The Retribution: Arctic Fox Edition
Republicans on the Hill and right-wing media in tandem with the Trump administration are creating a MAGA feedback loop by releasing DOJ and FBI records from the “Arctic Fox” investigation, pretending they contain new and damaging revelations not already publicly reported or contained in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s own report, and howling in faux outrage over the supposed Deep State conspiracy against President Trump and Jan. 6 participants.
It is a model of disinformation first perfected in the B-E-N-G-H-A-Z-I attack and constantly re-adapted for the Trump era.
One of the challenges is that each far-flung conspiracy theory develops its own argot that pretty quickly becomes impenetrable to outsiders but remains a tribal signifier to powerful effect.
Suffice to say for our current purposes that Arctic Fox was the FBI investigation of the conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election that ended up being a precursor to Smith’s investigation. All the noise a few weeks ago about Smith getting the toll records (flagrantly miscast as tapping the phones) of GOP members of Congress? That was a legal and already known part of the Arctic Fox investigation, but Hill Republicans seized on newly released documents to portray it as a scandal they had just unearthed. The demand for Smith to testify on the Hill is part of this latest outbreak of targeted outrage.
While mainstream outlets struggle to cover the true dynamic of these disinformation campaigns, the latest ever-evolving Deep State conspiracy becomes a staple of right-wing media, fed by supposed new disclosures from the administration and laundered through Hill Republicans.
While Smith has been in Trump’s crosshairs since the day he was appointed special counsel, the new drip-drip-drip of “revelations” is fueling the fire to seek retribution against Smith at a new level of intensity. Given the current prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James and President Trump’s repeated threats against Smith, we may well look back on this new spasm of disinformation as softening the ground for a bogus prosecution of Smith.
It gives President Trump another opportunity to demand that Smith be investigated and imprisoned without necessarily directly ordering it: “These thugs should all be investigated and put in prison. A disgrace to humanity. Deranged Jack Smith is a criminal!!!” Trump posted yesterday.
Down The Memory Hole
After suspending prosecutors who dared to refer to Jan. 6 as involving a “a mob of rioters,” the Trump DOJ filed a new sentencing memo in the case of Taylor Taranto, who is set to be sentenced today.
By the time he was pardoned by President Trump for his role in Jan. 6, Taranto had been convicted on unrelated threats and firearms charges after being arrested in June 2023 near the D.C. home of the Obamas.
Here’s what was redacted in the new sentencing memo
It’ll be interesting to see if the judge has anything to say about this during sentencing. Stay tuned …
Operation Midway Blitz Watch
- The Trump administration immediately appealed the order by a federal judge in Chicago requiring CBP commander Greg Bovino to report to her daily in person on the use of force in Operation Midway Blitz. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily paused the part of the order requiring Bovino’s daily reports while it considered the appeal
- The Supreme Court asked for additional briefing in the case challenging President Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. The high court appears to have zeroed in on an elegant possible way out of the case identified by Georgetown law professor Mary Lederman.
- The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to create “quick reaction” forces in every state and territory by January to respond to riots and civil unrest, the WSJ reports.
The Dystopia Is Now
Immigration officers are using facial recognition technology on American streets to confirm citizenship status, 404 Media reports.
Keep An Eye On This …
The U.S. attorney in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia revealed to the judge yesterday that he had received new documents he had never seen before from the Homeland Security Investigations supervisory agent overseeing the probe into alleged human smuggling.
The revelation comes in the context of the Trump administration fighting tooth and nail to avoid providing discovery to Abrego Garcia in support of his vindictive prosecution claim. Suddenly coughing up “a significant number of documents” the day before the judge’s deadline for providing him with ex parte access to the discovery is … suspicious.
The judge has scheduled two days of hearings next week to adjudicate the vindictive prosecution claim, but the discovery dispute is jeopardizing that schedule.
The OTHER Abrego Garcia?
DHS claims it was not served with a federal court order barring the removal of a 44-year-old man who has lived in the United States since he was an infant until after it had already deported him to Laos. The ACLU has joined the case and is asking the judge to order the repatriation of Chanthila Souvannarath.
The Anti-Voting Rights Long Game
Anticipating that the Roberts Court will eviscerate the Voting Right Act, the Louisiana legislature passed a bill pushing back next year’s primary elections by about a month in hopes that it will have more time to redraw its congressional maps. Louisiana is challenging a key provision of the Voting Right Act at the Supreme Court, where oral arguments were heard earlier this month. A decision in the case wouldn’t typically be expected until the first half of next year, creating a time crunch that some red states are looking to ease by pushing election dates back.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
DNI Tulsi Gabbard, with help on the Hill, is trying to wrest primary responsibility for counterintelligence away from the FBI, prompting a fierce turf battle.
Neither Gabbard nor FBI Director Kash Patel are qualified to lead counterintelligence efforts, but at least the FBI has the experience and capacity. The idea of this administration overhauling counterintelligence operations is chilling.
Gunboat Diplomacy Watch
- The U.S. conducted a 14th lawless attack Wednesday on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, this time in the waters of the Eastern Pacific.
- Deep dive: Just Security examines the Trump administration’s two irreconcilable positions on the status of the drug cartel Tren de Aragua.
Man Acquitted of Soliciting Trump’s Murder on Bluesky
A federal jury in the Eastern District of Virginia acquitted a former Coast Guard officer accused of soliciting President Donald Trump’s assassination on Bluesky. Prosecutors argued that a Feb. 18 post and earlier social media posts amounted to inducing others to commit violence. Defense attorneys contended it was speech protected by the First Amendment and that the defendant didn’t take any affirmative steps to engage in violence.
Charges Dropped Against Man Jailed For Charlie Kirk Meme
The Tennessee man jailed for more than month for posting to Facebook a Charlie Kirk meme has been released after prosecutors dropped the charges.
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