Let’s kick off Tuesday with an uplifting story: A 13-year-old boy fell 100 feet after losing his footing at the Grand Canyon and… survived. The North Dakota teen slipped after moving out of the way for a family having their picture taken on a ledge. He suffered numerous injuries but was discharged from the hospital Saturday, and his mom drove him home to North Dakota.

Is it just me or does that story have you feeling sedimental, too?

In today's edition:

• Another Trump indictment

• Mountain Dew crime cleanup

• How to coup

 🔑 Key Stories

Trump Indicted

A Georgia grand jury indicted Donald Trump for his alleged attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election result

• On January 2, 2021, Trump called the Georgia official who oversees the state’s election and told him to “find” enough votes to swing the state to him

• That led to a two-year investigation by the district attorney in Atlanta’s county. She presented evidence to a grand jury, which voted to bring 13 charges against Trump and more against 18 of his associates

• The core charges include allegations that the group committed numerous crimes with the goal of illegally overturning the state’s 2020 election result

• The top count the defendants face is a racketeering charge for allegedly violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, a 40-year old law initially designed to prosecute the Mafia and organized crime bosses

Dig Deeper

• The indictment is the fourth brought against Trump this year. The first, brought by a New York City district attorney, concerns hush money payments. The second and third, both federal, concern Trump’s handling of classified documents and alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election, respectively

• Trump’s campaign responded in a statement on Truth Social: “They could have brought this two and half [sic] years ago, yet they chose to do this for election interference reasons in the middle of President Trump’s successful campaign. He is not only leading all Republicans by a lot but he is leading against Joe Biden in almost every poll. President Trump represents the greatest threat to these Democrats’ political future (and the greatest hope for America)”

Argentina Election Shakeup

An anti-establishment libertarian candidate finished first in Argentina’s primary election

• Argentina has been in an economic crisis since 2018. It experienced 116% inflation in the year to this June

• Argentina is hosting presidential elections this October. On Sunday, it held a primary election to determine which candidates will compete

• Javier Milei won 31% of the vote, the most of any candidate. Milei is a self-described libertarian who has pledged to disband Argentina’s central bank and replace Argentina’s peso with the dollar. He calls climate change a “socialist lie”

Dig Deeper

• Three parties split ~90% of the vote. Milei’s party was followed by the center-right (28.3%) and center-left (27.3%) parties. While all candidates who won 1.5%+ of the vote qualified for the general election in October, the result suggests Milei is the most popular presidential candidate

• The value of Argentina’s currency fell 18.3% on Monday, its steepest drop in four years and a sign of investor concern about the country’s economy

Blind Sided

Former NFL player Michael Oher – who inspired the movie “The Blind Side” – is suing his supposed “parents” for lying about adopting him

• As a child, Oher was in and out of foster care. He became a football standout, and while in high school, a wealthy family – the Tuohys – took him in

• Oher says he believed they adopted him, and in “The Blind Side” they are shown to have done so

• In a lawsuit filed on Monday, Oher’s lawyers alleged the Tuohys never actually did so, and made money off the film but never shared it with him, contrary to their claims

Dig Deeper

• Oher’s lawsuit requests that a judge grant him financial compensation; end the conservatorship; and block the Tuohys from using his name and likeness. The Tuohys have not commented on the development

Montana Youth Win Climate Case

A Montana judge ruled in favor of 16 youths who argued that Montana’s climate policies violated their rights to a “clean and healthful” environment

• Montana’s constitution gives all residents the right to a “clean and healthful environment.” Montana laws prohibit state officials from considering emissions in environmental reviews for potential energy projects

• A nonprofit representing 16 youths between ages five-22 sued Montana over those policies, alleging the state is violating their rights

• On Monday, a judge sided with the youths, calling the laws unconstitutional

Dig Deeper

• The Montana attorney general’s office called the ruling “absurd” and said it would appeal, which will send the case to the state supreme court

• Attorneys for the youths framed the ruling as a major victory for climate change activism

• The nonprofit that represented the youths in the case – Our Children’s Trust – is also suing the federal government on similar charges

🍿 Popcorn

ICYMI

• Barbie gets paid: Margot Robbie will earn $50M in salary and box office bonuses for playing Barbie, per Variety. The movie Barbie has grossed over $1B worldwide

• Professor Peyton: Peyton Manning is returning to the University of Tennessee to teach classes as a professor. He’ll serve as a “featured expert” in select classes

• Viral plane lady speaks: “Crazy plane lady” Tiffany Gomas apologized for her behavior last month on an American Airlines flight in which she said, “That motherf***er back there is not real”

Wildcard

• California thievin’: ~30 masked criminals stole up to $100K in merchandise during a “flash mob” robbery at a California Nordstrom on Saturday. Days prior, a group of 30 stole ~$300K of goods from a Saint Laurent store

• Dew away with the DNA: A Florida woman suspected of killing her roommate tried to pour a Mountain Dew on her body to erase possible evidence 

• Improper Wander? The Tampa Bay Rays put star shortstop Wander Franco on leave as the MLB investigates his alleged romance with an underage Dominican girl

👇 What do you think?

Today's Question:

Do you believe in coincidence?

Reply to this email with your answers!

See yesterday's results below the Wrap! 

🌯 Roca Wrap

When Amadou Sanogo overthrew his elected president in 2012, he credited the US. “America is a great country with a fantastic army,” he said. “I tried to put all the things I learned there into practice here.”

Sanogo was a military officer from Mali, in West Africa, one of the world’s poorest and most violent countries. Sanogo’s army had around 12,000 troops to protect 20M people from extremists and rebels. To help him, the US brought him to the US, where he studied English in Texas, trained with the Army in Arizona and Marines in Virginia, and conducted infantry training in Georgia.

Sanogo returned to Mali, where rebels and Islamists were waging an increasingly brutal conflict against the country’s government and civilians. Angered by the elected government’s failure to stop the violence, he seized power in 2012. In his words, “I saved the country.”

Sanogo was one of the 78,000 foreign troops the US trains each year in hopes of making them more effective, disciplined, and supportive of the US. But the training often backfires: Over a dozen US-trained officers have led coups in West Africa alone.

As Sanogo seized power in Mali, another African officer – Lt. Col. Isaac Zida – was training in counterterrorism strategy at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. Like Sanogo, he returned to his country – Burkina Faso, which borders Mali – and, in 2014, seized power.

Since those initial coups, Mali and Burkina Faso have experienced four further coups led by officers who trained with American forces. While the initial coup leaders claimed to support the US, later ones did not.

In 2020, Malians who were angry about poverty, corruption, and the government’s failure to defeat extremists began protesting. The protests culminated in a coup, during which an officer named Assimi Goita seized power. Goita had taken part in a large US-led military exercise in Africa, participated in a seminar with American troops in Florida, and regularly spoke with American soldiers.

The US denounced the coup and cut off support to the country, and Goita agreed to step aside. A year later, though, he led another coup and has been Mali’s leader since. He has evicted Western troops and replaced them with Russians.

As Mali became less accessible for the American military, its attention shifted to Burkina Faso, where, in January 2022, another US-trained officer seized power. He ruled for nine months – until another Burkinabè officer deemed him unable to defeat terrorists and overthrew him. Like in Mali, the new leader invited Russia to support him.

That coup forced the US and France to focus on Niger, which borders Burkina Faso and Mali. They deployed additional troops there, increased their aid to Niger’s government, and used it as their base to oversee operations across the region.

But in late July, a Niger general locked the country’s democratically elected president away and claimed power. The man he made his defense minister had trained with the US at Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore) in Georgia and the National Defense University in Washington, DC. A month before the coup, he had been pictured shaking hands with an American general. At least five people involved with the coup received US military training.

The US security establishment considers West Africa a high-risk region. Much of it is impoverished and lawless, and it’s home to dozens of terrorist groups, including ones that claim ties to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Last year, the US counted 2,737 terror attacks just in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

To fight back, the US has given regional governments billions in humanitarian and military aid. It has also created an extensive system to train local troops.Since 2005, it has held Exercise Flintlock: An annual training mission that brings together soldiers from across North and West Africa.

This year, 1,300 soldiers from 29 countries participated. Many – if not most – top-ranking troops from the region have attended US training sessions.

But some worry the US efforts are having the opposite of the desired impact. Across Africa, and particularly in West Africa, there has been a dramatic increase in the frequency of terrorist attacks. Coups have also become increasingly common, prompting concerns that US training makes officers more likely to commit them.

One study, published in 2017 by researchers at the US Naval War College and Ireland’s Trinity University, found that it did: “Greater numbers of military officers trained by the US…increases the probability of a military coup,” it concluded. In 2015, a professor at the US’ National Defense University – whose former student attempted a coup in The Gambia, another African country – wrote, “I can’t shake the feeling that his education in the United States somehow influenced his actions.”

He suggested that when African soldiers are exposed to US ideals about democracy and governance, they struggle to handle the conditions in their own countries and end up seizing power themselves.

The US military has maintained that it must train West African troops to prevent terror attacks against Americans. It has also played down links between its training and coups, with one top defense official saying last year, “Some folks involved in these coups have received some US training, but far from all of them.

For now, the training continues and the militaries remain in power.

If you have thoughts, let us know at [email protected]!

 🌊 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Do you like hip-hop?
Yes: 40%
No: 60%

Yesterday's Question:

Do you trust the Hunter investigation is being done properly?

Jacqui from Holland, Michigan: "Yes, having said yes, who is to say anymore what is fair in anything related to government/politics/crime...aren't they all the same?"

Jamie: "Hell no! The Biden administration is as crooked as a dogs hind leg!”

Marc from Los Angeles: "I do not trust the investigation into Hunter Biden from either side of the aisle. There are people on both sides of the issue trying to get their version out to everyone as what really happened, and what is happening now.”

Robert: “Yes. I'm not politically cringe nor am I a conspiracy theorist.”

Connie: “No I think there is a lot of smoke and mirrors. Corruption in our government- from both sides of the aisle is embarrassing.”

Emily from Minneapolis, Minnesota: “Of course it’s not being handled properly. Everything in DC is politically motivated and neither the GOP nor the Dems can actually work together without throwing mud.”

🧠 Final Thoughts

Happy Tuesday, all. We hope your weeks are off to a better start than former president Trump or Michael Oher's "parents." We'll see you tomorrow!

—Max and Max