Crabgrass is experiencing a headache and dazed confusion, to the tune of $300 billion. Is it there or not there?

 The Hill:

“Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, concluding the post with “President DJT.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump’s rebuke comes after a U.S. official told reporters earlier Monday, “We discussed the possibility of releasing frozen funds, sanctions relief, you know, a big $300 billion fund to rebuild their country, and all of these things are going to be tied to performance.”

Vice President Vance appeared to confirm the possibility in an interview with CBS News on Monday morning. When asked about the potential $300 billion to rebuild Iran, the vice president said, “that’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation.”

Vance is likely referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council, which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Aram [sic] Emirates.

We know Bibi and Hezbollah deny any role in the MOU. But these guys, they bought in? Or not? Quaint. 

Continuing - 

The New York Times previously reported the agreement included a provision for a $300 billion reconstruction investment fund for Iran, citing information from an Iranian official and a diplomat.

But senior U.S. officials also told reporters Monday that the memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed digitally over the weekend, is only the first step and that “real technical discussions” will begin later this week and be led by Vance.

"Senior U.S. officials" - who dat? "Real technical discussions," what dat?

Continuing - and this spikes the headache and confusion =

Before the MOU was signed over the weekend, the vice president said Tehran would not be “receiving any cash” under the agreement with the U.S.

SO - Tolls? Tolls not a part of the agreement, according to Vance? Or that just the U.S. will not be paying any, in that the U.S. does not move oil or LNG in and out of the Persian Gulf? It confuses.

What it seems to say is that Iranian tolls will cap out once they hit $300 billion, with no cash directly exchanged between the US and Iran; and that Trump knows no difference between million and billion, unless it's his take out from this and that. 

Unfreezing Iranian assets would mean cash from impound released, so what does that Vance super-sized waffle mean regarding sanction relief to Iran? 

Drip, drip, drip - slowly we learn what capitulation to Iranian demands means?

And TACO seems a part of the ambiguity. But what do I know? 

____________UPDATE___________

Interesting, Sunni Pakistan and Shia Iran share a border, and in this currently unrolling situation they seem to be getting along fine. Pakistan being the one that has nukes, Iran being the one saying it has a right to enrich uranium 235 but has no bomb intention. There are kilograms of 60% enriched U-235, somewhere. And Trump emphasizes Iran says they have no bomb intentions, which they have said all along.

The difference is that earlier Obama had negotiated International inspections and Trump has not claimed the current understanding involves any such substantiation means. A lot of Iran remains as it was, and nobody has poisoned anybody else's desalination powers. This settlement situation is very curious. But don't look there much more, there are indictments of citizens in Minnesota. Filed under seal a few weeks ago, now being revealed. Timing? And the Pulte thing just reminds some of how Matt Gaetz was walked around the Senate by JD, before Pam Bondi.

Being played for fools is a judgment call. Circumstantial inferences can always have a range beyond what officials tell reporters. 

FURTHER: 

 Why Trump’s proposal for Syria to fight Hezbollah will send shudders across Lebanon

https://time.com/article/2026/06/17/g7-leaders-call-for-immediate-ceasefire-lebanon-us-iran-peace-deal/

 FURTHER:

If Syria and Iraq under current management are amenable, pick your pipeline routes into Turkey and the rest or Europe (including southern Caspian oil). If stability is expected, the Hormuz Strait remains a route to Asia, while new pipelines would be a route to Germany. Russia then having competition and ongoing pipeline reliance through Ukraine and repair of the Baltic blown-up lines. Who loses?  Who wins? TAPI? 

And AI players are queuing up for their IPO offerings to retail investors and pension funds. There could be no energy shortages, indeed, consumer nations playing one producer against others in a surplus scenario. Iran joining the game full time. Norway and Brazil players.

Brought to you by the peace President? But frack it, what do I know? 

FURTHER:

Try search = china hydro river traffic lifts 

The suggestion is China needs hydro because it lacks domestic fossil fuel resources for its needs. 

 

Justice is blind. Stupid too, on occasion.

 https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/06/16/feds-charge-anti-ice-activists/

Minimal commentary here. The matter is examined in a post today at EmptyWheel. 

======================================= 

Two Minnesotans were murdered in plain sight and with video capture of each murder, by perps proven to be super-aggressive federal thugs. No federal charges.

Then this. Trump/JD together, are who they are, and we've more time to put up with them. This move by Todd Blanche's local rep is insane, and crazy too.

Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Two brazen murders, no charges. Then this. 

From an eminent domain lawyer:

“If you’re going by traditional credentials, it’s a very unusual pick,” said David Schultz, a professor of political science and law at Hamline University in St. Paul. “Generally, you’re looking for people with more of a prosecutorial background. I can’t think of any situation where you would need an eminent domain expert in that office.”

The term "prosecutorial discretion" takes a right turn, a hard right turn, into outlandishness. What you say and how you say it can get a load of shit dumped on your head in Trump/JD land. 

=================================================== 

https://www.twincities.com/2026/06/16/federal-prosecutors-charge-15-people-it-says-impeded-agents-during-minnesota-immigration-crackdown/  

That item leads with this image, from back then. Brought to you by the same people who joined Bibi in his Iran war wet dream extravaganza.

 In closing, detail from the image -

 

My victim is your criminal? Strange world where power defines all.

_____________________UPDATE___________________

Heather Cox Richardson in a June 16 substack post analyzes the situation -

In Chicago, a case against six protesters for interfering with a federal agent and conspiring to interfere with a federal agent at a detention facility protest fell apart in May when the judge discovered that prosecutors had talked to individual grand jurors outside the courtroom and removed those jurors who refused to indict, as well as apparently overstating the strength of the evidence against the defendants. Then the prosecutors tried to hide evidence of their misconduct by redacting the transcripts from the grand jury.

As Julie Bosman of the New York Times reported, U.S. District Judge April Perry dismissed the case against the “Broadview Six,” saying: “I have read hundreds—if not thousands—of grand jury transcripts involving prosecutors who are the most junior of prosecutors to several U.S. attorneys who appeared before the grand jury. I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”

Today U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen announced his office was charging fifteen people with conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers over their behavior during the federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis last year that led to the deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Rosen alleges that the defendants are part of two “antifa” groups that “violently oppose immigration law enforcement.”

At the press conference about the charges, prosecutors introduced a Facebook post from one of the accused that said: “We need to become ungovernable.” Journalist Aaron Rupar noted: “Oh, so they have NOTHING nothing.” It’s actually even more embarrassing than that: Trump attended the Libertarian National Convention in 2024 when its theme was “Become Ungovernable,” and stood in front of the banner bearing that slogan, so the idea that the phrase is part of a criminal conspiracy will be awkward to argue.

From Minneapolis, Matt Sepic of MPR News reported that Rosen said the people were “charged not for what they said but what they did.” But Rosen did not answer questions about whether any law enforcement officers were injured and said evidence would come out later. Sepic notes that federal prosecutors charged thirty-six people with assaulting or impeding immigration agents in December and January, but have now dropped eighteen of the cases entirely and eleven more through nonprosecution agreements. Sepic notes that Magistrate Judge David Schultz in April called one of the prosecutors’ charging documents a “false affidavit.”

At the time of the Good and Pretti killings, Open Measures, which tracks the spread of harmful social media activity, noted that right-wing social media personalities tried to redirect public outrage by claiming that community organizers using group chats on Signal were threatening the safety of federal officers. As those claims spread, right-wing media amplified old stories that those opposing ICE agents were “antifa” or part of a “radical left.” They demanded such chats be investigated. Today’s charges cited messages sent in Signal chats.

Reporter Christopher Mathias of MS NOW noted that while the Department of Justice is going after Minneapolis protesters, Greg Bovino, the commander-at-large of the Border Patrol during the Minneapolis crackdown that cost Good and Pretti their lives, has appeared on a white nationalist podcast as he teases a bid for the presidency.

Journalist Kat Abughazaleh, who is one of the Broadview Six, commented: “As the government raids “antifa groups” in Minneapolis with the SAME charges levied against myself and the rest of the Broadview Six, we need to be asking how they got this indictment. And as charges (hopefully) get dropped, we must remember the process is the punishment.”

But today’s charges have redirected at least some media energy from the details emerging about Trump’s “deal” with Iran. While the U.S. has declined to publish details of what appears to be a memorandum of understanding that participants hope will lead to a final agreement, Dov Lieber, Summer Said, Alexander Ward, and Rebecca Feng of the Wall Street Journal report that the agreement says the U.S. will waive sanctions to allow Iran immediately to sell oil and to access the banking, transportation, and insurance systems it will need to do so.

Alayna Treene and Kevin Liptak of CNN report that U.S. negotiators are downplaying the significance of the language in the memorandum of understanding, claiming that language that seems to favor Iran is designed to give cover to Iranian officials back home.

And why might that be, for people not assassinated when others were?

Continuing - 

But Philip Wegmann and Lindsay Wise of the Wall Street Journal report that the vagueness of the language of the agreement is not fooling Republican war hawks who stood behind Trump in his attacks on Iran. They are calling early reports about the deal “disturbing” and “utterly disastrous.”

There is other news the administration would likely prefer to cover up, as well.

Sarah Blaskey and Jonathan O’Connell of the Washington Post reported today that even as Trump was assuring the American public that private donors would pay for his ballroom, the White House had already approved tens of millions of taxpayer money for the contractor building the addition.

With access to project summaries, the journalists were able to show that “internal cost estimates have been significantly higher than administration officials have acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced.”

And Trump’s renovation of the Reflecting Pool by the Lincoln Memorial is having the effect experts warned of. Because of the dark paint on the floor of the pool, the sun heats the water up even faster than it did before, and the resulting algae bloom has turned the pool bright green. Today, workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool to try to kill the algae.

And JD will spin out future "truth" with the Iranian negotiators who were not assassinated while others were. That will be interesting in how it evolves. And in who the Iranians in this regime transition, not change, transition, are and what finally emerges will be illustrative of something. What, your guess is as good as Crabgrass can guess. They know the plan. We know there is one, and it will be dripped out in a context as free as they can spin it as to The War, Who Won. So far the Gulf Arab states do not show up as winning anything, yet, if ever. Other fossil fuel producers not tied to the Hormuz Strait situation have seen higher fossil fuel pricing for months.

At a guess, the spinout of the MOU will take months more.

The Richardson post has been quoted at length as each paragraph seemed insightful. If Richardson wants, she can sue me for too long a quote to call fair use. Given the whole context of the post, Crabgrass says, "Fair Use." And it will not be done again until it is.

And the EmptyWheel commentary community will be adding to the post linked to at the outset, so check back to see how it goes there.
 

 

 

 

The Art of the Deal is to keep details secret if the details amount to your adversary pissing all over your shoes.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2LG5z77Q8s

UPDATE: Who won will take time to show up, but if the US withdraws its forces from Persian Gulf nations, at that point, Iran won. If they stay, no build back, then it would be unclear, as they could be hostages in place and in reach of rocket or drone barrages.  If the Arab state installations are built back into more secure and better armed things, the US won.

Those are roughly parameters for judgment. If Iran gets into perpetuity to charge passage tolls at the Strait, it's unclear. Trump's US oil industry backers have oil and LNG to sell, so if a "tax" to Iran is imposed on Gulf oil, will they object?

If the oil cronies don't object, Trump won't. 

And the Emirates have withdrawn from OPEC, so expect them to get as much product out of the Persian Gulf as they can, as fast as they can. That will allow the world to see whether Iran rations the right of passage into the open ocean. If they ration it, how would the numbers shake out? They get so much at price to China from their resources compared to the Saudis and others, a premium to Iran product, or a open situation but where the Iranians can price lower because they will not be putting a toll on themselves.

The Crabgrass guess is there will be a toll. Iran wants it, and the US oil cronies Trump serves will be able to deal with that. So, competitors of Iran will pay a tax.

Competitors of US worldwide sourcing will pay that tax. US worldwide will not.

Iran should come out better economically than they were Feb. 27, so they won.

Trump will try to obfuscate, but the world will know better. The Arabs will be okay with the US abandoning bases, since what good have they been for the Arabs Since Feb. 28?

Israel will have to cave, since facing Iran, alone, is no option. The Iranians have proven they can take out Dimona, and they know where the IDF leadership are; but do the Iranians have ground penetration capability they may need? 

The words "deeply excavated" do appear in reports such as this. The likelihood would be Iranian proxy efforts continuing, but Iran not firing further into Israel if Israel does not further bomb the Iranian homeland.

And the Israelis have the bomb. If pressed near to defeat, what then? 

That's all guessing. But there have been assassinations, while the negotiation team Iran used has not been hit, and it is feasible that the negotiation team sold out others to make it into a "modified" regime. 

It would not be a first time for such stuff. The Venezuelans seem to have had a sellout of Maduro by underlings, and Iran is not immune from people moving to advance themselves. It would be on a larger numerical scale, but again, people sometimes move in ways they find personally favorable, chips falling where they may.

It could have been Jarad and Witcoff getting word of opportunity, sending it up the chain at the time Bibi was saying "They'll all be together soon. We can change regimes."

But that is speculation. A far reach, with ambiguous facts. Circumstantial inference often allows a range of guesswork over feasible or most likely dimensions.

The upgrading of Dimona was widely reported. The purpose is something the Israelis never discussed, and they never admitted they have the bomb even. 

 One likelihood is the Arabs will be less willing to buy US munitions that did not do the job this time. And Trump likely will walk away from anything that pinches. TACO and all that.

FURTHER: A guess is one or a few Saudis may think in similar ways. Google Analytics say there is some Saudi readership of the blog over the last day. 

FURTHER: The Iranians do not want to get nuked. The Israelis do not want to go nuclear short of being really boxed into a corner. That suggests the Israelis will soon exit Lebanon. Iran being satisfied with the exit. All in the neighborhood being unhappy. US citizens unhappy too, and, back to the Epstein question * * * 

Did you buy into the IPO? If so, this 3 hr Elon thing tells you the future you bought into. And all the out-in-outer-space hardware will be needed for AI? Or for Starlink? Or both? To communicate with the moon station, "manned" by Tesla robots?

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYXbuik3dgA

 

 

"Judge blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund until government agrees it’s been dissolved"

https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/06/12/repub/judge-blocks-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-until-government-agrees-its-been-dissolved/

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction Friday halting the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for one week, giving the government time to sign a “clear, unambiguous” agreement that the fund is dead.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said from the bench the agreement must be signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The balance of harms tips in the favor of the plaintiff,” said Brinkema, a Clinton administration appointee.

Brinkema had already temporarily blocked the fund on May 29 on an emergency basis.  

The prospect that the fund would pay Trump’s supporters, including those who assaulted police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, sparked multiple lawsuits, including the filing in Virginia. 

Challengers included a former Department of Justice Jan. 6 prosecutor who was fired last year and a protester at an immigration raid last year who was charged with a felony, and has since been acquitted by a jury. The plaintiffs are represented by the legal advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Common Cause. 

[...]

Issue not moot, judge says

During a hearing that lasted less than an hour, Brinkema swiftly called Andrew Block, senior counsel to the U.S. associate attorney general, to speak first.

“You’re a brave man, Mr. Block. You’re all by yourself. Frankly, you’re in the hot seat,” Brinkema said, noting that Block was the only representative for the government in the courtroom.

Brinkema kicked off questioning by asking Block if he’d had a chance to find an answer to why Blanche has not formally rescinded the “anti-weaponization” fund in writing. 

The question had been posed to Block by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia less than 48 hours ago during a hearing for a separate lawsuit against the fund. Block, who also appeared alone before Leon, told the judge he did not know the reason Blanche had not issued a written order.

“Do you have an answer to that question now?” Brinkema asked.

“Your honor, I don’t. I don’t have the ability to speak to the AG,” he responded.

As he did in federal court June 10, Block argued that Blanche testified publicly before Congress that the administration was not moving forward with the fund, and that Blanche had signed legal briefs on the matter.

Acknowledging those arguments, Leon denied an emergency request to block the fund, saying the case appeared “moot.”

Brinkema, however, said she does not agree with Leon’s assessment. 

Doubting whether any of Blanche’s verbal or written statements to stop the fund had been made under penalty of perjury, Brinkema said, “that means the issue, in my view, is not moot.”

Wholly unrelated, this link.  

 

BBC posts about the extended cease fire understanding which is yet to be signed.

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39yvvy273ko

 

Spousal Immunity. Smile, Smile, Smile.

 Image source subheadlined, 

Donald Trump Jr.’s marriage to Bettina Anderson has renewed attention on her late father, banker Harry Anderson Jr., over reports linking him to Jeffrey Epstein’s banking and tax dealings.

With the key story. 

See, also spouses featured, here, here and here.

Epstein lives. Despite the jailhouse hanging, the guy just won't go away.