Letters from an American
· collected 2026-09-15 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
This morning, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski of ProPublica broke the news that Umar Kremlev, a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the wedding of Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Anderson in May.
uncertain
Kremlev → break → May
Kremlev attended the wedding along with a large group of Russians whose presence, the journalists note, puzzled the other guests.
asserted
journalists → attend → guests
This news reveals an extraordinary development, the journalists note: “a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting the president’s son and gaining intimate access to the Trump family.”
asserted
member → reveal → family
Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI official who worked in senior counterintelligence roles, told the reporters: “If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something.
asserted
you → work → something
A spokesperson for Don Jr. told Edith Olmsted of The New Republic that Don and Kremlev met “a couple of years ago” and that Kremlev is a “personal friend,” “not someone he has a business relationship with.”
asserted
he → tell → relationship
Bettina Trump posted to social media that Kremlev hadn’t actually attended their wedding but “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding.
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Kremlev → post → wedding
It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.
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we → remain → which
”
“Friendship doesn’t require a political motive,” she wrote.
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she → require → motive
“Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda.
asserted
Generosity → come → agenda
Later in the day, news broke that the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security had released a report detailing how the now-closed detention camp in the Florida Everglades, offensively dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” violated the standards of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
asserted
camp → break → Immigration
The report says the center failed in six categories: medical care, food service, personal hygiene, recreation, environmental health and safety, and special management units.
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center → say → categories
People were crammed into overcrowded cells they couldn’t leave as often as required, were allowed showers only three times a week, and had little access to medical care, lawyers, clean water, or safe food.
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they → cram → care
Some people were locked in tiny individual metal cages with about 18 square feet of floor space for up to 2 hours, some of which were outdoors.
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some → lock → which
The staff told those from the inspector general’s office that people asked to stay in the enclosures, which they called “calming areas” where detainees could “reflect on their behavior choices, manage their emotions, reduce stress and practice self-directed behavior,” though the inspectors found “at least one instance” in which the cages “may have been used as a disciplinary tool.”
uncertain
cages → tell → tool
The report says such confinement was “unprecedented” and “highly unconventional.”
asserted
confinement → say → ?
“Confining individuals in small metal enclosures for any reason presents significant risks to detainee health and well-being,” the inspector general wrote.
asserted
general → confine → health
Gillian Brockell of The American Prospect suggested that the inspector general’s report “is likely part of a cover-up.”
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report → suggest → up
She noted that eight months ago, Amnesty International reported that the outdoor cages were too small for someone to stand up, that they had no awning, and that people were chained to them.
asserted
people → note → them
The Amnesty International report also said time in the cages could be longer than two hours.
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time → say → hours
Then Nick Corasaniti and Hamed Aleaziz reported in the New York Times on another whistleblower, this one alleging that in their zeal to find noncitizens on voter rolls, inspectors under the direction of top Homeland Security leaders may have broken state laws.
uncertain
inspectors → report → laws
The Department of Homeland Security launched the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” last month, deploying hundreds of agents to look through voter rolls to try to find evidence of voter fraud.
asserted
Department → launch → fraud
The whistleblower says inspectors have about twelve minutes per case to determine a voter’s citizenship status and voting history, and it appears they have been posing as those individual voters by using birth dates or partial Social Security numbers they gleaned from both internal and external sources to find wrongdoing.
asserted
they → say → wrongdoing
Some states require users to declare they are the individual voters whose records they are seeking.
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they → require → records
Corasaniti and Aleaziz note that the office of the chief counsel at DHS defended the use of state databases in such a way, but also said that agents “are not personally liable for conducting these searches when done as part of their official duties and properly documented.”
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agents → note → duties
Once the agents began reviewing individuals’ information, they created records of those they claimed were “unlawful voters,” despite the fact that officers were concerned about the quality of the databases they were using to make such a determination.
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they → begin → determination
DHS itself noted that the data was flawed, and warned that “there will be U.S. citizens in this population,” and has been opaque about how they compiled the database.
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they → note → database
According to a letter written by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), the top-ranking Democrat on the Committee on Rules and Administration, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the Senate minority leader, to Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Joseph B. Edlow, the department’s training video says the database was compiled with “supplemental magic.”
uncertain
database → accord → magic
Taken together, the administration’s continued flirtation with Vladimir Putin and his associates, its use of our tax dollars to imprison immigrants in substandard conditions, and its determination to rig the 2026 election add up to an attempt to establish an authoritarian government.
asserted
flirtation → take → government
Aside from the public outrage over the day’s stories, there are other signs that the administration’s position is weakening.
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position → be → stories
After the weekend’s warnings about AI, stocks in AI companies and companies that produce chips fell today.
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that → produce → chips
Not only are members of the Trump family heavily invested in AI-related industries, but also it seems administration officials are counting on extraordinary AI-fueled economic growth to address the growing U.S. deficit and debt that Trump has run up.
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Trump → invest → that
So Trump posted frantically on social media today.
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Trump → post → media
He began just after the stock market opened with a post pushing back on the warnings of AI leaders that AI development needs government regulation.
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development → begin → regulation
“The only control or “guardrails” that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
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U.S.A. → need → spades
He complained: “There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.
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that → complain → it
WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!
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WHOEVER → win → AI
We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so.
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We → lead → China
In a later post, he insisted that “The only reason the AI/Data Center outburst is happening is because the United States is leading, by a lot, every other country.
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States → insist → country
A third post said that the warnings about AI are all “a HOAX, no different from RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA—UKRAINE, UKRAINE, UKRAINE—IMPEACHMENT HOAX #1—IMPEACHMENT HOAX #2—and all of the other HOAXES and SCAMS that America was forced to endure through the Destructionists’ and Deviants’ foul play and illegal conduct.”
asserted
America → say → play
AI and data centers, he wrote, will be “the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History—Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet.
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he → write → Oil
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
