The Standing Record

This is the Standing Record for August 29, 2026. We recorded 2 events from August 28, 2026 that erode our democratic ideals and added 11 more from earlier dates — 483 so far this month, bringing the total archive to 1875. If you saw something happen — yesterday, or any other day — that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

American Oversight FOIA release revealed DHS memo on deputizing National Guard as immigration officers to sidestep Posse Comitatus Act

Event: August 28, 2026 Location: Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Domestic deployment overreach

On August 28, 2026, American Oversight released records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, revealing an April 2025 memo from the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the General Counsel to all state attorneys general. The memo lays out a two-step legal theory -- federalizing National Guard members under Title 10, then deputizing them as immigration officers under 8 U.S.C. Section 1103(a)(6) -- that DHS argues sidesteps the Posse Comitatus Act's restriction on using the military for domestic civilian law enforcement. Politico first reported the records the same day.

People & Organizations: - U.S. Department of Homeland Security#2f9bd708 (Office of the General Counsel) - Joseph Mazzara (then-Acting General Counsel, U.S. Department of Homeland Security)

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/08/28/federal-domestic-deployment-overreach-a01fbe9a/ Primary source: Bombshell: DHS Memo Lays Out Dubious Legal Roadmap for Sidestepping Posse Comitatus Act to Deploy National Guard

NOTUS investigation revealed Interior Department pressuring National Park Service to trade Yosemite land to a private developer

Event: August 28, 2026 Location: Yosemite National Park, California Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Procurement irregularities

NOTUS reported on August 28, 2026, that National Park Service staff, under sustained pressure from U.S. Department of the Interior political leadership, have spent more than a year quietly working to arrange a land exchange inside Yosemite National Park for a company controlled by developer Kingsbarn Realty Capital, which would let Kingsbarn build a private access road into the park from its adjacent 83-acre parcel. Sources familiar with the discussions described the political pressure on Park Service staff as "very unusual," and the Park Service had rejected the same access request from the property's prior owner repeatedly over the preceding two decades. No final decision has been made, and Interior and Kingsbarn both said any exchange would proceed only through the normal legal and environmental review process.

People & Organizations: - National Park Service#d7d4ce99 - U.S. Department of the Interior#fd6497c8

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/08/28/federal-procurement-irregularities-dd399aac/ Primary source: Trump's Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer

Filling out the archive

We're steadily backfilling the archive — working backward through the record so the timeline is complete, not just current. These are older events we archived yesterday. If you know of something from months or years back that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

• September 27, 2024 — Florida AHCA, AG officials diverted $10M Medicaid settlement to Hope Florida charity, routed to Uthmeier's PAC to fight 2024 marijuana measure
• January 18, 2026 — Top DOJ prosecutor in LA urged the public to feed false information to immigrant-rights hotlines
• January 19, 2026 — ICE agent drew gun, entered St. Paul restaurant chasing unidentified person, traumatizing staff and customers
• January 22, 2026 — ICE removed all detainees from Cumberland County Jail and DHS canceled its housing contract hours after sheriff criticized ICE's tactics
• April 3, 2026 — HHS conditioned FY2027 Title X family-planning grants on anti-DEI, anti-contraception, and anti-trans compliance, risking total funding loss
• April 7, 2026 — Trump sold up to $1 million in ExxonMobil stock the same day he announced the Iran ceasefire, hours before shares fell 6.5%
• May 2, 2026 — Shively, Ky. police officer misused Flock camera network over 2,000 times to track ex-girlfriend's vehicles; charged with official misconduct
• July 2, 2026 — HUD overhauled Fair Housing Initiatives Program grants, cutting 100+ nonprofit recipients to five including $25M to one law school
• August 18, 2026 — DOJ election observers exceeded legal scope, demanded records, sought voter interviews at Laramie County, Wyoming polls, clerk and governor say
• August 27, 2026 — DOJ sued Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon to block in-state tuition and aid for undocumented students, bringing its total to 21 states
• August 27, 2026 — ProPublica investigation revealed Pinellas County Jail systematically rebooked immigrant detainees to evade 72-hour ICE hold limit

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