‘Trump’s revenge tour takes a hideous turn.’ Daily Kos columnist Emily Singer assesses the Justice Department’s reported criminal investigation of E. Jean Carroll, whose lawsuits led to her award of millions from the president over charges he’d sexually assaulted her.
■ Columnist and former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “Trump is using the Justice Department as another cudgel against the woman he sexually abused.”
■ Chicago’s top federal prosecutor has artfully denied an investigation of Carroll, but a source tells the AP the focus has been on the nonprofit that helped fund her case.
■ The Onion: “DOJ Launches Criminal Investigation Into All Women.”
Chill winds. The Justice Department has reportedly issued grand jury subpoenas to Reddit and Twitter X— demanding names, addresses and banking information for users who have anonymously criticized government deportation policies.
■ Wired: Government officials have seized ballots across the country—some cast years ago—setting the state for MAGA types to undermine election outcomes they don’t like.
■ A federal judge has at least temporarily blocked Trump’s $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund.
‘Books and films made about the Trump Era will begin with an image of the White House this week.’ Historian Heather Cox Richardson surveys the property: “The world-famous Rose Garden has been replaced with a patio. … The East Wing is rubble. And … right outside the front door … construction is underway on a massive Ultimate Fighting Championship arena for cage matches to be held on Trump’s 80th birthday.”
■ Wonkette’s Gary Legum: “UFC bringing its tacky brand of people beating sh*t out of each other to White House.”
■ The president’s D.C. “Freedom 250” concert lineup celebrating the nation’s birthday boasts a bunch of at least two performers who are, you know, dead.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: “Putting Dear Leader’s face on currency is what monarchies and dictatorships do.”
‘ICE deported them. Cook County prosecutors still want them arrested for missing court.’ Injustice Watch says state’s attorneys are seeking warrants for people who failed to show up in traffic court—because they’d been deported.
■ Block Club: Chicago’s set to collect almost half a million dollars in fines from “rogue” bus companies that brought—“kidnapped” wouldn’t be a stretch—hundreds of migrants here from Texas.
■ Latest hot spot in protests against ICE: New Jersey’s Delaney Hall immigrant detention center run by a private contractor.
Papal pix. The Vatican’s released photos of Mayor Johnson’s visit with Chicago-born Pope Leo.
■ The mayor’s invited the pope home to celebrate Mass in Grant Park.
■ Read the formal invitation letter here.
■ A Tribune editorial cheers on “Chicago re-emphasizing its status as a global city.”
‘Terrible tragedy.’ A bike-lane collision along New York City’s Queensboro bridge has left two men—one riding a bicycle, the other on an e-scooter not legal for street use—dead.
■ As this session of the Illinois General Assembly nears its end, lawmakers are advancing new regulations for e-bikes and -scooters.
■ Also on the table in Springfield: A proposal to push well-off suburbs to build more affordable housing …
■ … which makes all the more timely The American Prospect’s celebration of Chicago’s National Public Housing Museum, the nation’s only museum dedicated solely to public housing.
Happy birthday, Great America. The Chicago area’s premier amusement park is 50 years old today.
■ Block Club: Coming to Chicago’s Riot Fest in September: Alanis Morissette … and Tom Skilling.
OK, but a variation on one of the wrong answers worked for us! Your Chicago Public Square columnist scored a typical 6 of 8 right on this week’s challenge from The Conversation’s quizmaster, past Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner Fritz Holznagel.
60 Minutes wrecking ball. CBS News’ new Trump-compliant chief Bari Weiss has dumped the show’s executive producer—Tanya Simon, daughter of late 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon—along with two correspondents …
■ … including show veteran Cecilia Vega—who issued a statement warning, “Let’s call this what it is: Censorship.”
■ Taking over: Tech journalist and filmmaker Nick Bilton, who The New York Times notes (gift link) has no TV news experience.
■ Radio news veteran Rob Archer: “Once again, experience is optional at CBS News.”
■ Axios: Trump administration cuts to public media are hitting home in Illinois.
‘Unconstitutional.’ With what CNN’s Brian Stelter calls “an extraordinary objection letter,” ABC is protesting the Trump-compliant FCC’s years-early reviews of the Disney-owned network’s licenses to run eight TV stations—including Chicago’s ABC 7.
■ Footnotes to the letter—which you can read here—put Donald and Melania Trump’s objections to Jimmy Kimmel’s comedy at the heart of the fight.
■ TV critic Matt Moore says ABC’s willingness to fight for Kimmel “highlights what CBS didn’t do for Stephen Colbert.”
Corrections. Yesterday’s Square mistakenly linked to a months-old Kimmel mockery of a Trump cabinet meeting—an item that proved one of the issue’s most popular. Here’s his Wednesday update of that bit.
■ Also: Reigning should have been reining.
■ Thanks, as ever, to readers who help set things straight.
■ Mike Braden made this edition better.