He Told Off Trump’s ICE Chief. ICE Showed Up. So Did A Judge. 41 DAYS TO THE MIDTERMS!
The detail I can’t shake from that car-loan settlement: most of the debt being erased sits on loans that scored low on the lender’s own rating system, the kind the states say it expected to go bad and made anyway. If you’ve been thinking about becoming a founding member, upgrade today, or give a gift subscription to put this reporting in front of someone who needs it. He Told Off Trump’s ICE Chief. ICE Showed Up. So Did A Judge.Also: Trump’s watchdog quit on 55,000 car buyers. Then Letitia James showed up. Plus the wind farm the regime tried to stop twice, and why a county’s Flock cameras are wearing trash bags.
Thanks so much for taking the time today. I have a great edition in store for you. It starts with 55,000 car buyers Trump’s regulators walked away from, and the attorney general who didn’t. But before we jump in—I just want to reiterate how important it is for us to get as many restacks and likes on each post as possible. It helps us break through the MAGA propaganda machine with the truth. Everything you do helps. And if you haven’t yet, join us as a paid subscriber right now. You’d be standing with the readers behind more than 863,000 constituent letters delivered to the House and Senate since November 2024, and our social media Watchdog Coalition, which generates billions of impressions a month. That way we’re never just preaching to the choir. Paid subscribers also get today’s campaign analysis. Republicans hold 26 of the country’s 50 governorships, and I’ll show you the races that decide whether they keep that majority. Join us.
Trump Walked Away. 55,000 Car Buyers WonAnyway.Millions of people with bad credit or no credit at all have gotten car loans through Credit Acceptance, a Michigan company that lends through used-car dealers. In New York, the paperwork promised about 23% interest. State investigators found borrowers were really paying more than 38% on average, and some paid over 100%. Around 44% of its New York borrowers had a car repossessed. A woman supporting two kids bought a car the dealer needed only $5,614 to sell. Her loan came to more than $13,000. She paid over $7,600. When she fell behind on the payments, the company took her car back, then sued her for more than $7,500 on top of that. This deal was made for people like her, borrowers who lost their car and were still being chased for money. New York Attorney General Letitia James sued in 2023 alongside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In April 2025, Trump’s CFPB quit the case. James kept going, and on September 17 she settled alongside 39 other states and DC. I read the settlement myself. It wipes out more than $630 million in car debt for over 55,000 people by November 2, and it makes the company ask all three credit bureaus to erase those loans from their records. That same day, the company told its investors the deal “does not require material changes.” “While their customers struggled to make payments, [Credit Acceptance] made millions,” James said. Now it’s the customers’ turn. More than 55,000 of them are about to find out the debt is gone and the loan is coming off their credit report.
ICE Went After A Dad’s Email. He Won.In January, two days after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, David Streever, a dad in Rochester, New York, sent the head of ICE a furious email. Five months later, two ICE agents traveled more than 330 miles to his house. His wife, an Episcopal priest, came home in her clergy collar to find them there. They handed her a “WARNING NOTICE” saying he could be prosecuted if he did it again. David was in Europe with his 7-year-old daughter. ICE’s own sworn court filing says agents found out which flight he was taking home, then got the hotel listed on his customs paperwork and went there looking for him. His lawsuit says his daughter cried and told him she didn’t want them to kill him. On September 15, Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled the warning likely violated David’s right to free speech. The regime never even argued in the case that the email was criminal. When I read the 43-page ruling, one detail jumped out at me. ICE swore in court that its investigation was closed on June 30. But only six days later, Homeland Security posted online that it doesn’t comment on “ongoing investigations.” The judge’s order takes effect September 29 unless a higher court blocks it. David says he hopes his case reminds everyone that “the First Amendment protects us all.”
Trump Tried To Kill It Twice. It’s Spinning.A wind farm called Revolution Wind has 65 giant turbines in the ocean built to power around 350,000 homes and businesses in Rhode Island and Connecticut. It supported about 1,200 jobs. But that didn’t stop Trump’s Interior Department from ordering work to be halted on the project in August 2025—even though it was already 80% done. The company building the wind farm took the regime to court. The hearing transcript we reviewed shows Judge Royce Lamberth calling the stop order “the height of arbitrary and capricious action.” That’s judge-speak for the regime making it up as they go. When the judge asked the regime’s lawyer who gave the order, the lawyer could only name the man who signed it. In December 2025, the regime ordered the work stopped a second time. Inside that order, the regime claimed they needed the wind farm shut down over secret national security concerns. They gave absolutely no details, and said they might cancel the project for good. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha went to court and told the judge 58 of the 65 turbines were already standing, and in January he blocked that stop work order too. On September 17, the company confirmed the 65th and final turbine was up. The wind farm is already sending power to homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and it should be running at full strength by the end of the year. Today all 65 turbines are standing in the ocean, turning wind into power for two states.
They Put Trash Bags Over The CamerasThe Oconee County, South Carolina, sheriff’s office was running cameras from a company called Flock. They snap a picture of every car that drives by and save the license plates so police can look up where you’ve been. In other parts of the state, officers have been accused of using these cameras to track down former partners—one Colleton County lieutenant allegedly ran more than 2,700 searches he wasn’t allowed to run. According to the council chairman, residents started calling Oconee County leaders about it back in March. Twelve out of 13 people who spoke at a public meeting on September 1 said get rid of the cameras. Two weeks later, the county passed a law saying no county money or property can be used to track people’s cars like this. It’s the first county in South Carolina to do it. The next day, some of the cameras had trash bags over them, and Flock was given 14 days to take them down. The new ban is simple. Oconee County won’t pay to track people who haven’t done anything wrong. Where you drive can reveal a lot—like where you pray, what doctor you see, and what meetings you go to. In the next few weeks these cameras will be gone. It all started in March with a few neighbors simply picking up the phone—but they didn’t stop until they won.
The Governor Races That Decide The MajorityThe governor races are closer than most people think. Republicans hold 26 of the 50. Here are the four I’m watching most closely. Georgia. GOP Gov. Brian Kemp can’t run again, so the seat is open. Republicans picked Rick Jackson, a billionaire on pace to spend close to $200 million, mostly his own money. Dems picked former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who would be the first Black woman ever elected governor in any state. More Dems than Republicans voted in the May primary, a first since 2006. A GOP-friendly poll has Jackson up just 3 points. It’s a toss-up. Nevada. GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo is the only one on this list running for re-election. Dem Aaron Ford, the state’s attorney general, leads him 44 to 42 in a September poll, up from a tie last fall. Only 37% of Nevadans approve of Trump, so Ford is tying Lombardo to him. Lombardo says working with Trump kept the biggest immigration raids out of Nevada. It’s neck and neck. Iowa. GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds isn’t running again, so the seat is open. Rob Sand, the state auditor, is the only Dem holding a statewide office in Iowa. His Republican opponent, businessman Zach Lahn, beat Trump’s pick in the primary, and he’s taken heat for keeping his home and business in Kansas. A September poll has Sand up 10 points, with 12% of Trump voters backing him in a state Trump won by 13. Sand has the edge for now. Kansas. This is the one Dem-held seat in real danger. Dem Gov. Laura Kelly can’t run again. Republicans picked Ty Masterson, the Trump-backed top Republican in the state Senate. He’s promising if he wins, Republicans can finally pass the bills Kelly blocked for eight years. A September poll has him up 7 points on Dem Cindy Holscher, a state senator. Masterson has a slight edge for now. Keep an eye on Alaska, too. It just shifted to a toss-up after a poll showed Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leading a split Republican field. With former Rep. Mary Peltola in a Senate race that’s also a toss-up, there’s a real chance Dems win both. The Bottom Line: Republicans have 26 governors and Democrats have 24. Iowa and Kansas look likely to cancel each other out, which leaves the closest races to decide it. Democrats have a solid chance to win the majority for the first time since 2011. That matters for 2028, because governors sign the election laws and, in nearly every state, sign off on who won their state’s electoral votes. If Democrats sweep these races, I’d bet they’ve won the Senate too. Forty-one days to go. With just 41 days to go until the midterms, we are running full speed ahead to flip Congress. Our pressure campaign on the House and Senate remains one of the largest ever, putting more than 863,000 letters on their desks along with countless phone calls since November 2024. And our social media Watchdog Coalition is unmatched, generating billions of impressions on social media in our fight against Trump’s propaganda machine. We do all of that on top of our independent reporting and investigating. We don’t have any advertiser who can push us to take it easy on the regime, and no billionaire can call me and make a story disappear. They’d never let us do all of this work. But that means we rely on this amazing community here for our funding. So if you haven’t yet, join us as a paid subscriber today. Let’s finish this: Before you go—be sure to restack this edition and hit the like button. It makes a real difference in pushing this piece past the algorithm that would rather bury it. Thanks for all of your help. Onward! Scott If federal agents showed up over something you wrote, would it make you quieter or louder? Does your town have Flock cameras, and is it fighting back? Which governor’s race are you watching most closely, and why? 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 The regime is operating entirely outside the law. Stop the coverups and block the land grabs right now. Flood Congress on all 7: Roberts: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts/ Hegseth: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-pete-hegseth/ Yosemite: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-stop-trumps-yosemite-giveaway AI Ban: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-pass-the-ban-on-ai-we-cant-control/ |
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