Congress Has Contempt for Fauci But Not Epstein's Clients

Iran hacked the water in 12 states, Trump signed another birthright citizenship order that lasted eight hours, and AIPAC blew $60 million losing a Senate race by a point

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Iran Is Poisoning the Well. No, Literally.

The Pentagon budget could’ve bought every American a Brita filter, and it might’ve been more useful.

On July 26, somebody logged into 30 Minnesota water systems, changed all the passwords, and locked every operator out of their own equipment. By the time the FBI got around to issuing a warning, the same thing had already happened in 12 states.

Michigan confirmed attacks on nine of its systems shortly after. Then Georgia. Then South Dakota. By Thursday, the warning came out that “malicious cyber actors” were actively targeting water infrastructure across the country.

The FBI and CISA have been warning about Iranian actors targeting water systems for years. The difference is that now we’re in an active military conflict with them, and the Trump administration didn’t secure our drinking water before picking the fight.

The attacks haven’t contaminated any water supplies yet, though the key word there is “yet.” The FBI’s own bulletin acknowledged that the operational disruptions “could potentially allow untreated ground water to seep into pipes.”

Meanwhile, CISA says it is “observing a significant increase in cyber threat actors” going after water infrastructure. The affected facilities are mostly small, underfunded municipal operations running on outdated equipment that was not designed for internet connection.

The next attack might not just mess with water pressure, and the people in charge will be exactly as prepared as they are right now.

Congress Can’t Find Epstein’s Clients, But It Found Anthony Fauci

Congress can’t find a single person to subpoena over the Epstein files, but they can hold Anthony Fauci in contempt for telling people to stand six feet apart.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted Thursday to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking the Fifth Amendment at last week’s hearing. In other words, a private citizen was hauled before a committee and punished for refusing to answer questions that were designed to produce a perjury charge.

Now ask yourself who hasn’t been held in contempt — not a single person connected to the Epstein files. Jeffrey Epstein’s operation implicated some of the most powerful people in the country, and Congress has shown zero interest in dragging any of them before a committee and demanding answers under oath.

This also sets a precedent that Republicans are going to regret. If a preemptive presidential pardon doesn’t protect you from a contempt charge, then Pam Bondi can be held in contempt the moment Democrats retake a chamber. So can every Trump official who has stonewalled a subpoena or ignored a document request.

But they don’t care about that right now, because this was never about accountability.

Trump Lost 6-3 and Came Back for Round Two

Trump has always believed “no means yes,” why would the Supreme Court be any different?

Six weeks ago, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship. It was not a close call. It was 6-3, with Chief Justice Roberts writing that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship to “every free-born person in this land.”

On Thursday, Trump signed two more executive orders doing the same thing, just narrower. Stephen Miller stood next to him in the Oval Office and explained, with a straight face, that the ruling which explicitly rejected them actually gave them the authority to try again.

The new orders target children born to “alien enemies,” members of foreign terrorist organizations, and foreign government employees. There’s also one banning “birth tourism,” which is already illegal under existing visa law and accounts for 0.0074% of births in the U.S. each year.

On the same day Trump signed the orders, a federal judge certified a nationwide class action protecting every baby born on U.S. soil. That has to be some kind of record.

AIPAC Just Blew Millions in Michigan

Sixty million dollars buys you a lot of things in Michigan, but a Senate seat isn’t one of them.

In Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary this week, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens in what’s being called one of the most significant progressive victories of the cycle. You’ve heard a lot of people say it “wasn’t a blowout” because he won by just under a single percentage.

They’re lying to you.

Over $60 million was spent to back Stevens and oppose El-Sayed. AIPAC alone poured in more than $30 million through its affiliated super PAC, setting a record for the group in a single race. El-Sayed was outspent 11 to 1, and still managed to come out on top. That is a blowout, even if not in the traditional sense.

El-Sayed ran on universal healthcare, workers’ rights, and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel.

AIPAC has been buying Democratic primaries for years and getting away with it because most voters had no idea it was happening. Now that they’re paying attention, it turns out most people don’t appreciate a lobbying group spending $60 million to pick their lawmaker for them.

AlterNet America covers these races because we don’t take money from the groups trying to influence them. We’re not funded by AIPAC, billionaires, or advertisers. We’re proof that AIPAC can’t buy elections when voters have access to real information.

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Sixty million dollars couldn’t beat one candidate in one state. Imagine what they can’t do to a newsroom full of people who don’t owe them anything.

—Ryan Rose, Co-Founder & Managing Editor, AlterNet America