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Source: https://theintercept.com/feed/

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23.                <title><![CDATA[Tulsi Gabbard Is Hunting for “Deep-State Criminals.” Is She Even Following the Law?]]></title>
24.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/30/tulsi-gabbard-leak-investigation/</link>
25.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/30/tulsi-gabbard-leak-investigation/#respond</comments>
26.                <pubDate>Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:31:50 +0000</pubDate>
27.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
28.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
29.  
30.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
31.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The allegedly leaked document undermined the White House’s case for an immigration crackdown.</p>
32. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/30/tulsi-gabbard-leak-investigation/">Tulsi Gabbard Is Hunting for “Deep-State Criminals.” Is She Even Following the Law?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
33. ]]></description>
34.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
35. <p><span class="has-underline">Spy chief Tulsi</span> Gabbard is on the hunt for “deep state” leakers — prompted at least in part by damaging reporting that undermined the White House’s case for an immigration crackdown.</p>
36.  
37.  
38.  
39. <p>Her leak investigation, however, may already be running afoul of the law, a Senate Intelligence Committee member said this week.</p>
40.  
41.  
42.  
43. <p>Gabbard failed to notify Congress about her search for leakers despite a law requiring her to do so for “significant” disclosures, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said at a Wednesday hearing.</p>
44.  
45.  
46.  
47. <p>King, who caucuses with the Democrats, said he thought there was no question the law had been triggered.</p>
48.  
49.  
50.  
51. <p>“If it was important enough to tweet it, it would seem to me it was important enough to notify this committee,” King said.</p>
52.  
53.  
54.  
55. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->“If it was important enough to tweet it, it would seem to me it was important enough to notify this committee.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
56.  
57.  
58.  
59. <p>King’s comments underscored how Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, has managed to alienate committee Democrats at the same time as she has drawn public criticism from President Donald Trump.</p>
60.  
61.  
62.  
63. <p>Under the disclosure law, Gabbard is also supposed to provide the committee with an initial damage assessment of significant leaks, laying out what kind of harm they have supposedly caused the government. She also has yet to do that, King said.</p>
64.  
65.  
66.  
67. <p>The law does appear to allow Gabbard’s office some wiggle room. It is only triggered by “significant” leaks, making the formal disclosure something of a judgment call.</p>
68.  
69.  
70.  
71.  
72.  
73.  
74.  
75. <p>The agency has discussed the leaks with committee staff, an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told The Intercept.</p>
76.  
77.  
78.  
79. <p>If the law hasn’t been triggered, however, that would undermine the case for a leak probe that Gabbard announced in dramatic terms, according to Lauren Harper, the Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy at the nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation.</p>
80.  
81.  
82.  
83.  <div class="promote-related-post">
84.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
85.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/27/trump-deport-venezuela-gang-tren-de-aragua/"
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90.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2204392259-e1743080260220.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
91.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
92.        Related      </h2>
93.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">How a Landlord and a Florida PR Firm Helped Trump Kick Off the Tren de Aragua Gang Panic</h3>
94.    </span>
95.    </a>
96.  </div>
97.  
98.  
99.  
100. <p>Following the leak, the Freedom of the Press Foundation received a declassified version of the document in question released by Gabbard under the Freedom of Information Act. The document undermined an administration talking point about the threat from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/27/trump-deport-venezuela-gang-tren-de-aragua/">has been used to justify Trump’s immigration crackdown</a>.</p>
101.  
102.  
103.  
104. <p>“Congress should know about investigations if leaks actually damage national security,” Harper said in an email, “but the fact that ODNI hasn’t provided a damage assessment for this leak helps prove our point that the leak — and the official FOIA release — didn’t damage national security at all. It informed the public about one of the administration’s most pernicious lies to-date.”</p>
105.  
106.  
107.  
108. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-venezuelan-threat"><strong>Venezuelan Threat?</strong></h2>
109.  
110.  
111.  
112. <p>Weeks after Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/29/press-act-trump-doj-journalists-leaks-subpoenas/">scrapped protections for journalists ensnared in Justice Department leak investigations</a>, King’s revelation also raises fresh questions about how Trump’s administration is handling such probes.</p>
113.  
114.  
115.  
116. <p>Gabbard has not described the full scope of the leak investigations, but they are connected at least in part to one of the most damaging revelations from inside the intelligence community this year.</p>
117.  
118.  
119.  
120.  <div class="promote-related-post">
121.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
122.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/"
123.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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128.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
129.        Related      </h2>
130.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Pete Hegseth Is Mad the Media Won’t Celebrate U.S. War With Iran</h3>
131.    </span>
132.    </a>
133.  </div>
134.  
135.  
136.  
137. <p>Trump has justified mass deportation by claiming that the Tren de Aragua is engaged not just in drug trafficking but also an “invasion” of the U.S. under the direction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.</p>
138.  
139.  
140.  
141. <p>In mid-April, however, the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/17/us-intelligence-tren-de-aragua-deportations-trump/">reported</a> on a consensus assessment of the nation’s spy agencies that Tren de Aragua was not acting under official direction and had at most low-level contacts with the Maduro government. The assessment was produced by the National Intelligence Council, which reports to Gabbard.</p>
142.  
143.  
144.  
145. <p>The newspaper cited “people familiar with the matter” as its sources, prompting Gabbard to blast the disclosure as the work of “deep state” actors.</p>
146.  
147.  
148.  
149. <p>Although Gabbard assailed the leaks, her office in May declassified the assessment and released it to the Freedom of the Press Foundation under a Freedom of Information Act request. The document proved that the leakers had correctly described the assessment.</p>
150.  
151.  
152.  
153. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22left%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-left" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="left"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->Although Gabbard announced the leak probe with a splash, she appears never to have followed through.<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
154.  
155.  
156.  
157. <p>Gabbard didn’t stop at badmouthing the leakers, however. Later in April, she announced on X that she had referred a leak investigation to the Justice Department. Her chief of staff <a href="https://archive.is/9kt4z#selection-615.124-615.198">said in a since-deleted post</a> that the investigation included the Tren de Aragua assessment.</p>
158.  
159.  
160.  
161. <p>In her post about the referrals, Gabbard painted the potential damage from leaks in dramatic terms, saying that they could put “our nation’s security at risk.”</p>
162.  
163.  
164.  
165. <p>“These deep-state criminals leaked classified information for partisan political purposes to undermine POTUS’ agenda,” she said.</p>
166.  
167.  
168.  
169. <p>Although Gabbard announced the leak probe with a splash, she appears never to have followed through with the next step required in serious cases.</p>
170.  
171.  
172.  
173. <p>Under the law, the director of national intelligence has seven days to inform the House and Senate Intelligence committees about a “significant” leak of classified information.</p>
174.  
175.  
176.  
177. <p>Such a notification has never been sent, King said Wednesday. The office of the committee’s ranking Democrat, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, confirmed that it has not received one either.</p>
178.  
179.  
180.  
181.  
182.  
183.  
184.  
185. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-criticism-across-the-board"><strong>Criticism Across the Board</strong></h2>
186.  
187.  
188.  
189. <p>King’s public comments come as Gabbard faces scrutiny from Trump on down, and as a top Republican mounts a push to slash her agency’s size.</p>
190.  
191.  
192.  
193. <p>Trump <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-gabbard-and-u-s-intelligence-are-wrong-about-irans-nuclear-plans">said</a> hours before he launched strikes on Iran that Gabbard was “wrong” about intelligence showing that the country’s leaders had not decided to build a nuclear weapon.</p>
194.  
195.  
196.  
197. <p>Earlier this month, Democrats including Warner assailed Gabbard’s decision to place a staffer of hers inside the nominally independent inspector general for the intelligence community, which is supposed to protect whistleblowers and call out fraud at spy agencies. Gabbard also fired the inspector general’s top lawyer.</p>
198.  
199.  
200.  
201. <p>Gabbard’s office has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/05/tulsi-gabbard-odni-watchdog-signalgate/">defended her actions</a> as a response to the “politicization” of the inspector general’s office.</p>
202.  
203.  
204.  
205. <p>Gabbard, who has embraced calls for “streamlining” the ODNI, is also staring at a potentially massive downsizing of her agency. On Friday, Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., released <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/62725odnireformfinaltext.pdf">a draft of a bill</a> that would dramatically downsize the agency’s staff and responsibilities.</p>
206.  
207.  
208.  
209. <p>Cotton’s bill does not appear to be a direct response to Gabbard’s tenure, since he stated his desire to trim what he calls a “bureaucratic behemoth” before her confirmation.</p>
210.  
211.  
212.  
213. <p></p>
214. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/30/tulsi-gabbard-leak-investigation/">Tulsi Gabbard Is Hunting for “Deep-State Criminals.” Is She Even Following the Law?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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220. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
221. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
222. </media:content>
223. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
224. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
225. </media:content>
226. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
227. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
228. </media:content>
229. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GettyImages-2204392259-e1743080260220.jpg" medium="image" />
230. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221568293-e1751039873690.jpeg" medium="image" />
231.            </item>
232.        
233.            <item>
234.                <title><![CDATA[Top Scientists Debunked the Arson Case Against Michelle Taylor. She’s in Prison Anyway.]]></title>
235.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-junk-science/</link>
236.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-junk-science/#respond</comments>
237.                <pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
238.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Liliana Segura]]></dc:creator>
239.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
240.  
241.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
242.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The only evidence suggesting Michelle Taylor set the fire that killed her son was repeatedly undercut by expert witnesses in a Florida courtroom.</p>
243. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-junk-science/">Top Scientists Debunked the Arson Case Against Michelle Taylor. She’s in Prison Anyway.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
244. ]]></description>
245.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
246. <p><span class="has-underline">Michelle Taylor sat</span> at the defense table during her sentencing hearing in St. Augustine, Florida, listening to a trio of forensic chemists lay out the scientific evidence to prove what she’d sworn for years: She had not set the fire that burned down her house and killed her own son.</p>
247.  
248.  
249.  
250. <p>It was the last Friday in May, and the St. Johns County courthouse was mostly empty.</p>
251.  
252.  
253.  
254. <p>The expert witnesses each testified via Zoom, their faces appearing on a pair of large monitors inside the wood-paneled courtroom. None of the experts knew Taylor personally. But they knew chemistry. And each made clear that the case against Taylor had been based on junk science: faulty analysis by a state lab worker who detected gasoline in fire debris samples where there was none.</p>
255.  
256.  
257.  
258. <p>The testimony was vindicating for Taylor. But it also came too late to prevent what she insisted was a wrongful conviction. More than six years after the fire, she had <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/18/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-fire-plea-deal/">reluctantly accepted a plea deal</a> at the urging of her defense attorney. It allowed her to maintain her innocence — and avoid a mandatory life sentence had she gone to trial and lost. But it had not cleared her name. Now Taylor hoped the hearing might.</p>
259.  
260.  
261.  
262. <p>Taylor’s home caught fire on the night of October 23, 2018. She and her 18-year-old daughter Bailey escaped through a window. But her 11-year-old son David went back for the family dog and died. Investigators became immediately suspicious of Taylor after a dog trained to detect accelerants alerted in several spots throughout the home. At the state fire marshal lab outside Tallahassee, fire debris analyst Dee Ann Turner examined samples collected from the scene and repeatedly found gasoline, a telltale sign of arson.</p>
263.  
264.  
265.  
266. <p>But Turner was disastrously wrong, the witnesses said. According to the experts, she had misidentified gasoline in 12 different samples taken from Taylor’s home. The samples were “very clearly not gasoline,” testified John Lentini, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/02/24/claude-garrett-arson-case-parole-denied/">renowned fire scientist </a>who first reviewed the data and submitted his findings in a defense report in January 2024. Turner’s erroneous analysis had gone undetected for so long because investigators had little reason to suspect such sweeping mistakes — “nor did they have the expertise to question it,” he testified.</p>
267.  
268.  
269.  
270. <p>The faulty forensics became the basis for the entire case against Taylor, Lentini said. “Every time another possibility was considered, the [lead investigator] said, ‘Yeah but we’ve got gasoline here.’”</p>
271.  
272.  
273.  
274.  <div class="promote-related-post">
275.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
276.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/31/florida-michelle-taylor-arson-fire-murder-trial/"
277.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
278.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: florida-michelle-taylor-arson-fire-murder-trial"
279.      data-ga-track-label="florida-michelle-taylor-arson-fire-murder-trial"
280.          >
281.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Michelle-Taylor-arson-forensics.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
282.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
283.        Related      </h2>
284.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The Arson Evidence Doesn’t Hold Up. Florida Is About to Convict Her for Murder Anyway.</h3>
285.    </span>
286.    </a>
287.  </div>
288.  
289.  
290.  
291. <p>Prosecutors had long known that their forensic evidence was fatally flawed. Lentini’s report had been reviewed by a pair of chemists with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who agreed that the data did not show gasoline. Yet Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza had refused to drop the charges against Taylor, instead seizing on financial improprieties in her bank records as proof that she committed arson for profit. Taylor and her husband were behind in their mortgage at the time of the fire. Despite having money to pay for it, there was evidence that Taylor had defrauded area churches to cover the payments instead.</p>
292.  
293.  
294.  
295. <p>Such circumstantial evidence did not prove anything on its own. But Taylor’s attorney, John Rockwell, worried it may be enough for a jury to convict his client anyway. He worked out a plea deal with prosecutors, who agreed to drop the arson charge if Taylor pleaded no contest to manslaughter. Rockwell, a former prosecutor, began to prepare for the sentencing hearing the way he would for a criminal trial. If he could prove that the scientific evidence did not hold up, he could convince the judge to impose the lowest possible sentence.</p>
296.  
297.  
298.  
299. <p>The stakes remained high. Under the plea deal, Seventh Judicial Circuit Judge Lee Smith could still sentence her to as many as 13 years in prison. And while the scientific evidence was certainly on Taylor’s side, there was no guarantee Smith would be moved by it. At the start of the hearing, Lee asked Taylor: “And you still want to proceed today with the sentencing knowing the possible range of possible sentences that you’re facing?”</p>
300.  
301.  
302.  
303. <p>“Yes, sir,” Taylor said.</p>
304.  
305.  
306.  
307. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-gray-area">No Gray Area</h2>
308.  
309.  
310.  
311. <p>I first wrote about Taylor in March, delving into the fire investigation in her case as well as the Florida lab, which <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/31/florida-michelle-taylor-arson-fire-murder-trial/">had a record of faulty fire debris analysis</a>. At that time, Taylor was scheduled to go to trial over the summer — and prosecutors had asked the judge to limit what Lentini would be allowed to say to the jury about the lab, arguing that its history was irrelevant.</p>
312.  
313.  
314.  
315. <p>Lentini had been raising alarm over the lab for years. The lab’s flawed gasoline findings had led numerous people to be wrongly accused of arson — including in a death penalty case. In 2016, he filed an ethics complaint against the lab, which led to an audit by a team of independent experts. The results were abysmal: Of 26 cases they selected for reanalysis, lab analysts had wrongly reported gasoline in 14 of them. The lab temporarily lost its professional accreditation but regained it after agreeing to a remedial plan, which included a self-review of work dating back to 2009. But the review was never completed, leaving some 8,000 cases unexamined.</p>
316.  
317.  
318.  
319. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“There is no gasoline in these samples.”</p></blockquote></figure>
320.  
321.  
322.  
323. <p>At the heart of the problem, Lentini argued, was that state lab analysts were not following the professional standards for fire debris analysis that had been in place for decades. Rules for identifying ignitable liquids in fire debris were developed in the 1990s by the American Society for Testing and Materials. A standard known as ASTM E1618 laid out specific parameters for identifying gasoline. The auditors had previously found that lab analysts were not following the standard, instead using an “unvalidated protocol that is not generally accepted in the scientific community.” Although the lab claimed to abide by ASTM E1618, Turner’s work showed that, in Taylor’s case, this was not true.</p>
324.  
325.  
326.  
327. <p>In a statement to The Intercept, a spokesperson for the Florida Division of Criminal Investigations’ Bureau of Forensic Services said: “BFS adheres to industry standards, including ASTM E1618, to detect trace levels of ignitable liquids and ensure reliable, science-based conclusions. Moreover, the lab maintains a culture of continuous improvement, regularly evaluating its procedures, investing in advanced training, and participating in proficiency testing to uphold the highest integrity of its work.”</p>
328.  
329.  
330.  
331. <p>The evidence taken from Taylor’s home in the fall of 2018 had gone through a common procedure for testing fire debris. Samples were collected in metal cans, which were brought to the lab and heated in an oven. The resulting vapors were captured on charcoal strips suspended from the top of each can, which were then rinsed with a solvent, producing a solution to be injected into a machine called a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer. The GCMS, as it is commonly known, produced a chromatogram: an electronic signature made of up peaks and valleys.</p>
332.  
333.  
334.  
335. <p>This process is straightforward until it comes to interpreting the data. The peaks on a chromatogram that indicate gasoline can easily be mistaken for peaks indicating other petroleum-based products. For this reason, ASTM E1618 dictates that lab analysts start their examination by ensuring there are five specific peaks on a chromatogram, which must appear at certain ratios in order to be labeled positive for gasoline.</p>
336.  
337.  
338.  
339.  
340.  
341.  
342.  
343. <p>According to Reta Newman, a veteran chemist and one of the independent auditors who uncovered problems at the state lab in 2016, the samples in Taylor’s case had not passed this first step. Testifying at the sentencing hearing that afternoon, she agreed with Lentini’s blunt assessment. “There is no gasoline in these samples,” she testified.</p>
344.  
345.  
346.  
347. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>“There is no gasoline in these samples.”</p></blockquote></figure>
348.  
349.  
350.  
351. <p>Newman, the director of the Pinellas County Forensic Lab, gave a quick chemistry lesson. “Gasoline is a blended product,” she explained, full of components that are added to improve performance in internal combustion engines. These include a class of hydrocarbons known as aromatic compounds, which are ubiquitous in petroleum-based products, including materials used to furnish modern homes. Newman motioned toward the green courtroom carpet as an example. When such synthetic materials burn in a fire, they “unfortunately break down into aromatic products — the same compounds that we see in gasoline.”</p>
352.  
353.  
354.  
355. <p>On a chromatogram from a gasoline sample, aromatic compounds form a specific pattern that can be hard to differentiate from those produced by aromatics in burned synthetic materials. “Fortunately for us,” Newman said, there is another kind of hydrocarbon that analysts use to identify gasoline in a fire debris sample. “I apologize for being so nerdy. But isoalkanes are also added to gasoline,” she said. And unlike aromatics, isoalkanes generally do not turn up in burned synthetic material.</p>
356.  
357.  
358.  
359. <p>Turner had correctly identified aromatic compounds in the fire debris taken from Taylor’s home, Newman said, although the peak patterns “were much more consistent” with the burning of synthetic material rather than gasoline. But the data showed an absence of isoalkanes. Under ASTM E1618, this should have been disqualifying. Yet Turner had reported the samples positive.</p>
360.  
361.  
362.  
363. <p>Rockwell, Taylor’s attorney, asked whether this was a plain fact or a subjective opinion. “If two different scientists look at this, is it very easy to tell that this is either gasoline or not gasoline?” he asked. Newman acknowledged that many cases present samples where there are gray areas. But not here. “There is no gray area.”</p>
364.  
365.  
366.  
367. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
368.    <img decoding="async"
369.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?fit=4272%2C2848"
370.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=4272 4272w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
371.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
372.    alt=""
373.    width="4272"
374.    height="2848"
375.    loading="lazy"
376.  />
377.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
378.              <span class="photo__caption">A metal can used to collect fire debris samples from the Taylor home in 2018. The samples were tested at the Bureau of Forensic Services lab in Havana, Fla.</span>
379.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations</span>
380.          </figcaption>
381.    </figure>
382.  
383.  
384.  
385. <p><span class="has-underline">The third and</span> last expert witness for the defense was Laurel Mason, a veteran chemist and director of a Georgia lab called Analytical Forensic Associates. Unlike Lentini or Newman, who had only reviewed Turner’s reports and chromatographic data, Mason had actually reexamined the carbon strips used to test the fire debris from Taylor’s home. She found no proof of gasoline or any other ignitable liquid.</p>
386.  
387.  
388.  
389. <p>There was a haunting irony to Mason’s testimony. She had actually first encountered Taylor’s case in 2018, when one of her lab analysts had examined fire debris samples taken from the home on behalf of Taylor’s homeowner’s insurance company. That analyst found no evidence of an ignitable liquid. The insurance investigator concluded that the cause of the fire was undetermined — and Taylor’s insurance company paid the claim in full. Had Mason been the analyst first assigned to examine the evidence on behalf of the state rather than the insurance company, Taylor would almost certainly have never been arrested for arson.</p>
390.  
391.  
392.  
393. <p>Mason had found a number of things alarming about Turner’s work. There was the analysis itself, which was clearly flawed. But she was also concerned about the lab’s handling of evidence. Rockwell had asked for permission to retest the carbon strips after discovering that the fire debris samples themselves had been destroyed by the lab. But the lab resisted providing the strips, offering instead to cut them in two and allow the defense to test one half of each. Posting on a listserv for fire debris analysts in late January, Turner had solicited recommendations for any scientific literature that might support this plan. She was not successful, perhaps because, according to Mason, altering the carbon strips went against best practices for preserving evidence.</p>
394.  
395.  
396.  
397. <p>Rockwell asked Mason about a strange turn of events that followed her examination of the carbon strips. Shortly after Mason submitted her defense report in February 2025, Turner herself issued an amended report on behalf of the state lab, suddenly altering four of her original findings without explanation. Of the samples she had originally determined to be positive for gasoline, four were now negative. “The curious thing to me was the documentation,” Mason testified. On the data sheet accompanying the report, where Turner had crossed out four of the original findings, she had written her initials, along with the date: February 26, 2025. Yet the report itself was dated January 2025.</p>
398.  
399.  
400.  
401. <p>To Rockwell, it seemed clear that the amended report had been deliberately backdated to make it appear as if it had preceded Mason’s report — a stealth correction designed to circumvent any accountability for the lab’s mistakes.</p>
402.  
403.  
404.  
405. <p>The lab did not respond to specific questions about the backdated report, but said in a statement its “technicians are extensively trained and conduct rigorous reviews of their findings, often re-examining evidence in preparation for depositions or expert testimony.”</p>
406.  
407.  
408.  
409. <p>Whatever the truth of the timing, it was clearly unusual for an expert to go back and change their conclusions six and a half years later. “I have never seen that before,” Mason said.</p>
410.  
411.  
412.  
413. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-i-hope-this-can-be-corrected">“I Hope This Can Be Corrected”</h2>
414.  
415.  
416.  
417. <p>In a teal blouse and freshly colored hair, 41-year-old Taylor listened to the expert testimony without expression. She’d lost weight since her last court date, the effect of stress, according to her most vocal advocate Megan Wallace, who Taylor<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/31/florida-michelle-taylor-arson-fire-murder-trial/"> had met at the county jail</a>, and who wept in the back of the courtroom for much of the hearing.</p>
418.  
419.  
420.  
421. <p>Taylor’s arrest had made her a villain in the press. Yet almost no local media had shown up at the hearing. Though a TV reporter sat in the jury box alongside a cameraman, her <a href="https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/st-johns-county-mother-sentenced-prison-2018-house-fire-that-killed-son/TUQJQKSL2ZERVOFY5QJZZ4RF4A/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKsRqZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFaOEoxYXRiYXFIa0w5dUplAR4a6dw0ND6rj6S9Md9TQ2FShk9Vehu901HflAyzaXMaYoDTLBbPxIlFtjhsjg_aem_SjAkLDEUekeBWBFkfXkEXQ">subsequent report</a> would make no mention of the flawed forensics at the center of the case.</p>
422.  
423.  
424.  
425. <p>Taylor’s husband Dennis and their daughter Bailey sat in the front of the gallery. The fire and its aftermath had torn their family apart. Dennis’s mother Lillian had blamed Taylor for David’s death, telling a police detective in an interview that she believed her daughter-in-law had set the fire for insurance money. But she had since disavowed her statements. In an email to the judge, she wrote, “I strongly disagree and contradict anything I said,” adding that she was “heavily medicated” at the time. “I hope this can be corrected and we can have a satisfactory outcome and closure to all parties involved.”</p>
426.  
427.  
428.  
429.  <div class="promote-related-post">
430.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
431.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/18/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-fire-plea-deal/"
432.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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436.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Michelle-Taylor-arson-folo.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
437.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
438.        Related      </h2>
439.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Facing Life in Prison Based on Shoddy Evidence, a Florida Mother Makes a Deal </h3>
440.    </span>
441.    </a>
442.  </div>
443.  
444.  
445.  
446. <p>Other family members had written character letters on Taylor’s behalf, along with friends, neighbors, and co-workers who described Taylor as generous, hardworking, and completely committed to her children. David’s football coach described Taylor as “the most supportive and involved parent,” sharing an anecdote about David I had previously heard in my interviews. “I vividly remember moments in the middle of games when he’d run over to give her a kiss, not caring if his teammates saw,” he wrote. “Their bond was pure and inspiring.”</p>
447.  
448.  
449.  
450. <p>Several of the letters begged the judge to let Taylor go free. Although her supporters understood the plea deal in theory, they could not comprehend why she should serve any more time behind bars for a crime she did not commit.</p>
451.  
452.  
453.  
454. <p>Representing the state was Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas, who flatly rejected the notion that Taylor was innocent, telling the judge at the start of the hearing that prosecutors had agreed to the plea deal because they did not believe she had meant to kill her son. Thomas called a series of witnesses whose brief testimony seemed mainly aimed at casting Taylor in a suspicious light, from a uniformed sheriff’s deputy who said that Taylor had told Bailey not to speak to investigators at the hospital on the night of the fire, to a fraud expert who described the scam Taylor appeared to have been running against local churches — including, it turned out, his own.</p>
455.  
456.  
457.  
458. <p>With no witness to discredit the scientific testimony of the defense experts, Thomas instead sought to reframe the problem. It wasn’t that the lab had reported gasoline where there was none, she suggested. Rather, the necessary components in the contested samples were simply too low to fulfill the “threshold” necessary to report it as gasoline. This was highly misleading; as the experts had testified, the fire debris samples were actually missing the necessary components to be accurately classified as gasoline. And the whole purpose of a standard is to ensure accurate interpretation of forensic evidence. If the indicators were too low to report gasoline, a sample had to be classified as negative.</p>
459.  
460.  
461.  
462. <p>Nevertheless, Thomas cast this as a mere technicality. She called the former K-9 handler whose accelerant detection dog had alerted at the site of the fire — and who explained that just because a dog’s alerts are not always confirmed by a lab analyst, it does not mean that there is nothing there. “The lab has a level that they have to meet,” he said. “The experts will tell you that what the dog is picking up is below what they can call by their standards. It is gasoline. Everyone at the lab people kept telling us, ‘It is gasoline but it does not meet our level to be able to call it that for court.’”</p>
463.  
464.  
465.  
466. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-thousands-of-samples">Thousands of Samples</h2>
467.  
468.  
469.  
470. <p>The last person to testify for the state was Dee Ann Turner herself. Her name had been visible on the TV monitors since the start of the hearing, suggesting that she’d heard the defense experts’ critiques of her work and would be well-positioned to respond. But this was not the case. “I’ve been sitting waiting to be let in,” she chuckled.</p>
471.  
472.  
473.  
474. <p>Turner had worked at the lab for a decade. She was hired in 2015, the year before the lab temporarily lost its accreditation. As the state’s sole scientific expert, she was the only witness who could conceivably rehabilitate the state’s case against Taylor. Instead, her testimony was unpersuasive and off-putting. She was awkward and halting, fumbling basic questions and laughing at uncomfortable moments. When Thomas asked when she submitted her amended lab report — a critical chance to clear up any suspicions that it had been purposefully backdated as Rockwell claimed — Turner shuffled clumsily through her paperwork for more than two minutes. She finally answered that she submitted the report in January 2025, explaining that her notes were dated February 2025 because she’d forgotten to date and initial them.</p>
475.  
476.  
477.  
478. <p>Thomas asked Turner why she had gone back to revise her 2018 findings to begin with. “After reading Mr. Lentini’s deposition I went back and looked at the data,” Turner replied. “I decided, you know, this data really isn’t sufficient for a positive call.”</p>
479.  
480.  
481.  
482. <p>The answer seemed to catch the prosecutor off guard. Thomas had cast Lentini as hopelessly biased — a man with a “vendetta” against the state lab. Now her own expert was saying that Lentini’s opinion had prompted her to reexamine her own work. In her closing argument, Thomas would go on to insist that, in fact, Turner had changed her findings on the basis of the other experts, who were more worthy of respect — never mind what Turner herself said on the stand.</p>
483.  
484.  
485.  
486. <p>On cross-examination, Rockwell probed further into the question of what had prompted Turner to revisit her analysis from 2018. Did anything change about her approach to fire debris analysis between 2018 and 2025? Turner said that the lab’s reporting requirements had become stricter after its accreditation was temporarily suspended. “We’re being more conservative in our calls,” she said. But Rockwell pointed out that the accreditation had been suspended and restored in 2016. Turner’s analysis in the case had taken place two years later. Turner was forced to concede that, in fact, nothing had changed.</p>
487.  
488.  
489.  
490. <p>Rockwell asked Turner if she was aware of Laurel Mason’s retesting of the carbon strips. Did it surprise her that Mason found no proof of an ignitable liquid in the fire debris samples? Yes, “I’m actually quite surprised,” Turner said. Would it surprise her to know that Reta Newman, “one of the preeminent authorities in the fire debris chemistry field also has the same opinion as Mr. Lentini and Ms. Mason?” Yes, Turner said. “I’m surprised by that as well.”</p>
491.  
492.  
493.  
494. <p>Rockwell pointed out that, in a total of 22 samples she’d examined in the case, Turner had reversed her determinations in four. This came out to 18 percent. Wasn’t this an unacceptable error rate for an expert like her? Turner hesitated. “It’s not wrong,” she said. “I still think that there’s gasoline in those samples that I changed. It’s just — the data’s just not sufficient for me to report it.”</p>
495.  
496.  
497.  
498. <p>Rockwell asked the question again, over the objection of the state. When her lab analysis is used by investigators “to arrest somebody for first-degree murder and arson, when that can change the course of someone’s life forever, do you think that’s an appropriate standard of error?” he asked.</p>
499.  
500.  
501.  
502. <p>“No,” Turner finally said.</p>
503.  
504.  
505.  
506. <p>Still, she objected to the characterization of her work. “This is one case,” she said. Over the course of her career, “I’ve analyzed thousands of samples.”</p>
507.  
508.  
509.  
510. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
511.    <img decoding="async"
512.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?fit=4272%2C2848"
513.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=4272 4272w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
514.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
515.    alt=""
516.    width="4272"
517.    height="2848"
518.    loading="lazy"
519.  />
520.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
521.              <span class="photo__caption">A view of the living room in the back of the Taylor home, believed to be the area where the fire started on Oct. 23, 2018.</span>
522.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Florida Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations</span>
523.          </figcaption>
524.    </figure>
525.  
526.  
527.  
528. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-most-important-evidence">The Most Important Evidence</h2>
529.  
530.  
531.  
532. <p>The last round of testimony came from Taylor’s family. Her mother tried to read a letter to the court but left the stand after becoming too emotional, leaving Rockwell’s co-counsel to read it instead. Bailey and her father, Dennis, both spoke briefly, holding their emotions at bay. But the trauma of the fire and its aftermath was written on their faces.</p>
533.  
534.  
535.  
536. <p>When Taylor stood to address the court, her words quickly gave way to anguished sobs. She talked about her three children, one of whom had died in a tragic accident just a few years before David. In the months leading to the fire, she said, her grandmother had died of cancer, which had led to Taylor’s financial problems. “When she didn’t have the money, I used my money,” she said. “I would’ve gave her every last dime I had to save her life.” Above all, she wanted the judge to know that she did everything she could to save David from the fire. “I lived for my son.”</p>
537.  
538.  
539.  
540. <p>Before delivering his closing argument, Rockwell flagged one last piece of evidence for the judge: a polygraph test given to Taylor in early May. Taylor had been asked three variations of a single question: Did she set a fire in her home in October 2018? Taylor had passed every time.</p>
541.  
542.  
543.  
544. <p>Polygraphs have long been known to be unreliable and thus inadmissible in criminal trials. Although the rules of evidence governing the sentencing hearing were different, Thomas was suddenly concerned about junk science, objecting to the polygraph, and arguing that the judge had to find “some reliability of the evidence” before it could be introduced. But Smith said that the polygraph results had been included in the binder he’d received prior to the hearing. She had not objected then. Besides, he said, “I’ve already reviewed it.”</p>
545.  
546.  
547.  
548.  
549.  
550.  
551.  
552. <p>In his closing, Rockwell called the case “the most difficult case I think I’ve ever worked on in my career.” He decried Turner’s laughter and “cavalier attitude” upon being confronted with her errors. Thomas countered that Turner’s laughter had been due to nerves, blaming Rockwell for pummeling her with the same question over and over again. She reiterated that Lentini was too biased to be believed. But when Smith asked Thomas whether she had any response to the other experts — or to the ATF chemists who had agreed with Lentini more than a year earlier — the prosecutor had little to say.</p>
553.  
554.  
555.  
556. <p>Smith was quiet for a few moments, then cleared his throat. “The most important piece of evidence, I think, in any arson case is the science,” the judge said. He was not an expert himself, he added, and declined to say which side was correct. But he was going to impose the lowest sentence: three years in prison, with credit for time served.</p>
557.  
558.  
559.  
560. <p>Taylor was taken into custody moments later. She embraced her lawyers, thanking Rockwell profusely, then hastily took off her watch to give to her family with the rest of her belongings before being handcuffed. Her mother asked a sheriff&#8217;s deputy permission to give her a hug but was denied.</p>
561.  
562.  
563.  
564. <p>On June 11, Taylor was transferred to the Florida Women&#8217;s Reception Center in Ocala. In an email this week, she said she would discuss her case after she gets out of prison, which should be in a matter of weeks given the nearly three years she spent in jail. She is scheduled for release in August.</p>
565. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/michelle-taylor-florida-arson-junk-science/">Top Scientists Debunked the Arson Case Against Michelle Taylor. She’s in Prison Anyway.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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571. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Michelle-Taylor-arson-forensics.jpg" medium="image" />
572. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
573. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
574. </media:content>
575. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
576. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
577. </media:content>
578. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
579. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
580. </media:content>
581. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7564.jpg?fit=4272%2C2848" medium="image" />
582. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Michelle-Taylor-arson-folo.jpg" medium="image" />
583. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_7794.jpg?fit=4272%2C2848" medium="image" />
584.            </item>
585.        
586.            <item>
587.                <title><![CDATA[How Biden Is to Blame for Israel and the U.S.’s 12-Day War Against Iran]]></title>
588.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-israel/</link>
589.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-israel/#respond</comments>
590.                <pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
591.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jamal Abdi]]></dc:creator>
592.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
593. <category><![CDATA[Voices]]></category>
594. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
595.  
596.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
597.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Biden’s failure to reenter Obama’s nuclear deal helped create the risk for a potentially catastrophic U.S. war against Iran.</p>
598. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-israel/">How Biden Is to Blame for Israel and the U.S.’s 12-Day War Against Iran</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
599. ]]></description>
600.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
601. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
602.    <img decoding="async"
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605.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
606.    alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu's visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)"
607.    width="6000"
608.    height="4000"
609.    loading="lazy"
610.  />
611.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
612.              <span class="photo__caption">President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 25, 2024, in Washington.</span>
613.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images</span>
614.          </figcaption>
615.    </figure>
616.  
617.  
618.  
619. <p><span class="has-underline">Almost exactly 10</span> years ago, as the U.S. was the cusp of sealing a historic agreement to curb Iran&#8217;s nuclear program, Barack Obama offered a warning to those who were working to tank the accord: “Let’s not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some form of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.&#8221;</p>
620.  
621.  
622.  
623. <p>Obama struck the deal in 2015, but less than <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/11/13/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-eu-european-union/">three years later</a>, during President Donald Trump’s first term, the U.S. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/08/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-john-bolton/">unilaterally violated the agreement</a>. After a short time, the deal was dead.</p>
624.  
625.  
626.  
627. <p>Then came the war Obama had predicted. This month, Israel unleashed barrages of missiles, bombs, and drone attacks against Iranian military installations, nuclear facilities, and residential neighborhoods. Iran undertook retaliatory strikes at Israel.</p>
628.  
629.  
630.  
631. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->It would be easy to lay the blame this war almost entirely on Trump and Netanyahu.<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
632.  
633.  
634.  
635. <p>The U.S., after an<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/12/israel-iran-attack-trump-nuke-deal/"> apparent feint </a>at diplomacy, then entered the fray, making a massive bombing run against Iranian <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">nuclear facilities </a>— and raising the specter of an all-out regional conflict or, worse, a world war. Thankfully, U.S. involvement was limited and, after 12 days of exchanges, Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.</p>
636.  
637.  
638.  
639.  <div class="promote-related-post">
640.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
641.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/14/israel-iran-attack-netanyahu-trump/"
642.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
643.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: israel-iran-attack-netanyahu-trump"
644.      data-ga-track-label="israel-iran-attack-netanyahu-trump"
645.          >
646.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2219281177_e12724-e1749911994888.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
647.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
648.        Related      </h2>
649.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Netanyahu and Trump Are Trying to Have It All</h3>
650.    </span>
651.    </a>
652.  </div>
653.  
654.  
655.  
656. <p>It would be easy to lay the blame this war almost entirely on Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. For decades, Netanyahu has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/">sought to ensnarl</a> the<a href="https://theintercept.com/2023/03/01/us-israel-iran-war-plan/"> U.S. </a>in a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/">direct war with Iran</a> — and in Trump he seemed to have found one, just as Trump acquiesced to Netanyahu’s catastrophic demand that the U.S. tear up Obama’s Iran deal.</p>
657.  
658.  
659.  
660. <p>While this is indeed true, it risks letting off the hook the people who could have restored Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and helped avoid this new nightmare scenario.</p>
661.  
662.  
663.  
664. <p>Some blame for the war, for the dead civilians, and for the instability wrought on the lives of people in the Middle East belongs to President Joe Biden.</p>
665.  
666.  
667.  
668. <p>Biden, who served as Obama’s own vice president, squandered the chance to correct course and avert the crisis unfolding today.</p>
669.  
670.  
671.  
672.  
673.  
674.  
675.  
676. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-blown-opportunity">Blown Opportunity</h2>
677.  
678.  
679.  
680. <p>When Biden came into office in 2021, he had a laundry list of Trump excesses that he pledged to undo in his effort to restore normalcy. He made good on some of those promises — ending policies like the travel ban and returning to the Paris climate accord with the stroke of a pen on day one of his presidency.</p>
681.  
682.  
683.  
684. <p>Biden’s commitment to return to the Iran nuclear deal, his advisers said, would be more complicated. The new president and his team suggested that a precondition for a U.S. return would be for Iran to address steps it had taken to expand its nuclear work in retaliation for the U.S. violating the accord, rather than the U.S. simply restoring its own compliance with the obligations it had violated. This prompted weeks of back and forth and took time off the negotiations clock that neither party could afford.</p>
685.  
686.  
687.  
688. <p>The delay didn’t only affect prospects for a deal itself but had a wider effect on regional politics. Many observers thought the new administration understood the need to move swiftly to restore the deal before rapidly approaching Iranian presidential elections that summer. The elections could return hard-liners who had vigorously opposed the nuclear deal back into power.</p>
689.  
690.  
691.  
692. <p>Understanding as much, Biden was sure to seize the initiative — and wouldn&#8217;t fall for the advice of those arguing the president should &#8220;use Trump&#8217;s leverage&#8221; to force a &#8220;better deal.&#8221; Surely, Biden wouldn&#8217;t bide his time and allow opponents of the deal to tie his hands.</p>
693.  
694.  
695.  
696. <p>Rather than urgently restore U.S. commitments under the agreement, however, Biden ordered that his advisers “keep the Middle East off his desk” as he focused on his domestic agenda.</p>
697.  
698.  
699.  
700. <p>Advisers like Brett McGurk, who has been advocating for and celebrating America’s entry into Israel’s war on Iran on CNN over the past two weeks, dutifully complied. Negotiations started, but they were circular, undermined by congressional hawks and Israeli sabotage — including a 2021 Israeli attack on <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/04/13/iran-nuclear-natanz-israel/">Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility</a> just as negotiations were finally getting underway.</p>
701.  
702.  
703.  
704. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[2] -->Ultimately, Biden’s team missed the window for a deal.<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[2] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[2] -->
705.  
706.  
707.  
708. <p>Ultimately, Biden’s team missed the window for a deal before a harsh critic of the original nuclear agreement was sworn in as Iran’s president. <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/04/13/iran-nuclear-natanz-israel/">Iran’s nuclear program</a> advanced by leaps and strides, with Iran becoming capable of producing enough enriched material for a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks.</p>
709.  
710.  
711.  
712. <p>By the end of Biden’s term, his advisers were not debating a diplomatic solution to the nuclear issue but rather were debating their own military strikes on Iran to set back its program.</p>
713.  
714.  
715.  
716.  <div class="promote-related-post">
717.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
718.            href="https://theintercept.com/2022/07/31/joe-biden-iran-nuclear-bomb/"
719.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
720.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: joe-biden-iran-nuclear-bomb"
721.      data-ga-track-label="joe-biden-iran-nuclear-bomb"
722.          >
723.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-12421630071-e1659041410917.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
724.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
725.        Related      </h2>
726.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Proud Papa: How Joe Biden Became the Father of the Iranian Nuclear Bomb</h3>
727.    </span>
728.    </a>
729.  </div>
730.  
731.  
732.  
733. <p>The nuclear crisis — imminently resolvable under Biden — was instead made worse throughout his term in office and then handed to Trump, who acted wisely at first in engaging in nuclear negotiations with Iran but eventually caved to Netanyahu.</p>
734.  
735.  
736.  
737. <p>Now, hundreds of innocent people have been killed, destruction has been wrought in Israel and Iran, and we are much worse off in terms of Iran’s capabilities — and intentions — than we were 10 years ago.</p>
738.  
739.  
740.  
741.  
742.  
743.  
744.  
745. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-one-way-to-limit-iran">One Way to Limit Iran</h2>
746.  
747.  
748.  
749. <p>Time will tell if Trump will embrace the diplomacy-first leadership he briefly demonstrated earlier this year, or if he will hew closer to Biden&#8217;s feckless deference to Netanyahu.</p>
750.  
751.  
752.  
753. <p>The latter course brings tremendous risks — like dragging the U.S. into an endless campaign of sending in more and more bombers to “mow the lawn” in Iran because the diplomatic options, like Obama’s deal, have been left in tatters.</p>
754.  
755.  
756.  
757. <p>At the time of his nuclear deal, Obama was attacked by hawks for “kicking the can down the road” because it merely set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities by 15 years. </p>
758.  
759.  
760.  
761.  <div class="promote-related-post">
762.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
763.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/"
764.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
765.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy"
766.      data-ga-track-label="podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy"
767.          >
768.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/US-Israel-Iran.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
769.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
770.        Related      </h2>
771.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Who’s the Real Bully of the Middle East?</h3>
772.    </span>
773.    </a>
774.  </div>
775.  
776.  
777.  
778. <p>Flash forward to today, and those same figures are cheering for Trump’s military strikes on Iran as some decisive victory, even though most estimates say Israel and America’s 12-day campaign only set Iran’s nuclear program back by as little as a month.</p>
779.  
780.  
781.  
782. <p>And unlike Obama’s deal that imposed permanent restrictions and intrusive inspections over every element of Iran’s enrichment program, Trump administration officials including Vice President JD Vance acknowledge that the bombing did not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program but did drive Iran to move its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to a secret location.</p>
783.  
784.  
785.  
786. <p>The lessons here are clear. Obama was borne out. The only demonstrable way to concretely limit Iran’s nuclear program <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/">is through diplomacy</a>. To fail at striking a deal is to risk war — possibly another disastrous American war in the Middle East.</p>
787.  
788.  
789.  
790. <p>We should hold everyone to account whose limited imaginations — whose inability to take needed steps in the face of pro-Israel pressure — prevented a nuclear deal. If we are to learn the lessons of this 12-day war, that list must include Joe Biden.</p>
791. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-israel/">How Biden Is to Blame for Israel and the U.S.’s 12-Day War Against Iran</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
792. ]]></content:encoded>
793.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/29/biden-iran-nuclear-deal-israel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
794.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
795.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg?fit=6000%2C3000' width='6000' height='3000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494854</post-id>
796. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900_716ce5.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000" />
797. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900_716ce5.jpg?fit=6000%2C4000" medium="image">
798. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
799. </media:content>
800. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2219281177_e12724-e1749911994888.jpg" medium="image" />
801. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
802. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
803. </media:content>
804. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
805. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
806. </media:content>
807. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221568293-e1751039873690.jpeg" medium="image">
808. <media:title type="html">Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, arrives for a briefing with members of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025.</media:title>
809. </media:content>
810. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GettyImages-12421630071-e1659041410917.jpg" medium="image" />
811. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/US-Israel-Iran.jpg" medium="image" />
812.            </item>
813.        
814.            <item>
815.                <title><![CDATA[Who’s the Real Bully of the Middle East?]]></title>
816.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/</link>
817.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/#respond</comments>
818.                <pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
819.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[The Intercept Briefing]]></dc:creator>
820.                                 <category><![CDATA[The Intercept Briefing]]></category>
821.  
822.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
823.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Iranian American author Hooman Majd on the Israel–Iran ceasefire, Trump’s role in escalating the conflict, and whether diplomacy can survive.</p>
824. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/">Who’s the Real Bully of the Middle East?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
825. ]]></description>
826.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
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828. <div class="acast-player">
829.  <iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/intercept-presents/whos-the-real-bully-of-the-middle-east?accentColor=111111&#038;bgColor=f5f6f7&#038;logo=false" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" class="acast-player__embed"></iframe>
830. </div>
831. <!-- END-BLOCK(acast)[0] -->
832.  
833.  
834.  
835. <p><span class="has-underline">A tenuous ceasefire</span> between Israel and Iran announced Monday appears to be holding. President Donald Trump made the announcement after unilaterally dragging the U.S. into the conflict and authorizing strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">using 30,000-pound bunker busters</a>.&nbsp;</p>
836.  
837.  
838.  
839. <p>Israel attacked Iran on June 13, just days before Iran and the U.S. were set to resume talks in Oman over the country’s nuclear enrichment program.</p>
840.  
841.  
842.  
843. <p>“ You don&#8217;t have to be anti-war to understand that diplomacy in this case would&#8217;ve been better,” said <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/11/20/ghosts-of-mossadegh-the-iran-cables-u-s-empire-and-the-arc-of-history/">Hooman Majd</a>, an Iranian American writer and the author of three books on Iran. Majd is a contributor to NBC News and covered the 2015 Iran deal for the network.&nbsp;</p>
844.  
845.  
846.  
847.  
848.  
849.  
850.  
851. <p>This week on The Intercept Briefing, Majd joins host Akela Lacy to discuss what&#8217;s left of the path to diplomacy after years of sabotage, from Israel&#8217;s aggressive military posture to Trump&#8217;s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. &nbsp;</p>
852.  
853.  
854.  
855. <p>The deal, formally known as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/14/iran-nuclear-deal-full-text-of-joint-comprehensive-plan-of-action">Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action</a>, aimed to stop Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons development. Majd says that the incentive structure of the deal included increasing transparency, access, and inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites and reintegrating the country back into the global economy: What “Obama recognized was, &#8216;Look, if you guys make this deal with us, your incentive to not build a bomb is very clear. &#8230;  Inflation will go down. Your people will be happier. The economy won&#8217;t be suffering the way it is. Sanctions will be lifted. You&#8217;ll make money from oil sales. We&#8217;ll have international companies coming and investing in Iran.”&nbsp;</p>
856.  
857.  
858.  
859.  <div class="promote-related-post">
860.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
861.            href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/10/iran-nuclear-deal-cameras-war/"
862.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
863.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-nuclear-deal-cameras-war"
864.      data-ga-track-label="iran-nuclear-deal-cameras-war"
865.          >
866.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241196385-iran-deal-US-camera-sanctions-hero.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
867.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
868.        Related      </h2>
869.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Iran Is Backing Out of the Nuclear Deal That U.S. Had Already Reneged On for Years</h3>
870.    </span>
871.    </a>
872.  </div>
873.  
874.  
875.  
876. <p>In 2018, during his first term, Trump pulled out of the agreement and now, after authorizing military strikes, has obliterated what little trust remained. “The problem here is that with the Trump administration having once <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/05/08/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-john-bolton/">withdrawn from the nuclear deal</a> that was working, and having now agreed to Israel attacking Iran, and then attacking Iran itself — there&#8217;s no trust in diplomacy anymore on the Iranian side, and that&#8217;s understandable,” says Hooman.&nbsp;</p>
877.  
878.  
879.  
880. <p>Trump is reportedly set to resume talks with Iran next week. But will the ceasefire hold — given that Israel has repeatedly <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/19/israel-gaza-ceasefire-hamas/">broken its own truces</a> with other countries, and Trump&#8217;s own volatility? Is a diplomatic solution still possible?&nbsp;</p>
881.  
882.  
883.  
884. <p>Majd says it may take leaning more into Trump’s personal ambitions, “The only way it could be over, and this is unlikely, is that the U.S. under President Trump makes a deal that makes Mr. Trump, very happy, puts him along the path to his Nobel Peace Prize. And he, who&#8217;s the only one right now, can prevent Israel from attacking Iran again.”&nbsp;</p>
885.  
886.  
887.  
888. <p>You can hear the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-intercept-briefing/id1195206601"> Apple Podcasts</a>,<a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2js8lwDRiK1TB4rUgiYb24?si=e3ce772344ee4170"> Spotify</a>, or wherever you listen.</p>
889. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/">Who’s the Real Bully of the Middle East?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
890. ]]></content:encoded>
891.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/podcast-iran-nuclear-trump-diplomacy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
892.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
893.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/US-Israel-Iran.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000' width='2000' height='1000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494825</post-id>
894. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
895. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
896. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
897. </media:content>
898. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
899. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
900. </media:content>
901. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
902. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
903. </media:content>
904. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241196385-iran-deal-US-camera-sanctions-hero.jpg" medium="image" />
905.            </item>
906.        
907.            <item>
908.                <title><![CDATA[Fetterman Voted With GOP to Make Sure Trump Can Attack Iran Again]]></title>
909.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/fetterman-iran-trump-war-powers/</link>
910.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/fetterman-iran-trump-war-powers/#respond</comments>
911.                <pubDate>Sat, 28 Jun 2025 08:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
912.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
913.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
914. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
915.  
916.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
917.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Most Democrats rallied behind a war powers resolution in the Senate, but not the caucus’s most vocally pro-Israel member.</p>
918. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/fetterman-iran-trump-war-powers/">Fetterman Voted With GOP to Make Sure Trump Can Attack Iran Again</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
919. ]]></description>
920.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
921. <p><span class="has-underline">In a Friday</span> evening vote, the U.S. Senate rejected a war powers resolution that would have blocked President Donald Trump from making further attacks on Iran, despite widespread disapproval of last week’s strikes.</p>
922.  
923.  
924.  
925. <p>Senators voted 47-53, largely along party lines, on a measure offered by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would have prohibited Trump from offensive measures while preserving his ability to defend U.S. forces.</p>
926.  
927.  
928.  
929. <p>Kaine’s resolution drew near-unanimous support from Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.</p>
930.  
931.  
932.  
933. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[0] -->&#8220;I am hoping that the members of this body will stand up for the Constitution.&#8221;<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[0] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[0] -->
934.  
935.  
936.  
937. <p>In a floor speech Friday night, Kaine underscored the continuing need for the measure despite a fragile ceasefire, noting that Trump said as recently as Friday that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgenq599kwo">he would be willing to bomb Iran again</a>.</p>
938.  
939.  
940.  
941. <p>“I am hoping — I am realistic — but I am hoping that the members of this body will stand up for the Constitution, will stand up for the proposition that war is too big to be decided by one person,” Kaine said before his measure failed.</p>
942.  
943.  
944.  
945.  
946.  
947.  
948.  
949. <p>A single Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who often opposes foreign interventions, supported Kaine’s measure. Aside from Paul, the resolution drew pushback from Senate Republicans. Critics said it would prevent the U.S. from defending Israel, despite an amendment from Kaine specifically designed to address that concern.</p>
950.  
951.  
952.  
953. <p>“President Trump seized the moment — responsibly, constitutionally, and decisively,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the majority whip, on the Senate floor. “America and our allies are safer today because of it. The resolution from Senator Kaine is not needed — and I oppose it. If passed, it would prevent the president from protecting us in the future.”</p>
954.  
955.  
956.  
957.  
958.  
959.  
960. <p>The strikes revealed divisions within the Democratic caucus. Progressives largely opposed the strikes outright, while some pro-Israel Democrats offered qualified or full support. One of the most full-throated boosters was Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who voted against Kaine’s resolution.</p>
961.  
962.  
963.  
964. <p>Fetterman has emerged as a leading proponent of the use of military force against Iran.</p>
965.  
966.  
967.  
968. <p>“Blow it up! Blow it up! I think we should waste what’s left of their nuclear facilities,” he said in March. His aggressive stance has alienated former donors, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/05/john-fetterman-israel-campaign-donation-refunds/">who have requested refunds</a>, and staffers, who have <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/02/19/fetterman-staff-quit-resign-israel/">resigned at a steady pace</a>.</p>
969.  
970.  
971.  
972. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anti-war-party">“Anti-war Party”?</h2>
973.  
974.  
975.  
976. <p>The war powers resolution was always considered a long shot, since it would have required the support of a veto-proof majority of both chambers of Congress.</p>
977.  
978.  
979.  
980. <p>A similar attempt in 2019 to end the Trump administration’s involvement in Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/04/18/trump-veto-yemen-saudi-arabia-mbs/">faltered when Trump vetoed it</a>, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pulled a similar resolution from consideration in 2022 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/12/13/bernie-sanders-yemen-war-white-house/">amid pushback from Joe Biden’s administration</a>.</p>
981.  
982.  
983.  
984.  
985.  
986.  
987.  
988. <p>Kaine’s measure, however, did put senators on the record about how they feel about Trump’s unpopular strikes. Americans disapproved of the strikes 56 percent to 44 percent, according to a snap CNN poll <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/trump-iran-strikes-poll-cnn-ssrs">conducted immediately after the attack</a>. The results mirror other surveys.</p>
989.  
990.  
991.  
992. <p>Many Democrats sought to criticize Trump without directly addressing the strikes by voicing concern over the administration’s failure to obtain congressional approval before the attack, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/26/trump-iran-strikes-intelligence-congress">to adequately brief Congress after it.</a></p>
993.  
994.  
995.  
996. <!-- BLOCK(pullquote)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PULLQUOTE%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22pull%22%3A%22right%22%7D) --><blockquote class="stylized pull-right" data-shortcode-type="pullquote" data-pull="right"><!-- CONTENT(pullquote)[4] -->“The Democratic Party needs to clearly stand up against this war.”<!-- END-CONTENT(pullquote)[4] --></blockquote><!-- END-BLOCK(pullquote)[4] -->
997.  
998.  
999.  
1000. <p>In the House, progressives and ranking committee leaders have offered two alternative war powers resolutions. Advocates say the version offered by Democratic leaders <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/">would do little to prevent Trump from launching future strikes</a> if he justifies them as defending Israel.</p>
1001.  
1002.  
1003.  
1004. <p>At a press conference Wednesday, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said the party should back the tougher resolution, which he co-sponsored with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.</p>
1005.  
1006.  
1007.  
1008. <p>“The Democratic Party,” Khanna said, “needs to clearly stand up against this war and take the mantle again of being the anti-war party, the party that stands up against wars of choice, against these endless wars in the Middle East.”</p>
1009. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/fetterman-iran-trump-war-powers/">Fetterman Voted With GOP to Make Sure Trump Can Attack Iran Again</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1010. ]]></content:encoded>
1011.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/28/fetterman-iran-trump-war-powers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1012.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1013.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg?fit=4000%2C2000' width='4000' height='2000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494901</post-id>
1014. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
1015. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
1016. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
1017. </media:content>
1018. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
1019. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1020. </media:content>
1021. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221568293-e1751039873690.jpeg" medium="image">
1022. <media:title type="html">Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, arrives for a briefing with members of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025.</media:title>
1023. </media:content>
1024. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25087709550484-e1750874098599.jpg" medium="image" />
1025.            </item>
1026.        
1027.            <item>
1028.                <title><![CDATA[“No Right Is Safe”: SCOTUS Bars Judges From Reining in Trump]]></title>
1029.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction/</link>
1030.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction/#respond</comments>
1031.                <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 17:21:32 +0000</pubDate>
1032.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Shawn Musgrave]]></dc:creator>
1033.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
1034. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
1035.  
1036.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1037.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The Supreme Court halted courts from issuing national injunctions, forcing “judges to shrug and turn their backs to intermittent lawlessness.”</p>
1038. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction/">“No Right Is Safe”: SCOTUS Bars Judges From Reining in Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1039. ]]></description>
1040.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1041. <p><span class="has-underline">Since President Donald</span> Trump’s first day back in office, Republicans in Congress have been desperate to gut federal judges’ power to block his administration’s unlawful executive orders, policies, and threats. On Friday, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority gave them what they wanted, further weakening the judiciary as an effective check on a White House that was already ignoring court orders with impunity.&nbsp;</p>
1042.  
1043.  
1044.  
1045. <p>&#8220;No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates,&#8221; wrote liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent she read from the bench, calling the ruling “an attack on our system of law.”</p>
1046.  
1047.  
1048.  
1049. <p>The case stems from the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/01/22/pregnant-immigrants-trump-executive-order-birthright-citizenship/">via an executive order issued hours </a>after Trump was sworn in. Three different district court judges quickly blocked the executive order as unconstitutional under both the text of the Constitution and more than a century of Supreme Court precedent.</p>
1050.  
1051.  
1052.  
1053. <p>Friday’s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_new_g314.pdf">decision</a> did not address the merits of the executive order, but instead how the judges went about ensuring the core constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship. In a ruling written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court’s six-member conservative wing drastically limited courts’ authority to issue injunctions even in the face of galling illegality affecting millions of people. </p>
1054.  
1055.  
1056.  
1057. <p>The three judges had issued a “universal” injunction against the birthright citizenship executive order, which meant the Trump administration could not enforce it anywhere in the country. A more limited injunction would have protected just the rights of the specific plaintiffs who sued — leaving the Trump regime free to target anyone who hadn’t gone to court themselves.&nbsp;</p>
1058.  
1059.  
1060.  
1061. <p>But from today forward, district courts can no longer issue nationwide injunctions, which conservatives gleefully sought and obtained during the Biden administration to block student loan forgiveness and other policies.</p>
1062.  
1063.  
1064.  
1065. <p>“Curiously, this same Supreme Court never thought to say all the injunctions it upheld and stays it granted against Biden administration actions were outside its power,” observed Stanford Law professor Mark Lemley <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/marklemley.bsky.social/post/3lslvlnrlrc2p">on social media</a>. “But now apparently they are.”</p>
1066.  
1067.  
1068.  
1069.  
1070.  
1071.  
1072.  
1073. <p>Instead, federal courts may only use injunctions to block presidents and their administrations from violating the rights of the specific parties that filed suit. In effect, judges will have no ability to offer immediate relief to however many people outside the courtroom are suffering from illegal actions of the executive branch. The ruling is certain to spur more class-action lawsuits against the federal government, which are still allowed but carry significant procedural hurdles and additional costs.</p>
1074.  
1075.  
1076.  
1077. <p>&#8220;Today’s ruling allows the Executive to deny people rights that the Founders plainly wrote into our Constitution, so long as those individuals have not found a lawyer or asked a court in a particular manner to have their rights protected,&#8221; wrote Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in a fiery dissent. Eliminating universal injunctions “requires judges to shrug and turn their backs to intermittent lawlessness,” Jackson wrote.</p>
1078.  
1079.  
1080.  
1081. <p>“This decision is devastating for U.S. families who are not protected by the limited injunction the Supreme Court left in place,” said Monica, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/01/22/pregnant-immigrants-trump-executive-order-birthright-citizenship/">pregnant mother, asylum-seeker, </a>and named plaintiff challenging the birthright citizenship executive order, in an emailed statement. “Hundreds of thousands of other U.S.-born children are in danger of not receiving U.S. citizenship. I know that every pregnant mother cannot file a lawsuit to make sure their children have U.S. citizenship — that is why I filed this lawsuit to not only protect my child’s rights, but the constitutional rights of all U.S.-born children of immigrants.”</p>
1082.  
1083.  
1084.  
1085.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1086.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1087.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/08/trump-big-law-firms-paul-weiss-courts/"
1088.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1089.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: trump-big-law-firms-paul-weiss-courts"
1090.      data-ga-track-label="trump-big-law-firms-paul-weiss-courts"
1091.          >
1092.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AP25097799298072-e1744131574754.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1093.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1094.        Related      </h2>
1095.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The Clear and Present Danger to the American Rule of Law</h3>
1096.    </span>
1097.    </a>
1098.  </div>
1099.  
1100.  
1101.  
1102. <p>The conservative supermajority framed the ruling as grounded in history and ancient principles about the limits of judicial authority. Jackson called this “legalese” a “smokescreen” that “obscures a far more basic question of enormous legal and practical significance: May a federal court in the United States of America order the Executive to follow the law?”</p>
1103.  
1104.  
1105.  
1106. <p>The court’s three liberal dissenters — Justices Elena Kagan, Jackson, and Sotomayor — framed the decision in catastrophic terms.</p>
1107.  
1108.  
1109.  
1110. <p>“Perhaps the degradation of our rule-of-law regime would happen anyway,” wrote Jackson. “But this Court’s complicity in the creation of a culture of disdain for lower courts, their rulings, and the law (as they interpret it) will surely hasten the downfall of our governing institutions, enabling our collective demise.&#8221;</p>
1111.  
1112.  
1113.  
1114.  
1115.  
1116.  
1117.  
1118. <p>Michael C. Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University, <a href="https://www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/06/scotus-ruling-in-universal-injunction.html">wrote</a> that the conservative wing of the Supreme Court failed to recognize that the “current administration is a unique threat to the rule of law,” and that it was disastrous to remove such “a useful tool for the judiciary to constrain the president at this particular moment.”&nbsp;</p>
1119.  
1120.  
1121.  
1122. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“It empowers an administration of lawbreakers led by a convicted criminal and insurrectionist to further evade the law.”</p></blockquote></figure>
1123.  
1124.  
1125.  
1126. <p>“It&#8217;s such a threat because it empowers an administration of lawbreakers led by a convicted criminal and insurrectionist to further evade the law,” Dorf wrote.</p>
1127.  
1128.  
1129.  
1130. <p>The plaintiffs challenging the birthright citizenship order vowed to continue fighting the Trump administration. In one of the cases, the plaintiffs quickly filed a motion in Maryland district court to certify their lawsuit as a class action.</p>
1131.  
1132.  
1133.  
1134. <p>“Even without a universal injunction, we will continue to litigate this case to ensure that every child born in the United States receives the citizenship that the Fourteenth Amendment promises them, regardless of their parents’ immigration status,” said William Powell, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, in an emailed statement. “The Executive Order is unconstitutional, and nothing in the Supreme Court’s decision today calls that ultimate conclusion into question.”</p>
1135. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction/">“No Right Is Safe”: SCOTUS Bars Judges From Reining in Trump</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1136. ]]></content:encoded>
1137.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-injunction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1138.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1139.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2214713803-e1751041654310.jpg?fit=6000%2C3000' width='6000' height='3000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494808</post-id>
1140. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
1141. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
1142. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
1143. </media:content>
1144. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
1145. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1146. </media:content>
1147. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
1148. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
1149. </media:content>
1150. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/AP25097799298072-e1744131574754.jpg" medium="image" />
1151.            </item>
1152.        
1153.            <item>
1154.                <title><![CDATA[Pete Hegseth Is Mad the Media Won’t Celebrate U.S. War With Iran]]></title>
1155.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/</link>
1156.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/#respond</comments>
1157.                <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 16:48:55 +0000</pubDate>
1158.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
1159.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
1160.  
1161.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1162.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>“How about we talk about how special America is?” Hegseth asked. He’s not the first U.S. official to demand pro-war propaganda.</p>
1163. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/">Pete Hegseth Is Mad the Media Won’t Celebrate U.S. War With Iran</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1164. ]]></description>
1165.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1166. <p><span class="has-underline">Secretary of Defense</span> Pete Hegseth had a meltdown on Thursday during a Pentagon press conference, excoriating reporters for failing to act as cheerleaders for his boss, President Donald Trump. In a briefing about U.S. strikes on Iran, Hegseth criticized the press for not following the Pentagon line and called on journalists to “wave an American flag.”</p>
1167.  
1168.  
1169.  
1170. <p>His statements harken back to past Pentagon calls for fawning coverage in the name of patriotism.</p>
1171.  
1172.  
1173.  
1174. <p>“The press corps,” Hegseth complained, “cheer against Trump so hard, it&#8217;s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad.” Hegseth’s tantrum stemmed from reporting that cast doubt on Trump’s assertion that recent U.S. air strikes had “obliterated” Iranian nuclear facilities last Saturday. </p>
1175.  
1176.  
1177.  
1178. <p>The Intercept reported on <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/">skepticism about Trump’s claims</a> by current and former defense officials on Monday. On Tuesday, multiple media outlets disclosed information from a preliminary classified Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, report that said the attacks set back Iran’s nuclear program by only a few months.</p>
1179.  
1180.  
1181.  
1182. <p>“You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope,” Hegseth said at his second-ever news conference, claiming that the media assembled “half truths, spun information, leaked information” to “manipulate … the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.”</p>
1183.  
1184.  
1185.  
1186. <p>Before and after Hegseth’s atomic meltdown on Thursday, Trump unleashed a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114749580476669594">paroxysm of posts</a> on Truth Social. “FAKE NEWS CNN IS SO DISGUSTING AND INCOMPETENT. SOME OF THE DUMBEST ANCHORS IN THE BUSINESS!,” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114747234182168375">shout-typed</a>. “Rumor is that the Failing New York Times and Fake News CNN will be firing the reporters who made up the FAKE stories on the Iran Nuclear sites because they got it so wrong. Lets see what happens?”</p>
1187.  
1188.  
1189.  
1190. <p>It <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/">remains unclear</a> whether the U.S. strikes significantly damaged Iran’s nuclear program — which, according to American intelligence organizations, did not involve an active effort to produce a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel/">nuclear weapon</a>. “To me, it still appears that we have only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a handful of months,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said following a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/26/politics/congress-iran-briefing-strikes">classified briefing</a> on Thursday. “There’s no doubt there was damage done to the program. But the allegations that we have obliterated their program just don’t seem to stand up to reason.”</p>
1191.  
1192.  
1193.  
1194.  
1195.  
1196.  
1197.  
1198. <p><span class="has-underline">Complaints by the</span> White House about the press during unpopular wars have a long history. As TV news increasingly showed the Vietnam War to be an intractable stalemate, if not an outright failure, President Lyndon Johnson complained about their coverage, “I can prove that Ho Chi Minh is a son-of-a-bitch if you let me put it on the screen,” he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/30/opinion/lyndon-johnson-vietnam-war.html#:~:text=President%20Johnson%20was%20obsessed%20with,their%20main%20source%20of%20news.">told</a> a group of reporters, referring to the leader of North Vietnam, but said that the networks “want me to be the son-of-a-bitch.” His successor, Richard Nixon, was even more vitriolic about coverage of the war — and more succinct in his criticism. &#8220;Our worst enemy seems to be the press!&#8221; he barked in 1971.</p>
1199.  
1200.  
1201.  
1202. <p>In 1965, CBS News sent<a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/05/20/pentagon-official-once-told-morley-safer-that-reporters-who-believe-the-government-are-stupid/"> Morley Safer </a>to Vietnam to cover the escalating American war. In July, Marines entered the village of Cam Ne and met stiff resistance, suffering three dead and four wounded. The next month, with Safer and a cameraman in tow, the troops set out for the area in armored vehicles. Safer recalled:</p>
1203.  
1204.  
1205.  
1206. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
1207. <p>The troops walked abreast toward this village and started firing. They said that there was some incoming fire. I didn’t witness it, but it was a fairly large front, so it could have happened down the line.</p>
1208.  
1209.  
1210.  
1211. <p>There were two guys wounded in our group, both in the ass, so that meant it was “friendly fire.” They moved into the village and they systematically began torching every house— every house as far as I could see, getting people out in some cases, using flamethrowers in others. No Vietnamese speakers, by the way, were among the group with the flamethrower.</p>
1212. </blockquote>
1213.  
1214.  
1215.  
1216. <p>About 150 homes in Cam Ne were burned; others were bulldozed, as Marines razed two entire hamlets. Artillery was then called in on the wreckage. According to reports, one child was killed and four women were wounded. In actuality, many more may have died. Safer’s segment, “The Burning of Cam Ne Village,” sparked public outrage.</p>
1217.  
1218.  
1219.  
1220.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1221.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1222.            href="https://theintercept.com/2023/05/23/kissinger-cambodia-media-journalists/"
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1228.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1229.        Related      </h2>
1230.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">U.S. Blamed the Press for Military Looting in Cambodia</h3>
1231.    </span>
1232.    </a>
1233.  </div>
1234.  
1235.  
1236.  
1237. <p>The Defense Department demanded CBS recall Safer from Vietnam, and Johnson called CBS President Frank Stanton. “Are you trying to fuck me,” the U.S. president barked. “Who is this?” <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=00iwHPO73mkC&amp;pg=PA276&amp;dq=shat+on+the+american+flag&amp;hl=en&amp;newbks=1&amp;newbks_redir=0&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiBn5LezI-OAxVEFVkFHRQiBcEQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=shat%20on%20the%20american%20flag&amp;f=false">Stanton asked</a>, according to reporting by David Halberstam and others. Johnson replied, “Frank, this is your president and yesterday your boys shat on the American flag.”</p>
1238.  
1239.  
1240.  
1241. <p>A year later, Safer wrote a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tinyrevolution.com/mt/archives/safer2.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">newspaper column</a>&nbsp;about a visit to Saigon by&nbsp;Arthur Sylvester, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Per Safer, Sylvester laid into the press:</p>
1242.  
1243.  
1244.  
1245. <p>“I can’t understand how you fellows can write what you do while American boys are dying out here,” he began. Then he went on to the effect that American correspondents had a patriotic duty to disseminate only information that made the United States look good.</p>
1246.  
1247.  
1248.  
1249. <p>A network television correspondent said, “Surely, Arthur, you don’t expect the American press to be the handmaidens of government.”</p>
1250.  
1251.  
1252.  
1253. <p>“That’s exactly what I expect,” came the reply.</p>
1254.  
1255.  
1256.  
1257. <p>Sylvester <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/05/20/pentagon-official-once-told-morley-safer-that-reporters-who-believe-the-government-are-stupid/">also told the reporters</a>: &#8220;Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you&#8217;re stupid. Did you hear that? Stupid.” </p>
1258.  
1259.  
1260.  
1261. <p>Sylvester later denied the “handmaiden” comment, but others present backed Safer. &#8220;Sylvester engaged specific correspondents in near name-calling, twice telling Jack Langguth [of The New York Times] he was stupid,” another <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1966/08/31/archives/sylvester-faces-senators-today-pentagon-news-chief-to-be-heard-on.html">attendee noted</a>. “At one point Sylvester actually made the statement he thought press should be &#8216;handmaiden&#8217; of government.&#8221;</p>
1262.  
1263.  
1264.  
1265. <p><span class="has-underline">In his press</span> conference, Hegseth called on journalists to publish stories lauding troops for doing their jobs, asking rhetorically if outlets had written on the difficulty of flying a plane for 36 hours, manning a Patriot missile battery, or executing mid-air refueling.</p>
1266.  
1267.  
1268.  
1269. <p>“Time and time again, classified information is leaked or peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad. And what&#8217;s really happening is you&#8217;re undermining the success of incredible B-2 pilots and incredible F-35 pilots and incredible refuelers and incredible air defenders who accomplish their mission,” he groused. “How about we celebrate that?”</p>
1270.  
1271.  
1272.  
1273.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1274.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1275.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/01/12/trump-justice-department-new-york-post-wsj-leak/"
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1277.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: trump-justice-department-new-york-post-wsj-leak"
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1279.          >
1280.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AP24069725188032-e1736552964738.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1281.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1282.        Related      </h2>
1283.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The Trump DOJ Loved Leaking, as Long as It Was to Rupert Murdoch’s Newspapers</h3>
1284.    </span>
1285.    </a>
1286.  </div>
1287.  
1288.  
1289.  
1290. <p>“Premising entire stories on biased leaks to biased publications trying to make something look bad,” Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, griped. “How about we take a beat, recognize first the success of our warriors, hold them up, tell their stories, celebrate that, wave an American flag, be proud of what we accomplished.”</p>
1291.  
1292.  
1293.  
1294. <p>The Intercept followed up with the Pentagon to ask if Hegseth would help facilitate this type of reporting. A Pentagon spokesperson instead offered the opportunity to speak with Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson off the record.</p>
1295.  
1296.  
1297.  
1298. <p>When The Intercept called to set up a time to speak with Wilson, a Pentagon spokesperson refused to do so. “Kingsley will reach out to you if she&#8217;s got anything to provide you,” said the official. “I would just stand by. That’s the best thing I can offer you right now.”</p>
1299.  
1300.  
1301.  
1302. <p>The Office of the Secretary of Defense refused to provide further clarification about Hegseth’s views on the role of the press and how the media ought to cover him, the president, and the military. “We have nothing more to provide,” a spokesperson said after providing nothing.</p>
1303.  
1304.  
1305.  
1306.  <div class="promote-related-post">
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1308.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel/"
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1314.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1315.        Related      </h2>
1316.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">U.S. Intel Says Iran Isn’t a Nuclear Threat. Israel Wants the U.S. to Bomb It Anyway.</h3>
1317.    </span>
1318.    </a>
1319.  </div>
1320.  
1321.  
1322.  
1323. <p>Hegseth is, notably, calling on the press to celebrate a war which Americans are overwhelmingly against. Americans disapprove of the strikes on Iran <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/trump-iran-strikes-poll-cnn-ssrs">56 percent to 44 percent,</a> according to a CNN/SSRS poll conducted after the strikes. An even greater number distrust Trump’s decision-making on the use of force in Iran, with 58 percent saying the strikes will make Iran more of a threat to the U.S. and only 27 percent believing the attacks will lessen the threat.</p>
1324.  
1325.  
1326.  
1327. <p>A Quinnipiac University <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3926" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poll</a> released Thursday found only 39 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling on the Israel–Iran war, while 53 percent disapprove.</p>
1328.  
1329.  
1330.  
1331.  
1332.  
1333.  
1334.  
1335. <p><span class="has-underline">Hegseth’s antagonism toward</span> the news media began well before Thursday’s press conference. Since his appointment, he has conducted a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/25/pentagon-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-leaks-signal/">war on whistleblowers</a> despite the fact that he inadvertently <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/26/signal-chat-yemen-strike/">shared detailed attack plans </a>— of far more import than the DIA report because they preceded military strikes — with a journalist on a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/03/25/signal-chat-encryption-hegseth-cia/">messaging app</a>.</p>
1336.  
1337.  
1338.  
1339. <p>Hegseth has reportedly accused high-ranking military officers of leaks and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hegseth-threatened-polygraph-top-military-officers/story?id=121152014">threatened</a> to subject them to polygraph tests.</p>
1340.  
1341.  
1342.  
1343. <p>Joe Kasper, Hegseth’s former chief of staff, called out “unauthorized disclosures of national security information involving sensitive communications with principals within the Office of the Secretary of Defense” and threatened that parties found responsible would be “referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution,” in a&nbsp;<a href="https://media.defense.gov/2025/Mar/21/2003674265/-1/-1/0/EFFORTS-TO-COMBAT-UNAUTHORIZED-DISCLOSURES-OSD002809-25-RES-FINAL.PDF" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">March memo</a>.</p>
1344.  
1345.  
1346.  
1347. <p>Speaking in April with quasi-journalist Megyn Kelly, another former Fox News host, ex-Hegseth aide Colin Carroll said that the secretary and his team have been “consumed” by his leaky Department of Defense. “If you look at a pie chart of the secretary’s day, at this point, 50 percent of it is probably a leak investigation,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTWROxw_S60">Carroll said</a>.</p>
1348.  
1349.  
1350.  
1351. <p>The FBI is now investigating how the DIA report became public. “We are doing a leak investigation with the FBI now, because this information is for internal purposes — battle damage investigation — and CNN and others are trying to spin it to try and make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success,” Hegseth told reporters.</p>
1352.  
1353.  
1354.  
1355. <p>At his Thursday press conference, Hegseth urged the media to do more to herald American exceptionalism, at least in terms of military prowess.</p>
1356.  
1357.  
1358.  
1359. <p>“How about we talk about how special America is, that we — only we — have these capabilities? I think it&#8217;s too much to ask, unfortunately, for the fake news,” said Hegseth in aggrieved tones. “So, we&#8217;re used to that, but we also have an opportunity to stand at the podium and read the truth of what&#8217;s really happening.”</p>
1360. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/">Pete Hegseth Is Mad the Media Won’t Celebrate U.S. War With Iran</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1361. ]]></content:encoded>
1362.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/hegseth-military-leaks-iran-war-journalists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1363.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1364.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221568293-e1751039873690.jpeg?fit=3787%2C1893' width='3787' height='1893' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494793</post-id>
1365. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
1366. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
1367. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
1368. </media:content>
1369. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
1370. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1371. </media:content>
1372. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
1373. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
1374. </media:content>
1375. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/AP632913503229.jpg" medium="image" />
1376. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/AP24069725188032-e1736552964738.jpg" medium="image" />
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1378.            </item>
1379.        
1380.            <item>
1381.                <title><![CDATA[Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month]]></title>
1382.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/israel-killed-palestinians-food-aid-gaza/</link>
1383.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/israel-killed-palestinians-food-aid-gaza/#respond</comments>
1384.                <pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:05:40 +0000</pubDate>
1385.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sanya Mansoor]]></dc:creator>
1386.                                 <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
1387.  
1388.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1389.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Israeli soldiers and officers have said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians waiting for food in Gaza.</p>
1390. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/israel-killed-palestinians-food-aid-gaza/">Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1391. ]]></description>
1392.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1393. <p><span class="has-underline">The Israeli military</span> has killed at least 410 people trying to get food at Israeli-run aid sites in Gaza in the past month.</p>
1394.  
1395.  
1396.  
1397. <p>This constitutes “a likely war crime” that violates international standards on aid distribution, according <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164846">to the United Nations</a>. “Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food,” the U.N. human rights office said. Palestinian health authorities <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/palestinian-health-authorities-say-israel-kills-25-waiting-for-aid-as-war-death-toll-tops-56000">reported</a> that Israel killed 44 people waiting for aid in separate incidents in southern and central Gaza just on Tuesday this week. Israeli soldiers have reportedly killed aid-seekers with bullets, tank shells, and drone-mounted weapons.&nbsp;</p>
1398.  
1399.  
1400.  
1401. <p>Israeli officers and soldiers said that they were ordered to deliberately fire at unarmed civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in an investigation published by the Israeli newspaper <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-06-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-soldiers-ordered-to-shoot-deliberately-at-unarmed-gazans-waiting-for-humanitarian-aid/00000197-ad8e-de01-a39f-ffbe33780000">Haaretz</a> on Friday; the military prosecution has called for a review into possible war crimes.</p>
1402.  
1403.  
1404.  
1405. <p>The Israeli military has said reports about casualties at aid sites have prompted “thorough examinations … in the Southern command” and that “instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned.” “The aforementioned incidents are under review by the competent authorities,” an unnamed spokesperson for the Israeli military said in a statement emailed to The Intercept.</p>
1406.  
1407.  
1408.  
1409. <p>The aid distribution sites are run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a nonprofit formed earlier this year for the purpose of distributing aid in collaboration with the Israeli government and American private military and security companies, under a plan created by the U.S. and Israeli governments. </p>
1410.  
1411.  
1412.  
1413. <p>An <a href="https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GHF-Letter_ww.pdf">open letter</a> published earlier this week by more than a dozen human rights and legal advocacy groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights and the International Commission of Jurists, condemned the organization. The letter stated that the privatized, militarized aid distribution system — and close collaboration with Israeli authorities — undermines “the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” They urged corporate entities, donors, and individuals to suspend action or support that undermines international humanitarian law and “to reject any model that outsources life-saving aid to private, politically-affiliated actors and to press for the urgent restoration of independent, rights-based humanitarian access for all civilians in Gaza.”</p>
1414.  
1415.  
1416.  
1417.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1418.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1419.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/26/gaza-famine-aid-israel-palestine-ghf/"
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1425.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1426.        Related      </h2>
1427.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">In Gaza, Famine Is the Weapon — and So Is Aid</h3>
1428.    </span>
1429.    </a>
1430.  </div>
1431.  
1432.  
1433.  
1434. <p>The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been marred with controversy from the start; the former head, Jake Wood, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/26/middleeast/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-resigns-intl-hnk">quit in May</a>, worrying that “it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.” Boston Consulting Group, which helped run the business, also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/03/gaza-humanitarian-fund-bcg/">backed out</a>.&nbsp;The Israeli military said that they allow “the American civilian organization (GHF) to distribute aid to Gaza residents independently, and operate in proximity to the new distribution zones to enable the distribution alongside the continuation of IDF operational activities in the Gaza Strip&#8221; in a statement to the Intercept. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation did not respond to a request for comment.</p>
1435.  
1436.  
1437.  
1438. <p>The American government, however, appears to be committed to this way of providing aid. On Tuesday, the Trump administration authorized a $30 million grant for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-give-30-million-gaza-aid-operation-despite-violence-concerns-2025-06-24/">documents viewed by Reuters</a>.</p>
1439.  
1440.  
1441.  
1442. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
1443.    <img decoding="async"
1444.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?fit=4000%2C2667"
1445.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=4000 4000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221437380.jpg?w=3600 3600w"
1446.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
1447.    alt="Security guards ride aboard trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025."
1448.    width="4000"
1449.    height="2667"
1450.    loading="lazy"
1451.  />
1452.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1453.              <span class="photo__caption">Security guards ride aboard trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on June 25, 2025. </span>
1454.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg/Getty Images</span>
1455.          </figcaption>
1456.    </figure>
1457.  
1458.  
1459.  
1460. <p><span class="has-underline">Finding food has</span> become a horrific risk for many in Gaza. Rolla Alaydi, a Palestinian American, provided The Intercept with a voice note from her cousin, Maher Ahmed, detailing how he went to an aid site on June 1 and witnessed a fatal bullet strike his friend.</p>
1461.  
1462.  
1463.  
1464. <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/maher_and_samah/?hl=en">Maher</a> had gone three days without flour, so when the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation first opened its facilities, he went with three friends, prompted by an invitation from a food bank. At 6 a.m., on June 1, they went to Dewar Al’aalam for food distribution, and the Americans started to signal to them with their hands to enter and take the food, by shouting on a mic “Take only one box and go home,” Mahar said in the voice note. A group of about 1,000 people went inside. Suddenly, they heard the chaotic sound of gunfire. His friend, Mohammed, was shot in the head, chest, and belly — and killed immediately. They couldn’t move for about an hour because of heavy gunfire, so they tried to give Mohammed first aid but failed. The three of them managed to get Mohammed onto a donkey carriage before taking him to Nasser Hospital. “I survived by a miracle, by a big miracle,” Maher says. “And I lost my friend, Mohammed. Mohammed was only dreaming of getting a bag of flour for his mother and family.”&nbsp;</p>
1465.  
1466.  
1467.  
1468. <p>Maher wrote in a June 11 Instagram post accompanying a video of Mohammed’s funeral that they “survived the worst together … until a bag of flour took him from me.”</p>
1469.  
1470.  
1471.  
1472. <p>For months, environmental researcher Yaakov Garb has been using satellite data to analyze the design, location, and expansion of these facilities. Garb, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, found in an analysis published earlier this month on <a href="https://dataverse.harvard.edu/file.xhtml?fileId=11584799&amp;version=1.0">Harvard Dataverse</a> that most of Gaza’s population cannot access these centers in a safe and practical way. Doing so requires crossing the dangerous Netzarim Corridor, entering a buffer zone from which Israel has banned them from entering, or a long walk across a barren rubble field, while carrying a heavy box of food.</p>
1473.  
1474.  
1475.  
1476.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1477.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1478.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/28/us-israel-aid-gaza-ghf-deaths/"
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1484.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1485.        Related      </h2>
1486.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The Rising Death Toll of the U.S.–Israel Aid Distribution Plan in Gaza</h3>
1487.    </span>
1488.    </a>
1489.  </div>
1490.  
1491.  
1492.  
1493. <p>Four Israeli-run aid compounds have already been widely reported on by the media, and Garb suspects a fifth is being formed on the coast —given that its construction features appear identical to the other four. All are close to fortified Israeli military positions, he says. “The fact that four of the five compounds lie south of the Morag corridor — repeatedly indicated by Israeli officials as the intended destination for concentration of Palestinians to be displaced from the remainder of Gaza in an impending intensification of the military attacks — is not reassuring,” Garb notes in his analysis.&nbsp;</p>
1494.  
1495.  
1496.  
1497. <p>Israel’s upheaval of Gaza’s existing aid distribution system amid warnings of famine has angered Garb. “To cloak this kind of tactical intervention in humanitarian wrapping rubs me the wrong way,” Garb says. “If you can’t do it properly then get out of the way and let the people who can do it get to work.”</p>
1498.  
1499.  
1500.  
1501.  
1502.  
1503.  
1504.  
1505. <p><span class="has-underline">Humanitarian aid experts</span> agree. “We all saw this coming. To anyone that knows this stuff, it’s not a surprise. It is tragic,” says Maryam Z. Deloffre, an associate professor of international affairs at George Washington University who has researched aid distribution systems globally; she explains that this is why multiple nongovernmental organizations and the U.N. said they would not be involved in this way of distributing aid.&nbsp;</p>
1506.  
1507.  
1508.  
1509.  
1510.  
1511. <p>Before the war in Gaza broke out, Garb was focused on reviewing satellite imagery to look into waste burning and land contamination in the West Bank and Gaza. But over the last year, he started posting his observations about confusing evacuation <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/08/israel-rafah-palestine-evacuation-children-unicef/">warnings</a>, which did not clearly describe <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/07/24/gaza-journalists-israel-airstrike-babel-haji/">which areas</a> populations should flee from, or the so-called <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/06/14/rafah-tent-massacre-israel-gaza/">humanitarian safe areas</a>, as well as the expansion of these aid compounds. “They are part and parcel of the same callousness,” he says. “These evacuation maps — if a student gave me a map like that in an introductory GIS course they would fail — and these are maps where people’s lives are hanging in the balance.” Garb has grown increasingly skeptical of the Israeli government’s actions. “I learned to trust less what people are saying and instead trust what I could see from the satellite,” he says.</p>
1512.  
1513.  
1514.  
1515. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“I learned to trust less what people are saying and instead trust what I could see from the satellite.”</p></blockquote></figure>
1516.  
1517.  
1518.  
1519. <p>Garb first started seeing the emergence of these compounds in late April, when he spotted intensive work on some big clearings that seemed different in size and formation to other military installations. He wasn’t sure if they would be used to relocate refugees instead. But as Israeli government declarations and media reports started mentioning an alternative aid distribution model in Gaza, he realized that is what these sites were going to be.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
1520.  
1521.  
1522.  
1523. <p>Garb’s report unpacks how the physical layout of the compounds prioritizes control and surveillance over safety. The aid sites appear to lack key facilities — such as toilets, water, and shade for recipients —  and involve crowds moving in narrow lines through fenced aisles. This creates a “chokepoint”: a predictable movement path that allows for no cover or concealment. For the visitor, this kind of design is supposed to induce stress and fear. “This setup would be particularly distressing for an already traumatized population, especially given the compound&#8217;s proximity to the Israeli army forces that have been sources of violence they have experienced for almost a year and a half,” Garb writes. Aid sites should ideally have multiple exit points and freedom of movement, as well as facilities, trained deescalation facilitators, and dedicated lanes for vulnerable groups.&nbsp;<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22israel-palestine%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
1524.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">
1525.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
1526.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=5760 5760w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?w=3600 3600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
1527.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
1528.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
1529.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
1530.        
1531.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Israel’s War on Gaza</h2>
1532.      </div>
1533.    </a>
1534.  </aside>
1535. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] --></p>
1536.  
1537.  
1538.  
1539. <p>Asked to respond to Garb’s study and broader criticisms of their conduct around aid sites, an unnamed spokesperson with the Israeli military said it had “recently worked to reorganize the area through the installation of fences, signage placement, the opening of additional routes, and other measures.” It did not provide further detail on how many routes have opened up, or where the routes are located.</p>
1540.  
1541.  
1542.  
1543. <p>A small detail from Garb’s most recent paper has been turned into a meme in recent days. Some readers have interpreted population estimates he included in his report as proof that 377,000 people in Gaza are missing per official Israeli military statistics; Garb clarified to The Intercept that this is a misinterpretation. The numbers in his report refer to estimates for just three particular areas of Gaza, not its entirety; he also noted there was a typo in the map for the al-Mawasi area that he would promptly correct.</p>
1544.  
1545.  
1546.  
1547. <p>The official death toll of Israel’s war on Gaza, as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, stands at more than 55,000. Two reports published in the British medical journal Lancet estimated that the real number is likely closer to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/10/gaza-death-toll-40-higher-than-official-number-lancet-study-finds">64,000 dead</a> from direct attacks, with the number of deaths from disease, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/19/gaza-children-malnutrition-starvation-famine-health/">malnutrition</a>, and other health issues related to the conflict <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext">potentially climbing</a> above 180,000.</p>
1548.  
1549.  
1550.  
1551.  
1552.  
1553.  
1554.  
1555. <p>Deloffre, the GWU professor, points out that military involvement in handing out food can be problematic. Two of the key principles of humanitarian work are neutrality (not taking sides in a conflict) and impartiality (providing assistance to everyone without discrimination), Deloffre says. Militaries can’t be impartial and neutral when they are party to the conflict, she adds. What’s more, “people are generally afraid of the military; you don’t see the military and feel you can approach them.”</p>
1556.  
1557.  
1558.  
1559. <p>Deloffre worries more broadly about backsliding to a time when humanitarian need was not the main driving force behind humanitarian action and decisions about who to help were driven by political interests. She also notes that the core humanitarian principles — mentioned in the open letter — are not legally binding, and are instead adopted by nonstate actors such as NGOs and the Internatinoal Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The principles are part of a Red Cross code of conduct, which was codified in the early 90s.&nbsp;</p>
1560.  
1561.  
1562.  
1563. <p>Israel claims that it needs this level of control to ensure aid <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/28/us-israel-aid-gaza-ghf-deaths/">doesn’t get diverted to Hamas</a>. But humanitarian experts say that Israel could have used a good-faith effort to address any such concern through the existing system.</p>
1564. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/27/israel-killed-palestinians-food-aid-gaza/">Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1565. ]]></content:encoded>
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1572. <media:title type="html">Security guards ride aboard trucks carrying humanitarian aid in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.</media:title>
1573. </media:content>
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1576. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1577. </media:content>
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1579. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
1580. </media:content>
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1582. <media:title type="html">Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, arrives for a briefing with members of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025.</media:title>
1583. </media:content>
1584. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-1768403880-2.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
1585. <media:title type="html">DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA - NOVEMBER 7: Civil defense teams and citizens continue search and rescue operations after an airstrike hits the building belonging to the Maslah family during the 32nd day of Israeli attacks in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on November 7, 2023. (Photo by Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)</media:title>
1586. </media:content>
1587.            </item>
1588.        
1589.            <item>
1590.                <title><![CDATA[Zohran Can Happen Anywhere (But Having an Opponent Like Cuomo Helps)]]></title>
1591.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-cuomo/</link>
1592.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-cuomo/#respond</comments>
1593.                <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 21:25:08 +0000</pubDate>
1594.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Susan Kang]]></dc:creator>
1595.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
1596. <category><![CDATA[Voices]]></category>
1597.  
1598.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1599.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Mamdani’s mayoral campaign shows a successful playbook for the left — but years of history united NYC progressives against Andrew Cuomo.</p>
1600. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-cuomo/">Zohran Can Happen Anywhere (But Having an Opponent Like Cuomo Helps)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1601. ]]></description>
1602.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
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1608.    alt="A worker dismantles the stage following New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo's election-night watch party for the Democratic primary on June 24, 2025 in New York City."
1609.    width="5000"
1610.    height="3333"
1611.    loading="lazy"
1612.  />
1613.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
1614.              <span class="photo__caption">A worker dismantles the stage following mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo’s watch party for the Democratic primary on June 24, 2025, in NYC.</span>
1615.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Andres Kudacki/Getty Images</span>
1616.          </figcaption>
1617.    </figure>
1618.  
1619.  
1620.  
1621. <p><span class="has-underline">Zohran Mamdani’s victory</span> on Tuesday night has launched a wave of enthusiasm across the progressive left and a wave of analysis in the political press.</p>
1622.  
1623.  
1624.  
1625. <p>The core question is simple: Can a young, Muslim, card-carrying Democratic Socialists of America candidate beat powerful establishment figures anywhere in the country? Is this a New York phenomenon, or a sign of a shift in the Democratic electorate as a whole?</p>
1626.  
1627.  
1628.  
1629. <p>The answer is yes.</p>
1630.  
1631.  
1632.  
1633. <p>Yes, the failure of the “too big to fail” mayoral candidacy of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, armed with millions in establishment cash, in the face of a volunteer-driven challenge from the left, can happen anywhere. Cuomo can stand in for the increasingly <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/02/07/briefing-podcast-trump-democrats/">tone-deaf</a> national <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/02/01/dnc-democratic-national-committee-election/">Democratic Party leadership</a>, which has insisted since the 2024 loss that the party<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/a-new-moderate-way-forward-for-the-democratic-party.html"> has to moderate its views</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/us/politics/david-hogg-dnc-democrats.html">dismissed elected youth leader David Hogg</a> for threatening to primary older Democratic congressional members, even after the debacle of the Biden 2024 campaign.&nbsp;</p>
1634.  
1635.  
1636.  
1637. <p>And yes, the specific combination of a generationally talented, principled, and authentic candidate with deep connections to social movements whose campaign successfully mobilized tens of thousands of volunteers going up against Cuomo, in particular, played a significant role in Mamdani’s success.</p>
1638.  
1639.  
1640.  
1641.  
1642.  
1643.  
1644.  
1645. <p><span class="has-underline">The lessons from</span> Mamdani’s campaign can power insurgent progressive challengers to moderate Democratic machine candidates in other races, even outside of deep-blue urban centers (and it’s worth remembering that New York has a long history of Republican mayors).&nbsp;</p>
1646.  
1647.  
1648.  
1649. <p>First, Mamdani hammered on affordability, pushing an economically progressive policy platform of free buses, a rent freeze, and free child care, which sent a clear message to voters about his priorities. He also pushed a handful of innovative ideas, such as municipally owned grocery stores and higher taxes on the rich, which drew people in with the spark of the new.&nbsp;</p>
1650.  
1651.  
1652.  
1653. <p>And he hit the streets. With public engagements and visits to communities across New York City, he presented an image as an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/nyregion/mamdani-cuomo-money-mayor.html">open-minded and wholesome man of the people</a>, and included his commitments to human solidarity and dignity — including for the Palestinian people — throughout his speeches. His campaign quickly became associated with cost of living, and while his proposals were attacked for not being “<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/zohran-mamdani-campaign-andrew-cuomo-new-york-city-mayoral-race">realistic</a>,” he stayed faithful to his message, which motivated over <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/04/zohran-mamdani-volunteers-support-mayoral-race-progressive/">29,000 volunteers to knock over 1 million doors</a>.&nbsp;</p>
1654.  
1655.  
1656.  
1657. <p>His successful use of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/26/zohran-mamdani-social-media-memes/">social media</a>, including strategic collaborations with <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/zohran-mamdanis-people-powered-win-is-a-rebuke-to-democrat-cowardice">popular</a> progressive <a href="https://www.thecut.com/article/emily-ratajkowski-endorses-zohran-mamdani-instagram-video.html">influencers</a>, also helped get his message out. The economic message, commitment to solidarity, and amazing ground game can absolutely be replicated, with the right principled candidate and a strong network of grassroots organizations and mobilized volunteers.</p>
1658.  
1659.  
1660.  
1661. <p>Mamdani also stressed social justice issues, such as protections for the <a href="https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform">LGBTQ+ </a>and immigrant communities from Trump. And though he was never shy about expressing his beliefs on Palestine, his campaign focused mostly on universal issues of economic justice and access that would disproportionately help marginalized communities and communities of color.</p>
1662.  
1663.  
1664.  
1665. <p>For example, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/nyregion/black-residents-nyc.html">Black families</a> with school-age children have left New York City over the past 20 years at the highest rate compared to any other group, according to census data, simply because the cost of having children was too high. Mamdani’s plan to provide free child care at birth (and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/nyregion/child-care-nyc.html">soaring costs of child care</a> is documented as a significant source of economic pressure for New Yorkers), baby boxes to new parents, and universal afterschool programs in the NYC Department of Education would be a boon to the diverse communities that benefit most from such services, while still providing help for New Yorkers across all levels of income. Almost three-quarters of New York City public school students fill federal criteria for “<a href="https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/reports/doe-data-at-a-glance">economically disadvantaged</a>” — and the universal pre-K program set up by Mayor Bill de Blasio remains one of his most popular achievements, and is used by families at a range of income levels.&nbsp;</p>
1666.  
1667.  
1668.  
1669. <p>Running on popular economic issues, standing up for social justice, and organizing a good ground game and social media campaign can all succeed anywhere.</p>
1670.  
1671.  
1672.  
1673. <p><span class="has-underline">But the race,</span> like all races, still hinged on particulars.</p>
1674.  
1675.  
1676.  
1677. <p>Mamdani was running with some handicaps that other candidates seeking to reproduce his success may not face. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/nyregion/adrienne-adams-mamdani-endorse.html">Multiple rivals</a> dinged the 33-year-old state assembly member for his youth and relative inexperience. Mamdani also faced racist attacks, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/12/nyc-mayoral-election-cuomo-mamdani-photo">attack mailers</a> sent by Cuomo’s PAC depicted him with a darkened beard, in an attempt to play into Islamophobic tropes. Mamdani managed to turn his <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/zohran-mamdani-youth-andrew-cuomo.html">youth and identity to his advantage</a>, mobilizing young voters and Muslim and South Asian voters across the city. Any candidate seeking to replicate his success can also change their liabilities into advantages, and use their positionality to mobilize and energize “less-likely voters,” who are underrepresented in <a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/2022/03/08/college-student-voter-polls-midterm-election/">polling samples</a>, but it’s certainly a difficult feat to pull off.</p>
1678.  
1679.  
1680.  
1681. <p>Then there is his opponent. Andrew Cuomo came in with immediate name recognition, the backing of New York’s Democratic establishment, and outspent Mamdani with a <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/06/and-ultimately-zohran-mamdani-stuns-new-york/406293/">$25 million super PAC</a> — but ran a lackluster campaign, and was shadowed by a long legacy of toxicity across many corners of politically engaged New York City.</p>
1682.  
1683.  
1684.  
1685. <p>In many ways, Mamdani became a representative of every marginalized progressive in New York City who had fought Cuomo’s terrible politics, and terrible style of governing, for over a decade. </p>
1686.  
1687.  
1688.  
1689. <p>Cuomo, a dinosaur of the Clinton era “Third Way” Democratic Party — he served as President Bill Clinton’s housing and urban development secretary — came into the governor’s office in 2011, as the state was recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. Cuomo swaggered into office with an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/nyregion/02budget.html">extreme austerity budget</a>, cutting 2.7 percent over the previous year, which included billions of dollars in cuts to necessary services like education and Medicaid, a loss intensified by losing federal matching funds, and only a tiny revenue bump from changing lottery rules. This budget delayed the court-ordered budget increases to high-needs schools and included provisions to fire up to 10,000 state workers. (Many of these <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/nyregion/cuomos-deal-with-public-employees-federation-halts-layoffs.html">job cuts were reversed</a> when unions accepted cutbacks, wage freezes, and furloughs). Cuomo came into his first year in office wielding an austerity axe, and seemed to relish making enemies in public sector unions, health care, and education.</p>
1690.  
1691.  
1692.  
1693. <p>Cuomo pushed these cuts through and would continue his strongman rule of the New York state government, thanks to a divided legislature, which allowed him to occupy a role as a central dealmaker for the state. But Democrats won control of both the New York State Assembly and the Senate in 2012, and Republican dominance of the Senate appeared to have come to an end. But four Democratic senators created their own breakaway caucus called the <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/four-state-senators-bolt-democratic-conference/?action=click&amp;contentCollection=N.Y.%20%2F%20Region&amp;module=RelatedCoverage&amp;region=Marginalia&amp;pgtype=article">Independent Democratic Conference, or the IDC</a>, which then chose to form a coalition with the Republicans, effectively handing back control of the Senate.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
1694.  
1695.  
1696.  
1697. <p>Cuomo quickly used this to his advantage, mostly to slow the rate of progressive legislation. While Cuomo claimed to not be involved, reports beginning in 2014 showed that <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/05/another-cuomo-noninterference-story-falls-apart-049022">Cuomo encouraged</a> the creation of this conference and even offered advice and strategy to the IDC. Cuomo also became mired in <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/01/bharara-ends-probe-of-cuomos-moreland-commission-shutdown-029847">ethics scandals</a> after he created, then quickly shut down, the Moreland Commission, created in January 2013 to root out corruption in state government. This made him a target for a principled primary challenge from good governance expert and law professor<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/nyregion/cuomo-and-hochul-win-new-york-primary.html"> Zephyr Teachout</a> in 2014. Teachout won a third of the primary vote, signaling disapproval of Cuomo among the electorate, but Cuomo did not take the challenge seriously. Cuomo continued to govern with disproportionate control, using the divided government to his advantage and engaging in policies that hurt New York City, such as cutting <a href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/03/03/four-reminders-of-andrew-cuomos-disastrous-record-on-city-transportation">hundreds of millions of dollars of MTA funding</a> and threatening to cut $485 million from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/nyregion/after-moving-to-cut-cuny-funding-cuomo-faces-loud-backlash.html">City University of New York</a> funding (about one-third of the state’s contribution) in 2016.&nbsp;</p>
1698.  
1699.  
1700.  
1701. <p>Criticism of Cuomo intensified following Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory. When state senators from deep-blue Democratic districts in diverse urban communities joined the IDC in early 2017, that sparked new outrage and brought new attention to the issue. Constituents became activated under the broader #Resistance movement of the time, and began to <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/rogue-ny-senate-democrats-face-wrath-of-the-trump-resistance">hold their senators accountable</a> and threaten primaries. In order to placate these activists, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/nyregion/idc-democrats-senate-albany.html">Cuomo “negotiated” a deal</a> in late 2017 in which IDC senators would return to the Democratic conference following a timeline. However, activists, including new Resistance groups and established entities like New York’s Working Families Party, could not be placated and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/13/new-york-democratic-primary-cuomo-idc/">ran progressive challengers</a>, raised money, and succeeded at <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/14/17859200/idc-new-york-primaries-democrats-biaggi-klein">beating 6 of the 8 IDC challengers</a> by September 2018.&nbsp;</p>
1702.  
1703.  
1704.  
1705.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1706.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1707.            href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/12/andrew-cuomo-resign-new-york-progressives/"
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1713.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1714.        Related      </h2>
1715.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Primaries Matter: Why This Time Is Different for Andrew Cuomo</h3>
1716.    </span>
1717.    </a>
1718.  </div>
1719.  
1720.  
1721.  
1722. <p>Despite his <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/11/anrew-cuomo-cynthia-nixon-primary/">association with Republicans</a> during the Trump administration, Cuomo managed to win in 2018 against his <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/14/andrew-cuomo-sees-whats-coming-he-doesnt-know-whether-to-run-join-it-or-destroy-it/">progressive </a>challenger, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/04/13/cynthia-nixon-governor-new-york-andrew-cuomo/">Cynthia Nixon</a>, who made <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/09/13/new-york-democratic-primary-cuomo-idc/">taking out the IDC</a> a central part of her platform. The IDC, along with Cuomo, stalled many progressive reforms in New York state, lagging behind comparable states like California. But in 2019, with Democratic majorities in both houses, the New York State Legislature passed a historic slate of progressive reforms, including the DREAM Act, progressive criminal justice reforms, the codification of Roe v. Wade into state law, gun control laws, and historic extension of the state’s rent regulation laws — all passed in thanks to the Democratic control and injection of progressive state senators.&nbsp;</p>
1723.  
1724.  
1725.  
1726.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1727.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1728.            href="https://theintercept.com/2020/04/28/cuomo-new-york-primary/"
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1734.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1735.        Related      </h2>
1736.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">How New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Is Using the Pandemic to Consolidate Power</h3>
1737.    </span>
1738.    </a>
1739.  </div>
1740.  
1741.  
1742.  
1743. <p>Many anti-IDC activists remained frustrated at Cuomo’s Teflon-like ability to ignore criticism. His invincibility seemed more apparent during his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-gov-andrew-cuomos-daily-coronavirus-press-briefings-2020-4">meteoric rise to national stardom</a> during his daily <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/03/25/coronavirus-andrew-cuomo-new-york-bail-reform/">Covid-19 briefings</a> in 2019. But his ascension to stardom was quickly matched by the dizzying fall to disgrace when 13 women, mostly former staffers, came forward to share their stories of his sexual harassment and retaliation. As key Democratic leaders, in the wake of #MeToo, called for his resignation, he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-resigns.html">resigned in disgrace</a>. But his final year was also <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/Ten-scandals-of-Gov-Andrew-Cuomo-16369547.php">riddled with other ethical crises</a>, including the nursing home crisis and his use of employees in drafting his 2020 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/nyregion/cuomo-book-deal-ny-court-ruling.html">Covid memoir</a>. Taxpayers <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/cuomo-scandal-cost-legal-defense-taxypayer-money-comptroller-report/6179688/">paid $60 million</a> to cover the legal fees from these scandals, and some of Cuomo&#8217;s sexual harassment suits are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/06/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-sexual-harassment-claims.html">still being contested</a> in court.</p>
1744.  
1745.  
1746.  
1747.  
1748.  
1749.  
1750.  
1751. <p><span class="has-underline">It’s a mystery</span> why Cuomo decided that his scandals did not matter, and decided to jump into the mayoral race once current mayor Eric Adam’s own legal troubles became a major political liability.&nbsp;</p>
1752.  
1753.  
1754.  
1755. <p>Perhaps in the age of Trump’s second presidency, Cuomo decided that #MeToo was over. Like other national Democratic leaders, he saw the future of the Democratic Party in moderates who could appeal to disaffected Republicans. Perhaps, like Hillary Clinton in 2016, he believed that his “qualification” arguments would crowd out voters’ concerns about his misdeeds. Cuomo the governor <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/03/politics/andrew-cuomo-harassment-press-conference">apologized for his behavior</a> in 2021, but mayoral candidate Cuomo claimed in 2025 that he did nothing wrong, saying his only regret was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/nyregion/cuomo-resignation-governor.html">his decision to resign</a>. Perhaps the <a href="https://www.electionatlas.nyc/maps.html">shift from Biden to Trump voters</a> from 2020 to 2024 in many immigrant and communities of color in NYC convinced Cuomo that voters would want a similarly traditional and swaggering man from Queens, like Trump, to run their city.</p>
1756.  
1757.  
1758.  
1759. <p>Cuomo has been proven wrong. He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/nyregion/cuomo-mayor-campaign-strategy.html">made mistakes</a> almost every step of the way, refusing to meet the press, hold public events, attend candidate forums, and take his opponents seriously. While his PAC flooded TV with exaggerated attack ads, Mamdani was in the streets, meeting and engaging with voters, crafting a hopeful message for an affordable New York with clear, easy to understand policy proposals. Cuomo leaned on a tired, conservative narrative, pushing <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/de-blasio-says-cuomo-is-fear-mongering-about-subway-crime/">fear of subways and homeless people</a>, and painting New York City as a lawless and terrifying place.</p>
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1777.  
1778.  
1779.  
1780. <p>Cuomo and his countless Democratic operatives and billionaire funders failed to realize the long memory and activation of so many progressive New Yorkers, especially members of the New York City DSA and <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/10/15/new-york-working-families-party-biden-harris-ballot/">Working Families Party</a>. Perhaps he hoped that most people would forget the details of his scandals. The hundreds of people energized by his collusion with the IDC would not, nor would feminist and health care activists furious about his abuse of women and nursing home patients.&nbsp;</p>
1781.  
1782.  
1783.  
1784. <p>The existing mobilized and well-connected networks of anti-Cuomo activists made sure that as many New Yorkers as possible would not forget. The <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/opponents-left-are-banding-together-try-stop-andrew-cuomo-new-york-cit-rcna212967">“Don’t Rank Cuomo” coalition</a> used the city’s ranked-choice voting system to urge voters to exclude Cuomo from their ballots. Combined with Mamdani’s strategy of cross-endorsing other candidates, such as Brad Lander and Michael Blake, this amplified the anti-Cuomo message and made his opponents seem cooperative and effective.</p>
1785.  
1786.  
1787.  
1788. <p>While Mamdani ran a historic campaign and is certainly a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/what-zohran-mamdani-got-right-about-running-for-mayor">uniquely charismatic and talented candidate</a>, the work of existing progressive and socialists activists on the ground fighting Cuomo for 14 years came together to erode the former governor’s advantage. All of this led to Mamdani’s success on June 24.</p>
1789. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-cuomo/">Zohran Can Happen Anywhere (But Having an Opponent Like Cuomo Helps)</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1790. ]]></content:encoded>
1791.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/nyc-mayor-zohran-mamdani-cuomo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1792.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1793.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221265274-e1750972131157.jpeg?fit=5000%2C2500' width='5000' height='2500' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494742</post-id>
1794. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221265274_70a79d.jpeg?fit=5000%2C3333" />
1795. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221265274_70a79d.jpeg?fit=5000%2C3333" medium="image">
1796. <media:title type="html">A worker dismantles the stage following New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo&#039;s election-night watch party for the Democratic primary on June 24, 2025 in New York City.</media:title>
1797. </media:content>
1798. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
1799. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
1800. </media:content>
1801. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
1802. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1803. </media:content>
1804. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
1805. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
1806. </media:content>
1807. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/GettyImages-1231600203-Cuomo-resign.jpg" medium="image" />
1808. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/reGettyImages-1209951864-e1588099904537.jpg" medium="image" />
1809. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221991646-e1750864773845.jpg" medium="image" />
1810.            </item>
1811.        
1812.            <item>
1813.                <title><![CDATA[SCOTUS Gives States a Path to Strip Poor Patients' Planned Parenthood Access]]></title>
1814.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/supreme-court-south-carolina-planned-parenthood/</link>
1815.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/supreme-court-south-carolina-planned-parenthood/#respond</comments>
1816.                <pubDate>Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:20:49 +0000</pubDate>
1817.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jessica Washington]]></dc:creator>
1818.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
1819. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
1820.  
1821.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1822.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>In a 6 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court allowed South Carolina to bar over 1 million people from accessing health care.</p>
1823. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/supreme-court-south-carolina-planned-parenthood/">SCOTUS Gives States a Path to Strip Poor Patients&#8217; Planned Parenthood Access</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1824. ]]></description>
1825.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1826. <p><span class="has-underline"><strong>T</strong>he Supreme Court</span> moved to limit access to health care for <a href="https://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-state-SC#:~:text=Page%201,In%20South%20Carolina%2C%20Medicaid%20covers%E2%80%A6">over 1.3 million South Carolinians</a> on Thursday by allowing the state to block Medicaid recipients from getting care at Planned Parenthood. The tight restriction on reproductive rights will likely pave the way for similar bans in other states, as ongoing attacks on abortion providers further impinge on access to maternal, gynecological, and other basic forms of health care.&nbsp;</p>
1827.  
1828.  
1829.  
1830. <p>In a 6-3 decision, the court determined that Planned Parenthood clinics and patients in South Carolina may not sue the state for denying Medicaid funding to the reproductive care provider. The ruling overturns repeated lower court decisions that affirmed Medicaid recipients&#8217; rights to visit a provider of their choosing that accepts the program. It comes against the backdrop of looming federal cuts to Medicaid, which would further restrict health care access for millions of low-income Americans.</p>
1831.  
1832.  
1833.  
1834. <p>In South Carolina, abortion is already subjected to a near-total ban. State law prohibits abortion after six weeks with limited exceptions — which is often before someone would be aware that they’re pregnant. Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has been direct about wanting to target Planned Parenthood because the network of clinics is known as an abortion provider.</p>
1835.  
1836.  
1837.  
1838. <p>&#8220;South Carolina has made it clear that we value the right to life,” McMaster said in a <a href="https://governor.sc.gov/news/2025-02/governor-mcmaster-files-amicus-brief-medina-v-planned-parenthood-defense-life-and">February statement</a>. “Therefore, taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize abortion providers who are in direct opposition to their beliefs.”&nbsp;</p>
1839.  
1840.  
1841.  
1842.  <div class="promote-related-post">
1843.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
1844.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/03/trump-emtala-abortion-emergency/"
1845.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
1846.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: trump-emtala-abortion-emergency"
1847.      data-ga-track-label="trump-emtala-abortion-emergency"
1848.          >
1849.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25092724799070-e1749038448893.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
1850.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
1851.        Related      </h2>
1852.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Trump Puts Lives at Risk by Revoking Emergency Abortion Guidelines for Hospitals</h3>
1853.    </span>
1854.    </a>
1855.  </div>
1856.  
1857.  
1858.  
1859. <p>The idea that Medicaid is subsidizing abortion care in South Carolina is incredibly misleading, said Susanna Birdsong, general counsel and vice president of compliance at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.&nbsp;</p>
1860.  
1861.  
1862.  
1863. <p>“Medicaid does not cover abortion except in very narrow circumstances of rape, incest in life of the pregnant person,” Birdsong said. “That&#8217;s been a federal rule since the 1970s.”</p>
1864.  
1865.  
1866.  
1867. <p>Planned Parenthood provides care for a host of other sexual and reproductive wellness concerns — meaning that low-income South Carolinians will lose access to “health care that has nothing to do with abortion,” Birdsong said. She pointed to things like testing for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screening, and birth control.</p>
1868.  
1869.  
1870.  
1871.  
1872.  
1873.  
1874.  
1875. <p>In its ruling, the court made clear that it was aware of the other services Planned Parenthood provides.</p>
1876.  
1877.  
1878.  
1879. <p>&#8220;Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates two clinics in South Carolina, offering a wide range of services to Medicaid and non-Medicaid patients,&#8221; reads a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1275_e2pg.pdf">summary of the decision</a>. &#8220;It also performs abortions.&#8221; </p>
1880.  
1881.  
1882.  
1883. <p>The court noted that Planned Parenthood and a patient sued under the any-qualified-provider provision, which allows Medicaid patients to seek care from a provider of their choosing, but the majority determined they did not necessarily have an &#8220;enforceable&#8221; right to do so.</p>
1884.  
1885.  
1886.  
1887. <p>Experts expect that this decision will open the floodgates for other states to pass similar bans, limiting access to the largest provider of reproductive and sexual health care in the United States for millions of lower-income Americans.</p>
1888.  
1889.  
1890.  
1891. <p>&#8220;Other states certainly have tried it before,&#8221; said Dr. Jamila Perritt, an OB-GYN and president of the nonprofit Physicians for Reproductive Health. &#8220;Much in the same way that abortion bans really swept this country, I think we&#8217;re going to see similar effects.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
1892.  
1893.  
1894.  
1895. <p>The decision to limit where Medicaid patients can access care disproportionately affects women of color, said Perritt. As of 2023, the majority of people enrolled in Medicaid in South Carolina were nonwhite, and roughly <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/medicaid-distribution-people-0-64-by-raceethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D">39 percent of Medicaid enrollees were Black</a>, according to health policy research nonprofit KFF.&nbsp;</p>
1896.  
1897.  
1898.  
1899. <p>Even before the decision, access to health care — particularly reproductive and sexual health care — in South Carolina was a challenge for lower-income residents. <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-1275/351930/20250312142528915_23-1275%20SC%20WREN%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf">Roughly 41 of the state&#8217;s 46 counties</a> are considered federally designated “Health Professional Shortage Areas,” and Medicaid recipients are disproportionately likely to live in communities with provider shortages.&nbsp;</p>
1900.  
1901.  
1902.  
1903. <p>&#8220;We&#8217;re talking about communities that are already marginalized from care, communities that already have disproportionately poor reproductive and sexual health outcomes,&#8221; said Perritt, who predicted the decision would have “significant negative health consequences.”</p>
1904.  
1905.  
1906.  
1907.  
1908.  
1909.  
1910.  
1911. <p>Aside from having one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, South Carolina is one of only 10 states not to expand Medicaid coverage since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. South Carolina also has the eighth-highest maternal mortality rate in the country, <a href="https://dph.sc.gov/health-wellness/family-planning/pregnancy/pregnancy-and-postpartum-health">hovering around 47.2 pregnancy-related</a> deaths per 100,000 live births, and some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections in the nation.&nbsp;</p>
1912.  
1913.  
1914.  
1915. <p>“It&#8217;s really a state that should be investing more in its public health infrastructure and making sure that people who live in the state have access to the care that they need,” said Birdsong.&nbsp;</p>
1916.  
1917.  
1918.  
1919. <p>Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights for State Innovation Exchange, said, like the state’s abortion ban, lower-income people in South Carolina will bear the brunt of the burden of this decision.&nbsp;</p>
1920.  
1921.  
1922.  
1923. <p>&#8220;It targets people who are already limited on resources to say, &#8220;You know what? On top of that, you actually don&#8217;t get to have a decision on the care that you get and the provider you get it from,&#8221; she said.</p>
1924.  
1925.  
1926.  
1927. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22the-end-of-roe%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
1928.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/end-of-roe/">
1929.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
1930.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=2000 2000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
1931.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
1932.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
1933.            Read Our Complete Coverage          </p>
1934.        
1935.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">The End of Roe</h2>
1936.      </div>
1937.    </a>
1938.  </aside>
1939. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[2] -->
1940.  
1941.  
1942.  
1943. <p>At the same time, the Trump administration and Congress are seeking to further restrict health coverage for low-income Americans. A Congressional Budget Office report found that the House of Representatives&#8217; version of the &#8220;Big, Beautiful, Bill&#8221; would leave 16 million Americans without health insurance and kick<a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/by-the-numbers-house-bill-takes-health-coverage-away-from-millions-of-people-and"> 7.8 million people off of Medicaid</a>. Senate Republicans are considering their own set of Medicaid cuts, though they&#8217;ve been <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/06/26/congress/senate-gop-dealt-major-blow-on-megabill-health-care-plans-00425256">snarled by political opposition</a>.</p>
1944.  
1945.  
1946.  
1947. <p>&#8220;This is a clear and obvious attack on people with low income, people who rely on Planned Parenthood clinics to get life-saving health services,” said Perritt. She described the decision as part of the government’s broader efforts &#8220;to eliminate access to comprehensive health care for folks, really across the country. This has to also be understood as an attack that reaches far beyond the borders of South Carolina.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
1948. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/supreme-court-south-carolina-planned-parenthood/">SCOTUS Gives States a Path to Strip Poor Patients&#8217; Planned Parenthood Access</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1949. ]]></content:encoded>
1950.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/26/supreme-court-south-carolina-planned-parenthood/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
1951.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
1952.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25092627121437-e1750787616586.jpg?fit=7629%2C3815' width='7629' height='3815' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494641</post-id>
1953. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25092724799070-e1749038448893.jpg" />
1954. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25092724799070-e1749038448893.jpg" medium="image" />
1955. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
1956. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
1957. </media:content>
1958. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
1959. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
1960. </media:content>
1961. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
1962. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
1963. </media:content>
1964. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/GettyImages-1241283056-the-end-of-roe.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image" />
1965.            </item>
1966.        
1967.            <item>
1968.                <title><![CDATA[War Powers Resolution From House Democratic Leaders May Not Limit Trump’s War Powers]]></title>
1969.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/</link>
1970.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/#respond</comments>
1971.                <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:12:56 +0000</pubDate>
1972.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
1973.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
1974. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
1975.  
1976.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
1977.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>In an apparent nod to Israel, some Democrats want to give Trump power to defend “an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack.”</p>
1978. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/">War Powers Resolution From House Democratic Leaders May Not Limit Trump’s War Powers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
1979. ]]></description>
1980.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
1981. <p><span class="has-underline">As Democrats try</span> to push forward legislation that would block further strikes on Iran, one measure advanced by House leadership could actually strengthen the Trump administration’s justification for subsequent attacks, anti-war advocates warn.</p>
1982.  
1983.  
1984.  
1985. <p>House progressives on Wednesday were trying to reach a compromise with Democratic leaders that would curb further U.S. military involvement in Iran while satisfying concerns from pro-Israel members about American support for Israel’s missile defense.</p>
1986.  
1987.  
1988.  
1989. <p>There are three different war powers resolutions in play in Washington. In the Senate, a resolution from Tim Kaine, D-Va., appears to be on track for a vote on Friday. In the House, however, Democrats remain sharply divided between two resolutions.</p>
1990.  
1991.  
1992.  
1993. <p>“There’s no upside to advancing a competing War Powers Resolution. It’s not just unnecessary — it’s actively counterproductive,” Cavan Kharrazian, a senior policy adviser at Demand Progress, said in a statement. “There’s still time to reconcile this on the House side, and we hope an agreement can be reached to enable a strong vote with the best possible language.”</p>
1994.  
1995.  
1996.  
1997. <p>The resolutions in both chambers face long odds, thanks to near-unanimous support from the majority Republicans for President Donald Trump’s strikes.</p>
1998.  
1999.  
2000.  
2001. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-senate-goes-first">Senate Goes First</h2>
2002.  
2003.  
2004.  
2005. <p>Congressional Democrats are responding to Trump’s strikes by pursuing a vote under the War Powers Act, the Vietnam War-era law designed to limit presidents’ ability to launch military action abroad without congressional approval.</p>
2006.  
2007.  
2008.  
2009. <p>Kaine’s initial resolution introduced last week directs Trump to halt hostilities against Iran, while making clear that the president can still defend the U.S. from imminent attack.</p>
2010.  
2011.  
2012.  
2013. <p><a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/iran_war_powers_resolution.pdf">Kaine’s resolution</a> has drawn support from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. It is expected to come to a voter later this week.</p>
2014.  
2015.  
2016.  
2017.  
2018.  
2019.  
2020.  
2021. <p>Amid concerns from pro-Israel Democrats, Kaine said Tuesday that he was co-sponsoring an<a href="https://www.schiff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/CAN25662.pdf"> amendment to his resolution</a> with Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Andy Kim, D-N.J.</p>
2022.  
2023.  
2024.  
2025. <p>The amendment is intended to continue to allow the U.S. to participate in Israeli missile defense. Pentagon officials said last April that the U.S. — not Israel — <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/iran-attack-israel-drones-missiles/">shot down most Iranian drones and missiles </a>during an Iranian attack<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/iran-attack-israel-drones-missiles/">.</a></p>
2026.  
2027.  
2028.  
2029. <p>“This amendment would leave no doubt that Senator Kaine’s resolution would ensure that President Trump has to make the case to the American people for further action against Iran without constraining our ability to help defend the Israeli people from Iranian attacks,” Kim said in a statement.</p>
2030.  
2031.  
2032.  
2033. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-house-hurdles">House Hurdles</h2>
2034.  
2035.  
2036.  
2037. <p>While most Senate Democrats appeared to have coalesced around Kaine’s resolution, House Democrats remained split on Wednesday over how to respond to Trump’s strikes.</p>
2038.  
2039.  
2040.  
2041.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2042.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2043.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna/"
2044.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2045.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna"
2046.      data-ga-track-label="iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna"
2047.          >
2048.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220221625-e1750250080756.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2049.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2050.        Related      </h2>
2051.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Congress Has One Way to Stop Trump From Going to War With Iran</h3>
2052.    </span>
2053.    </a>
2054.  </div>
2055.  
2056.  
2057.  
2058. <p>Advocates last week said they were frustrated that Democratic leaders were not moving forward with a resolution as Trump publicly mulled attacking Iran. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., teamed up with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna/">introduce a resolution</a>.</p>
2059.  
2060.  
2061.  
2062. <p>After the strikes were launched, three House Democratic committee ranking members introduced an <a href="https://himes.house.gov/press-releases?id=02011DB9-C12C-4932-AC59-D057CE0C65A6">alternative resolution</a> that its authors claim would also force Trump to cease hostilities with Iran. The sponsors are Reps. Jim Himes of Connecticut, Adam Smith of Washington, and Gregory Meeks of New York.</p>
2063.  
2064.  
2065.  
2066. <p>Anti-war advocates worry that the House leadership measure could actually wind up strengthening Trump’s justification for launching further strikes on Iran.</p>
2067.  
2068.  
2069.  
2070. <p>In an apparent nod to Israel, the leaders’ resolution would give the president the power to “defend the United States or an ally or partner of the United States from imminent attack.”</p>
2071.  
2072.  
2073.  
2074. <p>Trump has already justified his strike on Iran as an act of “collective self-defense of our ally, Israel,” according to a <a href="file:///Users/mattsledge/Documents/collective%20self-defense%20of%20our%20ally,%20Israel">letter </a>he sent Congress, despite the assessment of U.S intelligence agencies that<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel/"> Iran was not building a nuclear weapon</a>.</p>
2075.  
2076.  
2077.  
2078. <p>Critics say the House Democratic leadership resolution mirrors the language of Trump’s justification far too closely.</p>
2079.  
2080.  
2081.  
2082. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“We think if it passes, it would be worse than not having a war powers resolution.”</p></blockquote></figure>
2083.  
2084.  
2085.  
2086. <p>“We think if it passes, it would be worse than not having a war powers resolution,” said Yasmine Taeb, the legislative and political director for the Muslim advocacy group MPower Change. “This war powers resolution gives the impression that the president has broad authority to be able to engage in military offensive action with respect to Iran — if Israel is asking us to.”</p>
2087.  
2088.  
2089.  
2090. <p>Spokespersons for Himes, Meeks, and Smith’s offices did not immediately comment.</p>
2091.  
2092.  
2093.  
2094. <p>Khanna has said that his resolution is intended to preserve the U.S. military’s ability to participate in Israeli missile defense. Advocates said they understood there were ongoing discussions about a compromise. The two sides have ample time: A vote on the measure is not expected to come to the floor before mid- to late-July.</p>
2095.  
2096.  
2097.  
2098. <p>Whether or not the two sides come to an accord, however, the push to respond to Trump’s strikes could face serious pushback from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.</p>
2099.  
2100.  
2101.  
2102. <p>Johnson <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/24/mike-johnson-war-powers-act-unconstitutional-iran">said Tuesday</a> that he thought the War Powers Act itself was unconstitutional and signaled that he may use a procedural move to prevent it from coming to the floor.</p>
2103.  
2104.  
2105.  
2106. <p>The War Powers Act states that resolutions brought under its auspices must be fast-tracked to the House floor within 15 working days. Johnson, however, could try to block the resolution from receiving such a “privileged” status — although that would likely force a vote on the procedural maneuver itself.</p>
2107.  
2108.  
2109.  
2110.  
2111.  
2112.  
2113.  
2114. <p>Massie’s co-sponsorship of the resolution gave it bipartisan support, but it’s unclear whether he will continue to push its passage in the face of intense pressure from the White House and the ceasefire announced by Trump on Monday. Massie <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/06/23/congress/massie-backs-off-war-powers-vote-00419550">has said</a> he is taking a “wait and see” approach.</p>
2115.  
2116.  
2117.  
2118. <p>As a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran continued to hold Wednesday morning, progressives in the House said they were pursuing a vote on their preferred resolution despite the opposition from Johnson.</p>
2119.  
2120.  
2121.  
2122. <p>Khanna said at a Capitol press conference that blocking the vote with a procedural maneuver would be an “unprecedented abrogation of congressional power.”</p>
2123.  
2124.  
2125.  
2126. <p>“The fundamental point here is that we don’t know what the strikes accomplished, but we do know a lot of the harm,” Khanna said. “It has hardened the resolve in Iran to now race towards a nuclear weapon.”</p>
2127. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/">War Powers Resolution From House Democratic Leaders May Not Limit Trump’s War Powers</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2128. ]]></content:encoded>
2129.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/democrats-war-powers-resolutions-trump-israel-iran/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2130.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2131.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25087709550484-e1750874098599.jpg?fit=5025%2C2512' width='5025' height='2512' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494699</post-id>
2132. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
2133. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
2134. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
2135. </media:content>
2136. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
2137. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
2138. </media:content>
2139. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
2140. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
2141. </media:content>
2142. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220221625-e1750250080756.jpg" medium="image" />
2143.            </item>
2144.        
2145.            <item>
2146.                <title><![CDATA[N.Y. Dems Face Choice Between Voters’ Chosen Candidate and Disgraced Adams, Cuomo]]></title>
2147.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-eric-adams-nyc-mayor/</link>
2148.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-eric-adams-nyc-mayor/#respond</comments>
2149.                <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:58:11 +0000</pubDate>
2150.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Maia Hibbett]]></dc:creator>
2151.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2152.  
2153.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2154.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Party leaders haven’t decided whether to rally behind Zohran Mamdani or a centrist backed by the Israel lobby.</p>
2155. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-eric-adams-nyc-mayor/">N.Y. Dems Face Choice Between Voters’ Chosen Candidate and Disgraced Adams, Cuomo</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2156. ]]></description>
2157.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2158. <p><span class="has-underline">New York’s Democratic Party</span> establishment now has a choice: rally behind a rising political star being hailed as a once-in-a-generation talent who can expand the party’s voter base — or attempt to resurrect the political career of one of its disgraced executives.</p>
2159.  
2160.  
2161.  
2162. <p>The choice presented itself when Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York state assembly member, swept to an apparent victory on Tuesday in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor.&nbsp;</p>
2163.  
2164.  
2165.  
2166. <p>The city’s political class and the state Democratic Party had long since written off Mamdani due to his professed democratic socialism, and his victory came as a shock even to his campaign’s supporters. Results in the ranked-choice election won’t officially be called until next week, and the presumption was that unless any one candidate’s margins were big enough, New Yorkers would have to wait anxiously for voters’ second, third, fourth, and fifth choices to be counted.</p>
2167.  
2168.  
2169.  
2170. <p>On Tuesday night, however, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, considered the front-runner from before he entered the race until the votes started pouring in, did something he has always been loath to do: concede.</p>
2171.  
2172.  
2173.  
2174.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2175.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2176.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/"
2177.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2178.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor"
2179.      data-ga-track-label="zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor"
2180.          >
2181.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/crop_GettyImages-2221383746-e1750784234388.webp" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2182.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2183.        Related      </h2>
2184.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">How Andrew Cuomo Could Become NYC Mayor — Even if Zohran Mamdani Wins</h3>
2185.    </span>
2186.    </a>
2187.  </div>
2188.  
2189.  
2190.  
2191. <p>“Tonight is his night. He deserved it. He won,” Cuomo said, with a frankness and candor that was absent from his responses on the campaign trail about the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/26/cuomo-sexual-harassment-doj-00138140">13 women who accused him</a> of sexual harassment or his administration’s <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/cuomo-undercounted-nursing-home-deaths-by-as-much-as-50-report-finds">falsified reports of the Covid death toll</a> in nursing homes. Though he didn’t sound optimistic, he left the door open to continue on with his previously planned third-party run in November. “We’re gonna take a look, we’ll make some decisions.”</p>
2192.  
2193.  
2194.  
2195. <p>As Cuomo conceded, another mayoral hopeful’s intentions were unambiguous: Eric Adams, the current New York City mayor, quickly began <a href="https://x.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/1937678742408609872">dropping campaign logos</a> and attack posts <a href="https://x.com/ericadamsfornyc/status/1937717660348727765">implying that Mamdani</a>, on a path to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, is antisemitic.</p>
2196.  
2197.  
2198.  
2199. <p>Readers would be forgiven for forgetting that Adams, who nine months ago was indicted on federal corruption charges, is indeed running for reelection.&nbsp;</p>
2200.  
2201.  
2202.  
2203. <p>The mayor has kept a relatively low national profile since Donald Trump barreled into office and his Department of Justice ordered Adams’s charges dismissed. The case conveniently dematerialized with the heavy implication that Adams would need to help the Trump administration with its brutal deportation regime.</p>
2204.  
2205.  
2206.  
2207.  
2208.  
2209.  
2210.  
2211. <p>Being out of the limelight, however, didn&#8217;t keep Adams away from work: <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/06/17/mayor-adams-says-hes-banning-daily-news-reporter-from-pressers-for-calling-out-questions/">kicking journalists</a> out of press conferences, <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/elizabeth-street-garden-to-remain-as-adams-administration-drops-housing-fight">scrapping plans</a> for affordable housing developments, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/nyregion/ice-kaz-adams-nyc-immigration.html">aligning his administration</a> with Trump border czar Tom Homan to grease deportation operations in the supposed sanctuary city of New York.</p>
2212.  
2213.  
2214.  
2215. <p>Adams skipped the Democratic primary on the grounds that he was “abandoned” by the party — whose top state-level official <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-wont-remove-nyc-mayor-adams-from-office-for-now-source-says?utm_source=hs_email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-86RW4sANhFQC7I4DxHa08EKCEUjGLayplViC46hF_74FyhouwtIzMIZ3NtyfbUAMgXdsF7">twice</a> declined to remove him from office. Like Cuomo, Adams announced months ago his plans to run third-party in the general election.</p>
2216.  
2217.  
2218.  
2219. <p>If both or either of these candidates remain set on running in November, the power center in New York’s Democratic Party will have to choose whether they’d rather carry Adams’s or Cuomo’s political baggage than follow the will of their primary voters to embrace a new face.</p>
2220.  
2221.  
2222.  
2223. <p>What’s the issue with a popular young candidate who has energized city voters like no one else in decades? Mamdani is known for political faux pas like calling for higher taxes on the wealthy and refusing to fold to the pro-Israel lobby.&nbsp;</p>
2224.  
2225.  
2226.  
2227. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pro-israel-attacks"><strong>Pro-Israel Attacks</strong></h2>
2228.  
2229.  
2230.  
2231. <p>Mamdani’s stances on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially, are sure to draw ferocious attacks against the presumptive nominee.&nbsp;</p>
2232.  
2233.  
2234.  
2235. <p>Israel has loomed over the race since before it began. Cuomo spent his time in the political wilderness<strong> </strong>burnishing his pro-Israel bona fides, last year going so far as to <a href="https://x.com/curaffairs/status/1936830428284940363">join the legal team</a> defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from international war crimes charges. And Adams, for his part, is eyeing a ballot line for a party named “EndAntisemitism” — playing on the right-wing strategy that <a href="https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-dangerous-conflation/">falsely conflates</a> criticisms of Israel with anti-Jewish bigotry.</p>
2236.  
2237.  
2238.  
2239. <p>And the plans for pro-Israel attack against Mamdani have been falling into place for months.&nbsp;</p>
2240.  
2241.  
2242.  
2243. <p>In the run-up to the primary, he was pressed repeatedly on whether he believed Israel had the right to exist as a Jewish ethnostate or whether he would condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.&#8221; He responded, repeatedly, that he wanted to prioritize a politics of humanity for everyone that would leave people of all faiths safer from hateful attacks.&nbsp;</p>
2244.  
2245.  
2246.  
2247. <p>This refusal to capitulate drew the ire of pro-Israel donors like billionaire Bill Ackman, who poured funding into a pro-Cuomo PAC, but the full weight of the Israel lobby has not yet been seen.</p>
2248.  
2249.  
2250.  
2251.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2252.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2253.            href="https://theintercept.com/2023/11/02/kathy-hochul-israel-settlements-uja-federations/"
2254.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2255.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: kathy-hochul-israel-settlements-uja-federations"
2256.      data-ga-track-label="kathy-hochul-israel-settlements-uja-federations"
2257.          >
2258.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53270789995_ef4e0a983d_o.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2259.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2260.        Related      </h2>
2261.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Kathy Hochul’s Israel Trip Bankrolled by Group Funding Illegal Settlements</h3>
2262.    </span>
2263.    </a>
2264.  </div>
2265.  
2266.  
2267.  
2268. <p>While the flagship national pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, hasn’t involved itself directly in New York’s municipal elections, the city and state have a pro-Israel spending group of their own: Solidarity PAC, which <a href="https://nysfocus.com/2025/03/20/new-york-city-council-mayor-election-israel-palestine">poured money</a> into key, competitive New York City Council races ahead of the primary — and <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/06/24/hanif-aviles-post-early-wins-in-nyc-council-primary-races-marte-cruising-toward-victory/">lost its highest-profile contests</a>. Just days before the primary, the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/23/biden-uncommitted-israel-gaza-aipac-michigan-primary/">AIPAC-aligned</a> Democratic Majority for Israel <a href="https://x.com/demmaj4israel/status/1936117214824005817?s=46">put out a statement</a> urging voters to reject Mamdani.</p>
2269.  
2270.  
2271.  
2272. <p>These pro-Israel forces, along with the same major donors who propped up the former governor’s lackluster primary campaign, will almost certainly flood public airwaves with anti-Mamdani ads in the coming months.</p>
2273.  
2274.  
2275.  
2276. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-centrists-for-mamdani"><strong>Centrists for Mamdani?</strong></h2>
2277.  
2278.  
2279.  
2280. <p>In national political commentary, New York is both hailed and panned as a left-wing utopia divorced from the rest of the country’s political reality. The truth, however, is that New York’s Democratic leadership — and, the conventional political wisdom goes, much of its voter base — is firmly centrist.&nbsp;</p>
2281.  
2282.  
2283.  
2284. <p>Can those leaders, who insist again and again that one of the world’s wealthiest places can’t pull a little more out of its top tax tier for its poorest residents, stomach welcoming a redistributionist like Mamdani into their ranks?</p>
2285.  
2286.  
2287.  
2288. <p>There are signs they might. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who once worked for Cuomo and, more recently, refrained from removing Adams from office, <a href="https://x.com/KathyHochul/status/1937722966470721783">posted</a> a congratulatory message for Mamdani last night. New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the U.S. House, said on cable news that Mamdani had “outworked, outorganized, and outcommunicated” his competition.<strong> </strong>Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer <a href="https://x.com/chuckschumer/status/1937890929689420209" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">joined in</a> Wednesday morning.</p>
2289.  
2290.  
2291.  
2292.  
2293.  
2294.  
2295.  
2296. <p>But it’s too early to know if the party apparatus will throw its weight behind Mamdani’s campaign. Congratulating a candidate is not the same as endorsing them. And the discomfort is palpable from some of New York’s swing-district Democrats, like Rep. Laura Gillen of Long Island, who&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/LauraAGillen/status/1937900429263982742" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">declared</a>&nbsp;Wednesday that “socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City.”</p>
2297.  
2298.  
2299.  
2300. <p>Declaring victory on election night, Mamdani projected an optimistic future of unity between the Democratic Party establishment and his more radical campaign.</p>
2301.  
2302.  
2303.  
2304. <p>“An hour ago, I spoke with Andrew Cuomo about the need to bring this city together as he called me to concede the race,” Mamdani told his supporters, raising a hand to quiet their boos at the former governor’s name. He thanked New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a mayoral competitor who cross-endorsed with Mamdani, and credited their unified strategy for his success. “Together we have shown the power of politics of the future, one of partnership and sincerity.”</p>
2305.  
2306.  
2307.  
2308. <p>The rest of the party now has to decide if that’s their future too.</p>
2309. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-eric-adams-nyc-mayor/">N.Y. Dems Face Choice Between Voters’ Chosen Candidate and Disgraced Adams, Cuomo</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2310. ]]></content:encoded>
2311.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-eric-adams-nyc-mayor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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2313.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221991646-e1750864773845.jpg?fit=5806%2C2903' width='5806' height='2903' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494680</post-id>
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2317. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
2318. </media:content>
2319. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
2320. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
2321. </media:content>
2322. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
2323. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
2324. </media:content>
2325. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/53270789995_ef4e0a983d_o.jpg" medium="image" />
2326.            </item>
2327.        
2328.            <item>
2329.                <title><![CDATA[Trump’s Global Gulag Search Expands to 53 Nations]]></title>
2330.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/trump-immigrant-deportations-supreme-court/</link>
2331.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/trump-immigrant-deportations-supreme-court/#respond</comments>
2332.                <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2333.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
2334.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
2335. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2336.  
2337.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2338.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The Trump administration is seeking deals with more and more nations to hold deportees — now with the blessing of the Supreme Court.</p>
2339. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/trump-immigrant-deportations-supreme-court/">Trump’s Global Gulag Search Expands to 53 Nations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2340. ]]></description>
2341.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2342. <p><span class="has-underline">The U.S. Supreme Court</span> on Monday ruled that the Trump administration could resume <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_l5gm.pdf">deporting immigrants</a> to countries other than their own without any chance to object on the grounds that they might be tortured. This may clear a legal path for the government to send men held at a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/05/ice-immigrants-djibouti-illness-smoke-security/">U.S military base in Djibouti</a> to the war-ravaged nation of South Sudan where they face an uncertain future, including the possibility of indefinite detention. Three justices, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_l5gm.pdf">in a dissent</a>, said the ruling exposes “thousands to the risk of torture or death.”</p>
2343.  
2344.  
2345.  
2346. <p>That may be a best-case scenario.</p>
2347.  
2348.  
2349.  
2350. <p>An Intercept investigation finds that the Trump administration has been hard at work trying to expand its <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/15/trump-ice-immigrants-deport-prisons-cecot-libya/">global gulag for expelled immigrants</a>, exploring deals with a quarter of the world’s nations to accept so-called third-country nationals — deported persons who are not their citizens.</p>
2351.  
2352.  
2353.  
2354. <p>To create this archipelago of injustice, the U.S. government is employing strong-arm tactics with dozens of smaller, weaker, and economically dependent nations. The deals are being conducted in secret, and neither the State Department nor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will discuss them. With the green light from the Supreme Court, thousands of immigrants are in danger of being disappeared into this network of deportee dumping grounds.</p>
2355.  
2356.  
2357.  
2358. <p>“The Supreme Court’s ruling leaves thousands of people vulnerable to deportation to third countries where they face torture or death, even if the deportations are clearly unlawful,” said Leila Kang, a staff attorney at Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, a group that represents immigrants who filed suit.</p>
2359.  
2360.  
2361.  
2362. <p>The Supreme Court gave no explanations for its decision, which paused enforcement of a federal judge’s ruling that immigrants facing deportation must be given an opportunity to show that they may be tortured at their destination. Later Monday, a district judge in Massachusetts ruled that the order didn’t apply to the deportees in Djibouti. The Trump administration <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24A1153/363774/20250624095640753_DVD%20Clarification%20v4.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday</a> to allow it to immediately expel the men to South Sudan, claiming that U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy was acting in “defiance” of the Supreme Court’s order.</p>
2363.  
2364.  
2365.  
2366.  
2367.  
2368.  
2369.  
2370. <p>The majority on the Supreme Court did not publish any explanation for their Monday ruling. In a 19-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote that the majority had disregarded a federal law that requires due process.</p>
2371.  
2372.  
2373.  
2374. <p>“Congress expressly provided noncitizens with the right not to be removed to a country where they are likely to be tortured or killed,” Sotomayor wrote, adding that the majority had endorsed a policy of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/22/trump-latin-america-bukele-el-salvador-prison/">lawlessness</a>. “The Government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard.” She pointed to the cases of 13 immigrants who “narrowly escaped being the target of extraordinary violence in Libya”; another who “spent months in hiding in Guatemala,” and the men who “face release in South Sudan, which the State Department says is in the midst of ‘armed conflict’ between ‘ethnic groups.’”</p>
2375.  
2376.  
2377.  
2378. <p>Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for ICE’s parent organization, the Department of Homeland Security, called the ruling “a victory for the safety and security of the American people.”</p>
2379.  
2380.  
2381.  
2382. <p>Lawyers representing the immigrants at risk of being sent to countries — or even continents — that they have never visited in their lives disagree. “The ramifications of the Supreme Court’s order will be horrifying; it strips away critical due process protections that have been protecting our class members from torture and death,” said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance.</p>
2383.  
2384.  
2385.  
2386. <p>Realmuto is representing some of the men whom the government attempted to expel to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/06/16/in-south-sudan-its-hard-to-tell-the-soldiers-from-the-criminals/">South Sudan</a>, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/06/09/hillary-clintons-state-department-gave-south-sudans-military-a-pass-for-its-child-soldiers/">nation</a> that may, again, be teetering on the brink of <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/06/10/we-can-assassinate-you-at-any-time-journalists-face-abduction-and-murder-in-south-sudan/">civil war</a>. Their rendition flight to South Sudan was diverted to Djibouti, when Murphy, the U.S. district judge, intervened in the case. The eight men — all previously convicted of violent crimes — have been detained on a U.S military base, Camp Lemonnier, ever since.</p>
2387.  
2388.  
2389.  
2390. <p>A top ICE official earlier this month detailed the<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/05/ice-immigrants-djibouti-illness-smoke-security/"> appalling and unsafe conditions</a> — including illnesses brought on by the environment — that deportees and the government officials guarding them face at Camp Lemonnier in a sworn legal declaration.</p>
2391.  
2392.  
2393.  
2394. <p><span class="has-underline">A recent memo</span> by Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that the Trump administration threatened dozens of nations with a travel ban while dangling third-country deportation deals to avoid the restrictions. An investigation by The Intercept finds that, with this new gambit, the U.S. has reportedly pursued deals with at least 53 countries, including many that are beset by conflict or terrorist violence or that the State Department has excoriated for human rights abuses.&nbsp;</p>
2395.  
2396.  
2397.  
2398. <p>The State Department refused to provide a list of countries with which the U.S. has made agreements to accept deportees from third countries, citing the sensitivity of diplomatic communications.</p>
2399.  
2400.  
2401.  
2402.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2403.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
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2408.          >
2409.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Global-Gulag2.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2410.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2411.        Related      </h2>
2412.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">She Exposed Government Abuse. Now She’s Locked Up in an El Salvador Prison. </h3>
2413.    </span>
2414.    </a>
2415.  </div>
2416.  
2417.  
2418.  
2419. <p>The Trump administration began using the notorious <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/04/22/trump-latin-america-bukele-el-salvador-prison/">Terrorism Confinement Center</a> in Tecoluca, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/09/trump-bukele-kilmar-abrego-garcia-el-salvador-cecot-prison/">El Salvador</a>, as a foreign prison to disappear Venezuelan immigrants in March. The Intercept — using open-source information — found that the U.S. has also explored, sought, or struck agreements with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-deportation-deals-with-angola-equatorial-guinea/">Angola</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Antigua and Barbuda</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-deportation-deals-with-angola-equatorial-guinea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Benin</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM#selection-579.59-579.90" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Costa Rica</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-deportation-deals-with-angola-equatorial-guinea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Eswatini</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-deportation-deals-with-angola-equatorial-guinea/">Equatorial Guinea</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,</a> Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Ivory Coast</a>, Kosovo, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Kyrgyzstan, Liberia</a>, Libya, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Malawi, Mauritania</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM">Mexico</a>, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-deportation-deals-with-angola-equatorial-guinea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moldova</a>, Mongolia, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Niger, Nigeria</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM#selection-579.59-579.90" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Panama</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM">Rwanda</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe</a>, Saudi Arabia, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Senegal</a>, South Sudan, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM#selection-413.0-413.160" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ukraine</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/HY3DM">Uzbekistan</a>, <a href="https://archive.is/DGNFY#selection-637.43-637.443">Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.</a></p>
2420.  
2421.  
2422.  
2423. <p>“The sheer number of countries is absolutely unprecedented, as is including so many countries with problematic human rights records,” Yael Schacher, the director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International, told The Intercept. “The transactional deals the Trump administration is offering up turn migrants and refugees into pawns whose rights are of no concern. This just shows what is evident from other Trump administration policies: It does not believe the migrants have any rights.”<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22immigrants%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
2424.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/the-war-on-immigrants/">
2425.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
2426.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="MCALLEN, TX - JUNE 23: A Guatemalan father and his daughter arrives with dozens of other women, men and their children at a bus station following release from Customs and Border Protection on June 23, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Once families and individuals are released and given a court hearing date they are brought to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center to rest, clean up, enjoy a meal and to get guidance to their next destination. Before President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that halts the practice of separating families who are seeking asylum, over 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents in the zero-tolerance policy for border crossers (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=2270 2270w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
2427.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
2428.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
2429.            Read Our Complete Coverage          </p>
2430.        
2431.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">The War on Immigrants</h2>
2432.      </div>
2433.    </a>
2434.  </aside>
2435. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] --></p>
2436.  
2437.  
2438.  
2439. <p>The nations targeted by the Trump administration recently expanded as a result of <a href="https://archive.is/pNOWN#selection-567.264-571.1">a memo</a>, signed by Rubio, which was sent on June 14 to U.S. diplomats who work in 36 countries whose citizens may soon be restricted from entry into the United States. The cable, first reported by The Washington Post, castigated countries for failing to meet various criteria — from having “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents” to being <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/16/nx-s1-5435369/trump-administration-could-impose-a-travel-ban-on-dozens-more-countries">state sponsors of terrorism</a>. Rubio stated, however, that concerns with such nations could be &#8220;mitigated” if that country is willing to accept deportees from other countries.</p>
2440.  
2441.  
2442.  
2443. <p>The State Department did not comment on the memo or the impetus behind it, but provided a disingenuous statement that framed the U.S. efforts to forge third-country deportation deals in hypothetical terms. “In some cases, we might work with other countries to facilitate the removal of individuals, via third countries, who have no legal basis to remain in the United States,” a State Department spokesperson told The Intercept by email.</p>
2444.  
2445.  
2446.  
2447. <p>Many observers — and a minority of Supreme Court justices — noted that the push to send immigrants to far-flung detention facilities appears to be as bizarre as it is cruel.</p>
2448.  
2449.  
2450.  
2451. <p>“Apparently, the Court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a District Court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the Government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled,” Sotomayor<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/06/23/supreme-court-trump-deportations-third-country-south-sudan/"> wrote in her dissent</a>.</p>
2452.  
2453.  
2454.  
2455. <p>Anwen Hughes, the senior director of legal strategy for refugee programs at Human Rights First, noted that there were Mexican nationals held in south Texas set to be deported to both Libya and South Sudan. “The Mexican border is right there. I&#8217;ve been doing immigration detention work for a very long time. I&#8217;ve never in my life seen Mexico refuse to take back one of its nationals, ever,” she told The Intercept. “The U.S. appears to be looking for really implausible destinations to send people. It’s not just punitive, it’s deliberately terrifying and honestly perverse.”</p>
2456.  
2457.  
2458.  
2459. <p>“Pressuring nations that are in a vulnerable situation vis-à-vis U. S. power and diplomacy to take nationals of countries they have nothing to do with is worrisome because it obviously sets the stage for some very serious abuses,” said Hughes.</p>
2460.  
2461.  
2462.  
2463.  <div class="promote-related-post">
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2465.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/09/trump-bukele-kilmar-abrego-garcia-el-salvador-cecot-prison/"
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2469.          >
2470.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2207967273-e1746808149254.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2471.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2472.        Related      </h2>
2473.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See</h3>
2474.    </span>
2475.    </a>
2476.  </div>
2477.  
2478.  
2479.  
2480. <p>The Trump administration is paying President Nayib Bukele’s government in El Salvador $6 million to imprison the Venezuelan nationals. A May <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282404/gov.uscourts.mad.282404.130.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">federal court filing</a> by Rubio referred to deportation negotiations between the Trump administration and both Libya and South Sudan.</p>
2481.  
2482.  
2483.  
2484. <p>Schacher said the Trump administration’s policies highlight its “disdain for immigrants,” and the premium in places on expelling them. “If it has to allow for some immigration from Africa, it will only allow it in exchange for deportation,” she noted. “It truly sees immigration as in the interest of sending countries and not in the interests of the U.S.— so it will demand an exchange.”</p>
2485.  
2486.  
2487.  
2488. <p>Due to the secret nature of agreements, it’s unclear what fate awaits people deported to these nations. The question of whether they would be deported again to their nation of origin, or another unrelated nation, where they face the possibility of persecution or abuse; be allowed to remain in the third country and under what circumstances; or be held in detention or prison, as in El Salvador, remains unknown.</p>
2489.  
2490.  
2491.  
2492. <p>Schacher noted that while almost all African countries and nations in the Americas are parties to the U.N. Refugee Convention, countries like Kosovo, Moldova, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Uzbekistan are not. If they were to expel immigrants they received as part of a deal with the Trump administration, they would have no obligation under international law to screen deportees to ensure they are not sent to a country where they face threats to their life or freedom.</p>
2493.  
2494.  
2495.  
2496.  
2497.  
2498.  
2499.  
2500. <p>Earlier this month, the U.S. struck a deal with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kosovo-accept-u-s-deportations-of-migrants-from-other-countries/">Kosovo</a>, Europe&#8217;s youngest country, to accept 50 deportees from other countries.&nbsp;The landlocked Balkan nation&nbsp;said the expelled immigrants would be &#8220;temporarily relocated&#8221; to Kosovo, while officials facilitate &#8220;their safe return to their home country.&#8221;</p>
2501.  
2502.  
2503.  
2504. <p>“I truly worry these places will become way stations or bridges for deportation from the U.S. to home countries,” Schacher told The Intercept. “Bhutan, not a signatory, has already accepted Nepalese from the U.S. and basically <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/bhutan-nepal-us-immigration">dumped them</a> at the Indian border.”&nbsp;</p>
2505.  
2506.  
2507.  
2508. <p>“In matters of life and death, it is best to proceed with caution. In this case, the Government took the opposite approach,” wrote Sotomayor, detailing the efforts of the government to dump deportees in far-flung and unsafe locales. “It wrongfully deported one plaintiff to Guatemala, even though an Immigration Judge found he was likely to face torture there. Then, in clear violation of a court order, it deported six more to South Sudan, a nation the State Department considers too unsafe for all but its most critical personnel. An attentive District Court’s timely intervention only narrowly prevented a third set of unlawful removals to Libya.”</p>
2509.  
2510.  
2511.  
2512. <p></p>
2513. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/25/trump-immigrant-deportations-supreme-court/">Trump’s Global Gulag Search Expands to 53 Nations</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2514. ]]></content:encoded>
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2518. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
2519. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
2520. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
2521. </media:content>
2522. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
2523. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
2524. </media:content>
2525. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
2526. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
2527. </media:content>
2528. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Global-Gulag2.jpg" medium="image" />
2529. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
2530. <media:title type="html">MCALLEN, TX - JUNE 23: A Guatemalan father and his daughter arrives with dozens of other women, men and their children at a bus station following release from Customs and Border Protection on June 23, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Once families and individuals are released and given a court hearing date they are brought to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center to rest, clean up, enjoy a meal and to get guidance to their next destination. Before President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that halts the practice of separating families who are seeking asylum, over 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents in the zero-tolerance policy for border crossers (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)</media:title>
2531. </media:content>
2532. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2207967273-e1746808149254.jpg" medium="image" />
2533.            </item>
2534.        
2535.            <item>
2536.                <title><![CDATA[Trump Appointee Prosecuting LA Protesters Defended Jan. 6 Suspects]]></title>
2537.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/trump-bill-essayli-la-protests-ice/</link>
2538.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/trump-bill-essayli-la-protests-ice/#respond</comments>
2539.                <pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2025 16:15:17 +0000</pubDate>
2540.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
2541.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
2542. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2543.  
2544.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2545.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Bill Essayli once warned January 6 prosecutions would “criminalize political differences.” Now he’s throwing the book at anti-ICE protesters.</p>
2546. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/trump-bill-essayli-la-protests-ice/">Trump Appointee Prosecuting LA Protesters Defended Jan. 6 Suspects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2547. ]]></description>
2548.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2549. <p><span class="has-underline">As an attorney</span>, Bill Essayli represented two January 6 defendants, arguing that men accused of crimes outside the U.S. Capitol were merely expressing their First Amendment rights. Now that he’s representing the Trump administration as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, he has a very different perspective on some of the protesters opposing mass deportation.</p>
2550.  
2551.  
2552.  
2553. <p>“They are injuring our officers. It is out of control, and since the state of California, the governor, can’t control his state, then yes, the federal government is going to step in. The National Guard is on its way, and we will have peace and order in Los Angeles,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpiO_Fw8qtc">said Essayli</a>, who is serving as Donald Trump’s interim U.S. attorney in Los Angeles.</p>
2554.  
2555.  
2556.  
2557. <p>Elected in 2022 as a Republican state assembly member representing California’s Inland Empire, the junior legislator rose quickly to a prized Justice Department post. Despite passing little legislation in his two terms in Sacramento, Essayli elevated his profile in the MAGA world by introducing bills seemingly designed to grab the attention of the far-right media world — and defending these extreme proposals loudly on Fox News.</p>
2558.  
2559.  
2560.  
2561. <p>Now he represents Trump administration’s interests in federal court in Los Angeles, where Essayli has hit <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/10/la-police-ice-raids-protests/">demonstrators who took to the streets</a> to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/09/la-protests-ice-national-guard-trump-adam-schiff/">protest Trump’s deportation campaign</a> with conspiracy charges that carry stiff sentences, while claiming that he supports the right to peaceful protest.</p>
2562.  
2563.  
2564.  
2565. <p>Trump has yet to formally nominate anyone to serve as the U.S. attorney on a permanent basis. If he does tap Essayli, whose temporary appointment expires at the end of July, activists in California are calling on the state’s two U.S. senators to block his confirmation using an obscure privilege known as the “blue slip” process.</p>
2566.  
2567.  
2568.  
2569. <p>“This tradition was made for exactly these kinds of things, where an attorney is just not acceptable as an appointee. He’s not there for justice but for partisan purposes,” said Jacob Daruvala, the director of the Stop Essayli campaign and a former constituent involved in LGBTQ+ advocacy.</p>
2570.  
2571.  
2572.  
2573. <p>Essayli did not respond to a request for comment sent through his office.</p>
2574.  
2575.  
2576.  
2577.  
2578.  
2579.  
2580.  
2581. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-steep-charges">Steep Charges</h2>
2582.  
2583.  
2584.  
2585. <p>Essayli was sworn in as the interim U.S. attorney in Los Angeles on April 2, following his appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi under a federal statute that allows him to stay in the post for 120 days.</p>
2586.  
2587.  
2588.  
2589. <p>He brought to the post more experience than some of the administration’s other interim appointments — such as <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/02/04/jan-6-prosecutions-ed-martin-reparations/">Ed Martin</a> in<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/who-is-ed-martin-career-dc-us-attorney"> Washington, D.C.</a> — having previously participated in the office’s prosecutions of the 2015 San Bernardino mass shooting attack as an assistant U.S. attorney.</p>
2590.  
2591.  
2592.  
2593. <p>Since his appointment, however, Essayli has quickly alienated career prosecutors, protesters in Los Angeles, and top politicians across the state.</p>
2594.  
2595.  
2596.  
2597. <p>One of his first moves was to sign his name to a rare post-trial plea deal for a sheriff’s deputy who had already been convicted of excessive force for pepper-spraying a woman outside a supermarket. Soon thereafter, several federal prosecutors withdrew from the case and resigned from the office, according to the<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-05-03/los-angeles-federal-prosecutors-resign-deputy-plea"> Los Angeles Times</a>.</p>
2598.  
2599.  
2600.  
2601.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2602.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2603.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/08/trump-national-guard-ice-immigration-protests-los-angeles/"
2604.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
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2607.          >
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2609.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2610.        Related      </h2>
2611.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Trump’s Dangerous Decision to Suppress Anti-ICE Protests With Troops</h3>
2612.    </span>
2613.    </a>
2614.  </div>
2615.  
2616.  
2617.  
2618. <p>As the demonstrations over <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/">ICE raids</a> in Los Angeles heated up over the past month, Essayli was out front on local media defending the administration’s aggressive response.</p>
2619.  
2620.  
2621.  
2622. <p>At one press conference, Essayli said the administration had “no choice” but to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/08/trump-national-guard-ice-immigration-protests-los-angeles/">send in the National Guard</a>.</p>
2623.  
2624.  
2625.  
2626. <p>“Our agents and our law enforcements were overwhelmed,” <a href="https://laist.com/news/veterans-react-to-marine-deployment-in-la">he said</a>.</p>
2627.  
2628.  
2629.  
2630. <p>He also made charging decisions that riled up elected officials and grassroots protesters alike. His office slapped union leader David Huerta, the state SEIU chief, with charges that carry a six-year maximum for confronting federal agents at a worksite raid on June 6.</p>
2631.  
2632.  
2633.  
2634. <p>The charges against Huerta galvanized state Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, who was briefly detained after attempting to question Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem at a June 12 press conference. Essayli was present as Secret Service agents ejected and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/sen-padilla-says-he-was-forced-ground-handcuffed-during-noem-press-conference-2025-06-12/">handcuffed</a> Padilla, who was released without being arrested. In an interview this week, Essayli <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1Fo-X3WhA">accused</a> Padilla of perpetrating a “stunt” and blamed him for the incident.</p>
2635.  
2636.  
2637.  
2638. <p>“He’s a very large person,” Essayli told Fox 11. “He’s very tall, he’s got a big demeanor. And he started charging, pushing his way through the security, shouting. We didn’t know he was here. We didn’t know who he was at the time. And then he started shouting, and then he was dragged out.”<br><br><!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22chilling-dissent%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
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2640.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
2641.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
2642.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
2643.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
2644.            Read our complete coverage          </p>
2645.        
2646.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">Chilling Dissent</h2>
2647.      </div>
2648.    </a>
2649.  </aside>
2650. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] --></p>
2651.  
2652.  
2653.  
2654. <p>Federal prosecutors have cast their eye well beyond powerbrokers such as Huerta. Another high-profile charge came against a member of a community organizing group called Centro CSO who was allegedly spotted on news cameras handing out face shields to demonstrators in downtown Los Angeles.</p>
2655.  
2656.  
2657.  
2658. <p>The man, Alejandro Orellana, faces charges of conspiracy to commit civil disorders and aiding and abetting civil disorders that carry up to five years in prison. As Fox News and other outlets whipped up an online frenzy about the face shield distribution — seeing it as evidence of a well-funded conspiracy behind the immigration protests — FBI agents zeroed in on Orellana and raided his house.</p>
2659.  
2660.  
2661.  
2662. <p>In a statement, a group supporting Orellana said he was guilty only of “providing aid to the community being tear-gassed.” Essayli defended the charges in the same interview with Fox 11.</p>
2663.  
2664.  
2665.  
2666. <p>“He wasn’t handing them out at the beach. He was there in downtown Los Angeles, and he&#8217;s handing them out to people who are dressed and behaving similarly to the people who have been committing riots. These are people hiding their faces, wearing black from top to bottom,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1Fo-X3WhA">Essayli said</a>. “Why would a peaceful protester need a face shield?”</p>
2667.  
2668.  
2669.  
2670. <p>Seeking to diminish the popular outrage over ICE raids, national Republicans have floated claims that various groups are the hidden hand funding the protests. Essayli sounded a similar note in his interview, promising that prosecutors would go after protest funders.</p>
2671.  
2672.  
2673.  
2674. <p>“We’ll get to the bottom of that,” he said.</p>
2675.  
2676.  
2677.  
2678. <p>Essayli <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-17/burning-chp-car-charges">said last week</a> that he has already brought about 20 charges.</p>
2679.  
2680.  
2681.  
2682. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-defending-j6">Defending J6</h2>
2683.  
2684.  
2685.  
2686. <p>In a prior life as an attorney in private practice, Essayli espoused radically different views about the protesters who gathered around the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.</p>
2687.  
2688.  
2689.  
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2698.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
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2700.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">An Insurrectionist Once Helped Lead This Police Department. Insiders Speak Out About Its Culture of White Supremacy.</h3>
2701.    </span>
2702.    </a>
2703.  </div>
2704.  
2705.  
2706.  
2707. <p>For a time he represented Alan Hostetter, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/29/fontana-police-racism-white-supremacy/">former police chief </a>who came to the Capitol<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/29/fontana-police-racism-white-supremacy/"> </a>with a hatchet in his backpack and joined protesters who pushed through a line of police officers defending the building.</p>
2708.  
2709.  
2710.  
2711. <p>Essayli criticized prosecutors after Hostetter was charged, noting that the indictment did not directly accuse him of violence.</p>
2712.  
2713.  
2714.  
2715. <p>“He was there to support the objection to the election, which members of Congress did do. I am concerned because we are getting to a dangerous place where we’re trying to criminalize political differences,” Essayli said.</p>
2716.  
2717.  
2718.  
2719. <p>Hostetter would go on to represent himself at trial. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.</p>
2720.  
2721.  
2722.  
2723. <p>Essayli made similar arguments in defense of Brandon Straka, a<a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/trump-supporters-fighting-maga-98a69bed"> social media influencer</a> charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct in connection with the Capitol riot.</p>
2724.  
2725.  
2726.  
2727. <p>“Defendant and others present on January 6 were engaged in a protest to express their dissatisfaction with the manner in which the 2020 presidential election was conducted and certified,” he wrote in one legal brief. “Doing so in a peaceful manner was well within their First Amendment rights.”</p>
2728.  
2729.  
2730.  
2731. <p>Prosecutors never accused Straka of entering the Capitol, but they said he helped whip up the crowd with statements on social media and in person. In a sentencing memo, Essayli accused federal prosecutors of trying to load far too much responsibility for the breach of the Capitol onto his client’s shoulders.</p>
2732.  
2733.  
2734.  
2735. <p>“There was no conspiracy. This was a demonstration that unfortunately spiraled out of control,” Essayli said.</p>
2736.  
2737.  
2738.  
2739. <p>Straka and Hostetter would go on to receive <a href="https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/trump-pardons-or-commutes-terms-of-all-jan.-6-rioters">pardons</a> from Trump.</p>
2740.  
2741.  
2742.  
2743. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-targeting-trans-rights">Targeting Trans Rights</h2>
2744.  
2745.  
2746.  
2747. <p>Essayli served only two and a half years in the California State Assembly, where he represented Corona and other suburbs east of Los Angeles and became the body’s first Muslim member.</p>
2748.  
2749.  
2750.  
2751. <p>During his time in the state capitol, Essayli raised his public profile despite little legislative success.</p>
2752.  
2753.  
2754.  
2755. <p>He recorded one of the highest rates in the Legislature<a href="https://calmatters.org/politics/2024/10/california-legislature-absences-abstentions/"> for missed votes</a>. Explaining his own meager track record of legislation, Essayli said he used his bills to “communicate issues” and spark debate.</p>
2756.  
2757.  
2758.  
2759. <p>His style, as much as his conservative beliefs, rankled colleagues across the aisle. He once <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article289029959.html">called</a> some Democrats in the state Legislature “pedophile protectors” for blocking his bill to end sanctuary state protections for people convicted of sex crimes against minors.</p>
2760.  
2761.  
2762.  
2763. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“If he can use it for political theater, he is going to do it, no matter who it hurts.”</p></blockquote></figure>
2764.  
2765.  
2766.  
2767. <p>In the Assembly, Essayli also pursed a forced outing bill for transgender students that had little chance of passing. When it went nowhere, he went on a tour of southern California school districts urging them to impose similar policies <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article289582908.html">requiring staffers to inform parents</a> if their children use names or pronouns that differ from their sex assigned at birth.</p>
2768.  
2769.  
2770.  
2771. <p>It was during the debate over that bill that Essayli and another lawmaker, Democratic Assembly Member Corey Jackson, got into a verbal confrontation that resulted in another lawmaker physically preventing Jackson from moving toward Essayli, <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article289582908.html">the Sacramento Bee reported</a>.</p>
2772.  
2773.  
2774.  
2775. <p>In an interview last week, Jackson said he had heard from some of Essayli’s Republican colleagues that they were glad to have him gone.</p>
2776.  
2777.  
2778.  
2779. <p>“At the end of the day, this guy is an ideologue, and all of his decisions are based upon ideology,” Jackson said. “It’s based upon key MAGA principles. It is that that guides his actions, not the law.”</p>
2780.  
2781.  
2782.  
2783. <p>“If he can use it for political theater, he is going to do it, no matter who it hurts,” Jackson added.</p>
2784.  
2785.  
2786.  
2787. <p>Lacking in power in the Democrat-controlled Assembly, Essayli turned to Fox News, where he became a frequent late-night guest. Weeks after Trump’s election to a second term, he appeared in the 11 p.m. slot denouncing Democratic jurisdictions that were promising not to cooperate with mass deportations.</p>
2788.  
2789.  
2790.  
2791.  
2792.  
2793.  
2794.  
2795. <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-rare-power-for-senate-democrats">Rare Power for Senate Democrats</h2>
2796.  
2797.  
2798.  
2799. <p>Under Senate tradition, members of the home-state delegation are given an effective veto over U.S. attorney nominees via the “blue slip” process. That means Essayli’s chance of winning the nomination could rest on convincing Padilla and his fellow Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, according to University of Richmond law school professor Carl Tobias, an expert on the confirmation process.</p>
2800.  
2801.  
2802.  
2803. <p>“If either senator says no from California, it’s over for this nominee. That may be the hardest obstacle,” Tobias said. “That’s what the White House has to work with: Padilla.”</p>
2804.  
2805.  
2806.  
2807. <p>Padilla, Schiff, and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
2808.  
2809.  
2810.  
2811. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right"><blockquote><p>“I think Donald Trump was trying to choose the most anti-California person he could, and that was Bill Essayli.”</p></blockquote></figure>
2812.  
2813.  
2814.  
2815. <p>LGBTQ+ activists have been among those urging Padilla and Schiff to block Essayli if Trump formally nominates him for the job on a permanent basis.</p>
2816.  
2817.  
2818.  
2819. <p>Daruvala, the Inland Empire resident mounting the Stop Essayli campaign, said he was motivated by Essayli’s position on trans kids’ rights. He believes Essayli received the interim appointment essentially to anger state Democrats.</p>
2820.  
2821.  
2822.  
2823. <p>“I think Donald Trump was trying to choose the most anti-California person he could, and that was Bill Essayli,” he said.</p>
2824.  
2825.  
2826.  
2827. <p>Even if Essayli never receives Senate confirmation, however, he could find himself rewarded by Trump. Martin, the short-lived U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., received an appointment as the Justice Department’s top pardon attorney after receiving pushback in the U.S. Senate.</p>
2828. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/trump-bill-essayli-la-protests-ice/">Trump Appointee Prosecuting LA Protesters Defended Jan. 6 Suspects</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2829. ]]></content:encoded>
2830.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/trump-bill-essayli-la-protests-ice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2831.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2832.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP25098744377452-e1750780113435.jpg?fit=2453%2C1226' width='2453' height='1226' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494600</post-id>
2833. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
2834. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
2835. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
2836. </media:content>
2837. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
2838. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
2839. </media:content>
2840. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
2841. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
2842. </media:content>
2843. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2218622009-e1749426221459.jpg" medium="image" />
2844. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/collection_21_AP25080472815958.jpg.webp?fit=300%2C150" medium="image" />
2845. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/copy-Fontana-Screengrab-37-Color-copy-e1730393364943.jpeg" medium="image" />
2846.            </item>
2847.        
2848.            <item>
2849.                <title><![CDATA[How Andrew Cuomo Could Become NYC Mayor — Even if Zohran Mamdani Wins]]></title>
2850.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/</link>
2851.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/#respond</comments>
2852.                <pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
2853.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Akela Lacy]]></dc:creator>
2854.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
2855.  
2856.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
2857.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>The democratic socialist closed in on the former governor ahead of Tuesday’s primary. Cuomo is running in the general election either way.</p>
2858. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/">How Andrew Cuomo Could Become NYC Mayor — Even if Zohran Mamdani Wins</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2859. ]]></description>
2860.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
2861. <p><span class="has-underline">“New York Is Not</span> a democracy,” read a<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/new-york-mayoral-race-cuomo-mamdani/683146/"> headline</a> from The Atlantic earlier this month lamenting the city’s ranked-choice voting system ahead of the upcoming mayoral primary election. The statement<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/jtp.bsky.social/post/3lrocvlsgc22w"> rankled</a> some observers, but it was largely true — just not because of ranked-choice voting. </p>
2862.  
2863.  
2864.  
2865. <p>A well-financed political machine is gearing up to topple New York Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani even if he beats former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for mayor. While Cuomo is heavily favored to win the election, a Mamdani victory appears closer than ever: The democratic socialist leads Cuomo in one of the <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/06/23/cuomo-mamdani-mayor-democratic-primary-emerson-poll?cid=id-app15_m-share_s-web_cmp-app_launch_august2020_c-producer_posts_po-organic">latest polls</a> ahead of the June 24 election.</p>
2866.  
2867.  
2868.  
2869. <p>While the outcome would be a major accomplishment for New York City’s progressives and socialists, it would be far from the end of the road. Even if Cuomo loses on Tuesday — despite the $24.9 million the city’s billionaires, real estate tycoons, and former leaders have <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/nyc-mayor-race-who-are-andrew-cuomos-donors.html">poured into a super PAC backing him</a> — the disgraced former governor, like current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, plans to run in the general election on a <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-mayoral-candidate-andrew-cuomo-will-run-on-independent-ballot-line-in-november">third-party ballot line</a>.&nbsp;</p>
2870.  
2871.  
2872.  
2873.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2874.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2875.            href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/15/india-walton-buffalo-new-york-real-estate-developers/"
2876.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2877.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: india-walton-buffalo-new-york-real-estate-developers"
2878.      data-ga-track-label="india-walton-buffalo-new-york-real-estate-developers"
2879.          >
2880.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP21189850317440-buffalo-new-york-india-walton-byron-brown.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2881.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2882.        Related      </h2>
2883.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Buffalo’s Developer Class Backing Last-Ditch Attempt Against Socialist India Walton</h3>
2884.    </span>
2885.    </a>
2886.  </div>
2887.  
2888.  
2889.  
2890. <p>That possibility sounds eerily familiar to those who watched what happened in Buffalo four years ago to socialist<a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/06/23/buffalo-mayor-socialist-india-walton/"> India Walton</a>, who beat four-term incumbent Byron Brown in the city&#8217;s 2021 Democratic primary for mayor. Rather than concede, Brown ran a last-minute campaign <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2021/11/buffalo-mayor-byron-brown-faces-backlash-after-winning-write-campaign/186804/">backed</a> by<a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/15/india-walton-buffalo-new-york-real-estate-developers/"> Republicans and real estate developers</a> to get a ballot line and win the general election. He served as mayor until last year.&nbsp;</p>
2891.  
2892.  
2893.  
2894. <p>“If Mamdani was to win the Democratic Party primary for mayor, New York City will probably repeat something similar to what happened in heavily Democratic Buffalo in 2021,” said John Kaehny of Reinvent Albany, a statewide watchdog group. “Deep-pocketed business interests and the Democratic Party incumbency was shocked by Walton&#8217;s win and poured money and support into Brown&#8217;s winning general election campaign.” </p>
2895.  
2896.  
2897.  
2898. <p>The pool of money for an independent Cuomo campaign is indeed deep. Billionaire Israel fanatic Bill Ackman, hedge fund manager <a href="https://theintercept.com/2022/06/10/rashida-tlaib-urban-empowerment-action-pac-bakari-sellers/">Daniel Loeb</a>, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have poured $9.1 million into Fix the City, making up more than a third of the funding for the Cuomo-backing PAC.<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/14/real-estate-titans-hold-their-nose-and-get-behind-cuomo-with-big-money-00347176"> </a>Many of Cuomo’s deep-pocketed supporters seem to feel particular political ire for Mamdani over his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, triggering an entire <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/nyregion/mamdani-globalize-intifada.html">news cycle</a> about Mamdani’s thoughts on the protest cry “globalize the intifada.” Neither the Mamdani nor Cuomo campaigns immediately responded to requests for comment.</p>
2899.  
2900.  
2901.  
2902. <p>Mamdani, who if elected would be the city’s first Muslim mayor, has been the target of Islamophobic <a href="https://www.cair-ny.org/news/6/20/25/cair-ny-condemns-death-and-bomb-threats-against-zohran-mamdani">harassment and bomb threats</a> during the campaign.&nbsp;His success on Tuesday would almost certainly guarantee a bigger and stronger backlash from his political opponents in the general election.&nbsp;</p>
2903.  
2904.  
2905.  
2906. <p>“Everyone is very laser-focused on tomorrow. But I think that everyone knows that even if we win tomorrow, the fight’s not over until November,” said state Sen. Jabari Brisport, who spoke to The Intercept on the way to a canvassing shift for Mamdani on Monday evening. Brisport, another socialist state legislator, <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/03/zohran-mamdani-endorsed-most-socialist-lawmakers/403716/">endorsed</a> Mamdani in March. Still, Mamdani supporters have something that Walton’s campaign didn’t, Brisport said. </p>
2907.  
2908.  
2909.  
2910. <p>“I don’t think anybody on India Walton’s campaign expected that Byron Brown would launch a write-in campaign,” Brisport said. “Whereas we&#8217;ve known for some time that Andrew Cuomo was running in the general election, regardless of what happens.”</p>
2911.  
2912.  
2913.  
2914.  
2915.  
2916.  
2917.  
2918. <p>According to Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York State Working Families Party, Mamdani’s campaign infrastructure far exceeds Walton’s.&nbsp;</p>
2919.  
2920.  
2921.  
2922. <p>“I think he’s redefining what’s possible in a large city,” she said. “And the apparatus is ready to engage and level up if they go into a general election.”&nbsp;</p>
2923.  
2924.  
2925.  
2926. <p>She said her party views Tuesday’s contest as the first big race since President Donald Trump won in 2024. If Mamdani loses, there’s a possibility that he could run on the Working Families Party line in the general election — though Gripper said the<strong> </strong>New York<strong> </strong>WFP has not decided whether they’ll run a candidate on their line in the general election and will make a decision after the final primary results come in.</p>
2927.  
2928.  
2929.  
2930. <p>At that point, the groups backing Mamdani will take stock of the results, said Daniel Coates, political director at Make the Road Action, which endorsed Mamdani after New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.</p>
2931.  
2932.  
2933.  
2934. <p>“I don&#8217;t think anything is off the table in terms of strategies and actions that the Cuomo camp will play,” Coates said.</p>
2935.  
2936.  
2937.  
2938.  <div class="promote-related-post">
2939.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
2940.            href="https://theintercept.com/2021/03/15/andrew-cuomo-womens-equality-party/"
2941.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
2942.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: andrew-cuomo-womens-equality-party"
2943.      data-ga-track-label="andrew-cuomo-womens-equality-party"
2944.          >
2945.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AP917755565348-cuomo-women-equality-e1615835713535.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
2946.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
2947.        Related      </h2>
2948.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Cuomo’s “Women’s Equality Party” Might Just Be the Most Cynical Political Move of His Career</h3>
2949.    </span>
2950.    </a>
2951.  </div>
2952.  
2953.  
2954.  
2955. <p>“On the one hand, it’s scary and it’s true that Bill Ackman and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/12/doordash-gives-1-million-to-cuomo-allied-super-pac-00341374">DoorDash</a> and organizations and companies that just want to have a mayor that just does their bidding — you could see them dropping a lot of money, and Cuomo’s already put his ballot line together,” he added. “But sometimes the weight of your own money can weigh you down. I don’t think voters like the idea of buying an election.”</p>
2956.  
2957.  
2958.  
2959. <p>Kaehny pointed to Bloomberg, Cuomo’s single largest donor. “Cuomo&#8217;s super wealthy contributors have signaled they will spend what it takes to defeat Mamdani in a general election rematch,” he said. “Like other Americans, New Yorkers can thank the Supreme Court&#8217;s Citizens United decision for opening the floodgates of unlimited political spending and obliterating any concept of fairness in American democracy.”</p>
2960.  
2961.  
2962.  
2963. <p>Billionaires are used to having a mayor and politicians who work for them, said Gustavo Gordillo, co-chair of NYC Democratic Socialists of America. “We’re expecting them to fight us all the way. If he wins the primary, we’re not gonna rest or let up. We’re going to keep the fight on until the general. And if he wins the general, then we’re going to keep organizing and keep the struggle going well into his administration because that’s the only way that we can actually implement the agenda and change our politics.”</p>
2964.  
2965.  
2966.  
2967. <p>Unless one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, New Yorkers won’t know who won the Democratic primary for a week: The New York City Board of Elections will need to run its ranked-choice voting algorithm, and that process is <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2025/06/19/nyc-mayoral-primary-winner-likely-won-t-be-clear-until-july-1-thanks-to-ranked-choice-voting">scheduled for July 1</a>.</p>
2968.  
2969.  
2970.  
2971.  
2972.  
2973.  
2974.  
2975. <p>If Mamdani makes it to the general election, centrists could potentially split four ways in the general between Cuomo, Adams, independent attorney Jim Walden, and Republican Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.&nbsp;</p>
2976.  
2977.  
2978.  
2979. <p>“The political establishment has totally failed the city,” Gordillo said. “Even though we expect a big onslaught of money spent against our movement, I think the fact that they have had no answers to the people of the city, that they’ve really failed to campaign on anything other than fear and the same old business, we’ll be able to defeat them.”</p>
2980.  
2981.  
2982.  
2983. <p>Democrats have spent more time <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/11/25/new-york-cuomo-working-families-party-ballot/">fighting progressives</a> on the left than on fighting Republicans, according to Gripper. But that’s <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/10/15/new-york-working-families-party-biden-harris-ballot/">not new.</a> “A victory by Zohran in the Democratic primary would be a seismic shift in politics and the election and how campaigns are run and won. Not just in New York City but across the nation,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
2984.  
2985.  
2986.  
2987. <p>“Even though it’s the mayor, it’s not really a local position. It’s a national position,” Gripper said. “We know that if Zohran wins, it will create a new narrative around what’s possible.” <br><br></p>
2988. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/">How Andrew Cuomo Could Become NYC Mayor — Even if Zohran Mamdani Wins</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
2989. ]]></content:encoded>
2990.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/24/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-nyc-mayor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
2991.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
2992.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221383746-e1750719534158.jpg?fit=8192%2C4096' width='8192' height='4096' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494596</post-id>
2993. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP21189850317440-buffalo-new-york-india-walton-byron-brown.jpg" />
2994. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AP21189850317440-buffalo-new-york-india-walton-byron-brown.jpg" medium="image" />
2995. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
2996. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
2997. </media:content>
2998. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
2999. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
3000. </media:content>
3001. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
3002. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3003. </media:content>
3004. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AP917755565348-cuomo-women-equality-e1615835713535.jpg" medium="image" />
3005.            </item>
3006.        
3007.            <item>
3008.                <title><![CDATA[Hakeem Jeffries Said Trump’s Attack on Iran Was Unconstitutional. What’s He Going to Do About It?]]></title>
3009.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/hakeem-jeffries-trump-democrats-iran-war/</link>
3010.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/hakeem-jeffries-trump-democrats-iran-war/#respond</comments>
3011.                <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2025 21:41:11 +0000</pubDate>
3012.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Sledge]]></dc:creator>
3013.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
3014. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3015.  
3016.                <guid isPermaLink="false">https://theintercept.com/?p=494582</guid>
3017.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>High-ranking Democrats are working on their own way to stop a war with Iran — instead of signing onto a war powers resolution.</p>
3018. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/hakeem-jeffries-trump-democrats-iran-war/">Hakeem Jeffries Said Trump’s Attack on Iran Was Unconstitutional. What’s He Going to Do About It?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3019. ]]></description>
3020.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3021. <p><span class="has-underline">Americans are opposed</span> to a war with Iran.&nbsp;</p>
3022.  
3023.  
3024.  
3025. <p>With voters on their side, some rank-and-file Democrats in Congress teamed up with a Republican to try to block President Donald Trump from launching just such a war. With <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/19/democratic-iran-war-trump-schumer-jeffries-meeks/">limited support from Democratic Party leadership</a>, however, those efforts faltered.</p>
3026.  
3027.  
3028.  
3029. <p>Now that Trump has <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">launched a military assault against Iran</a>, Democratic leaders are still deciding how to react.</p>
3030.  
3031.  
3032.  
3033. <p>Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, for his part, has yet to announce whether he backs a bipartisan resolution to halt military action.</p>
3034.  
3035.  
3036.  
3037. <p>Instead of backing the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna/">existing resolution</a> from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., high-ranking Democrats in the House are reportedly working on an alternative measure. Advocates for the bipartisan bill fear the alternative could dilute support for the initial measure.</p>
3038.  
3039.  
3040.  
3041. <p>In the Senate, meanwhile, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer belatedly threw his support behind a companion War Powers Resolution. With broad Republican support for Trump, that bill faces long odds of success.</p>
3042.  
3043.  
3044.  
3045.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3046.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3047.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/"
3048.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3049.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-israel-united-states-war"
3050.      data-ga-track-label="iran-israel-united-states-war"
3051.          >
3052.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3053.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3054.        Related      </h2>
3055.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Self-Proclaimed “Peacemaker” Drags U.S. Into Another War</h3>
3056.    </span>
3057.    </a>
3058.  </div>
3059.  
3060.  
3061.  
3062. <p>Advocates said they are pushing hard for Democrats to line up behind the bipartisan measure, but they wish that Democratic leaders such as Schumer had acted sooner.</p>
3063.  
3064.  
3065.  
3066. <p>“Perhaps if Trump had seen aggressive pushback and a united front from the Democratic Party,” said Yasmine Taeb, the legislative and political director for the Muslim advocacy group MPower Change, “then he wouldn’t have felt so emboldened to move forward with the unauthorized strikes on Iran.”</p>
3067.  
3068.  
3069.  
3070. <p><span class="has-underline">The push to stop</span> Trump’s war started last week, before the strikes even began, with companion resolutions from Massie and Khanna in the House and <a href="https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-announces-the-filing-of-a-war-powers-resolution-to-prevent-war-with-iran">Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in the upper chamber.</a></p>
3071.  
3072.  
3073.  
3074. <p>Both resolutions are made under the War Powers Act, the 1973 law passed in response to the Vietnam War that limits when the president can launch military action and how Congress can move to end a conflict that has already begun.</p>
3075.  
3076.  
3077.  
3078. <p>The <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna/">Massie-Khanna resolution</a> was filed last Tuesday as Trump publicly weighed whether to join Israel’s attacks on Iran.</p>
3079.  
3080.  
3081.  
3082. <p>The resolution “directs the President to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force against Iran.”</p>
3083.  
3084.  
3085.  
3086. <p>The bill was introduced before Iran launched strikes Monday against a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/">U.S. military base in Qatar</a>. A separate provision in the resolution states that it does nothing “to prevent the United States from defending itself from imminent attack.”</p>
3087.  
3088.  
3089.  
3090. <p>In addition to Massie and Khanna, the resolution so far has 42 co-sponsors. All are Democrats, and most are aligned with the progressive wing of the party.</p>
3091.  
3092.  
3093.  
3094. <p>Kaine, meanwhile, has deliberately avoided adding co-sponsors to his legislation as he attempts to attract GOP support. He <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/foreign-policy/dems-trump-iran-messaging/">told Punchbowl News</a> over the weekend that he expected some Republicans to join.</p>
3095.  
3096.  
3097.  
3098. <p>On Saturday, Schumer called for a quick vote on Kaine’s resolution, for which he has announced his support since Trump’s attack. As the strikes loomed last week, however, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/06/17/senate-democrats-schumer-trump-iran-israel">he decided against supporting a bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders</a>, I-Vt., that would have blocked funding for the strikes.</p>
3099.  
3100.  
3101.  
3102. <p>Even with Schumer’s support, advocates concede that Kaine’s resolution faces long odds. Many Republicans have already issued statements in support of a strike, and even a successful resolution could be vetoed by Trump.</p>
3103.  
3104.  
3105.  
3106. <p>On the other side of the Capitol, Jeffries criticized the way the strikes were conducted but stopped short of calling for a vote on the Khanna-Massie resolution. Instead, he has called on the White House to brief Congress.&nbsp;</p>
3107.  
3108.  
3109.  
3110. <p>Jeffries’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday on whether he supports the Massie-Khanna resolution.</p>
3111.  
3112.  
3113.  
3114. <p>“Haven&#8217;t taken a look at it,” he said Monday, <a href="https://x.com/daveweigel/status/1937220283737190740">according to </a>Semafor reporter Dave Weigel<a href="https://x.com/daveweigel/status/1937220283737190740">.</a></p>
3115.  
3116.  
3117.  
3118. <p>On a Monday call, advocates on a press call urged more members of Congress to back the resolution.</p>
3119.  
3120.  
3121.  
3122. <p>On the call, Sara Haghdoosti, the executive director of the anti-war group Win Without War, said, “Poll after poll shows how deeply the American public does not support strikes on Iran and war with Iran.”</p>
3123.  
3124.  
3125.  
3126.  
3127.  
3128.  
3129.  
3130. <p><span class="has-underline">Trump’s attack on</span> Iran remains so fresh that many people are still making up their minds, but polls conducted before and after show plurality opposition.</p>
3131.  
3132.  
3133.  
3134. <p>Americans were opposed to the strikes by a 45 to 25 percent margin before they happened, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/iran-strike-us-involvement-poll/">according to a Washington Post survey</a> conducted by text message last Wednesday. The poll also found a relatively high number of Americans, 30 percent, were unsure of how they felt about the looming conflict.</p>
3135.  
3136.  
3137.  
3138. <p>Snap polls conducted by YouGov after the strike likewise found that a<a href="https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/52424-snap-polls-more-americans-oppose-than-support-us-bombing-iran"> plurality of adults were against bombing Iran.</a></p>
3139.  
3140.  
3141.  
3142. <p>Democrats looking for a political reason to oppose the strikes could find one in the crosstabs. Fully two-thirds of Democrats were opposed versus 9 percent in support in the Washington Post poll.</p>
3143.  
3144.  
3145.  
3146. <p>One of the few Democrats to offer unqualified support for the strikes, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, called them the “correct” move in a post on X, <a href="https://x.com/JohnFetterman/status/1936578453643358310">adding</a>, “I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world. <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/1f1fa-1f1f8.png" alt="🇺🇸" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />”</p>
3147.  
3148.  
3149.  
3150. <p>Progressives have issued strong statements opposed to the strike. Other members of Congress have issued more carefully worded statements that attack Trump for launching the strikes without congressional authorization, while reiterating their support for Israel and opposition to Iran getting nuclear weapons.</p>
3151.  
3152.  
3153.  
3154. <p>That kind of triangulation worries advocates who are waiting for the text of a <a href="https://punchbowl.news/article/foreign-policy/dems-trump-iran-messaging/">pending War Powers Resolution</a> from three members of Democratic leadership: Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.; Adam Smith, D-Wash.; and Jim Himes, D-Conn.</p>
3155.  
3156.  
3157.  
3158.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3159.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3160.            href="https://theintercept.com/2021/12/10/saudi-arabia-arms-sale-yemen-war-democrats/"
3161.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3162.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: saudi-arabia-arms-sale-yemen-war-democrats"
3163.      data-ga-track-label="saudi-arabia-arms-sale-yemen-war-democrats"
3164.          >
3165.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1237042614-saudi-yemen-democrats-e1639084989314.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3166.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3167.        Related      </h2>
3168.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Now in Power, Key Anti-War Democrats Soften on Saudi War in Yemen</h3>
3169.    </span>
3170.    </a>
3171.  </div>
3172.  
3173.  
3174.  
3175. <p>So does the history of the resolution’s sponsors. In 2021, Meeks and Smith backed a measure purportedly meant to restrict U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen that activists said would <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/09/23/yemen-saudi-arabia-war-gregory-meeks/">detract from a firmer provision offered by Khanna.</a></p>
3176.  
3177.  
3178.  
3179. <p>The resolution’s authors did not respond to a request for the text of the resolution, or comment on why its authors felt compelled to offer an alternative to the Massie-Khanna effort.</p>
3180.  
3181.  
3182.  
3183. <p>All three Democrats behind the competing resolution are committee leaders endorsed by American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influential pro-Israel group that is <a href="https://view.act.aipac.org/?qs=d1b1411b74fe368c91b3752e3c9f1ff88fde21b3a67457c581896f44d18a390cc982267633befa6ee37e0011eb632842e19efee48ddb7c3eeb3dcc0ad36816f43693e3b0d394890eeeb3deee82b56c26">lobbying in support</a> of Trump’s strikes.</p>
3184. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/hakeem-jeffries-trump-democrats-iran-war/">Hakeem Jeffries Said Trump’s Attack on Iran Was Unconstitutional. What’s He Going to Do About It?</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3185. ]]></content:encoded>
3186.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/hakeem-jeffries-trump-democrats-iran-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3187.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3188.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221045014-e1750713017471.jpg?fit=8640%2C4320' width='8640' height='4320' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494582</post-id>
3189. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" />
3190. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" medium="image" />
3191. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1237042614-saudi-yemen-democrats-e1639084989314.jpg" medium="image" />
3192.            </item>
3193.        
3194.            <item>
3195.                <title><![CDATA[U.S. Military Under Attack Again for Joining Israel’s Wars]]></title>
3196.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/</link>
3197.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/#respond</comments>
3198.                <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2025 20:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
3199.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
3200.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
3201. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3202.  
3203.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
3204.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>There were no reports of casualties from the attack on a base in Qatar, as the base was evacuated in advance.</p>
3205. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/">U.S. Military Under Attack Again for Joining Israel’s Wars</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3206. ]]></description>
3207.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3208. <p><span class="has-underline">Iran launched an</span> attack on an American military base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation for U.S. strikes on three critical nuclear sites.</p>
3209.  
3210.  
3211.  
3212. <p>A U.S. official said that Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American installation in the Middle East, was attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles. “At this time, there are no reports of U.S. casualties,” a U.S. defense official told The Intercept. “We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide more information as it becomes available.”</p>
3213.  
3214.  
3215.  
3216. <p>A Qatari official confirmed that no casualties occurred due to the attack.</p>
3217.  
3218.  
3219.  
3220. <p>The Qatari official said that Al Udeid Air Base, which it shares with the United States, had been “evacuated” prior to the attack and that all “necessary measures were taken to ensure the safety of the base&#8217;s personnel, including members of the Qatari Armed Forces, friendly forces, and others.”</p>
3221.  
3222.  
3223.  
3224.  
3225.  
3226.  
3227.  
3228. <p>Iran said the strikes in Qatar matched the number of bombs dropped by the United States on its nuclear sites over the weekend, signaling its likely desire to save face at home and deescalate abroad.</p>
3229.  
3230.  
3231.  
3232. <p>Iran announced the attack on state television. A caption on screen called it “a mighty and successful response” to “America’s aggression,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-iran-war-nuclear-trump-bomber-news-06-23-2025-9e78510c88ccc5e262341f41550609c5">according</a> to The Associated Press.</p>
3233.  
3234.  
3235.  
3236. <p>The Qatari official denounced the Iranian attack and blamed Israel for <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/">setting off the cycle of violence</a> in the region. Trump<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/"> joined Israel’s war</a> against Iran on Saturday, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan — a decision that experts say may lead to a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">new U.S. forever war</a> in the Middle East.</p>
3237.  
3238.  
3239.  
3240. <p>“We express the State of Qatar&#8217;s strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar&#8217;s sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law and the United Nations Charter,” the official told The Intercept, adding that Qatar was “among the first countries to warn against the consequences of Israeli escalation in the region.”</p>
3241.  
3242.  
3243.  
3244.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3245.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3246.            href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/06/secret-military-bases-middle-east-attacks/"
3247.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3248.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: secret-military-bases-middle-east-attacks"
3249.      data-ga-track-label="secret-military-bases-middle-east-attacks"
3250.          >
3251.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1980805531-e1722971557331.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3252.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3253.        Related      </h2>
3254.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">The U.S. Has Dozens of Secret Bases Across the Middle East. They Keep Getting Attacked.</h3>
3255.    </span>
3256.    </a>
3257.  </div>
3258.  
3259.  
3260.  
3261. <p>More than 40,000 U.S. active-duty military personnel and civilians working for the Pentagon are deployed across the Middle East. In recent years, the U.S. has used <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/08/06/secret-military-bases-middle-east-attacks/">more than 60 bases</a>, garrisons, or shared foreign facilities in the region. These sites range from small combat outposts to massive air bases in 13 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.&nbsp;</p>
3262.  
3263.  
3264.  
3265. <p>U.S. troops in the Middle East have come under attack <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/06/trump-houthi-us-military-ceasefire-attacks/">close to 400 times</a>, at a minimum, since October 2023 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/19/houthis-yemen-biden-airstrikes/">in response</a> to the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/09/israel-war-cost/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S.-supported </a>Israeli war on Gaza.</p>
3266.  
3267.  
3268.  
3269.  
3270.  
3271.  
3272.  
3273. <p>U.S. Navy vessels in the region have been the most frequent target, coming under attack 174 times since October 2023, Central Command told The Intercept. There have also been “about 200” attacks on U.S. bases in the region since the Gaza war began, Pentagon spokesperson Patricia Kreuzberger told The Intercept last month. This amounted to roughly one attack every 1.5 days. This includes more than 100 attacks on U.S. outposts in Syria and a lesser number in Iraq and Jordan. A January 2024 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/06/tower-22-drone-troops-air-defense/">drone attack</a> on Tower 22, a <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/09/us-base-jordan-tower-22-troops-iran-backed-militias/">facility</a> in the latter country, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/29/us-israel-relationship-jordan-attack/">killed three U.S. troops</a>. </p>
3274.  
3275.  
3276.  
3277. <p>Predominantly led by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian-allied Houthi government in Yemen, the strikes include a mix of one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and ballistic missiles fired at fixed bases and U.S. warships across the region.</p>
3278.  
3279.  
3280.  
3281. <p>Trump struck a ceasefire deal with the Houthis in May. Prior to the U.S. attacks on Saturday, the Houthis threatened to again target U.S. ships in the Red Sea if Washington joined Israel’s attacks on Iran.</p>
3282.  
3283.  
3284.  
3285. <p></p>
3286. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/">U.S. Military Under Attack Again for Joining Israel’s Wars</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3287. ]]></content:encoded>
3288.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/us-military-iran-israel-qatar-strike/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3289.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3290.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221044859-e1750708023488.jpg?fit=3500%2C1750' width='3500' height='1750' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494566</post-id>
3291. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
3292. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
3293. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
3294. </media:content>
3295. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
3296. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
3297. </media:content>
3298. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
3299. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3300. </media:content>
3301. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1980805531-e1722971557331.jpg" medium="image" />
3302.            </item>
3303.        
3304.            <item>
3305.                <title><![CDATA[Trump Says Iran’s Nuke Sites Are “Obliterated.” The Military Isn’t So Sure.]]></title>
3306.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/</link>
3307.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/#respond</comments>
3308.                <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2025 17:13:43 +0000</pubDate>
3309.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
3310.                                 <category><![CDATA[National Security]]></category>
3311. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3312.  
3313.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
3314.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Defense officials say his claims are “overblown” — and the intelligence community said Iran wasn’t building a bomb.</p>
3315. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/">Trump Says Iran’s Nuke Sites Are “Obliterated.” The Military Isn’t So Sure.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3316. ]]></description>
3317.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3318. <p><span class="has-underline">President Donald Trump</span> took to social media to crow over his bombing of Iran on Saturday night. “Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success. Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” he wrote.</p>
3319.  
3320.  
3321.  
3322. <p>Current and former Pentagon officials question Trump’s certainty that three of Iran&#8217;s nuclear sites were “totally obliterated” by U.S. attacks. One current official called the post-strike assessment, offered in the immediate wake of the Saturday attacks, “overblown.” All said the destruction at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan was extensive, but that the full extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities was not immediately clear.</p>
3323.  
3324.  
3325.  
3326. <p>“Overblown and premature,” the defense official, commenting about Trump’s claims on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation, told The Intercept by instant message. “What else is new[?]” That assessment was echoed by a former defense official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the nature of his current employment.</p>
3327.  
3328.  
3329.  
3330.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3331.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3332.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/"
3333.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3334.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-israel-united-states-war"
3335.      data-ga-track-label="iran-israel-united-states-war"
3336.          >
3337.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3338.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3339.        Related      </h2>
3340.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Self-Proclaimed “Peacemaker” Drags U.S. Into Another War</h3>
3341.    </span>
3342.    </a>
3343.  </div>
3344.  
3345.  
3346.  
3347. <p>In the wake of such criticism, Trump doubled down. “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114730186433008075">posted </a>on TruthSocial on Sunday. “The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!”</p>
3348.  
3349.  
3350.  
3351. <p>“From a targeting standpoint, ‘destruction’ means there is absolutely nothing left. These facilities were not destroyed by formal definition. Further, there is no way to assess the full scale of damage against such targets without boots on the ground,” said Wes Bryant, a former Pentagon official who previously worked as a Special Operations joint terminal attack controller, or JTAC, and called in thousands of strikes against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups across the greater Middle East.</p>
3352.  
3353.  
3354.  
3355. <p>Bryant added: “Suffice to say that the use of these facilities has been denied for the near or considerable future, and the strikes no doubt had a psychological effect on the regime. However, to state that any potential nuclear weapons development on the part of Iran has been permanently stopped would be incredibly naive.”</p>
3356.  
3357.  
3358.  
3359.  
3360.  
3361.  
3362.  
3363. <p>Six U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bombers reportedly dropped 12 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — 30,000-pound bombs colloquially known as “bunker busters” — on the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility, Iran’s main location for enriching uranium. A seventh U.S. B‑2 bomber attacked the Natanz Nuclear Facility with two GBU‑57 bombs, while a U.S. Navy submarine also launched Tomahawk missiles, targeting both Natanz and Esfahan, as part of the mission code-named “Operation Midnight Hammer.”</p>
3364.  
3365.  
3366.  
3367. <p>Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reiterated the IAEA’s consistent message that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place, and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked,” in an address to the agency’s Board of Governors on Monday.</p>
3368.  
3369.  
3370.  
3371. <p>He noted that craters were now visible at the Fordow site but stated that “no one — including the IAEA — is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordow. He added: “Given the explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges, very significant damage is expected to have occurred.” </p>
3372.  
3373.  
3374.  
3375. <p>A senior Iranian official told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-under-missile-attack-iran-says-all-options-open-after-us-strikes-2025-06-22/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reuters</a> that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved to an undisclosed location ahead of the U.S. strikes. Before and after the Saturday attacks, current and former U.S. defense officials told The Intercept that this was highly likely.</p>
3376.  
3377.  
3378.  
3379. <p>“We often don’t give our adversaries enough credit and underestimate their savviness. They’ve been planning for something like this for years. They could have planted information on Fordow as a decoy,” Bryant explained. “It could be a major nuclear facility but might not have been as important as people think. Their nuclear warfare capabilities might be under development somewhere that we don’t even know about and they could have invited the attack on this high-profile decoy. There is no reporting saying that&#8217;s the case, but these are things you always have to look at when you&#8217;re planning military operations — especially of this scale against a near-peer adversary.”</p>
3380.  
3381.  
3382.  
3383. <p>Grossi also confirmed the damage at Natanz and said that at Esfahan, the “affected buildings include some related to the uranium conversion process” and that entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material also appear to have been attacked.</p>
3384.  
3385.  
3386.  
3387. <p>U.S. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Sunday that there was “severe damage and destruction” to the three facilities but did not go so far as to say that Iran’s nuclear capacities had been eliminated.</p>
3388.  
3389.  
3390.  
3391. <p>“Final battle damage [assessments] will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine said. When asked if Iran still retains any nuclear capability, Caine said that battle damage assessments were “still pending, and it would be way too early for me to comment on what may or may not still be there.”</p>
3392.  
3393.  
3394.  
3395. <p>The Pentagon did not offer an update on Monday.&nbsp;“We have nothing additional to provide beyond the Chairman&#8217;s comments at this time,” a spokesperson told The Intercept.</p>
3396.  
3397.  
3398.  
3399. <p>The White House did not reply to a request for comment about the discrepancy between Caine’s statement and Trump’s claims.</p>
3400.  
3401.  
3402.  
3403.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3404.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3405.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel/"
3406.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3407.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel"
3408.      data-ga-track-label="iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel"
3409.          >
3410.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP22353754922597-e1750182623509.jpeg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3411.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3412.        Related      </h2>
3413.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">U.S. Intel Says Iran Isn’t a Nuclear Threat. Israel Wants the U.S. to Bomb It Anyway.</h3>
3414.    </span>
3415.    </a>
3416.  </div>
3417.  
3418.  
3419.  
3420. <p>The aim of the attacks, American and Israeli officials have said, is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. The U.S. intelligence community says that threat was not, however, real.</p>
3421.  
3422.  
3423.  
3424. <p>“We continue to assess Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and that [Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003, though pressure has probably built on him to do so,” reads the <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2025-Unclassified-Report.pdf?ref=forever-wars.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Annual Threat Assessment</a> published in March. The assessment serves as the intelligence community’s official evaluation of threats to “the Homeland,” U.S. citizens, and the country’s interests. Last week, Trump said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was &#8220;wrong&#8221; about intelligence on Iran when she testified in March before the Senate that the nation was not actively building a nuclear weapon.</p>
3425.  
3426.  
3427.  
3428. <p>Photos of the Situation Room during the attack on Iran, released Saturday evening, did not show Gabbard present alongside Trump, Vice President <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/jd-vance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">JD Vance,</a> Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and other administration officials. The White House later told Fox News that <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gabbard-situation-room-iran-still-key-player-despite-trump-saying-she-wrong-intel">Gabbard was present</a>. </p>
3429.  
3430.  
3431.  
3432.  
3433.  
3434.  
3435.  
3436. <p>On Monday, Israel struck Evin prison, Iran’s most notorious jail for political prisoners, adding it to the list of nonmilitary and nuclear sites that it has attacked, which includes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/world/middleeast/iran-israel-energy-facility-strikes-tehran.html?smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">energy infrastructure</a> and Iran’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/16/world/iran-israel-news/israel-iran-state-tv?smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">government news</a> agency. Israeli strikes have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others since its campaign began 10 days ago, according to the Washington-based group <a href="https://x.com/HRANA_English/status/1937076293872283677">Human Rights Activists</a>.</p>
3437.  
3438.  
3439.  
3440. <p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed his desire for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/17/netanyahu-israel-iran-regime-change-destruction" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regime change</a>&nbsp;in Iran and not ruled out targeting the country’s supreme leader, saying&nbsp;“<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-19-25-intl-hnk#cmc3ojyw7002f3b6ntj2icell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">no one in Iran should have immunity</a>.”&nbsp;Israel’s defense minister said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cannot “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-khamenei-is-modern-hitler-cannot-continue-to-exist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">continue to exist</a>.” Trump joined in on the threats, pointing out that the U.S. knows Khamenei’s location and dangling the possibility of assassinating him in the future.</p>
3441.  
3442.  
3443.  
3444. <p>The U.S. attacks on Saturday were incredibly complex and expensive. U.S. forces employed approximately 75 precision guided weapons, including 14 of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, according to Caine. More than 125 U.S. aircraft participated in the mission, including the B-2 stealth bombers, fighter jets, and dozens of air refueling tankers. It was reportedly the largest B-2 strike in U.S. history and the second longest B-2 mission ever flown. Bombers launched from the continental U.S. flew east for 18 hours before they attacked Iran, while a decoy flew west over the Pacific. A guided missile submarine; a full array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft; and hundreds of maintenance and operational military personnel also took part. </p>
3445.  
3446.  
3447.  
3448. <p>Bryant lauded the tactical prowess of the strikes but questioned the aptitude of the man who ordered them. “It was a demonstration of the unparalleled precision, global reach, and the devastating power of the U.S. military,” he said of the attack, emphasizing that such force needs to be “tempered and guided by a level hand.” Trump, he said, was unfit for this job, increasingly seems to “worship” military power, and that the president’s sudden decision to join Israel’s war “demonstrates his increasing volatility.”</p>
3449. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/">Trump Says Iran’s Nuke Sites Are “Obliterated.” The Military Isn’t So Sure.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3450. ]]></content:encoded>
3451.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/23/trump-iran-nuclear-strikes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3452.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3453.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Fordow-Fuel-Enrichment-Plant_Iran_20250622_053406_ssc5_50cm_geo_rgb_6220px-e1750696293662.jpg?fit=6220%2C3110' width='6220' height='3110' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494547</post-id>
3454. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" />
3455. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg" medium="image" />
3456. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
3457. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
3458. </media:content>
3459. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
3460. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
3461. </media:content>
3462. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
3463. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3464. </media:content>
3465. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP22353754922597-e1750182623509.jpeg" medium="image" />
3466.            </item>
3467.        
3468.            <item>
3469.                <title><![CDATA[Self-Proclaimed “Peacemaker” Drags U.S. Into Another War]]></title>
3470.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/</link>
3471.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/#respond</comments>
3472.                <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2025 02:41:29 +0000</pubDate>
3473.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Turse]]></dc:creator>
3474.                                 <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
3475. <category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
3476.  
3477.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
3478.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Heeding the request of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump dispatched U.S. warplanes to bomb Iran.</p>
3479. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">Self-Proclaimed “Peacemaker” Drags U.S. Into Another War</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3480. ]]></description>
3481.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3482. <p><span class="has-underline">American warplanes bombed</span> three nuclear sites in Iran on Saturday night, bringing the U.S. military directly into Israel’s war with Iran. “NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE,” President Donald Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1936573183634645387/photo/1">incongruously wrote</a> in a social media post announcing the attacks.</p>
3483.  
3484.  
3485.  
3486. <p>Trump campaigned on ending foreign wars during his 2024 presidential run and has cast himself as a “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/01/the-inaugural-address/">peacemaker</a>.” In his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/remarks/2025/01/the-inaugural-address/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">second inaugural</a>&nbsp;address, he pledged to “measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.” Trump also regularly <a href="https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1936149785989251524">claims</a> to have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/5541490f4ad945be8e9c0b46520da943">opposed</a> the Iraq War from its outset. (He actually <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016/live-updates/general-election/real-time-fact-checking-and-analysis-of-the-first-presidential-debate/fact-check-yes-trump-did-oppose-the-iraq-war/">supported it</a>.)</p>
3487.  
3488.  
3489.  
3490. <p>“We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1936573183634645387/photo/1">wrote on TruthSocial</a>. “All planes are now outside of Iran airspace.&nbsp;A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”</p>
3491.  
3492.  
3493.  
3494. <p>The aim of the attacks, American and Israeli officials have said, is to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. The U.S. intelligence community says that threat is not, however, real. </p>
3495.  
3496.  
3497.  
3498. <p>“We continue to assess Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and that [Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has not reauthorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003, though pressure has probably built on him to do so,” reads the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ATA-2025-Unclassified-Report.pdf?ref=forever-wars.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025 Annual Threat Assessment</a> published in March. The assessment serves as the intelligence community’s official evaluation of threats to “the Homeland,” U.S. citizens, and the country&#8217;s interests. Trump dismissed those and more recent assessments to the same effect.</p>
3499.  
3500.  
3501.  
3502. <p>Defense experts who spoke with The Intercept warned the United States might be entering into a new round of the <a href="https://theintercept.com/collections/the-911-wars/">forever wars</a>.</p>
3503.  
3504.  
3505.  
3506. <p>“Between enabling Israel in Gaza and all of its operations across the Middle East, and now these strikes in Iran, we are setting the foundation for the next generation’s ‘War on Terror,’” said Wes Bryant, who served until earlier this year as the senior analyst and adviser on precision warfare, targeting, and civilian harm mitigation at the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence.</p>
3507.  
3508.  
3509.  
3510. <p>He questioned the Trump administration’s abrupt shift from negotiating with Iran about its nuclear program to bombing it.</p>
3511.  
3512.  
3513.  
3514. <p>The idea of an “imminent Iran nuclear threat” wasn&#8217;t serious a few days ago, Bryant said. “The fact that suddenly Trump was pulled into this reactive major strike against Iran under the auspices of nuclear deterrence is, I think, among the most disturbing red flags of this administration thus far.”</p>
3515.  
3516.  
3517.  
3518. <p>“Trump&#8217;s decision to strike Iranian nuclear targets is a short-sighted one that will not achieve his stated objectives, brings significant risks to the United States, and could derail his foreign policy priorities,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, the director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a think tank that advocates for measured U.S. foreign policy. “To strike Iran while diplomacy was ongoing undermines his push for peace elsewhere including with Putin. Why would Russia or any other country negotiate with Trump going forward?”</p>
3519.  
3520.  
3521.  
3522.  
3523.  
3524.  
3525.  
3526. <p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military’s objective was to “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-19-25-intl-hnk#cmc3npvbb00053b6pibaxonai">strike all</a>”<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-19-25-intl-hnk#cmc3npvbb00053b6pibaxonai"> </a>of Iran’s nuclear facilities. He had been pressing Trump to augment Israel’s attacks with weaponry his country does not possess — namely the 30,000-pound GBU-57s, known as Massive Ordnance Penetrators or “bunker buster” bombs, that Israel says can destroy Iran’s underground nuclear enrichment facility in Fordow.</p>
3527.  
3528.  
3529.  
3530. <p>Former defense officials speculated that these weapons — which are so heavy they can only be carried by U.S. B-2 bombers — were used on Israel’s behalf during the Saturday attacks.</p>
3531.  
3532.  
3533.  
3534. <p>If Iranian leaders respond to the U.S. strikes with a major counterattack, such as striking American military bases across the Middle East, it could set off an escalatory spiral and even more aggressive U.S. involvement.</p>
3535.  
3536.  
3537.  
3538.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3539.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3540.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel/"
3541.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3542.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel"
3543.      data-ga-track-label="iran-nuclear-israel-us-intel"
3544.          >
3545.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP22353754922597-e1750182623509.jpeg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3546.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3547.        Related      </h2>
3548.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">U.S. Intel Says Iran Isn’t a Nuclear Threat. Israel Wants the U.S. to Bomb It Anyway.</h3>
3549.    </span>
3550.    </a>
3551.  </div>
3552.  
3553.  
3554.  
3555. <p>“Trump is trying to signal that he wants to get back to diplomacy but the risk of a wider war is still very real and high. Iran&#8217;s retaliation&nbsp;will determine whether&nbsp;the&nbsp;United States can extract itself so easily,” said Kavanagh, a former&nbsp;senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation who served as the director of its Army Strategy program.</p>
3556.  
3557.  
3558.  
3559. <p>“There is also very little chance Iran will negotiate now because Trump has no way to provide them credible&nbsp;assurances that if they come to the table, they will be spared future attacks,” Kavanagh said. “Trump has sacrificed significant diplomatic leverage for narrow military gains of uncertain duration, and in doing so, has put the United States at risk of another costly Middle East war that will further&nbsp;diminish U.S. global&nbsp;influence and American prosperity.”</p>
3560.  
3561.  
3562.  
3563. <p>More than 40,000 U.S. active-duty military personnel and civilians working for the Pentagon are deployed across the Middle East. U.S. troops in&nbsp;the region have come under attack <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/06/trump-houthi-us-military-ceasefire-attacks/">close to 400 times</a>, at a minimum, since October 2023 <a style="font-size: revert; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://theintercept.com/2024/01/19/houthis-yemen-biden-airstrikes/">in response</a><span style="font-size: revert; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">&nbsp;to the&nbsp;</span><a style="font-size: revert; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/2024/USspendingIsrael" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">U.S.-supported&nbsp;</a><span style="font-size: revert; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Israeli war on Gaza</span>.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: revert; letter-spacing: 0.01em;">Predominantly led by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian-allied Houthi government in Yemen, the strikes include a mix of one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and ballistic missiles fired at fixed bases and U.S. warships across the region.</span></p>
3564.  
3565.  
3566.  
3567. <p>Trump struck a ceasefire deal with the Houthis in May. Prior to the U.S. attacks on Iran, the Houthis threatened to again target U.S. ships in the Red Sea if Washington joined Israel’s attacks on Iran.</p>
3568.  
3569.  
3570.  
3571. <p>Meanwhile, Netanyahu has expressed his desires for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/17/netanyahu-israel-iran-regime-change-destruction">regime change</a> in Iran and not ruled out targeting the country&#8217;s supreme leader, saying “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-06-19-25-intl-hnk#cmc3ojyw7002f3b6ntj2icell">no one in Iran should have immunity</a>.” Israel’s defense minister said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cannot “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/defense-minister-khamenei-is-modern-hitler-cannot-continue-to-exist/">continue to exist</a>.” Trump joined in on the threats, pointing out that the U.S. knows Khamenei’s location and dangled the possibility of assassinating him in the future.</p>
3572.  
3573.  
3574.  
3575. <p>&#8220;We know exactly where the so-called &#8216;Supreme Leader&#8217; is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114699610769479275">wrote on Truth Social</a> earlier this week, before Saturday&#8217;s strikes.</p>
3576.  
3577.  
3578.  
3579. <p>“Military force, by itself, is seldom effective in orchestrating regime change,” Joseph Votel, a retired four-star Army general who headed both Special Operations Command and Central Command, which oversees U.S. military efforts in the Middle East, told The Intercept before the U.S. began its attacks on Saturday. </p>
3580.  
3581.  
3582.  
3583. <p>“There will be ramifications against the U.S. and this should be discussed and addressed in detail,&#8221; Votel warned. &#8220;There is no clean course we can take in this situation.”</p>
3584.  
3585.  
3586.  
3587.  
3588.  
3589.  
3590.  
3591. <p>The U.S. had already poured billions into Israel’s war machine, supplying it with&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/09/israel-war-cost/">advanced weaponry</a>,&nbsp;from fighter aircraft and tank ammunition to tactical vehicles and air-to-air missiles. The U.S. is the&nbsp;<a href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2023/2024/Costs%20of%20War_US%20Support%20Since%20Oct%207%20FINAL%20v2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">primary supplier&nbsp;</a>of all of Israel’s combat aircraft and most of its bombs and missiles. These weapons are provided at little or no cost to Israel, with American taxpayers primarily&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">picking up the tab</a>.</p>
3592.  
3593.  
3594.  
3595. <p>An analysis by Brown University’s Costs of War Project tallied up around&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/09/israel-war-cost/">$18 billion in military aid</a>&nbsp;to Israel in the year following the start of&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/collections/israel-palestine/">Israel’s war on Gaza</a>&nbsp;on October 7, 2023. This represented far more than any other year since the U.S began providing military aid to Israel in 1959.</p>
3596.  
3597.  
3598.  
3599.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3600.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3601.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/17/iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna/"
3602.      data-ga-track="in_article-body"
3603.      data-ga-track-action="related post embed: iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna"
3604.      data-ga-track-label="iran-war-powers-resolution-congress-israel-trump-massie-khanna"
3605.          >
3606.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220221625-e1750250080756.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3607.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3608.        Related      </h2>
3609.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Congress Has One Way to Stop Trump From Going to War With Iran</h3>
3610.    </span>
3611.    </a>
3612.  </div>
3613.  
3614.  
3615.  
3616. <p>On Tuesday, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., <a href="https://massie.house.gov/uploadedfiles/iranwpr.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">introduced a bipartisan War Powers Resolution</a>, which would prohibit the “United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” It currently has 43 co-sponsors, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.</p>
3617.  
3618.  
3619.  
3620. <p>“Congress has the sole power to declare war – full stop,” she <a href="https://x.com/RepJayapal/status/1936098009965642184">posted on X</a> on Saturday before the attacks. “The idea that the U.S. would potentially deploy a bunker buster bomb in Iran w/out Congressional approval not only flies in the face of our Constitution, it would also rope us into another forever war that Americans do not want.”</p>
3621.  
3622.  
3623.  
3624. <p>Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced similar legislation in the Senate earlier this week.&nbsp;</p>
3625.  
3626.  
3627.  
3628. <p>After the U.S. bombed Iran on Saturday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested that Trump had lied about being a peacemaker — and that Congress should have a say in whether the country goes to war.</p>
3629.  
3630.  
3631.  
3632. <p>&#8220;President Trump misled the country about his intentions, failed to seek congressional authorization for the use of military force and risks American entanglement in a potentially disastrous war in the Middle East,&#8221; Jeffries, D-NY, wrote on X.</p>
3633.  
3634.  
3635.  
3636. <p>Online and in an address to the nation, Trump suggested that more attacks could be coming.</p>
3637.  
3638.  
3639.  
3640. <p>&#8220;ANY RETALIATION BY IRAN AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE MET WITH FORCE FAR GREATER THAN WHAT WAS WITNESSED TONIGHT,&#8221; the president wrote on TruthSocial.</p>
3641. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/">Self-Proclaimed “Peacemaker” Drags U.S. Into Another War</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3642. ]]></content:encoded>
3643.                                <wfw:commentRss>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/iran-israel-united-states-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
3644.                <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
3645.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220612648-e1750555903937.jpg?fit=4000%2C2000' width='4000' height='2000' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494520</post-id>
3646. <media:thumbnail url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" />
3647. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
3648. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
3649. </media:content>
3650. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
3651. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
3652. </media:content>
3653. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221649272-e1751091648412.jpg" medium="image">
3654. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3655. </media:content>
3656. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AP22353754922597-e1750182623509.jpeg" medium="image" />
3657. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220221625-e1750250080756.jpg" medium="image" />
3658.            </item>
3659.        
3660.            <item>
3661.                <title><![CDATA[Community Defense Groups Take the Last Stand Against ICE in LA]]></title>
3662.                <link>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/</link>
3663.                <comments>https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/#respond</comments>
3664.                <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
3665.                                    <dc:creator><![CDATA[Claudia Villalona]]></dc:creator>
3666.                                 <category><![CDATA[Justice]]></category>
3667. <category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
3668.  
3669.                <guid isPermaLink="false"></guid>
3670.                                    <description><![CDATA[<p>Organizers argue that LA’s sanctuary laws aren’t enough to keep their immigrant neighbors safe.</p>
3671. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/">Community Defense Groups Take the Last Stand Against ICE in LA</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
3672. ]]></description>
3673.                                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[
3674. <p><span class="has-underline">Anya was hiding.</span> Crouched behind the counter at a car wash in Westchester, just outside Los Angeles International Airport, she kept quiet while her co-workers scattered outside. Some ran toward the In-N-Out Burger, others behind the Ralphs. One worker drove away in the car he was detailing. “La Migra” was here.</p>
3675.  
3676.  
3677.  
3678. <p>Federal immigration agents managed to take five of her colleagues into custody, said Anya, a<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/01/25/russia-uzbekistan-immigrants-aslyum-detention/"> Ukrainian Russian asylum-seeker<strong> </strong></a>who asked to have her name changed to protect her pending case. And less than 24 hours later — with the car wash short-staffed and shaken — plain-clothed, undercover agents surrounded the business in unmarked white SUVs.</p>
3679.  
3680.  
3681.  
3682. <p>&#8220;You guys came yesterday,&#8221; Anya’s boss said in a video of the raid reviewed by The Intercept.&nbsp;</p>
3683.  
3684.  
3685.  
3686. <p>&#8220;Did we get car washes?&#8221; an agent joked in return. They left with two more workers in handcuffs.</p>
3687.  
3688.  
3689.  
3690. <p>Across Los Angeles County, ICE’s operations played out differently. When combat-ready federal agents gathered in large numbers at <a href="https://www.ice.gov/about-ice/ero">staging areas</a> in Paramount and Compton on June 8, protesters swiftly<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/9/los_angeles_protests_immigration_ice_raids"> mobilized</a> collective <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/09/la-protests-ice-national-guard-trump-adam-schiff/">resistance efforts</a> and emergency patrols. Agents <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/10/la-police-ice-raids-protests/">responded</a> to large crowds with tear gas, flash bangs, and so-called “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/10/us/less-lethal-weapons-la-protests">less-lethal</a>” weapons. Organizers maintain that this grassroots mobilization sabotaged enforcement operations, putting agents on the defensive and preventing them from conducting raids for the rest of the day.</p>
3691.  
3692.  
3693.  
3694. <p>As ICE raids escalated across Los Angeles in early June, sending protesters into the streets and immigrant communities into hiding, the contrast between how the consequential weekend unfolded in different parts of the city was stark. Divergent outcomes in majority Latino areas further east with a long <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/east-la-walkouts">history</a> of organizing and those largely disconnected from grassroots support highlighted the crucial role of community-led defense in the absence of meaningful government protection.</p>
3695.  
3696.  
3697.  
3698. <p>Unlike Compton or Paramount, the airport-adjacent Westchester is geographically and socially isolated from more established community organizing networks. And while LA’s sanctuary laws prohibit local police from working with ICE, organizers argue that the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/10/la-police-ice-raids-protests/">local law enforcement agencies</a> can’t <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/01/30/lapd-palantir-data-driven-policing/">be</a> <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/01/30/lapd-palantir-data-driven-policing/">trusted</a> to keep immigrants safe.</p>
3699.  
3700.  
3701.  
3702.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3703.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3704.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/14/la-protests-know-your-rights-safety-first-amendment/"
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3709.              <img decoding="async" width="440" height="440" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2219113079.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" loading="lazy" />            <span class="promo-related-post__text">
3710.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3711.        Related      </h2>
3712.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">Going Out to a Protest? Here’s How Not to Get Arrested.</h3>
3713.    </span>
3714.    </a>
3715.  </div>
3716.  
3717.  
3718.  
3719. <p>&#8220;Workers need to know their rights, whether it&#8217;s at the workplace or at their home, and they feel empowered to exercise those rights,&#8221; said Flor Melendrez, executive director of the labor advocacy group <a href="https://www.cleancarwash.org/">CLEAN Carwash Worker Center</a>. Car wash workers, street vendors, and day laborers working in high-visibility, outdoor spaces face heightened risk for arrests as “easy targets” for ICE raids, while often lacking access to critical resources and workplace protections. Organizers said more than 55 car wash workers have been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/bQU00DB5v_E?si=YSMsSIfISVzIdozj">arrested</a> across at least 35 businesses in the set of raids began on June 6.</p>
3720.  
3721.  
3722.  
3723. <p>According to the owner of the car wash, agents pressured workers into answering questions like where they were born.&nbsp;</p>
3724.  
3725.  
3726.  
3727. <p>&#8220;They didn&#8217;t read their rights or anything at all. They just took them away immediately,&#8221; Anya said. She told The Intercept the second raid was over in a matter of minutes.</p>
3728.  
3729.  
3730.  
3731.  
3732.  
3733.  
3734.  
3735. <p><span class="has-underline">Miles away from</span> Anya,&nbsp;in a predominantly Latino neighborhood east of the Los Angeles River, a middle school teacher named Ruth was on her way to her school’s graduation ceremony when she noticed a group of day laborers running in her direction from the Home Depot parking lot.</p>
3736.  
3737.  
3738.  
3739. <p>&#8220;I started taking off my heels and putting on my flats. I got my megaphone and ran out of my car,&#8221; she told The Intercept. &#8220;I was ready.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
3740.  
3741.  
3742.  
3743. <p>Abandoned food stands and belongings scattered the parking lot. Ruth confirmed with witnesses that a handful of federal agents made a brief appearance but left without making arrests.</p>
3744.  
3745.  
3746.  
3747. <p>Ruth, who asked to be identified only by her first name so she wouldn’t be identified at school, is a member of the Community Self-Defense <a href="https://www.instagram.com/communityselfdefensecoalition?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&amp;igsh=emV5MzQ4cnUxanNi">Coalition</a>, a volunteer-led group that patrols neighborhoods for ICE activity. She’s trained to identify undercover agents and vehicles; document raids; collect names and contact information to notify family members; and locate the detained and connect them to resources and legal assistance.&nbsp;</p>
3748.  
3749.  
3750.  
3751. <p>Ruth has embraced organizing as a way to defend her community when existing institutions meant to protect people instead facilitate their persecution.</p>
3752.  
3753.  
3754.  
3755.  <div class="promote-related-post">
3756.    <a      class="promo-related-post__link"
3757.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/10/la-police-ice-raids-protests/"
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3761.          >
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3763.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3764.        Related      </h2>
3765.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">LAPD Won’t Do Immigration Enforcement — But Will Shoot You With Rubber Bullets for Protesting ICE</h3>
3766.    </span>
3767.    </a>
3768.  </div>
3769.  
3770.  
3771.  
3772. <p>While California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, both Democrats, have condemned the Trump administration’s draconian crackdown on immigration, community organizers and local immigrant rights groups point to a discrepancy between rhetoric and reality. So-called sanctuary policies prohibit local officials from assisting with federal immigration enforcement, but observers have called these into question after seeing members of the Los Angeles Police Department <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/10/la-police-ice-raids-protests/">cracking down on protests against ICE</a> and seemingly protecting federal agents during raids.</p>
3773.  
3774.  
3775.  
3776. <p>To Ruth and other community defense organizers, LA’s sanctuary laws are a “myth.” The LAPD and the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/23/california-sheriffs-immigration-battle-sb54-sanctuary-state/">sheriff’s department</a> “are working with ICE,” she said. “They&#8217;re protecting them. They&#8217;re not protecting us.”</p>
3777.  
3778.  
3779.  
3780. <p>While the LAPD has dismissed these allegations, a senior Department of Homeland Security official <a href="https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g#:~:text=The%20287(g)%20program%20allows,and%20the%20integrity%20of%20U.S.">credited</a> the increase in ICE arrests in part to &#8220;enhanced cooperation from local law enforcement partners.&#8221;</p>
3781.  
3782.  
3783.  
3784. <p>The Community Self Defense Coalition steps in to provide the protection that local law enforcement agencies won’t. When Ruth encounters ICE agents, she also notifies the <a href="https://caimmigrant.org/what-we-do/policy/fighting-mass-detention-deportation/resources-for-immigration-legal-protection/">Rapid Response Network</a> hotline, which operates as an early warning system for community members to report ICE activity. If necessary, the network alerts the surrounding community so that those who are vulnerable to arrest can avoid the area, while others can mobilize in defense.</p>
3785.  
3786.  
3787.  
3788. <p>&#8220;If we don&#8217;t stand up and organize to defend our communities,” Ruth said, “who&#8217;s gonna do it?&#8221;</p>
3789.  
3790.  
3791.  
3792. <figure class="wp-block-ft-photo is-style-default">
3793.    <img decoding="async"
3794.    src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?fit=2615%2C1161"
3795.    srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=2615 2615w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=1000 1000w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_6329.jpg?w=2400 2400w"
3796.    sizes="auto, (min-width: 1300px) 650px, (min-width: 800px) 64vw, (min-width: 500px) calc(100vw - 5rem), calc(100vw - 3rem)"
3797.    alt="A ripped piece of paper taped on top of an advertisement says "Please take what you need and share" with instructions for dealing with ICE."
3798.    width="2615"
3799.    height="1161"
3800.    loading="lazy"
3801.  />
3802.      <figcaption class="photo__figcaption">
3803.              <span class="photo__caption">Bilingual information for dealing with ICE taped up in Los Angeles in June 2025.</span>
3804.                    <span class="photo__credit">Photo: Claudia Villalona for The Intercept</span>
3805.          </figcaption>
3806.    </figure>
3807.  
3808.  
3809.  
3810. <p><span class="has-underline">ICE’s mass raids</span> across Los Angeles County have led to the arrest of at least 300 people since June 6, according to immigrants&#8217; rights groups. But immigration lawyers and rights advocates maintain that the number is likely much higher, as groups continue to gather information from witnesses and family members. The detained have seemingly disappeared into the immigration detention system, as families and immigrant rights organizations struggle to locate them.</p>
3811.  
3812.  
3813.  
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3816.            href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/13/ice-school-raid-long-island-new-york/"
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3822.      <h2 class="promote-related-post__eyebrow">
3823.        Related      </h2>
3824.      <h3 class="promote-related-post__title">ICE Agent Fled From Angry Residents Outside New York School — and Got in a Car Crash</h3>
3825.    </span>
3826.    </a>
3827.  </div>
3828.  
3829.  
3830.  
3831. <p>The enforcement tactics on display at Anya’s car wash and across Los Angeles are part of ICE&#8217;s latest push to meet a steep daily quota of 3,000 arrests nationwide. Since late May, arrests have increased dramatically from an average of 600 to over 2,000 per day, according to the Department of Homeland Security.&nbsp;</p>
3832.  
3833.  
3834.  
3835. <p>In a<a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/06/08/ice-captures-worst-worst-illegal-alien-criminals-los-angeles-including-murderers"> statement</a> released June 8, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that ICE has arrested the “worst of the worst illegal alien criminals in Los Angeles.”</p>
3836.  
3837.  
3838.  
3839. <p>There is little reason to believe DHS.</p>
3840.  
3841.  
3842.  
3843. <p>&#8220;These are warrantless arrests targeting workers with no criminal background. We have laws that protect people&#8217;s rights, regardless of whether or not we&#8217;re documented, and those aren&#8217;t being respected,&#8221; said Aquilina Soriano Versoza, executive director of the <a href="https://www.pwcsc.org/">Pilipino Workers Center</a>, a member organization of the Rapid Response Network. ICE agents — undercover, masked, or in <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/13/briefing-podcast-ice-raids-la-protests-military/">tactical gear</a> — have targeted working-class immigrants conducting raids in previously banned “<a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/05/21/ice-agents-courts-arrests-immigrants-deport/">sensitive areas</a>” without judicial warrants. They’re separating families and instilling fear, Soriano Versoza said, for political theater. People are afraid to go to work, drive their kids to school, or even seek medical care.</p>
3844.  
3845.  
3846.  
3847. <!-- BLOCK(promote-post)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22slug%22%3A%22immigrants%22%2C%22crop%22%3A%22promo%22%7D) -->  <aside class="promote-banner">
3848.    <a class="promote-banner__link" href="/collections/the-war-on-immigrants/">
3849.              <span class="promote-banner__image">
3850.          <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="150" src="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?fit=300%2C150" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="MCALLEN, TX - JUNE 23: A Guatemalan father and his daughter arrives with dozens of other women, men and their children at a bus station following release from Customs and Border Protection on June 23, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Once families and individuals are released and given a court hearing date they are brought to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center to rest, clean up, enjoy a meal and to get guidance to their next destination. Before President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that halts the practice of separating families who are seeking asylum, over 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents in the zero-tolerance policy for border crossers (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)" srcset="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=2270 2270w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=300 300w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=768 768w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1536 1536w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=540 540w, https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?w=1000 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />        </span>
3851.            <div class="promote-banner__text">
3852.                  <p class="promote-banner__eyebrow">
3853.            Read Our Complete Coverage          </p>
3854.        
3855.        <h2 class="promote-banner__title">The War on Immigrants</h2>
3856.      </div>
3857.    </a>
3858.  </aside>
3859. <!-- END-BLOCK(promote-post)[1] -->
3860.  
3861.  
3862.  
3863. <p>Soriano Versoza noted that many of the detained continue to be<a href="https://www.immdef.org/blog/laraids6725"> denied</a> access to legal assistance, particularly those being held in the federal detention center in downtown LA. Even elected officials, exercising their power of congressional oversight, have been<a href="https://www.immdef.org/blog/laraids6725"> refused</a> entry into detention centers.</p>
3864.  
3865.  
3866.  
3867. <p>&#8220;I was present during the raid. I saw with my own eyes the pains of the families, crying, screaming, not knowing what to do, just like me,&#8221; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQU00DB5v_E">said</a> the daughter of Jorge Arrazola, a car wash worker taken in a raid at a press conference organized by CLEAN. Like many of those arrested in the raids, Arrazola was his household’s sole breadwinner, leaving his loved ones economically devastated and forced to fend for themselves.</p>
3868.  
3869.  
3870.  
3871.  
3872.  
3873.  
3874.  
3875. <p>CLEAN Carwash Worker Center, along with other groups and unions, have organized rights workshops and distributed<a href="https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas"> red cards</a>, or “Know Your Rights” cards, which outline how to assert rights in an encounter with federal immigration<a href="https://boyleheightsbeat.com/community-self-defense-coalition-immigrants-ice-raids-southern-california/"> agents</a>.</p>
3876.  
3877.  
3878.  
3879. <p>CLEAN and another group, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, have also implemented &#8220;adopt a car wash&#8221; or<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DKvCaQQTk6Q/?igsh=aW9xZTc4bmhia3Qy"> &#8220;adopt a corner&#8221;</a> programs to set up volunteers to warn workers of approaching ICE agents or provide direct support and documentation during raids.</p>
3880.  
3881.  
3882.  
3883. <p>Anya’s car wash is now receiving support from CLEAN. But it was too late to protect against the initial raids. She and her bosses have located some but not all of her co-workers. One of her colleagues has already been deported to Mexico, and another has since been transferred to an ICE detention center in Texas. “I&#8217;ve known these people and seen them every day for two years,” Anya told The Intercept. Some had worked at the car wash since it opened in the early 2000s.</p>
3884.  
3885.  
3886.  
3887. <p>They have families, she said, who are desperately trying to find them.&nbsp;</p>
3888.  
3889.  
3890.  
3891. <p>“I don&#8217;t know where they are. I don&#8217;t know how they&#8217;re being treated,” Anya said. &#8220;I feel helpless and hopeless.&#8221;</p>
3892.  
3893.  
3894.  
3895. <p><strong>Update: June 23, 2025</strong></p>
3896.  
3897.  
3898.  
3899. <p><em>This story has been updated to note that 55 workers at car washes have been arrested by immigration enforcement since June 6, after organizers released updated numbers.</em></p>
3900. <p>The post <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/">Community Defense Groups Take the Last Stand Against ICE in LA</a> appeared first on <a href="https://theintercept.com">The Intercept</a>.</p>
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3904.                <media:content url='https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2220143750-e1750439521620.jpg?fit=8368%2C4184' width='8368' height='4184' /><post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">494464</post-id>
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3907. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2221457165-e1750970502312.jpeg" medium="image">
3908. <media:title type="html">A man carries a flour sack from the World Health Organization warehouse, in Gaza City, Gaza on June 26, 2025.</media:title>
3909. </media:content>
3910. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-2162795900-e1751048334643.jpg" medium="image">
3911. <media:title type="html">WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House on July 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu&#039;s visit occurs as the Israel-Hamas war reaches nearly ten months. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</media:title>
3912. </media:content>
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3914. <media:title type="html">Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 27, 2025. President Donald Trump amped up pressure on Congress to speed the passage of his tax-cut bill as Republicans reached a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction, one of the key sticking points in the negotiations. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</media:title>
3915. </media:content>
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3918. <media:title type="html">A ripped piece of paper taped on top of an advertisement says &#34;Please take what you need and share&#34; with instructions for dealing with ICE.</media:title>
3919. </media:content>
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3921. <media:content url="https://theintercept.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/guatemalan-immigrant-cpb-feat-1530033149.jpg?fit=300%2C150" medium="image">
3922. <media:title type="html">MCALLEN, TX - JUNE 23: A Guatemalan father and his daughter arrives with dozens of other women, men and their children at a bus station following release from Customs and Border Protection on June 23, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. Once families and individuals are released and given a court hearing date they are brought to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite Center to rest, clean up, enjoy a meal and to get guidance to their next destination. Before President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday that halts the practice of separating families who are seeking asylum, over 2,300 immigrant children had been separated from their parents in the zero-tolerance policy for border crossers (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)</media:title>
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