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July 3, 2026

5 entries on this date.

Texas Tribune reveals Trump administration asked Texas criminal-defense commission to take over immigrant children's deportation cases

In mid-June 2026, top officials working with the Trump administration — including James McHenry, the Justice Department's chief administrative hearing officer — asked the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, a state body the Legislature created solely for criminal defense, to take over legal representation of unaccompanied immigrant children in their deportation proceedings. The outreach, which the commission's director said fell outside its legal mandate, came as the administration moved to end the federally mandated legal-services contract held by the Acacia Center for Justice (set to expire July 31 with no required transition notice), stopped paying subcontractors, and sent federal agents to the offices of children's legal-aid nonprofits. Advocates and a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the request; critics said it was designed to concentrate unaccompanied children in a border state with higher asylum-denial rates to speed their removal.

Trump pardoned Adam Kidan, Abramoff-scandal figure and Republican fundraiser host, for his 2005 fraud conviction

On July 3, 2026, President Trump pardoned Adam Kidan, a former business partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff who pleaded guilty in 2005 to fraud and conspiracy in the SunCruz gambling-boat scandal and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. Kidan, who reporting indicates helped host a 2026 Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for a Long Island Republican congressional candidate, was among 11 people granted clemency that day.

Trump pardoned six people prosecuted for Clean Air Act 'defeat device' emissions violations

On July 3, 2026, President Trump announced pardons for six people who had been prosecuted for disabling vehicle emissions controls in violation of the Clean Air Act, describing the cases as an act of "weaponization and stupidity" by federal prosecutors. A lawyer and a lobbyist representing five of the six defendants — Ryan and Wade Lalone, Matt Geouge, Tim Clancy, and Mac Spurlock — identified them to CBS News after the White House declined to release the names. The clemency followed an organized advocacy campaign and came after the Justice Department earlier in 2026 ordered prosecutors to drop all pending "defeat device" cases and after Trump pardoned a similar Wyoming defendant last fall.

U.S. Department of Energy deleted 1,600+ energy-saving webpages amid summer heat wave

At least 1,662 U.S. Department of Energy webpages providing guidance on lowering energy costs and protecting the electrical grid during heat waves had gone dark as of July 3, 2026, according to a Guardian analysis of deleted-URL data from the Internet Archive published July 15. More than 300 of the removed pages had drawn over 160,000 views in the preceding 30 days, and at least 18 were removed within days of a proposed DOE rollback of home-appliance efficiency standards. The department did not respond to questions about when or why the pages were removed.

Mielun Butler, 18, stomped to death in custody at Hinds County Detention Center

Mielun Butler, an 18-year-old booked into the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond, Mississippi on July 1, 2026, was stomped to death in custody by the morning of July 3, 2026, the county coroner said. Coroner Jeremiah Howard said it appeared Butler "had shoe prints all over his head," and a video circulating on social media showed a person kicking his limp, bloodied body. The facility, overseen by the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, has a documented history of custodial-safety failures and operates under a court-appointed federal receiver.