The president’s border czar was caught in a sting operation
Then the administration waived it away
IT READS LIKE something out of a detective novel. Picture it: a sleuth gets suspicious of a former beat cop. He reckons the old police officer is taking bribes on a promise to influence the government, since one of his buddies was about to get elected to a top office. The detective goes undercover as a local businessman. His disguise? A trench coat, fedora and a well-placed wire. He offers the cop $50,000—stuffed into a fast-food bag—to help steer public funds his way. The cop goes for it. Gotcha!
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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Holding the bag”
From the September 27th 2025 edition
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Donald Trump is raising the stakes for holding power
Winning is becoming about prosecution, not just public policy
It is getting much harder to get evicted in New York City
Tenants win. Potential tenants lose
Women’s pro-ballers want more cash
The popularity of the WNBA is soaring
Democratic mayors and the president are converging on drugs policy
Harm reduction has gone out of fashion, but will not disappear
Immigrants are narrowing the black-white wage gap in America
Their success is changing what it means to be African-American
The president is wrong on Tylenol
Scientists studying any link between the painkiller and autism have reached no firm conclusions