Aug. 12: Treasury eliminates legal red tape blocking criminals from hiding behind shell companies … U.S. military killed at least 153 civilians in Yemen. That it admits to. So far. … ICE is getting electric stun gloves … Progressives and establishment Dems each claim primary victories, unlike Mike Lindell, who did not sleep well …
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This was a weird day. Every night, I like to go to sleep knowing what TFN’s lead story will be. Tuesday night, I expected it to be election results. I’ll get to those, but the outcomes are too mixed to offer some big declarative statement about them.
So I began looking around for other news stories that merited THE LEAD. Then — searching on Twitter (X) for Mike Lindell refusing to concede (I’ll get to that) — I saw a Tweet from former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) about a new rule going out of effect from the Treasury Department, which TFN has covered before1.
It’s a big deal.
But Newsfuckers, I didn’t see it anywhere. No big news stories. Just finreg nerds fingering the Treasury on social media. Said nerds included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
So, what’s the rumpus?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday announced that he’s going to stop enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which went after shell companies. Spearheaded by then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the CTA required “beneficial owners” — anyone who owns more than 25% of a company or has substantial control of it — to disclose who they are.
Bessent said the new rule will lend a helping hand to America’s neediest, rich people who don’t like regulations, “without compromising our national security." Which is weird, because when Rubio was pushing the CTA I’m pretty sure he called it “the most significant anti-corruption & money laundering law in decades.”
Rich people, of course, complained that having their shady accountants write their name on a form is simply too burdensome for the U.S. economy to handle. The bureaucratic red tape also made everyday business more difficult for business owners. Including these business owners:
Drug traffickers
Jeffrey Epstein types
Terrorist funders
Counterfeiters
Piraters
Politician bribers
Politician bribe-getters
Fraudsters
Trumps
All of these job-creators were blocked from laundering money through the shell companies once made possible by anonymous “beneficial ownership.”
So, true to Pres. Donald Trump’s pro-crime-business policies, Bessent on Tuesday announced that Treasury will simply declare the CTA void and stop enforcing it for owners in the U.S.
Which is weird, because I was told this administration is all about fighting fraud.
And y’know all that government fraud that leaves us no choice but to stop feeding hungry kids? A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report last year recommended more aggressive use of government red tape to identify the secret beneficial owners of businesses that weren’t beneficial to the government agencies they were defrauding.
And yet, Treasury will also boost the crime economy by erasing all the existing ownership information that had been disclosed. As of now, the only shells that are still illegal are the ones that spell out “86 47.”
It almost makes you wonder whether there’s a conflict of interest with the Trump crime family, which never owns anything beneficially.
Senate Banking Committee Democrats have an easy-to-understand write-up of the implications. Led by Warren, they’re already demanding information from Bessent about whether Elon Musk — beneficial owner of “dozens of secretive companies” (and countless frozen sperm) — was involved in the new rule:
“…on March 1, 2025, Elon Musk—then serving as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and responding to an online commentator criticizing the CTA—tweeted, ‘I can look into it.’ The next day, the [Treasury] Department announced that it would ‘not enforce’ the CTA against ‘U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners’…”
That was five months ago. On Tuesday, Warren posted about Bessent’s and/or Musk’s new rule: “This is a gift to cartels, criminals, and U.S. adversaries that exploit shell companies to move millions through our financial system. Secretary Bessent should testify in front of Congress to explain his decision to put our national security at risk.”
Maybe Congress could ask Bessent about it at his impeachment proceeding, since he’s unilaterally decided to violate federal law?
MEDIA WATCH Credit where it’s due, Reuters did cover this, as did trade-news outlets that cater to Wall Street and other financial criminals who’ve been looking forward to this.
EXPORTING CRIME Bessent’s new exceptions to the law only apply to Americans, but the Trump administration has been exporting crime and corruption around the world, gutting the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and using sanctions and threats to try to shut down the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On Tuesday, the law-enforcement community struck back. And by law-enforcement community, I mean the noble nerds of Human Rights Watch, the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Open Society Institute.
These brave vigilantes just sued the Trump administration for targeting ICC officials investigating U.S. conduct in Afghanistan and Israeli conduct in what’s left of Gaza. The ICC has issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials wanted for questioning in the death of 73,000 Palestinians.
THE UPSIDE A Democratic majority in Congress could force disclosure of rampant beneficial ownership by crime families such as the Trumps. And what’s really going to annoy honest businesspeople (it’s possible!) is knowing that Bessent’s unruly new rule will only last about two years.
Hegseth and Trump Killed Civilians in Yemen
Three U.S. air strikes last year killed at least killed 153 civilians in Yemen, with another 243 wounded, according to Pentagon analysts who can maybe now get around to analysting the Iranian girls school bombing.
No, wait, can’t move on yet. The Wall Street Journal reports that they’re still analying 15 other U.S. strikes in Yemen. No rush.
Yemen, if you forgot, was another one of Pres. Donald Trump’s and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s mini-forever wars. C’mon, you remember!
For 53 days last year, the U.S. military bombed more than 1,000 targets (and apparently non-targets) in Yemen because the Iranian-allied Houthi rebels there were attacking ships in the Red Sea. Which was one of the few tactics they had for fighting the Saudi-backed government and the Saudi-backed famine.
It’s not clear whether the new Trump/Hegseth death toll includes the 61 African migrants killed when the U.S. bombed a prison where migrants — bound for Saudi Arabia seeking work — were being held for some fucking reason.
Trump surrendered in May 2025 after the Houthis agreed to bomb only non-U.S. ships, even though the whole point of Hegseth’s non-secret Signal chat was that the mini-war was secretly being done as a favor for Europe.
Whatever. The Houthis “proved to be more resilient than U.S. officials first anticipated,” according to Wall Street Journal foreshadowing of everything.
MURDER, HE BOAT The Pentagon report on its 2025 civilian death toll also weighed in on Hegseth’s Caribbean and Pacific serial killings of suspected or kinda suspected drug dealers.
The report found “no incidents” in which the victims included “civilian casualties.” Which is weird because drug traffickers are civilians. (The U.S. likes to pretend that Boat-iac Killer™ victims are all sworn members of highly organized terrorist organizations.)
Just this month, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) warned that “the available evidence suggests that the United States has killed individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking.”
Yemean they’re murder victims? In Kaine’s words: “They are murder victims.”
ICE Gets Stun Gloves, Shocking Civil Libertarians
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is getting a new weapon to use against civilians, just like America demanded!
It’s literally an electric glove that can momentarily incapacitate or at least discombobulate whoever ICE encounters that meets Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s standards for harassment: Being at Home Depot, taking a bus, or saying “Papi” unironically.
The AP reports that ICE is spending $20 million to put these gloves in the hands of and on the hands of thousands of ICE agents. In theory, every new ICE weapon that isn’t a gun is potentially helpful. Not as helpful as counseling, but still. (h/t)
But the glove — excuse me, The G.L.O.V.E., Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter — can still be used for evil, even if not upgraded to Thanos Mode.
ICE officers under Pres. Donald Trump and Homeland (sic) Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin haven’t exactly established themselves as models of restraint, killing prisoners and protesters without cause.
Remember Border Patrol agent Charles Exum? After shooting a woman five times, he texted his circle-jerk group chat to say that he was “up for another round of fuck around and find out,” apparently another euphemism for mutual masturbation. “I fired 5 shots and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys,” he wrote like someone who doesn’t have a book and should never have a gun or an electric glove.
The glove — excuse me, The G.L.O.V.E. — is made by Compliant Technologies. The AP asked for comment but they responded, “Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.” Doesn’t sound very compliant!
IF ONLY THIS ICE-DOUCHE HAD ZAPPER GLOVES Here’s just the latest dashcam video of ICE agents using their power responsibly and calmly without zapper gloves. (h/t)
Election Watch
Okay, Tuesday’s primaries were a mixed bag for progressives, democratic socialists, real socialists, communists, and Marxists. But that’s still an improvement over getting no bags!
CONNECTICUT A weird House race Tuesday didn’t yield clear conclusions about much but might suggest another way of looking at progressive/establishment battles.
Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin isn’t exactly a Marxist. He had some establishment backing going up against 78-year-old Rep. John Larson (D-CT), who normally would’ve been expected to win if only for his incumbency and excellent name.
In fact, Larson was endorsed by the Working Families Party.
But Bronin ran, and won, as an up-shaker of the quo status. And Larson was seen as an upholder of it. Which might mean that progressives, even democratic socialists, are benefiting less from love of specific policies than rejection of The Way Things Are.
Which means the challenge moving forward is to demonstrate and make the case that democratic socialism is the best alternative to The Way Things Are.
MINNESOTA - GOVERNOR I suspect that Tuesday night it wasn’t just me crying into MyPillow™. The company’s former CEO Mike Lindell, endorsed favorite of Pres. Donald Trump and a front-runner for a while, lost the Republican primary for governor.
I was really looking forward to two current and/or former insiders of the Christian Fellowship Foundation going at it in the general election. But instead, the Democratic winner, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will face state House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-MN), who looked sane next to Lindell.
But also, Lindell, the 2020 election-denying king, said overnight that Tuesday’s primary had anomalies. That’s right, Newsfuckers, apparently even Republicans are rigging votes now.
MINNESOTA - SENATE Okay, here’s your progressive win, Newsfuckers. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) beat establishment favorite Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN). Craig spent much of the race walking back her vote for the Laken Riley Act, which helped unleash tyrannical measures against undocumented immigrants and documented everyone else.
But Craig massively outspent Flanagan, leading to Flanagan’s slogan, “the many versus the money.”
In a fascinating sign of how wildly things have changed since 2024, Republicans already targeting Flanagan after her win aren’t mentioning immigration. It’s almost as if they’re not even trying to win the votes of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
WISCONSIN State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-WI), the long-favored democratic socialist, lost narrowly, by half a percentage point. It’s the second race in two weeks in which polls vastly overpredicted democratic socialist turnout.
Winner David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, was not only behind in the polls, he wasn’t even in the race for a while, dropping out until another candidate also dropped out. Crowley benefited from a massive last-minute establishment push focused largely on Hong’s perceived lack of electability in the general election.
And before we get all worked up — okay, even if it’s mid-getting all worked up — it’s worth recalling that it wasn’t just establishment Dems who seemed concerned. Both Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stayed clear of the race, which could mean that they don’t get it, or that we don’t get it. So, we can look at Hong’s loss as a loss, or as dodging a potential loss in November.
Plus, another progressive candidate got 7% of the vote, meaning a majority of Democratic voters leaned away from the putative center. Which gives Crowley incentive to keep them happy.
If you want more reasons to feel good about Crowley, he hasn’t joined the Democratic establishment’s climate-hushing; he’s made a point of fighting climate change. He’s also won tax hikes to preserve government services (okay, regressive sales taxes, but still). And he gave free legal counsel to people fighting eviction.
His campaign site is here.
Also: Gubernatorial contests are different from congressional ones. The issues and focus are more local than national.
Two Quickies
Pres. Donald Trump is finally making history: His poll numbers are now exploring uncharted territory. And by “uncharted” I mean “hostile.” Not only is Trump now generally unpopular at every fucking thing he does, he’s uniquely unpopular at the one thing he was ostensibly good at, the reason America wanted a businessman president. When it comes to his handling of the economy, Trump is now 50 points underwater, more than any president ever, more underwater than oil tankers that went into the Strait of Hormuz.
Massachusetts just legalized all abortions, Jessica Valenti flags over at Abortion, Every Day. This means medicinal and recreational. Pregnancies can now be ended at any time and even later abortions can be done in clinics, not just hospitals. The expansion of abortion rights comes as new U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, personal attorney of serial abortion-sponsor Pres. Donald Trump, has vowed to tighten abortion access. Republicans typically only support abortion rights in cases of the health of the mother or if the fetus can’t prove that it’s at least trying to find a job. (h/t)
TCB
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Go get ‘em, kids! Because America’s beneficial owners are us.
TFN creator and writer Jonathan Larsen co-created Up w/ Chris Hayes and wrote for Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, helped launch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° and Air America Radio, and has also worked at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Young Turks. He is a member of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation advisory board.
…but can’t find at the moment.
Thank you for keeping the egregious moves by Scott Pissant top-of-mind (or bottom of bowl), it'll be interesting to see if your reach will extend far enough that the story gets picked up wider (obviously AP helps at least a little). Restack & help JL along, people!
And I can't resist contemplating how many ICEcube agents will concussively knock themselves flat on their backs trying to spank the monkey while wearing their electric gloves.
BZZZZT
OW
THUD
Isn't the whole point of having an executive branch "to enforce the laws"? This is right up there with Bartleby saying "I would prefer not to". Fire his ass already!