The Paper Trail: October 13, 2026

ICE Cut Training for Deputized Agents; FEC Unable to Enforce Election Laws; Guilfoyle on Hot Seat for Luxe Diplomatic Lifestyle

October 13, 2026

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Justice Dept. turns to partisans and conspiracists to fill depleted ranks

Upward of 300 career employees, representing decades of experience, have left the DOJ's civil rights division after its leader, Harmeet Dhillon, repurposed it to pursue President Trump’s agenda. To replenish its ranks, the division has opened its doors to recruits whose educational or work histories might have disqualified them in the past.

(Glenn Thrush, New York Times)

How Trump’s revenge campaign descended into turmoil at DOJ
(Alan Feuer and Glenn Thrush, New York Times)

They came to Washington to dismantle government. Now, they’re profiting from it

Dozens of DOGE alumni have leveraged their government stints to fuel private-sector ambitions, raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build start-ups that tap government largesse or that deploy knowledge they garnered during their tenures in Washington. At least six former DOGE staffers have registered on the SAM.gov federal contracting portal.

(Faiz Siddiqui, Elizabeth Dwoskin, and Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post)

A mysterious nonprofit run by SpaceXAI’s top lawyer is paying the salaries of government workers
(Vittoria Elliott, Wired)

At Davos, Kimberly Guilfoyle boasted of private jet trips, luxury stays

The State Department inspector general is investigating whether U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle received gifts or favors from Greek businessmen. She also allegedly pushed Trump donor Eric Deters to pay her $100,000 American Express bill and offered to use her influence to help Deters with tax and legal issues.

(Rebecca Ballhaus et al., Wall Street Journal)

Democrats call for probe into Kimberly Guilfoyle’s conduct
(Dana Mattioli et al., Wall Street Journal)

SpaceX, Palantir, McDonald’s: Trump made 517 personal financial trades in August

President Trump made 517 personal trades of stocks, bonds, and other financial funds in August. Among the multi-million-dollar adjustments to his stock portfolio were purchases between $1 million and $5 million in Microsoft, McDonald’s, AT&T, Netflix, and Comcast, and between $5 million and $25 million in Meta.

(Mark Alfred, Washington Sun)

Trump purchased up to $5 million of SpaceX bonds days before major space order
(Matt Egan, CNN)

Election ‘26

Trump blew past deadline to halt running taxpayer-funded ads

A federal judge issued a temporary order Sunday blocking the administration from airing taxpayer-funded campaign-style television commercials, but the administration blew past a Sunday evening deadline and ran two of the ads into Monday. The ads were paid for with $20 million the OMB added to a DHS budget line for “commemorative events.” President Trump said on October 5 that campaign funds would be used to pay for the ads going forward.

(Scott Nover, Aaron Schaffer, and Aoife Walsh, New York Times)

Government spent $10 million on pro-Trump ads after president said super PAC would fund
(Tamara Keith, NPR)

Iran War

Weaponization of the Government

Justice Dept. is investigating TV networks over Trump pool coverage

The DOJ is investigating whether ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, and Fox News violated antitrust laws when they briefly suspended their pooled coverage of the president last month, after he barred CNN journalists from the White House grounds. The investigation is being overseen by DOJ’s civil division, led by former White House lawyer Stanley Woodward.

(David McCabe et al., New York Times)

"Head on a guillotine": ABC says Trump’s threats are already swaying coverage
(John Hendel, Politico)

Defense and Veterans Affairs

The Pentagon gave $350 million in contracts to a firm closely tied to a senior Defense Department official

Among a cadre of Wall Street executives brought into the DOD during Trump’s second term, George Kollitides II has emerged as a powerbroker with a broad mandate to improve procurement of weapons and critical minerals. The work he’s leading has also been a boon to his old friends in the private sector, who have received no-bid consulting contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

(Aaron Davis and Robert Faturechi, ProPublica)

Democrats zero in on Pentagon contractors to probe Trump ties
(Roxana Tiron, Bloomberg Government)

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