The Defense Secretary’s broker tried to buy war stocks before the bombs dropped. Memphis cops pepper-sprayed the people keeping protesters safe. And the guy who wrote the White House’s AI policy quit so he could fund the politicians who’ll protect it. Three stories about the same thing: the people with the most power using it to make sure nobody else gets any.
Pete Hegseth’s Broker Tried to Buy Defense Stocks Weeks Before the Iran War Started
Pete Hegseth’s Morgan Stanley broker called BlackRock in February asking about putting several million into a defense industry ETF – weeks before the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran. The investment didn’t go through because the fund was too new to process. The Pentagon denied the Financial Times report. The STOCK Act has a $200 fine and no teeth. 86% of Americans want a trading ban. Congress has an honor system.
Memphis Police Pepper-Sprayed the Protest Marshals at the No Kings March
Several thousand people marched peacefully through downtown Memphis on Saturday for No Kings. Minutes before it ended, police rolled up, deployed pepper spray, and arrested three people – the march’s own safety marshals in orange vests. The charge was “obstructing a highway,” a brand-new Tennessee law sponsored by a Republican state senator. Trump declared Memphis his model city last week. The city sent its answer back.
David Sacks Wrote Trump’s AI Policy Then Quit to Fund the Politicians Who’ll Keep It
David Sacks spent a year as Trump’s AI czar shaping deregulation policy. Then he stepped down and backed a $100 million PAC to elect candidates who’ll protect what he built. Total AI industry midterm spending now tops $300 million. They’ve already won 10 of 11 primaries where they spent money. Polling shows bipartisan skepticism toward AI – but the demand for deregulation isn’t coming from voters. It’s coming from the people spending $300 million to make sure voters don’t decide.
The full investigation lives at rachelandthecity.com. Start with the suspects, or dig into the GriftMatrix.
// Go Deeper on rachelandthecity
