Lindsey Graham’s Unexpected Death, and How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela

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I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, July 13th. Here's what we're covering.

“I got a message about one o'clock in the morning from one of the people at his office that he had passed away.”

Senator Lindsey Graham's unexpected death at age 71 has sent shockwaves through Washington and beyond.

President Trump told me the press yesterday that he'd just spoken to the South Carolina lawmaker on Saturday night, hours before his death. He just landed from Ukraine. That's a long trip to that case. He sounded a little tired. Graham had returned DC earlier that day from a trip to Ukraine.

As one of the most vocal advocates for U.S. support of Ukraine, Graham had been on one of his many trips to Kiev, meaning with President Vladimir Zelensky. And the sooner we can have a dialogue about peace. The quicker this war is over. After Graham returned to DC, emergency responders were called to the Senator's address. A preliminary report from the medical examiner's office indicates the cause of death was an aortic dissection.

“A tear in the main artery that carries blood from the heart.”

What I would say about Lindsey Graham is he wanted to be an every senate legislative fight. Carl Hulse is the times chief Washington correspondent. He was a very active senator on a lot of issues. Immigration, foreign policy, overall spending. I mean, this was a guy who knew how to work the senate.

And it was very highly respected by his colleagues in both sides, even though he tended to drive them crazy on some things. You know, he could be very mercurial, but really popular among his colleagues. And he was just somebody who tried to get things done. Carl says, Graham's final trip to Kiev speaks to his longtime push for American intervention around the world. Even as many in the Republican Party turned increasingly isolationist in recent years.

Graham stuck to that, continuing to push for aid to Ukraine and support for Israel. He also backed Trump's war in Iran. Like many prominent Republicans, Graham was initially a big critic of Trump's before becoming a close ally. He helped push Trump's agenda on everything from judicial appointments to tax cuts. His death has left many in Congress and his home state of South Carolina in mourning.

And Trump has said flags across the country will be flown at half staff for the next week. For Graham's seat, he was up for election in November. And there will now be a special Republican primary election next month to determine who will compete in the midterms. Meanwhile, Graham's death at 71 has highlighted the age issue in Congress. The average age in the Senate is now more than 65 years old.

And there have been growing questions about how long lawmakers can serve and what information they owe their constituents about their health and ability to do so. That discussion has been focused recently on another high profile senator. 84-year-old Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was hospitalized for weeks recently while his staff shared very little information. McConnell broke his silence yesterday, saying it was a fall that put him in the hospital and that he'd also battled pneumonia.

He said he's now recovering at a rehab center and he did not provide an estimate of when he would return to work. Now, three updates on the Trump administration.

First, in the Middle East, the Pentagon says it launched waves of new strikes against military targets in Iran this week.

It's in Iran this weekend. The attacks are now part of a pattern. Iran tries to hit a tanker or cargo ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. strikes Iran in response and then Iran retaliates with attacks against U.S. military bases in the Gulf. Analysts and former American officials tell the Times.

The escalating back and forth is a predictable result of the ceasefire that President Trump signed with Iran last month. They said the memorandum is filled with dangerously vague language and that it effectively gave Iran the upper hand when it comes to the Strait.

And it acknowledges Iran's power in the Strait, something Iranian negotiators insisted on.

“A second update now from Washington, where the landmark housing bill has become law. The legislation is designed to boost the country's supply of homes and eventually bring down housing costs.”

It's the most significant effort of its kind in a generation, and it became law through an unusual process. It was passed by large bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate, but Trump refused to sign it, demanding instead that Congress passed a separate voting restriction bill. Since Trump didn't veto the legislation, though, it kicked in automatically 10 days after it was sent to his desk.

And last update on the administration.

The White House ordered FBI Director Cash Patel to personally oversee a leak investigation related to reporting from the New York Times, according to people familiar with the situation.

“Officials say that President Trump had been enraged by recent Times articles that cited anonymous sources describing how the new Cotari-donated Air Force One lacks some defensive systems on Friday.”

Patel called off a planned trip, and instead spent roughly eight hours at the White House, afterwards, a flurry of subpoenas were issued to the Times reporters who worked on the stories. The subpoenas demand that they provide evidence in front of a grand jury this Wednesday. In a statement, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that, "Reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are." A top lawyer for the Times meanwhile called the subpoenas a "braison active intimidation" designed to quote, "prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country."

The Times has learned that in the six months since American forces captured Venezuela's president, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been running the country.

“According to interviews with more than a dozen officials and people close to the governments in both Washington and Caracas,”

Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela's finances, the distribution of its natural resources, and its government.

Officials have dubbed him "vice Roy," the title given to powerful Spanish governors who once ruled Venezuela.

While Rubio hasn't been there in person this year, he's in close contact with the country's acting president Delcy Rodriguez, sending her WhatsApp messages in Spanish, and he's deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of her country. For example, the US Treasury receives the revenues for most of Venezuela's exports, like oil, then Rubio and his team disperse the money back to Venezuela, setting their own conditions on how it can be used. Rubio also controls US sanctions, deciding who gets to do business in Venezuela.

Beyond that, he's been consulted on government appointments that Rodriguez is making, including the Minister of Defense, and the Trump administration even exerts control over Rodriguez's public appearances and statements. Rubio declined multiple requests by the Times for an interview, though he's previously described the administration's plans for Venezuela as a three-part strategy. Recover the shattered economy, stabilize the country, and transition it to democracy. But critics have accused the US of "siphoning" Venezuela's vast oil reserves, and propping up an authoritarian regime by leaving Maduro's team largely in place.

The current arrangement also keeps the US entangled in the fortunes of a government that's deeply unpopular. There had been growing calls for new elections and political change in Venezuela, even before the government's slow response to the recent deadly earthquakes set off a new wave of public anger. And finally. Sam Neal, the actor best known for saving the day as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, has died at 78. "Oh, move! Can't see us if we don't move."

Neal's performance as a grouchy scientist turned action hero made him the Hollywood star you'd want to get stuck on an island full of dinosaurs with. But his long career stretched far beyond trying to outsmart Barry Clever Velociraptors. "I remember in little dramas at school, and walking on stage and thinking, "I feel really good. I'm really enjoying this."

"This is really the best moment I've left to this point."

“After starting in theater, where he was at one point paid partly in Plates of Lausania, he rose to fame in Australia and New Zealand and made it to Hollywood by the 1980s.”

In all, he appeared in more than 150 productions over a five-decade career.

Some of his most recent projects include a return to the Jurassic Park series, a turn in the Thor franchise,

“and a role in picky blinders, the gritty British crime show. Neal also developed a social media following for his posts about raising farm animals back in New Zealand,”

many of which he named after his fellow actors. "At that who these?"

“"Oh, well, that's hell in the bottom of coffee."”

"She's a real cow." "In his memoir and looking back at his life, Neal jokingly credited all his success with the fact that he changed his name at 11 years old."

"You never want to be called Neal, no mates, you know, Neal, no friends."

Officially born, Nigel John Durmit Neal, he switched to Sam, a name he'd seen in Westerns, saying it was the best decision he ever made. Those are the headlines. Today on a daily, one grocery store owner explains how he's trying to stay afloat as food prices keep rising and shoppers by less. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow.