🌊 Ctrl + Epstein + Delete

Storming a Burger King in honor of the French today.

Happy Bastille Day to all of you who celebrate. As much as we like to joke about the French, they’ve given us a lot: Impressionism, the baguette, and French fries. After a Google search, we also just learned that they gave us the photograph, the stethoscope, and pasteurization (sorry, RFK Jr.). So in honor of the French, we would like to end the intro with our favorite French saying: “I Surrender, I Surrender.”

–Max and Max

KEY STORY

Epstein Tape Modified?

The “full raw” surveillance footage of Jeffrey Epstein’s cell was likely modified, Wired found

• Last week, the Justice Department (DoJ) concluded that Epstein killed himself, did not have clients, and implicated no one in his crimes. To address doubt about those findings, the DoJ released the “raw” 11-hour video from a camera positioned outside Epstein’s cell

• Yet the timer on the footage jumps from 11:58:58 PM to 12:00:00 AM; the footage appears to show a different cell door than that reported in 2019; and Wired found that, “The footage…appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as ‘raw’ footage”

Dig Deeper

• Wired said the findings did not prove manipulation and that the video “may have simply been processed for public release using available software, with no modifications beyond stitching together two clips.” Yet the author added: “But the absence of a clear explanation for the processing of the file using professional editing software complicates the Justice Department’s narrative”

• The situation has prompted widespread accusations that the administration is enabling a cover-up. On Friday, Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino – formerly a major proponent of Epstein-related theories – skipped work and reportedly threatened to resign over the situation

• Trump has repeatedly downplayed any concerns about Epstein, posting this weekend: “[Let’s] not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about”

KEY STORY

Trump to Arm Ukraine

President Trump said the US would provide additional Patriot missiles to Ukraine, a significant expansion of his support to the country

• After initially pausing arms and intelligence sharing with Ukraine to bring it to the negotiating table, Trump is now saying that Putin is the actual obstacle to peace

• Last week, Trump said, “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless”

• On Friday, Trump confirmed that the US would be sending additional Patriot missiles to Ukraine, his first time expanding support to the country

Dig Deeper

• “We are going to be sending Patriots to Nato and then Nato will distribute that,” Trump said

• Patriots – one of the few systems capable of shooting down hypersonic ballistic missiles – are among the US’ most advanced air defense systems and comprise a vital part of Ukraine’s missile defense

• The news came after a week during which Russia waged one of its most intense aerial campaigns against Ukraine. It’s also conducting offensives in eastern and southern Ukraine, and has amassed 50,000+ troops near Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine

• Last week, an Economist analysis found that Russia is currently experiencing a higher death toll than at any other point during the war

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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KEY STORY

Air India Report

A preliminary investigation into the June Air India/Boeing crash confirmed that fuel-control switches were turned off shortly after takeoff

• On June 12, a London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed just after takeoff from India’s Ahmedabad airport. The first crash involving a Boeing 787, its cause hasn’t been established

• On Friday, a preliminary Indian investigation mentioned that both fuel-control switches went from "run" to "cutoff" within seconds of each other just after liftoff, cutting fuel supply to both engines

• The report noted: “In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cutoff…The other pilot responded that he did not do so.” Both switches were turned back on around 10 seconds later, but the engines couldn't restart and regain thrust quickly enough

Dig Deeper 

• US pilots familiar with the 787 were quoted as saying that the fuel-control switches have protective guards and mechanical mechanisms that would make them difficult to move accidentally. However, the FAA has noted the "potential disengagement" of such features on Boeing 737s, a different plane with a similar mechanism to the 787

• The report didn’t reach any final conclusions about what factors led to the accident

• While it established that the fuel switches were turned off, it didn’t make clear whether an accident or intentional act caused the movement

KEY STORY

Palestine Aid Report

A UN report found at least 798 killings near Gaza aid sites, while the Israel/US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said its mission was succeeding

• GHF took over aid distribution from the UN in May, establishing IDF-protected hubs where Palestinians can gather for food. On Friday, the UN human rights office released a report that found that 798 Palestinians were killed near GHF sites between May 27 and July 7

• GHF called the report "false and misleading” and said that it had been far more effective in delivering aid to Palestinians than the UN

• The report came days after the UN’s World Food Programme acknowledged that “most” of its aid trucks had been intercepted by “hungry civilian communities”

Dig Deeper 

• The UN report follows a report by Haaretz, one of Israel's leading newspapers, that found “the army has deliberately fired at Palestinians near aid distribution sites over the past month”

• Haaretz quoted one Israeli soldier as saying, "It's a killing field…Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire"

• Israel’s prime minister and defense minister called the report’s claims “blood libels”

RUNDOWN
Some Quick Stories for the Office

💲 Elon Musk's xAI is preparing to raise funds at a valuation between $170-200B, representing a 10-fold increase from its $18B valuation in May 2024

🎾 Jannik Sinner got his revenge against Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, defeating the Spaniard in four sets to win his first Wimbledon title

🇨🇦 President Trump announced plans for a 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting August 1, escalating tensions with America's third-largest trading partner mid-negotiations

💊 Ovidio Guzmán López, son of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder "El Chapo," pleaded guilty Friday in a Chicago court to four US drug trafficking charges including distribution and participating in a continuing criminal enterprise

🦸 "Superman" opened to $122M domestically this weekend, marking the highest-ever opening for a solo Superman film

🧑‍⚖️ A federal judge ordered the Trump Administration to stop indiscriminate immigration arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles

What does Roca Nation think?

🤐 Today’s Question: Do you think people are making too big of a deal about the lack of Epstein disclosure?

Reply to this email with your response!

POPCORN
Some Quick Stories for Happy Hour

👷 LA Consequential: 31 construction workers were safely rescued after part of a massive wastewater tunnel collapsed beneath LA

🩸 Fighting Cancer, Funding Hope: The younger sister of 18-year-old leukemia patient Cedar Connell raised $620K in seven weeks for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of her brother

🖼️ Uber for paintings: An MIT student has developed a method using AI‑generated polymer masks to restore time‑worn paintings in just hours, not months

💉 Tiny Dose, Big Breakthrough: The world’s first malaria treatment specifically for babies has been approved, offering protection to the most vulnerable group affected by the disease

💰 Seeds of Generosity: An Englishman has opened his garden to the public on Saturdays for the past 22 years, raising $675K for charity

ROCA WRAP
Salary Scandal

Peru

This country’s president doubled her salary despite having a record low 2% approval rating.

Peru has struggled with political instability for decades, cycling through multiple presidents and frequent constitutional crises. In recent years, rising crime, economic uncertainty, and corruption have contributed to record-low approval ratings for politicians – including President Dina Boluarte, who has the lowest approval rating of any Peruvian president in modern history at just 2%.

Despite her record lack of popularity, earlier this month, Boluarte issued a decree doubling her monthly salary to 35,500 soles ($10,000). The new salary is almost 35 times Peru's monthly minimum wage, which stands at 1,025 soles ($288).

The news has been met with widespread derision, with many Peruvians pointing out the obviously stupid politics of an unpopular president significantly raising their own salary. On social media, citizens shared footage from Boluarte's recent visit to the city of Arequipa, where angry protesters pelted her car with stones and eggs, illustrating the deep antipathy many feel toward her leadership.

The timing of the raise has particularly angered Peruvians who are struggling with rising crime and economic hardship while their president increases her own compensation. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Boluarte was not elected as president but came to power in December 2022 when her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was impeached.

Her presidency has been overshadowed by multiple investigations, including allegations that she failed to declare luxury gifts and abandoned her post during nose surgery without appointing a caretaker. Boluarte has continued to defend her actions, while the nation’s economy minister said that the increase was justified, given that Boluarte's salary had previously been the second lowest among 12 countries in the region (only Bolivia paid its president less).

Maybe $10,000 is a fair monthly salary for a president. But in a country where most people live on a fraction of that, it’s definitely bad politics.

EDITOR’S NOTE
Final Thoughts

Max T is en route to SFO after an amazing trip to the Bay Area. Thank you to all of the locals who recommended stories and met up with us in person to help those stories. Stay tuned for our deep dives on East Oakland, the secretive AI community, America’s richest town, and San Francisco’s open-air drug market.

The Roca Wave continues to grow, and we’re excited for the week ahead. Let’s start it off strong!

–Max and Max