The News Agents

The election offices of Fulton County were raided by FBI agents yesterday morning. Fulton, in the state of Georgia, was at the heart of Donald Trump's claims six years ago that he’d won the 2020 election (he didn’t). Why are ballot boxes of archived votes now being removed from the premises? Is this still about a six years ago old grudge? Or does it presage Trump's plan for the November midterm elections? We speak to the Commissioner on the premises who watched the action unfold before her eyes.
Later - offensive language warning - the Reform councillor on the Redcar ballot - who got through Nigel Farage's self-admittedly “piss poor“ vetting system.
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Kemi Badenoch has told her party not to get in her way as she steers it further to the Right. Is this the correct assessment of what the Conservatives needs to attract voters back? Or is she way off?
Later, Trump has threatened Iran with his big beautiful armada. Does he have any concern for the protestors getting killed in their tens of thousands thousands? Or is this all about US interests?
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Donald Trump's tone on Minneapolis has changed in the last 24 hours. He’s now having conciliatory meetings and phone calls with State Governor Tim Walz and the city's Mayor Jacob Frey.
And it looks like he’s removed his Border Commander Gregory Bovino and put him out to pasture in California. What's behind the change of heart? Was it the polls? The murder of American citizens? Or the fact that his administration’s account of the killings has been flatly caught out by camera evidence. Is his ICE policy in meltdown? Or just on hold?
Later - how extremism is climbing in the UK pushed by social media algorithms - Andy Hughes from The Crime Agents joins us.
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Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renounced the party that gave her power, and defected to Reform. She's telling us today that Britain is broken and “she” (Britain, not Suella) was “suffering”.
Are Reform better off with her? Are the Tories better off without her? And has it been enough of a distraction from the Andy Burnham saga to give Keir Starmer a lucky break?
Later, is Trump panicking about his ICE strategy after the latest murder of a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis?
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In Minneapolis right now, there are more ICE and border patrol agents than there are police officers. The national guard - the army - is on standby to deploy to the city.
Everybody in the city has a story about being targeted by ICE. Many now carry passports on them when they leave the house. If they are fortunate enough not to have been stopped themselves, they will know a neighbour, a friend, a colleague or a relative. Some Minnesotans literally do not know where their family have been taken.
State senators have told The News Agents there is "a war against the State" being waged by the federal government.
And in this new kind of authoritarianism, there has been a remarkable reaction. Citizens taking to the streets on patrols, huge community mobilisation, delivering food and goods to those too afraid to leave their homes. Plane spotters, monitoring ICE deportation flights that the administration no longer publicly records.
If that all sounds like a democratic breakdown - there is a good case to be made that this is exactly what is happening, what Donald Trump is intent on unleashing on a Democratic stronghold that is home to America's largest Somali community.
Lewis has this special report from Minneapolis and St Paul in Minnesota.