The Paper Trail: August 18, 2026

ICE’s Broken System for Inspecting Detention Facilities; Chatbots Do Congress' Work with Little Oversight; Utility Companies "Educate" Regulators with Big Donations, Secret Retreats

August 18, 2026

Announcements

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Iran War

The War on “Narcoterrorists”

Weaponization of the Government

U.S. investigated left-leaning groups during Minnesota immigration crackdown

DHS and the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota used an array of invasive tactics earlier this year to gather information on many left-leaning organizations and individuals, employing administrative subpoenas and surveillance by undercover agents.

(Alan Feuer and Ernesto Londoño, New York Times)

Secret ICE agent tried to “entice” Minneapolis activists into confrontational tactics
(Matt Sledge, The Intercept)

Prediction Markets

Supreme Court Ethics

Police Misconduct

3 ex-Georgia deputies used Flock cameras to stalk people, sheriff says

Three former Georgia sheriff’s deputies were arrested on charges that they used Flock cameras to stalk people, the latest cases to raise concerns about potential abuse involving the network of license-plate readers, which are used by almost half of all police departments in the U.S. and are installed on roads in almost every state.

(Michael Levenson, New York Times)

Flock “can’t tech its way out” of the stalker cop problem, experts say
(Ashley Belanger, Ars Technica)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

Pentagon report reveals steep civilian toll of Trump’s Yemen campaign

U.S. forces last year killed 153 civilians and wounded nearly 250 others in three attacks targeting suspected militants in Yemen, a Pentagon review found, marking the Trump administration’s first public acknowledgment that the military caused significant harm to noncombatants.

(Alex Horton and Meg Kelly, Washington Post)

"Total whitewash”: New Pentagon report claims U.S. killed no civilians in boat strikes
(Nick Turse, The Intercept)

Trump orders the Navy to return to an older system of launching jets off aircraft carriers

The new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and revert the Navy’s most advanced ships to a system that takes more sailors to operate and is more difficult to maintain.

(Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press)

Navy weighs major warship redesign to match Trump’s preferences
(Noah Robertson and Tara Copp, Washington Post)

Business and Finance

Tech

Chatbots are doing the work of Congress with little oversight

From writing speeches and news releases to sorting constituent mail, AI is spreading through Congress faster than the rules governing its use.

(Anna Liss-Roy, Washington Post)

AI slop is swamping a House office that drafts U.S. laws
(Owen Dahlkamp, Politico)