, and it doesn’t get anyone on an airplane.

The agent made that clear and denied him access. Next, he asked for the list of passengers. The answer was no to that too. The ICE agent left empty-handed.

There have been at least six other standoffs like this at Southwest gates in recent weeks, where airline workers have been turning federal agents away.

Trump’s Ballroom Halted

Last October, construction crews tore down the East Wing of the White House in just three days. There was no vote in Congress—Trump just went ahead and did it.

George W. Bush appointee Judge Richard Leon stopped all above-ground construction in April. He said no law gives a president that authority.

The Trump regime appealed. And during oral arguments, Judge Patricia Millett asked DOJ lawyer Yaakov Roth whether their position was that no court could stop the government even if it acted with outright lawlessness. Roth replied, “I think that’s right.”

Judges Millett and Garcia rejected that notion on Friday, saying that if they let the government act lawlessly it would flout the constitutional order. The only judge who dissented was put on the bench by Trump.

For now, the block holds.

The Russian Sanctions Bill Finally Passed

On Friday, the Senate finally passed sanctions on Russia on an 86 to 11 vote. The bill allows tariffs of up to 100 percent on the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, and up to 500 percent on Russian imports.

Before it went through, it sat there for fifteen months. Lindsey Graham had introduced it in April of 2025, but he passed in July without ever getting a vote on it. The White House refused to support it the entire time. So Russia kept funding its war with few new repercussions from the United States.

Republicans finally moved, but they shouldn’t get any credit for doing so. What they passed lets Trump exempt any country, business, or official he says is in the national interest. Sounds like another route for his rampant corruption.

Trump already had the authority to sanction Russia, but refused—because he always has been, and always will be, one of Putin’s biggest accomplices. Right along with the GOP House, which left town for five weeks without even taking a vote on the sanctions.

They Erased The Numbers On Friday

A temporary layoff means you still have a job on paper—you’re just waiting for somebody to reach out and tell you to come back. Another 153,000 Americans landed in that spot last month.

Then the government admitted it had counted wrong on previous reports that Trump had bragged about. Jobs it announced back in May and June turned out not to exist—more than a hundred thousand of them were erased in a single report.

July was worse than anyone expected. The country lost jobs in a month economists thought would add them—with restaurants, hotels, and retail stores cutting the deepest. The average raise came in at just two cents an hour.

He’ll point at the unemployment rate dipping, but here’s the truth: that number goes down when people give up and stop hunting for work. And fewer Americans are actively in the labor force now than at any time in over five years.

Dem Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn’t mince words in a press release issued from the Senate Banking Committee, saying: “Trump’s failing economic agenda is weakening the labor market.”

Eighty-six days until voters hold him accountable. That’s where we come in.

On top of our investigations and reporting, we run one of the largest social media campaigns ever in politics. We push progressive messaging, trend hashtags that spread the truth, and get our reports in front of millions every single day. All while our pressure campaigns on Congress have delivered millions of letters on key issues to the House and Senate since 2016—805,000 since November 2024 alone.

But we can’t do any of it without the help of our readers. We never want to be held back by advertisers or shady corporations, so we are solely funded by our paid subscribers. Help us flip Congress by becoming one today:

Onward!

Scott

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How are you and your family holding up as we head into these final 86 days? And what’s your biggest takeaway from the latest jobs report? Let me know in the comments—I read every one!

Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link. 

For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition

KEY: Demand AG Blanche release ALL of the Epstein files: https://tinyurl.com/2uc9vca9

Push for a pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity. https://bit.ly/4twnWMU

Pass Bill to Create 25th Amendment Commission https://tinyurl.com/44afaxvd

Stop Trump’s Illegal Plan to Destroy the US Forest Service: https://tinyurl.com/mrx8cvv7

Defend voting rights! https://tinyurl.com/3f3m728j

Stop Trump from deporting people with Temporary Protected Status https://tinyurl.com/yc8rfa7j

COMMENTS: 

The DOJ claiming in open court that “nobody could stop them” is wild. So glad the courts held the line on Friday.

My family is holding on, but we are all exhausted. My son teaches American History and a Constitutional Law class in high school: he is having a field day letting students know about the lawlessness of this administration. We are all just waiting for the Congressional elections but know they will be contested by Trump. Let’s all hang on and resist the gas lighting.

My granddaughter starts her senior year of high school this month. She will be taking American government. I plan to have some serious conversations with her! Great timing as she will be 18 in March.

A college professor teaching Constitutional Law tells me he can now teach his class using the daily newspaper!!!!

So proud to be part of this team and work alongside Scott every day to bring these stories to light. The airport gate workers standing up for due process really says it all.

Kudos to the gate agents for stopping these folks from getting on the plane--since they could be anybody. Why was TSA created if not to protect passengers from harm? Meanwhile, I'd like to know how these supposed ICE folks were able to get to the gate.

Good question

We are retired but the $ don’t go where they were going and now we are continuing to assist our son whose employment issues are far worse than either if us have ever faced, for a variety of reasons but exacerbated severely by the downturns in the hospitality sector. But the worst for both of us personally (newspaper editor & lawyer) is to see what a decade of destruction by 47 et al has rendered to the nation we love and were proud of.

Way to go Southwest!

If only the GOP members of Congress had as much backbone.

My children are grown with families of their own, and we are handling things the very best we can. As far as the jobs report, I do not believe anything that comes out of this corrupt regime and to have those lies confirmed makes me happy. I want to give a round of applause to those airline workers that are standing up to ICE! We do have people in this country that are not afraid to stand up and speak out against these thugs! Well done and thank you! I am also glad that the orange POS's ballroom has been halted! He had no right whatsoever to demolish the East Wing of our House! How dare him! When he is brought up on all of the charges that will be his reckoning, I want part of his sentence to be that his money will be used to repair every damn thing he has destroyed. His money will be used to restore the White House, the Reflecting Pool, the Kennedy Center, our nation's public lands and anything else that asshole has destroyed. His money will be used for ALL of it! Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!

Fantastic idea that Don-Old gets to repair all of the DC building blunders with his own ill-gotten gains... Oh, sweet justice!!!!

I read you every morning, Scott. And I swear I am amazed more every day how people can fail to see the corruption, cover ups, lies & terrible government management by Republicans. It makes me feel like Republicans are just FLAT & SELF SERVING & SPIRITUALLY DEAD. I guess they always have been but this trump term is beyond the pale. They are cruel & lie unabashedly. They WILL fall but not soon enough for me.

Thank you for your reporting, Scott! 86 days is a long, long time for our shit-for-brains president to cause extreme havoc and chaos in our country. We need an overwhelming number of voters to VOTE BLUE!!!! VOTE BUE!!! VOTE BLUE!!! The Blue tsunami has to be sooooo overwhelming that is cannot be contested!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again Scott, the tide appears to be turning on the malodorous codpiece fascist regime!

More encouraging news continuing through the weekend! Thanks to you and your team, Scott!

Southwest should get an award for their adherence to the laws! This should be what all the airlines should do, not just the exception.

Trumpstein files, if we can't get access fromDOJ, could we get the files from the estate? Criminal lawyer of defense Blanch will likely put them in a locked box 📦 and in concrete to avoid handing them over.

The countdown continues, and we will need to double our efforts to get EVERYONE to vote 🗳

As I am a childless, catless dog-person, I especially enjoy seeing Jaded Lance eating his feet so often. Must be the lies are tangling his tongues.

Great comment

We are holding on, but it is a daily roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes, as in hearing of wins where judges have made an appropriate ruling, I feel great hope and feel assured that voters will understand what is at stake and will make every effort to vote. Other times-like when the F’ing senate confirmed Blanche, knowing how many people in this country with believe the lies or are too racist and bigoted to end their support of the criminal regime, I feel so demoralized. Knowing that evil dementia donnie and his puppet Blanche are working to subvert the election, I just hope that enough states step up to enact sufficient voter and vote protection laws such that we may elect a Congress that will take some action against the lawlessness. The jobs report is not a surprise. The regime always spouts lies to cover up all of the negative outcomes. I hope the real news is heard by those who really need to hear it.

I hear you. I am demoralized today because Blanche got confirmed. Myself and others wrote our Reps daily for months. Some times thru this site, sometimes thru others, some days both, and with all our nay saying, Blanche gets confirmed because the GOP cowtows still to the soulless, blob of a human, Trump. Thank God the Courts are trying; Thank God there are people like the SW airline workers, but this blob is like a disease. He won't last forever, but his and his regime's lawlessness and disrespect to our Country, our Constitution, and fellow citizens have gone on too long. For sure, Vote! But he will try to overcome. Hope the blue vote is too big for him to manipulate and watch Musk. Heartsick today.

Worth reading: 

PREVAIL BY GREG OLEAR wrote about TODD BLANCHE: 

Todd Blanche Is Already Historically Awful

How Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department stacks up against the best and worst Attorneys General in U.S. history.

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/todd-blanche-is-already-historically

SPINELSS REPUBLICAN COWARDS!

LINCOLN SQUARE, RICK WILSON wrote about HONORLESS MEN 

Honorless Men

Max Miller, John Cornyn, and Thom Tillis symbolize the rot in the Republican Party.

https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/honorless-men

PLEASE SIGN & SHARE!

WIN WITHOUT WAR is circulating a PETITION to STOP DATA CENTERS on FEDERAL LAND such as MILITARY BASES: 

AI data centers bring noise, light, air, and water pollution, and can increase energy costs by astronomical amounts. It’s why 63 percent of Americans oppose artificial intelligence data centers being built in their communities, according to a July 2026 Emerson College poll.

But destructive data centers could soon be popping up on federal lands and military bases across the country if the Pentagon gets its way. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is demanding billions of dollars for data centers that will supercharge AI-powered warfare and help fuel software used to make life-or-death decisions.

We need to act now. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act would ban large data centers and associated infrastructure on land owned or managed by the U.S. government, including on military bases.

Public lands should not be turned into sacrifice zones for an AI arms race. Rep. Tlaib’s bill is a necessary safeguard, and we need to push every lawmaker to go on the record: Will you protect communities from being forced to shoulder the energy, water, pollution, and infrastructure costs that data centers bring? Or will you join with Big Tech to accelerate AI-powered warfare?

Send a message to your representative and senators demanding that they pass the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act. >>

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/no-ai-data-centers-on-federal-lands/?source=group-the-intercept&referrer=group-the-intercept&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.actblue.com%2Fdonate%2Fintercept_postaction%3Frefcode%3Dem_intercept_20260803_postaction_ai_federal_www

Trump has all the control lovers. He has the backing of Maga billionaires, he owns the Supreme Court, all the major media, print media and social media are in his court. You and the other people I follow all speak to the converted. How do we change that? We are Lawless country. How do we change that? It doesn’t matter who wins the midterm elections cause Trump will continue doing exactly what he’s doing we understanding that I can’t be stopped. Keep up the good work but I fear we ahead for pitchfork and torches.

KATIE PHANG wrote an inspiring post - sometimes just standing up and speaking out is 

what's needed!

The Black Venus

Josephine Baker: "The Nazis were racists. They were bigots. I despised that sort of thing and was determined that they must be defeated."

https://katiephang.substack.com/p/the-black-venus

The jobs report coming from Trumps White House is ALWAYS LIES, always. So no one ever knows what the fuck is going on except what they personally feel in their wallets, which for the majority of the country is: “Oh fuck, how are we supposed to survive again this month”?!!

Trump needs to be court martialed for treason!! That’s IF HE HAD EVER SERVED IN THE MILITARY!

My wife and myself are getting by at this point. We have cut back on entertainment and dining out. We buy beef a couple of times a year. She does a side hustle in mental health and life management. I keep looking for something part time because at 78 I'm limited on what I can do.

The mishandling of job opportunities is more apparent to the public this week... They always want to denigrate Biden... His job numbers were in the millions!!! Where's the Sec of Labor in all of this??!! People living it know the truth!!! More proof, ....time to kick these grifters OUT!!!!

Keeping hope alive, working on midterms wherever & whenever possible!!!

Blue Wave a'comin'!!!!