Human Trafficking Victims 'Likely' on Boat Pentagon Struck

Most Republicans who voted to release the Epstein files have lost their seats, USPS will refuse mail ballots in states that don't hand over data, and a GOP Rep. dodged questions by faking a phone call

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

Three of the four House Republicans who forced the release of the Epstein files will soon be out of elected office. The Postal Service is drafting rules to refuse mail ballots for any state that won’t hand over its voter lists. A top Pentagon official admitted that some of the 11 people killed in the first boat strike may have been human trafficking victims. And a Republican congressman dodged a question about Social Security cuts by faking a phone call on a screen that clearly showed he wasn’t on one.

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Now, let’s dive in.

Republicans Who Voted to Release Epstein Files Lost Their Seats

It turns out the surest way to end a Republican’s career is to actually do the thing their base spent two years screaming for.

Three of the four House Republicans who signed the discharge petition to force the release of the Epstein files will soon be out of elected office. Nancy Mace finished fifth in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, pulling just 12% of the vote. She came in a distant third in Charleston County, her own backyard.

Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress earlier this year. Trump personally marshaled a primary campaign to oust Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, and it worked. Only Lauren Boebert survives, because Trump targeted her too late for a challenger to file.

Mace stated while conceding that “I voted to release the Epstein files and lost some support for that.” This is true. Also true: her shifting political alliances, ethics investigations, and conduct that had alienated colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

The Epstein files began as a right-wing crusade, promoted by the likes of Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, and JD Vance. Then Trump’s name kept appearing in them, and the base quietly decided it had never really cared. Turns out the swamp had a lot of their guys in it.

Postal Service May Refuse Your Ballot Unless States Surrender Voter Lists

The Trump administration has a new voter suppression tool: the mailman.

Under newly proposed USPS rules built to comply with a March 2026 executive order, states would have to hand over lists of every voter set to receive a mail ballot or the Postal Service simply won’t deliver those ballots. Refuse to cooperate, and your voters don’t vote by mail.

Twenty-three Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia are suing, along with party leaders and nonpartisan voter advocacy groups. A federal judge in DC declined to block the order last month, letting USPS begin implementing it.

The order also instructs DHS to build its own state-by-state citizenship lists, fueling fears the administration will use them to pressure states into purging their rolls. The existing DHS verification system has already falsely flagged eligible voters as non-citizens.

There’s also the small matter of whether a cash-strapped agency can pull this off. The portal states are supposed to submit voter lists through doesn’t exist yet. The portal, like democracy, is a work in progress.

The administration wants to know who’s voting before the votes are cast. We want to make sure you know what they’re doing before it’s too late to matter. If you think that kind of accountability reporting is worth something, consider upgrading your subscription today.

Pentagon Officer Admits Boat Strike May Have Killed Trafficking Victims

There is a haunting math problem at the center of Trump’s boat-strike campaign, and a top Pentagon officer just quietly answered it.

Across more than 60 attacks and over 200 extrajudicial killings, almost every boat carried between one and four people. Only the very first strike, on September 2, 2025, killed double digits: eleven people.

Asked in a classified briefing whether some of those aboard could have been human trafficking victims, Rear Adm. Brian H. Bennett of the Joint Staff replied: “They could be.”

The 40-foot go-fast boat, watched live by Pete Hegseth and officers at Fort Bragg, was struck once. Two men survived, clinging to the capsized hull. They drifted for roughly 45 minutes with no other vessels around and no time pressure.

Adm. Frank Bradley consulted JSOC’s staff judge advocate, who deemed a follow-up strike lawful. Witnesses said the men waved their arm, which any reasonable person would read as surrender or a plea for rescue. Under the Pentagon’s own Law of War Manual, the shipwrecked may not be attacked.

The official ruling was that they hadn’t waved correctly.

GOP Rep. Fakes a Phone Call to Avoid a Social Security Question

When a Virginia congressman can’t face a question about Social Security, he reaches for the oldest trick available to a panicked seventh grader.

Republican Rep. Rob Wittman was asked by Meidas Touch outside the Capitol on Tuesday about Speaker Mike Johnson’s rumored plans to cut Social Security. Wittman grabbed his phone, started an imaginary conversation, and walked off. His screen clearly showed he wasn’t on a call at all.

He fully committed to the bit, pretending to discuss a fictional appointment for over a full minute while ignoring follow-up questions. It wasn’t even his first performance. He pulled the same routine on a Drop Site News reporter last week.

The question wasn’t hypothetical. On Monday, Johnson said on a radio show that “entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and things like Social Security” need to be “adjusted and fixed.”

Johnson accused Democrats and the media of fearmongering. Meanwhile, His congressman was telling reporters about a meeting that did not exist on a phone that was not ringing.

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