Daily Beans: Trump's Autopen Orders, Epstein Files, and Pentagon Investigations

Pentagon Investigations and Alleged War Crimes

• 🎯 Sources allege Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on survivors of a Caribbean boat strike, resulting in their deaths, a directive not previously reported.
• ⚖️ The House and Senate have launched rigorous oversight investigations into the Pentagon following reports of this alleged unlawful killing.
• ⚠️ Experts suggest the Pentagon's lethal campaign, which has resulted in over 80 deaths, may be unlawful and could lead to future prosecutions for war crimes.

Trump Administration Policies and Actions

• 🚫 Donald Trump announced his intention to cancel all executive orders signed by President Biden using an autopen, a claim met with skepticism regarding the authenticity of his own signed orders.
• 🏛️ Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million to the US government to settle investigations and restore federal research funding, a deal that includes revoking a previous agreement with pro-Palestinian protesters.
• 📉 Trump's job approval rating has fallen to 36%, its lowest point in his second term, with disapproval rising to 60%, potentially influenced by the federal government shutdown and election losses.

Epstein Files and DOJ Resignations

• 🔍 Internal FBI emails reveal efforts to redact Trump's name from the Epstein files, with significant overtime spent on this task.
• 😟 A federal judge is pressing the Justice Department to explain how it will protect the identities of Epstein's victims after dozens of names were exposed in released documents.
• 📝 A growing website is chronicling resignation letters from DOJ employees, with some letters warning of threats to democracy and a crumbling of norms within federal prosecutions.

Security Incidents and Personnel

• 🛡️ The man who shot two National Guard members in DC was reportedly a member of a CIA-backed paramilitary group in Afghanistan and was granted asylum by the Trump administration.
• 💡 The