Blue 812 News Issue 29 - July 13

Jul 13, 2025

With many of the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs set to kick in last week, Trump has decided to delay them again, this time until August 1st (another 2 weeks - what a shocker), leaving room for the trade deals he assures us are coming any day now. Trump previously promised ‘90 deals in 90 days’, which resulted in exactly checks notes one agreement with the UK, and vague concepts of a plan with Vietnam. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are now saying they hope to secure 10 to 12 deals by Labor Day. The art of the deal, folks.

To distract from what certainly looks like another example of Trump chickening out, he posted unilateral notices to 14 nations informing them of their future tariff rates on Truth Social. The rate varies by country, from 25% to 40%, depending on trade deficits and negotiations. Each letter laid out the new tariff rate and included a charming threat: retaliate, and we’ll double it, but drop your tariffs, and maybe we’ll lower ours. Trump also tried to rebrand his new letters as tariff deals. I don’t think that’s how deals work.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more letters will be released in the following days. Most of the letters are nearly identical except for the country names and tariff rates, though Trump broke format in a letter to Brazil that says he plans to put a 50% tariff on Brazilian products "to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime." He pointed to what he called a "Witch Hunt" against former President Jair Bolsonaro, currently on trial for allegations of planning a coup in an attempt to stay in power. Huh, sounds familiar…

Congress has the power to stop this. Democrats have tried to force votes on halting the Trump tariffs with minimal cooperation from the other side of the aisle. Let’s take a moment and remind our Republican congressmen that we will hold them responsible for not reining in the Trump trade war. We can find scripts and language here from Rogan’s List, or send this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PBSFBM to 50409.

A federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday blocked President Trump's executive order that attempted to end birthright citizenship, stopping it from taking effect anywhere in the U.S. You may remember the Supreme Court ruling on adjacent to this case, and wondering - but I thought nationwide injunctions were over! Kudos for paying attention, reader. The Supremes did leave class action lawsuits as a legal avenue in last month's limit on nationwide injunctions, and the ACLU wasted no time in certifying a class.

During the hourlong hearing, a Justice Department lawyer argued that the 14th Amendment was never intended to grant citizenship to children of undocumented people. Judge Laplante said he found that argument "unpersuasive."Imagine someone who is a citizen in Illinois but not Indiana. The decision likely put the birthright citizenship issue on an accelerated track back to the Supreme Court. More at NPR.

In other citizenship-related news:

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If you were hoping for Jeffrey Epstein-shaped bombshells, buckle up for a government-issued wet blanket. Last week, the Trump administration’s long-hyped “Epstein Files” fizzled into a memo that basically said: nothing to see here. The Department of Justice and FBI released a two-page memo confirming Epstein died by suicide in 2019, and there’s no client list, no blackmail material, and no new charges. So wild, since AG Pam Bondi said back in February the client list was ‘on her desk.’

Much of the criticism of the memo has focused on statements made by both FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel over the past several years, where they had stoked conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein's death. Bongino in particular urged his podcast listeners in 2023, “that Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal,” and people in the “Washington swamp who are not telling you the truth.” Now, Deputy AG Todd Blanche said he personally worked with Bongino and Patel to craft the memo, but Bongino took Friday off and may resign over the issue.

On a positive note, Senator Chris Van Hollen’s amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee to "retain, preserve, and compile" any records related to Jeffrey Epstein passed unanimously. Let’s hope they haven’t already been destroyed.

If you thought Indiana politics couldn’t get more dystopian, buckle up: last week was a triple-header of anti-democratic nonsense, brought to you by the state’s ruling supermajority and its favorite legal bulldog, Todd Rokita.

Indiana’s new voter registration law (HEA 1264) kicked in on July 1st, and it’s got all the charm of a DMV line crossed with a Kafka novel. The state is now cross-checking voter rolls with outdated BMV data and demanding proof of citizenship like birth certificates, passports, and naturalization papers within 30 days, or you’re booted from the rolls. Naturalized citizens? Good luck. Mismatched names? Sorry, married women. Didn’t get the postcard? Oh well (but seriously, contact Voter Registration if you didn’t get that postcard). Voting rights groups are already prepping lawsuits, because apparently disenfranchising voters based on bad data is the new “election integrity.”

Meanwhile, Indiana lawmakers quietly zeroed out $3.7 million in public media fundingin the state budget, gutting the state’s Indiana Public Broadcasting News team. These are the journalists who actually cover the legislature and hold officials accountable. Stations are scrambling to survive, and rural communities may lose access to emergency alerts and local news. But hey, who needs facts when you’ve got press releases?

Not to be outdone, AG Todd Rokita jumped into five court cases to stop Hoosiers from updating the gender marker on their birth certificates, calling it “falsifying records,” and comparing gender identity to retroactively changing a baby’s weight. This follows Gov. Braun’s executive order banning gender marker changes, which the ACLU says violates privacy and targets trans Hoosiers. Rokita’s solution? More lawsuits, more moral panic, and less empathy.

DON’T FORGET: The BMV is trying to sneak in new rules that would ban all gender-marker updates on ID cards, in a move to target transgender and other gender-diverse Hoosiers for discrimination. Be polite but clear when letting them know you OPPOSE this senseless & discriminatory move. You can use this webform from Indiana Youth Group, or you can write in directly using the info in June 29’s newsletter. All written comments must be submitted by JULY 18. Hoosier Health Matters also discussed this topic in their latest episode.

Terre Haute’s proposed Historical Preservation ordinance inched closer to reality this week. Discussion on the measure consumed nearly two hours of a three-hour City Council meeting Thursday. Public comment came from nearly 20 residents attending the meeting, with 15 speaking in favor of the ordinance and four warning of possible pitfalls.

In the end, the Council opted to send the ordinance for further discussion to the Committee for Planning and Zoning Improvements, headed by Tammy Boland. There, it will seek input from Mayor Sakbun.

After the ordinance creating the Historic Preservation District was moved to committee, another ordinance seeking to amend Chapter 7 of the City Code concerning the city’s Property Maintenance code was tabled. The intent of the revision was to prevent buildings in disrepair from slipping into a condition where they could be condemned, by establishing a minimum level of health and safety.

“We tabled the property maintenance code so that we can pass it with its ‘sister’ ordinance [concerning] the rental registry,” Sakbun said. “[They were] always meant to be brought together.”

Indivisible Non-Cooperation Initiative

Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations, rollbacks of civil rights, weaponized courts, and full-scale attacks on our democracy. We don’t have to wait until it’s too late. We can stop this. But it’ll take all of us, not just on single days of mass action, but through sustained organizing in our communities. That’s why this summer, Indivisible is launching One Million Rising.

More in the July 8th episode of the Daily Beans. You can skip to 32:20 for a discussion with Ezra Levin, one of the leaders of Indivisible.

ICE has ramped up its presence across Indiana in 2025, with raids, detentions, and expanded jail partnerships that have quietly reshaped immigration enforcement in the state. Just next door, the Clay County jail averages 250 ICE detainees per day, making it one of the most active detention sites in the Midwest. In this climate, the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus’ Find an ICE Detainee guide is a lifeline. With detentions rising and transparency lacking, families and advocates need fast, reliable tools to locate loved ones and coordinate legal support. This guide is also available in Spanish.

Nasty Women - Vigo County calendar | Indivisible Wabash Valley calendar

Tuesday, July 15th at 5pm: Indiana Nasty Women - Vigo County meeting at the Vigo County Public Library in meeting room A.

Tuesday, July 15th at 6:30pm: Indivisible - Wabash Valley open house at First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1875 Fruitridge Ave.

Thursday, July 17th at 6pm: John Lewis Day of Action; Fairbanks Park. We’ll start at the George Ward Marker with speaker Crystal Reynolds, then head to the amphitheater for music + powerful messages! Register here

SAVE THE DATE: 7/26: Families First Rally - Info coming soon

According to an Economist/YouGov poll published earlier this week, 59 percent of Americans back the idea of Medicare for All.

Mexico sent water rescue teams and firefighters to help in Texas after the holiday weekend floods.

The White House is backing away from plans to abolish FEMA.

​Michael Jordan opened his fourth free clinic for people who are uninsured or underserved in North Carolina, his home state.

A federal appeals court in New York officially affirmed the jury verdict that found President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll and fined him 5M.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from defunding Planned Parenthood.

Trump's time in the White House runs out in:

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