🚁 U.S. Army Apache Helicopter Downed Near Strait of Hormuz; Crew Rescued by Unmanned Vessel

A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman on Monday, and its two crew members were rescued within approximately two hours by an unmanned surface vessel operating under Task Force 59 — a first for the U.S. military, according to NBC News. Central Command confirmed the soldiers were in stable condition and receiving medical care. The cause of the incident is under investigation. Iranian media acknowledged the incident without claiming responsibility, and the Revolutionary Guard had not issued a statement as of Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred on the same day Iran and Israel exchanged their first direct strikes since an April truce, briefly raising fears of a return to open war before both sides stepped back. President Trump told reporters Tuesday that a deal with Iran was imminent, describing negotiations as in their “final throes” and predicting the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes, would reopen upon signing. Iran has controlled the strait since the war began. Trump indicated a deal could be finalized within days, though no agreement has yet been reached despite multiple similar predictions in recent weeks.

The Founders who wrote the commander-in-chief clause understood that the executive’s control of military operations must be matched by accountability to the republic whose sons and daughters are placed in harm’s way. Congress retains the constitutional authority to declare war and to fund or defund military operations. The strait is of vital national interest. A diplomatic resolution that secures its reopening and constrains Iran’s nuclear program without sacrificing the credibility of American deterrence would serve the republic’s interests. Whether the deal taking shape accomplishes that is the question to press.

⚖️ Karmelo Anthony Found Guilty of Murder in Frisco Track Meet Stabbing

A Collin County, Texas jury found Karmelo Anthony guilty of murder on Monday in the April 2025 stabbing death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Frisco ISD track meet, according to CBS News Texas. Anthony, now 19, faced a charge of murder after prosecutors argued he intentionally stabbed Metcalf once in the chest during an altercation near a team tent area at Kuykendall Stadium. The medical examiner testified the wound pierced Metcalf’s heart and was unsurvivable. Defense attorneys contended Anthony acted in self-defense. The jury rejected that argument after hearing testimony from more than two dozen witnesses over several days. A student witness described the stabbing as “lethal force against non-lethal force.” Under the murder conviction, Anthony faces a sentencing range of 5 to 99 years or life in prison.

The case drew national attention and sparked significant public controversy, with heightened security surrounding the courthouse throughout the proceedings. It raised pointed questions about self-defense law, youth violence, and the presence of weapons at school athletic events. Anthony’s own coach acknowledged there was no legitimate reason for an athlete to have a knife at a track meet. The verdict does not resolve those broader questions, but it reflects a jury’s sober conclusion, after weighing the evidence, that what happened in Frisco was not lawful self-defense. That is precisely what juries are for.

The Founders who wrote the right to trial by jury into both Article III and the Sixth Amendment did so because they believed twelve citizens were more trustworthy arbiters of fact than any single judge or official. The Metcalf family waited more than a year for that verdict. The system, imperfect as it is, delivered one.

🎤 White House Hands Press Credentialing Authority to UFC for South Lawn Event

The White House press corps will not be permitted on White House grounds this Sunday during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn unless the Ultimate Fighting Championship grants them credentials, according to reporting by The Washington Post. White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang notified members that only the expanded press pool of 35 reporters will be permitted on the South Lawn during the fight, while all other credentialed journalists will be barred from the briefing room, the North Lawn television area, and their press workspaces for the duration of the event. The UFC, run by Dana White, a close friend and prominent supporter of President Trump, has final say over which additional journalists gain access to the South Lawn.

The event, named UFC Freedom 250, is scheduled for June 14 — Trump’s 80th birthday and Flag Day — and is designed to mark both occasions as well as the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Trump has suggested the arena, erected at UFC’s expense on the South Lawn, could remain permanently. Press arrivals and departures at the South Lawn have been closed since construction began in late May, curtailing the traditional Marine One departure availability. The WHCA has pushed back on the arrangement and been told the White House is holding firm.

A free press is not guaranteed by the good graces of those in power. It is guaranteed by the First Amendment, and its practical independence depends on the government’s willingness to treat press access to the people’s house as a public function rather than a favor dispensed by private parties with a financial relationship to the president. The Founders who wrote the First Amendment understood that a republic whose government controls what reporters can cover of its own activities is not truly accountable to the people. Ceding credentialing authority to a business partner of the president, however temporarily, is an arrangement worth naming clearly.

🦞 Maine Democrats Choose Platner as Senate Nominee, Setting Up Collins Showdown

Maine Democrats headed to the polls Tuesday in the state’s Senate primary, where progressive combat veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner entered as the heavy favorite to win the Democratic nomination to face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November, according to The Guardian. Platner dominated the primary field after former Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign in April, and polls showed him leading by double digits heading into election day. Platner has attracted both significant grassroots support and a string of controversies throughout the race, including inflammatory social media posts, questions about a tattoo, and reports of sending explicit messages to women outside his marriage. Maine’s polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday with results still being counted as this edition went to press.

Collins is the only Republican senator representing a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making Maine Democrats’ top Senate target. A pre-primary survey by UMass Lowell showed Platner leading Collins 48 to 43 percent among likely general election voters. The race is widely regarded as one of the most consequential of the 2026 cycle for the balance of power in the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-45 majority. Whatever margin Platner carries out of the primary will tell observers how much damage his controversies inflicted and how unified Democrats in Maine are heading into the fall.

✉️ Federal Mail Ballot Restrictions Move Forward as States Brace for Midterm Disruption

The Trump administration is moving ahead with implementation of a March 31 executive order restricting mail-in voting ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to Governing. The Department of Homeland Security announced it will give states access to federal citizenship data by June 30 and plans to monitor mail ballot flows for anomalies suggesting voter fraud. A separate component of the order would require the Postal Service to obtain lists of absentee voters from states before transmitting ballots; the Postal Service has put forward a proposal consistent with that directive. At least five lawsuits challenging the order are pending in federal courts, though a D.C. judge declined in late May to pause its enforcement, finding it was too early to weigh in on implementation that had not yet fully begun.

The order arrives against the backdrop of Trump’s renewed claims of fraud in California’s primary elections. The president alleged on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Democrats were “cheating” based on the normal, legally prescribed pace of California’s mail ballot counting. The U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, a Trump appointee, said his office had opened election fraud investigations related to the California races and sent a prosecutor to observe counting operations at the Los Angeles County processing center. California’s attorney general and election officials denied any basis for the allegations, noting that California’s counting procedures are set by state law and that every court, audit, and recount in modern history has found no evidence of widespread fraud in the state, according to The Guardian.

The Founders who designed the election system vested administration of elections primarily in the states, not the federal executive. Article I, Section 4 gives Congress — not the president — authority to regulate the “Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections. The republic’s interest in election integrity is genuine and important. So is the republic’s interest in ensuring that the administration of elections remains free from executive pressure designed to produce preferred outcomes. Those two interests are not in conflict; honoring both requires distinguishing between evidence-based concerns and claims for which no evidence has been produced.