The Hound | July 23

Hi there,

It’s Thursday. The State Department has published an official government report singling out American citizens — including a political streamer, a labor organizer, a college student, and the daughter of a sitting U.S. congresswoman — as alleged sympathizers of the Cuban government, based on nothing more than their political beliefs and travel to the island. The report, titled "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism," labels the Democratic Socialists of America — an organization with over 120,000 members — as ideologically aligned with a foreign regime.

🖊️ Sign the petition to call on The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, NBC News, ABC News, and other mainstream outlets to cover the State Department's Cuba report not as a foreign policy document, but as what historians and civil libertarians would immediately recognize it as: a modern Red Scare targeting American citizens for their political views.

This is not foreign policy. It is a government blacklist — and the historical parallel is not subtle. In the 1950s, McCarthy-era committees did precisely this: published the names of American citizens, accused them of communist sympathies based on associations and beliefs, and used the apparatus of the federal government to intimidate, discredit, and silence political dissidents. The targets change; the playbook does not.

In addition, House Republicans have authored a new bill putting $95 billion toward the Iran War and also a sprinkle of relief for farmers devastated by Trump’s tariffs. And, Trump has approved a radical agreement in Saudi Arabia, allowing the kingdom to enrich uranium and may be exclusive to U.S.-based firms to develop the program.

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

State Department Targets Hasan Piker, Ilhan Omar’s Daughter, and DSA (The New Republic)

AP report: Trump approves nuclear agreement that may allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium (PBS)

House Republicans to write $95bn bill to fund Iran war and aid farmers (The Guardian)

Mamdani says NYC can't arrest Netanyahu but the federal government should (PBS)

BBC Demands More Records on Jack Smith’s January 6 Report (The New Republic)

How the Government’s Obligation to Keep Foreign Workers Safe Collided With Its Efforts to Keep Farms Afloat (ProPublica)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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