1. Portland pullout

In a remarkable turnaround, federal officers who have clashed violently with demonstrators on the streets of Portland, Ore., for weeks will begin to depart the city tomorrow. A deal struck between the Trump Administration and Gov. Kate Brown's office was announced this morning following "serious discussions" among city and state authorities and officials representing the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. In exchange for a phased exit of federal officers from the city, Brown's office has agreed to help guard against vandalism of the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, using state resources, alongside the Federal Protective Service. —Oregon Public Broadcasting

• — Before you go, pay your bill. Portland officials say the federal government owes the city nearly $200,000 related to a federal courthouse fence. The city has filed a cease and desist order over the fence, which obstructs a downtown street, and is assessing the federal government $500 for every 15 minutes that it remains in place. Officials say the city intends to collect. —NBC News
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• — Keep out. The mayors of Portland; Seattle, Wash., Chicago, Ill., Kansas City, Mo., and Albuquerque, N.M., have appealed directly to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarized agents to cities that don't want them. "This administration's egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen," they wrote. —WMUR
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• — Federal crimefighters? While Attorney General Bill Barr testified in Congress yesterday that agents deployed in Portland were protecting federal property, the mission is different in other cities. Nearly 100 federal agents and officers will be sent to Detroit, Mich.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Milwaukee, Wisc., in an expansion of Operation Legend, a federal initiative that began earlier this month ostensibly to help combat crime. —USA Today

2. Chertoff: DHS must restore public trust

"It is past time for the leadership of Homeland Security to firmly and unequivocally reject efforts to hijack the agency for political purposes. The commitment to the rule of law and to restrained and measured operational behavior must be articulated and carried out. That is especially true as we approach a critical election, to avoid any concern that agents of the department might be deployed to inhibit or frighten certain citizens from going to the polls." —The New York Times

Ed. Note: Michael Chertoff served as the secretary of Homeland Security under former President George W. Bush.

3. Watchdog reports illegal campaign activity

A nonpartisan watchdog filed a complaint with the Federal Election Committee yesterday alleging that President Trump's re-election campaign broke the law by "laundering" $170 million in spending in an effort to conceal payments to people close to the Trump family and campaign.

• — The 81-page complaint, filed by the Campaign Legal Center, alleges that former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale used a "pass-through" company to pay downstream vendors, including Trump campaign members, associates, and family members.

• — The CLC has asked the FEC to investigate and take action against the campaign for funneling payments through the company, American Made Media Consultants, used to conceal the payments.
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• — "This illegal conduit scheme leaves voters in the dark about the entities working for the Trump campaign, the nature of their services, and the full amount they are paid," said Brendan Fischer, the CLC's director of federal reform. "We don't know all of what is being hidden by this scheme, but we do know that it violates the law." —The Hill

MORE: President Trump brings new challenges against Manhattan DA Vance's subpoena for his tax returns —New York Daily News

4. Trump suddenly loves the FBI

The president was critical today of the proposed coronavirus relief package that he says rewards "badly run radical left Democrats" in cash-strapped cities. He also found himself at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over $1.7 billion in the bill to revamp the FBI’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. McConnell opposes the aid because it's not related to the pandemic. The president wants to maintain the FBI building because it sits across the street from the Trump International Hotel, which could face competition if the agency moves and another hotel is developed there. —Associated Press

• — Doctor, doctor. At a press briefing yesterday, President Trump doubled down on his support of a doctor's "summit" peddling hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure. Earlier in the day, social media companies flagged the viral coronavirus disinformation that came out of the event, including on Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter account. When questioned about one of the doctor's odd beliefs about alien DNA, Trump abruptly left the briefing. —The Daily Beast

• — That's why you wear a mask, Louie. Rep. Louie Gohmert, who has stubbornly refused to wear a mask in the Capitol Building, including at yesterday's Judiciary Committee hearing, has tested positive for the coronavirus. He was one of several officials scheduled to fly to Texas with Trump today and tested positive during a pre-screen at the White House. —The Texas Tribune
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• — There they go again. Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow's military intelligence service known as the GRU have been accused by U.S. officials of using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic to American and other Western audiences. Give them credit for consistency at least. —Associated Press

5. Collings: Yes, masks are constitutional

"The Supreme Court has never held...that we have a fundamental right not to wear masks in public. Even if it did, the court's precedents establish that governments could still limit that right if doing so was 'necessary to further a compelling government interest.' Clearly, combating COVID-19 is a compelling interest. And for the time being, we can't do so effectively without requiring masks." —Deseret News

Ed. Note: Justin Collings is a professor of constitutional law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.

6. Immigration in the news

The Trump Administration indicated yesterday that it will reject any new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigrant program, shorten deportation protections for those whose eligibility is set to expire, and possibly end the program altogether. The administration is reviewing last month's Supreme Court ruling, which found that the administration had erred in the way it previously decided to end the program. The review is likely to take at least 100 days, putting off any final decision on DACA until after the Nov. 3 election. —Reuters

• — Two immigration agencies facing budget deficits after struggling to collect fees amid the coronavirus pandemic would get nearly $3 billion from the relief package unveiled this week by Senate Republicans. Aid to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Customs and Border Protection would prevent the agencies from having to furlough employees. —Roll Call

• — A pilot immigration program that would target highly skilled foreign workers using a points-based selection system has been proposed by Cornell Law School. Modeled after successful programs in Canada and Australia, the program has drawn bipartisan interest. Supporters say it could improve the current system and help spark the nation’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. —Newswise

7. Stevens: How the GOP lost its soul

"What is most telling is that the Republican Party actively embraced, supported, defended, and now enthusiastically identifies with a man who eagerly exploits the nation's racial tensions. In our system, political parties should serve a circuit breaker function. The Republican Party never pulled the switch." —The New York Times

Ed. Note: Stuart Stevens is a Republican political consultant and the author of the forthcoming book "It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump."

MORE: Derek Black was groomed to be the new face of white nationalism. Now he's working against it [audio] —The Washington Post

8. Social media companies under review

The Trump Administration has taken a key step this week to fulfill the president's executive order regarding the regulation of social media platforms. A petition for rulemaking from the Commerce Dept. asks the Federal Communications Commission to "clarify the provisions" of Sec. 230 of the Communications Decency Act as they apply to platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

• — Social media companies are currently granted liability protection under Sec. 230 because they are treated as "platforms," rather than "publishers," which can face lawsuits over content.

• — President Trump claims that Twitter made "editorial decisions" by fact-checking some of his tweets, which he says amounts to political activism, and that such actions should cost social media companies their liability protection.
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• — FCC Chair Ajit Pai said in May, "This debate is an important one. The Federal Communications Commission will carefully review any petition for rulemaking filed by the Department of Commerce." Stay tuned. —WUSA

9. Ignatius: Joe Biden's challenge

"[Former Vice President Joe Biden] needs to show that as president, he could truly bring America together by uniting our racially and politically diverse nation and restoring law, order, and justice—three essential pillars of our democracy. Biden shouldn't wade into the crowds in Portland. But perhaps he can become the voice of conciliation and political change. He should affirm the rightness of the protesters' cause—that black lives matter. But he should also call out the violent rock-throwers among the thousands of peaceful demonstrators." —The Washington Post

MORE: Rosen: Can Joe Biden be America's healer in chief? —Newsweek

10. An American Story: The blessing box

Mandy Stewart of Lula, Ga., created the "blessing box," a wooden cabinet filled with food and other necessities, upon seeing her community struggle during the pandemic. Stewart then needed to find an easy public access location for the box, and that's when restaurant-owner Amanda Browning volunteered the restaurant's front porch.

• — Browning said the Lula community regularly fills the box with canned goods and soups, along with toiletries like toothbrushes and feminine hygiene products. Local farmers also come by to drop off fresh produce.
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  — The blessing box is so busy that Browning and Stewart are looking to build a larger version to keep up with demand. Browning said that many of her neighbors don't "just get something from here. They always try to leave something in return."

• — Seeing the blessing box flourish fills Stewart with emotion, especially when she encounters children coming to the box. "Seeing the kids come without mom and dad, walk up to the blessing box... It just makes me feel good knowing that it's there 24/7. Those kids can go to it anytime they need something," she said. —CNN

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