Tuesday, July 14th, 2026 - ICE Kills Yet Again…Again, Trump's Void IRS Settlement & Planned Election Gaslighting Speech

What this episode covers

Today's Headlines: Lindsey Graham's sister Darline Graham Nordone was appointed to his Senate seat within days of his death — never held office, framed as a neutral placeholder, and now South Carolina's first female senator, which would be more historic if it weren't handed to her by Trump as a favor. The FBI also showed up at Graham's DC home less than 48 hours after his death with at least 8 agents, claiming "abundance of caution" and "nothing indicated foul play." On the administration's ongoing efforts to undermine election integrity, Trump announced a primetime speech Thursday night, which MSNBC immediately reported will be used to declare the 2020 elections of Warnock and Ossoff illegitimate due to "voting machine vulnerabilities" — part of a broader whole-of-government effort to relitigate 2020 that includes a new White House task force run by Bill Pulte, whose dad is in the Epstein files, and thousands of pages of classified documents they claim show election irregularities. Two FBI agents in Atlanta were also fired for refusing to join the sham Georgia election probe. On Iran, US strikes on Iran entered their third consecutive night with the naval blockade back in full force, and Trump is now suggesting the US charge other countries tolls for Strait of Hormuz passage, which is a thing he said out loud. Meanwhile, ICE shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian man named Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine — authorized to work, had a social security number, on his way to work, not even the person ICE was targeting — in front of his three-year-old daughter in Bluey pajamas in the backseat. There is no bodycam footage but plenty of iPhone witnesses, and hundreds immediately came out to protest. In yet another blow to our narrowing freedoms, Four New York Times reporters were subpoenaed at their homes on a Friday night in a probe run by Kash Patel, apparently because Trump was angry about reporting that his Qatari jet lacks adequate security, which is the most efficient abuse of FBI resources we've seen yet. Finally, we leave you with a little bit of hope. A federal judge voided Trump's fake IRS settlement, called it "collusion" and an "exercise in self-dealing," and referred Trump's lawyers and senior DOJ officials to state bar authorities for ethical review. And twelve state attorneys general sued to block the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger that would put Bari Weiss in charge of CNN, with Paramount threatening to leave California in response. Resources/Articles mentioned: AP News: Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Lindsey Graham, chosen to fulfill remainder of his US Senate term The Hill: FBI visits Graham’s DC home Reuters: Trump to assert voting machine vulnerabilities in Thursday speech Yahoo: Two FBI agents fired for refusing to join Georgia 2020 election probe MS Now: Trump election task force to begin releasing classified intel documents AP News: Trump says US is ‘reinstating’ blockade on Iran in Strait of Hormuz AP News: ICE officer who fatally shot driver in Maine was 'fearing for public safety,' agency says Maine Morning Star: Hundreds protest fatal ICE shooting in Biddeford NYT: White House Directed Patel to Oversee Investigation Involving Times Reporting Reuters: U.S. judge finds Trump misused court in IRS case, refers lawyers for discipline Deadline: Paramount-WBD Merger Is Anti-Competitive, State AGs Allege In Proposed Action Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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