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What Is Jeanine Pirro Going to Do to Try to Save Her Job?

The longtime Trump ally is in hot water—and recently convened an unprecedented special grand jury for a secret purpose.

Trump looks at Jeanine Pirro at a White House briefing
President Trump and Jeanine Pirro at a White House briefing
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump and Jeanine Pirro at a White House briefing

After a tense month in which she drew the ire of President Trump, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro has called a special grand jury to Washington, D.C.

A special grand jury is a judicial body made up of 23 American citizens that exists to conduct large, sometimes yearlong investigations usually centered on government corruption or organized crime. They can also issue a report regarding the potential “preponderance of evidence” upon the conclusion of their investigation, something a regular jury can’t do. Anyone named in their investigation may later testify in front of them.

Pirro’s move is unprecedented, as a federal special grand jury has never been called in a jurisdiction as small as D.C. And while she has yet to speak on what the body will actually focus on, one doesn’t need to look far to identify why she might be taking aggressive measures like this right now.

Pirro couldn’t get the “DC Sandwich Guy” after charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent during Trump’s takeover. She failed to indict the six congressional Democrats—led by Senator Mark Kelly—who made a video urging federal law enforcement and members of the military not to obey illegal orders in February. And most recently she’s failed to get any kind of prosecutorial motion on the Reflecting Pool drama, getting into screaming matches with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum of all people while Trump publicly rebukes her. The former Fox News host has had her back against the wall for some time now. While this move still might not put any actual bite into her bark, it might be just loud enough for Trump not to fire her.

Sailors Are Trying to Jump Overboard as Trump’s Iran War Drags On

Donald Trump’s endless war of choice is having a horrific effect on sailors deployed to the Middle East.

The USS Abraham Lincoln
The USS Abraham Lincoln
U.S. Navy/Getty Images
The USS Abraham Lincoln

Conditions have reportedly gotten so bad aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier deployed to the Persian Gulf since November, that some sailors have tried to jump overboard.

The Military Times reported Tuesday night that in multiple instances, some of the 5,000 military personnel on the ship have tried to jump off before being stopped by other crew members. Family members of those stationed on the ship are concerned about the mental health, exhaustion, and safety issues affecting their loved ones.

“He’s scared,” Annabelle Loma told the Times about her husband, who reportedly tried to jump overboard. “He thinks he’ll get a dishonorable discharge, and just because he was burnt out, his 13-year career is ruined, just like that. That’s not fair, that’s not right. That’s not what he should be worrying about right now.”

In recent town hall meetings with military leaders, including acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, things have gotten heated, with family members expressing fear and worry over mental health and the risk of self-harm for the ship’s personnel. One spouse reportedly told officials at a meeting Thursday that her husband had messaged her earlier that day saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.”

One woman at a town hall in San Diego told Cao it was difficult to feel proud of her relative because she believed the military was “killing innocent civilians,” and her relative had expressed guilt about what he was doing, which drew applause from the audience.

Stars and Stripes spoke to several sailors and their family members, who describe declining morale and exhaustion on the Abraham Lincoln, which was only supposed to deploy to the Middle East until May this year. The ship left port in San Diego in November for a deployment to the Pacific Ocean, but was diverted to the Gulf because of Donald Trump’s Iran war. Combat operations have been extended with no return date.

The ship has experienced food shortages, with pictures of meager and tasteless-looking meals going viral. Supplies are also running short, and the ship has experienced water contamination, plumbing problems, and disruptions in mail delivery. All of this is wearing on the discipline and mental health of those aboard as Trump’s pointless war with Iran drags on without end.

Trump, for his part, seems either unaware of how dire things are among servicemembers or simply doesn’t care. He touted the U.S. naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday and bragged about how successful it is.

Republican Voters Keep Rejecting Trump-Endorsed Candidates

Three Trump-backed candidates have lost or underperformed in Republican primaries in just the last eight days.

Donald Trump puckers his lips and looks down
Aaron Schwartz/AFP/Getty Images

Rumors of President Trump’s king-making abilities seem to have been greatly exaggerated.

Republican candidates Amir Hassan of Michigan, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Mike Lindell of Minnesota, and Darline Graham of South Carolina were all endorsed by Trump ahead of their primaries. Hassan, Lindell, and Ogles each lost their race, while Graham is nowhere close to the fifty percent she needs to avoid a runoff.

In Michigan, Hassan—possibly doomed by his own base’s bigotrylost handily to Thomas Smith by over 10,000 votes, even as Smith dropped out of the race last month and ceased all campaigning. Tennessee incumbent Representative Ogles was defeated by Charlie Hatcher after suffering through scandal and redistricting. And Lindell—known mostly as the MyPillow Guy—lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa DeMuth by about 11 percentage points and more than 45,000 votes. He refused to concede at the time, in true Trump fashion. And Graham, who was essentially anointed after her brother’s death, is now struggling against Ralph Northam.

These are primary races—in theory the most concentrated MAGA voting bloc in which any candidate endorsed by Trump should expect to have an upper hand (maybe except Hassan). A bigot like Ogles and a crank like Lindell should feel more than welcome in a primary on paper. Instead they—and Trump—have been rejected by Republican voters. This is yet another awful warning sign for the GOP as midterms approach in November.

ICE Is Spending Tens of Millions on Gloves That Can Electrocute People

The agency known for its restraint can now give people it detains electric shocks at the push of a button.

Masked ICE agents stand outside a government building
Masked ICE agents
Blake Fagan/AFP/Getty Images
Masked ICE agents

The masked secret police known for their use of excessive force are planning to spend up to $20 million on a dangerous new accessory.

The Department of Homeland Security published a public notice Monday announcing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would spend between $10 million and $20 million to buy gloves that emit painful electric shocks.

The devices, called G.L.O.V.E, or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, are manufactured by Compliant Technologies in Kentucky and advertised as a “humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution for many situations facing our men and women in uniform.”

The manufacturer warns against using its device on elderly people, pregnant women, children, and people with severe disabilities—individuals who have not been spared from the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigrants.

The company also warns that the devices are not meant to be used against people merely exhibiting “verbal defiance or belligerence.” But federal immigration agents aren’t exactly known for making that distinction—with deadly consequences. Agents have continually threatened or attacked individuals who criticize or monitor their immigration enforcement activities.

A senior DHS official told NBC News Wednesday that all ICE agents would begin wearing the electric gloves by the end of September.

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Associated Press that federal immigration agents had not demonstrated their capacity to restrain themselves.

“ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do,” she said. “Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”

Across the country, ICE agents have practiced excessive force, warrantless searches or arrests, racial profiling, and wrongful detentions. This notice follows the eleventh fatal shooting by federal immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Here’s Who Trump Chose to Leave on the Decoy Plane Targeted By Iran

The president took Natalie Harp, Walt Nauta, and Dan Scavino on a decoy plane while leaving confirmed members of his Cabinet at the mercy of an Iranian strike on Air Force One.

Trump holds his fist in air outside of a plane
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump left Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, advisor Stephen Miller, Communications Director Steven Cheung, and press at the mercy of a potential Iranian missile attack while he traveled safely with White House Chief of Staff and former Mar-a-Lago assistant Dan Scavino, director of Oval Office operations Walt Nauta, and personal assistant Natalie Harp—responsible for posting his AI-Jesus slop and countless other braindead Truth Social posts.

Multiple outlets have reported that the Trump administration discovered an Iranian assassination threat against the president last last month while flying out of Turkey. They chose to keep the information secret, having Trump board Air Force One on camera while he, Harp, and Scavino later hid in a catering truck that covertly transferred them to another plane. Rubio was reportedly the only person aboard the original Air Force One who was aware of the possibility that everyone on it could be killed by an Iranian strike at any point.

“It’s really just up to Secret Service. I just follow what they like to do ... They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews Tuesday night. “I do what they say. The plane that I was on was at greater risk ... Because that would be the plane that I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

There are so many questions here. An assassination threat credible enough to make Trump hide in a catering truck only further delegitimizes the administration’s constant rhetoric about how crippled the Iranian government is. Why wouldn’t they just wait it out instead of sending Rubio and some of the highest ranking Cabinet members on a possible suicide mission? And why wouldn’t Trump take everyone on the secret flight instead of just Scavino, Nauta, and Harp—his closest assistants? Trump even said once of Harp that she was the “only one who loved him as much as his wife and kids.” Nauta, moreover, was a codefendant along with Trump in a federal case that alleged that the pair had improperly stored classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.

“Any consequential president has a lot of threats,” Trump later said. “Non-consequential presidents don’t get threatened. And I think that I may be the most consequential.”