The Daily Brief — July 20, 2026
US troops killed, Mullin threatens state election officials, false test for lettuce contamination
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Three US Troops Killed
At least two American soldiers were killed and four others wounded over the weekend in an Iranian attack on a US base in Jordan, and another is listed as missing in action. A third US service member died in Iraq while helping to carry out “a controlled detonation” of unexploded ordnance left by a downed Iranian drone.
The US military released the names of those killed in Jordan: Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii. Since the war began, 17 US service members have been killed.
Yesterday, the US launched its ninth night of airstrikes on Iran since the ceasefire between the two nations collapsed. Tehran retaliated by attacking Bahrain and Kuwait.
Paramount–Warner Brothers Merger Blocked
A federal judge in California temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, prohibiting the companies from closing the $110 billion deal for 14 days. The pause came in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of 12 states that argued the merger would extinguish competition and lead to higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows, and lower-quality content.
In her order, the judge said the states had presented strong evidence that the combined company would hold a substantial share of the market and would likely violate antitrust laws, which are meant to protect consumers by keeping companies from forming monopolies.
A hearing is scheduled for August 3 on whether the court will keep the merger blocked while the antitrust case moves forward.
Mullin Warns of Prison Time
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin warned state election officials they may face prison time if they don’t act on the information the Trump administration gives them about their voter rolls.
“If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections, and they chose not to, then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time,” Mullin said at a press conference last week.
He separately said states must run their voter rolls through a DHS database to check for noncitizens if they want to keep receiving federal grants for securing voting systems and polling places.
Mullin issued the threat after President Trump’s primetime speech last week, in which Trump repeated his claim that there is rampant voter fraud in the US, including voting by noncitizens. Mullin said DHS had preliminarily determined there were more than 250,000 noncitizens on voting lists in at least four states: California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Evidence of these claims was not provided.
A federal judge has already blocked the use of the DHS database to cull voter rolls for a separate reason, ruling that repurposing it violates rules on the disclosure of Social Security records. The database has also proved error-prone because it often flags newly naturalized citizens as noncitizen voters.
Newsbreak
Inspired by a real-life 1923 shipwreck off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Runner is a historical novel that explores the lengths one young woman will go to keep her family afloat when her father’s rumrunning ship mysteriously sinks. Written by award-winning author (and The Preamble’s executive editor!) Ashton Lattimore, it’s a Prohibition-era story following Lena Jameson as she takes over her father’s business, embarking on a journey from the quaint, colorful streets of Oak Bluffs through gangland Boston to the jazz-filled clubs of Harlem during its Renaissance, all in search of quick money — and the truth about the shipwreck. But as buried secrets rise to the surface and the temptations of the glittering underworld pull Lena in deeper, everything she’s fought to protect soon hangs in the balance: her heart, her family, and her place in a world that’s quick to condemn women who dare to want more. We’d love it if you pre-ordered a copy!
Taylor Farms Lettuce
The Food and Drug Administration now says that a test that reportedly confirmed the link between Taylor Farms shredded iceberg lettuce and the US outbreak of cyclosporiasis was a false positive. Cyclosporiasis is a parasitic foodborne illness that can cause weeks of diarrhea.
Taylor Farms is a major national food supplier that provides pre-cut produce to restaurant chains like Taco Bell, as well as grocery stores. Its executives met White House officials last Thursday, the same day that the FDA’s traceback investigation initially identified the company’s lettuce as the outbreak’s source. The next day, the agency reversed that finding. It says nonetheless that its overall investigation still suggests that Taylor Farms shredded lettuce was the source of the outbreak. Last week, the company issued a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce sourced from Central Mexico, and that recall remains in place.
Taylor Farms’ parent company, Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., donated $1 million to MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC, last year, and another million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, which supports Republican candidates for the House.
According to the CDC, 1,645 cases of cyclosporiasis have been confirmed in the US, since May 1, the start of the CDC’s annual cyclosporiasis tracking season, and no deaths have been reported so far. This time last year, there were fewer than 250 cases.
White House Staffer Placed Bets
A White House teleprompter operator who allegedly made more than $100,000 betting on President Trump’s speeches has been placed on unpaid leave while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigates his trading activities.
Gabriel Perez, Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator, had been placing bets in Kalshi’s “Mentions” market, where users can bet on whether specific words, phrases, or topics will be part of a public speech. The winning bets prompted Kalshi to report suspicious activity to the CFTC, its regulator.
More than $90,000 of the money that Perez made through Kalshi has been frozen. He is now negotiating a civil settlement with the CFTC that could require him to give up his profits and accept restrictions on future trading. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan reviewed the case and declined to bring criminal charges.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have recently come under scrutiny from state and federal lawmakers after a pattern of suspiciously well-timed trades related to government actions and the statements of Trump and other public officials.
Gifted Qatari Jet
The Qatar-gifted Boeing jet that began flying as Air Force One on July 1 will be taken out of service for security upgrades, President Trump said over the weekend. The plane reportedly lacks missile-defense capabilities that the older presidential planes have. Trump traveled to Ankara, Turkey, to attend the annual NATO summit in the new plane, but at the suggestion of the Secret Service he left Turkey on the old Air Force One.
It will take about a month to retrofit the new plane with the missing defenses.
ICE Assault Probe
The FBI will no longer investigate ICE agents’ claims that they were assaulted by people they shot, The New York Times reported. Previously when immigration agents have shot people in the course of their work, the FBI has been tasked with determining whether the agents were assaulted before opening fire. Those investigations can sometimes yield evidence used to prosecute the agents involved, or to confirm or disprove agents’ accounts of the incidents.
According to reports, the assault investigations will now be handled by Homeland Security Investigations, an arm of ICE.
DHS and the Department of Justice both denied the reports, however, and said the FBI will continue to investigate assaults on all federal officers, including ICE agents.
Last week, ICE agents fatally shot a person in Biddeford, ME. It marked at least the 10th death tied to an encounter with federal immigration agents since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown soon after his second inauguration.
New UK PM
Andy Burnham became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade today, replacing Keir Starmer, who took office in 2024 after winning a landslide parliamentary election. Burnham, a former mayor of Greater Manchester, was elected leader of the ruling Labour Party last week, paving his way to the job.
Starmer lost popularity over cost-of-living concerns and rising energy prices — driven up globally by the Iran war’s disruption of oil shipping. Starmer had promised to bring down energy prices. Burnham said tackling the cost of living will be among his top priorities. He also called for higher taxes on expensive homes and top earners and for more public housing.
So, ICE will be investigating itself. But the FBI will be prosecuting anyone that hurts an ICE agent.