The Daily Brief — July 29, 2026
Senator threatens Fauci, Trump wants $83M judgment dismissed, teen shooter sentenced
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Iran Attacks US Base
Iran fired ballistic missiles at US troops earlier today, days after Trump paused US airstrikes to allow ceasefire talks to continue. US Central Command said all the missiles were intercepted.
Iranian forces also struck at least three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the vessels had violated Iran’s blockade of the waterway.
President Trump vowed a forceful response to the missile attacks, telling Fox News the US would “beat the f---ing s--- out of” Iran.
The US and Saudi Arabia carried out joint strikes on Iranian-backed militia sites in Iraq, saying the groups had launched drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent days.
Fauci Invokes Fifth
Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during today’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the origins of Covid-19. Fauci, who led the federal Covid-19 response, accused committee chair Rand Paul (R-KY) of having an “unhinged obsession” with him.
In his opening statement, Fauci said he respects legitimate congressional oversight but that he believes the only reason Paul called the hearing was to get Fauci to incriminate himself under oath.
Republican senators continued questioning Fauci anyway. Paul said Fauci’s refusal to answer would have consequences and that a 2025 preemptive pardon from President Biden to guard against “unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions“ might not protect him. The committee chair has scheduled an August 5 vote by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on a resolution to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress.
When Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, tried to speak without being recognized, Paul had him removed from the room.
Paul and Fauci have feuded for years over the pandemic’s origins: Paul believes the virus leaked from a Chinese lab, while Fauci maintains natural spillover is more likely.
Fauci invoked the Fifth despite his 2025 pardon because that pardon only covers any federal offenses committed before it was issued on January 20, 2025. It doesn’t protect him from perjury charges for anything he might have said at this hearing, or from state-level prosecution.
Trump Asks SCOTUS to Toss Judgment
President Trump and the Justice Department are separately asking the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump in a lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. In 2024, a jury found Trump had defamed Carroll during his first term in office when he repeatedly denied sexually assaulting her in the ’90s.
Trump’s attorneys argue he has presidential immunity for those statements — which were made during his first term — and cite a 2024 Supreme Court immunity ruling in his favor.
Separately, the DOJ’s petition argues it should have been allowed to substitute the US government for Trump as the defendant under the Westfall Act, a law shielding federal employees from certain lawsuits tied to their official duties.
Two weeks ago, Carroll collected $5.6 million, including interest, from a separate verdict after the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal in that case.
Newsbreak
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Georgia Teen Gets Life
A judge sentenced a Georgia teenager to life without parole yesterday for a September 2024 shooting at his high school that killed two students and two teachers. Colt Gray pleaded guilty last week to all 55 counts against him, including murder, at the Apalachee High School. He was 14 years old at the time and was charged as an adult.
Gray’s father, Colin Gray, bought him the assault-style rifle used in the attack as a Christmas gift and left it unsecured despite warnings that his son was a danger to others. A jury convicted the father of murder and manslaughter charges in March. He’s expected to be sentenced tomorrow.
More than a year before the shooting, Gray wrote on the messaging platform Discord, “I want people to remember the pain I caused and research me for hours.” He had also expressed an obsession with Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people in 2018.
Judge Nicholas Primm called Gray’s actions “deliberate, contemplated evil,” telling him, “You seem to relish following in the footsteps of the murderers you idolize.”
New Spy Chief
The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence yesterday in a party-line vote, 51–47. Democrats had criticized Clayton for repeatedly failing to directly say Joe Biden won the 2020 election when questioned about it during his confirmation hearing.
Clayton, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former SEC chair under Trump, replaces acting DNI Bill Pulte and takes over with a much smaller workforce than his predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, had.
Pulte said yesterday that he cut the ODNI workforce by 30% during his tenure of five and a half weeks.
Reflecting Pool
A former Olympic canoeist charged with vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has asked a judge to turn over all grand jury testimony that led to his indictment, citing “irregularities” in the proceedings. David Hearn’s lawyers also want prosecutors to disclose the legal instructions given to grand jurors about the elements of the charge against him.
A government witness testified that the area of the pool liner was already damaged and would have required repairs regardless of Hearn’s alleged actions. To bring a felony charge, prosecutors needed to show that Hearn caused at least $1,000 in damage — the threshold that separates a felony from a misdemeanor under DC law — and Hearn’s lawyer argued that the jury was not properly instructed about that distinction.
Hearn pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony count of destruction of property, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. His trial is scheduled to start September 28.
Russia Sanctions
The Senate voted yesterday to advance a sanctions bill targeting Russia and extending sanctions on Iran, clearing the way for a full floor vote. 50 Republicans and 36 Democrats supported ending debate on the measure, now called the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 in honor of the senator who died July 11. The vote came hours after Graham’s funeral service at Washington National Cathedral.
The bill aims to increase economic pressure on Russia — as Graham sought — by targeting oil revenue that funds its war in Ukraine. It would sanction Russian officials and oligarchs, along with their family members, Russian banks, and the “shadow fleet,” a network of ships Russia uses to sell oil while evading sanctions. It would also let the president impose tariffs on the top buyers of Russian oil to pressure them into cutting ties with Moscow. Some Democrats objected to that tariff provision, saying it hands Trump too much authority.
At Trump’s request, the bill also extends existing sanctions restricting Iran’s oil-linked funding for its weapons programs.
ICE to Deport Haitians
ICE plans to increase operations to arrest and deport Haitian migrants after their deportation protections expired Monday. Roughly 350,000 Haitian immigrants lost their ability to legally live and work in the US when their temporary protected status — a designation Congress created in 1990 for migrants from countries hit by war or disaster — ended.
ICE’s plans include arresting migrants in Ohio cities like Springfield, which has a large Haitian immigrant population and which Trump repeatedly targeted during the 2024 campaign with false claims that Haitian immigrants there were eating residents’ pets.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could terminate TPS designations for Haitian and 6,000 Syrian immigrants.
Interest Rate Stays Same
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged today, a fifth straight hold. Three of the 12 members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee wanted a 0.25% hike, believing it was necessary to lower the current inflation rate of 3.5% annually. The Fed’s target is 2% or lower. Last month’s decision was unanimous.
The Fed has held rates steady despite repeated calls from President Trump to lower them.