The Hound | Aug. 13

Hi there,

It’s Thursday. Trump secretly slipped off Air Force One via an airport catering truck while the White House told the press he was aboard the plane. Reporters and staff were left on the original aircraft — unwitting decoys — with no knowledge of the swap. Trump later snuck back onto Air Force One in Britain to exit as though he'd been aboard the entire flight.

🖊️ Sign the petition to call on the media to use this moment as a reset — to stop covering Trump's statements as though they require only basic fact-checking and start covering them with the baseline assumption that this is a president who does not tell the truth.

This episode is not primarily a security story. It is a story about a president who lies reflexively, compulsively, and without remorse — to the press, to the public, and apparently to his own staff. The same man who used reporters as human decoys without their knowledge is the same man who has spent six years lying about elections, lying about classified documents, lying about crimes, and lying about Ukraine. The lying is not incidental. It is the presidency. The public deserves a press corps that has finally learned its lesson.

In addition, a new Pentagon report claims that the U.S. killed no civilians in Caribbean boat strikes — a stunning lie. And in Ohio, ICE prepares to deport Haitians after the Supreme Court gutted TPS in a ruling.

Read about these, and more, with today’s stories:

Anger after Trump’s secret flight swap appears to offer up staff and media as decoys (The Guardian)

ICE’s Airport Crackdowns Are Designed to Spread Fear (The New Republic)

“Total Whitewash”: New Pentagon Report Claims U.S. Killed No Civilians in Boat Strikes (The Intercept)

In Ohio, Haitians’ American dream shatters as ICE prepares to deport them (The Guardian)

Wisconsin Democrats choose David Crowley over Francesca Hong’s progressive vision (The 19th News)

Right-Wing Activists Co-opt Environmental Laws to Fight ‘Abortion Pollution’ (The American Prospect)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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