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Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Morning Brief 2025-08-22

August 22, 2025
Chris Brady

No guests slated for today's show. Subject to change.

News...

Prosecutors secured evidence that Comey authorized classified leaks, but declined charges
Declassified bombshell FBI memo undercuts Comey's testimony to Congress and opens door to new conspiracy probe.

Taibbi: Nearly a Decade Later, the Unmasking Scandal Comes Full Circle
Newly released interview records allege House Intel Democrats sought to leak classified info and push unmasking of Trump associates in 2017, echoing claims Devin Nunes raised years ago that were dismissed as conspiracy theory but now look harder to deny.

In huge win for Trump, court throws out half-billion-dollar fraud penalty
Four judges on the five-member appeals court voted to let the fraud finding stand, but all found problems in the judge's handling of the case and two would have ordered a new trial. A fifth judge would have dismissed the case altogether, and all five judges would have voided the payout.

New York Case Against Trump Was Always A Ridiculous Pretext To Take Down His Campaign
The prosecution was the passion project of pit bull New York Attorney General Letitia James, who made a malicious campaign promise to sue Trump.

Supreme Court hands huge victory to Trump over DEI funding — John Roberts sides with leftist justices
Decision overturns lower court rulings that blocked cuts to $783M in DEI-related funding.

Trump Cleaning Up DC In One Week Proves Democrats Are Destroying Their Cities By Choice
After years of Democratic leaders claiming crime was unavoidable, the capital just recorded seven days without a homicide and saw major drops in carjackings, robberies, and violent crime following Trump’s crackdown.

Teens charged in violent carjacking of DOGE staffer 'Big Balls' released to caretakers on strict restrictions: 'School and home, that’s it'
A Biden-appointed judge ordered the 15-year-old suspects freed from detention.

Obama-appointed judge rules Alina Habba is not lawfully acting as US attorney for NJ
Two accused drug traffickers challenged Habba's authority.

Cincinnati museum rejects police museum over ‘social justice’ focus and gun displays
The Cincinnati Museum Center denied the police museum’s bid to relocate into Union Terminal, citing conflicts with its mission and opposition to firearms in exhibits, drawing backlash from law enforcement advocates.

Erik Menendez denied parole after decades in prison
In 1996, Erik and his brother Lyle Menendez were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, until their sentences were reduced by a judge to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole under California's youth offender law because they were under the age of 26 when they committed their crimes.

Adults Refusing To Grow Up Have Taken Another Childhood Experience Hostage
At first, it was the onslaught of so-called “Disney adults” descending on the parks like locusts, driving up prices for families and demanding adult experiences to keep them coming back. But now they’ve come for the summer camps.

Politics...

Senior staff defending Biden, directing autopen had remarkably little access to the president
The House Oversight Committee’s probe into former President Biden’s alleged mental decline and autopen authorizations uncovers evidence of a siloed White House.

Worst Political Spokesman in History: Ian Sams Repeatedly Touted Biden's Mental Fitness Despite Having Just TWO Interactions with Sleepy Joe
Ian Sams, the former "Grillary Clinton" apron model who served two years as a top spokesman for President Joe Biden and repeatedly touted his boss' mental fitness, had just two interactions with the addled octogenarian during his time in the White House.

Scott Jennings Triggers CNN Panel By Explaining Why Dems Are Bleeding Voters
“They seem to care more about illegal aliens than American citizens, violent criminals than law-abiding citizens, and the Palestinian flag more than the American flag. And when you take — when you take — when you take those positions on things like that, people tend to run to the other party.”

CNN analyst says Gavin Newsom's social media strategy is working because Dems want a 'fighter'
CNN political analyst Harry Enten said that Newsom was now the front-runner for the 2028 presidential nomination for Democrats. In June, polling showed the governor ranking behind Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Gavin ‘Tough Guy’ Newsom Threatens GOP: ‘We’re Gonna Punch These Sons-Of-Bitc*es In The Mouth’
Newsom also offered this word salad: "Being judged not only to have lived but to be judged watching democracy slip from right out underneath us.”

Minnesota Democrats strip socialist candidate of endorsement after botched vote count
Nearly 200 ballots were never tallied at the convention that handed Omar Fateh the nod over Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey; party leaders said the error meant a third candidate should have advanced, invalidating the entire process.

The media is all aflutter over socialism — but America isn't convinced
Centrist Democrats are poised to win entire purple states like Virginia, showing far wider appeal than NYC's Zohran Mamdani — but they get no media love.

White progressive in Virginia mocks black female governor candidate with water fountain taunt
"Hey Winsome, if trans can't share your bathroom, then blacks can't share my water fountain."

Kamala Harris Announces International Book Tour for New Memoir, '107 Days'
The tour was widely mocked on social media, with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) calling it a "nationwide comedy tour."

Cracker Controversy...

Cracker Barrel stock falls 7% after new logo reveal
In an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” this week, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino said the feedback she has seen has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

The Federalist: Cracker Barrel Is Dead, And Its Stupid Woke CEO Killed It With Gay Nonsense
Cracker Barrel is done. Woke executives killed it, wrapped the corpse in a rainbow flag, and then made it do a little puppet show in New York City for the entertainment of all their woke little friends.

NY Times: Cracker Barrel’s New Modern Logo and Aesthetic Become a Political Rorschach Test
The Cracker Barrel chain, evoking Southern style home cooking and hospitality, and long seen as a white-coded establishment that aligned with conservative social norms, has emerged as a lightning rod for identity politics.

Steak 'n Shake slams Cracker Barrel CEO for eliminating 'old-timer' from logo
"Heritage is what got Cracker Barrel this far, and now the CEO wants to just scrape it all away. At Steak 'n Shake, we take pride in our history, our families, and American values. All are welcome. We will never market ourselves away from our past in a cheap effort to gain the approval of trend seekers."

Economy...

US business activity picks up in August, factories lead the way, survey says
Business activity accelerated in August, with new orders surging, lifting the economy’s growth pace, though companies also reported rising costs and passing along Trump’s tariffs to consumers.

US home sales rose in July as mortgage rates eased a bit and home prices grew more slowly
The figure topped the pace economists were expecting and were up 0.8% compared to July last year.

Trump may shift $2 billion from CHIPS Act into US mining projects
The administration is weighing redirecting chip factory funds into critical minerals production and processing, a move aimed at reducing dependence on China for key resources like lithium, gallium, and rare-earths.

Sanders sees eye to eye with Trump on Intel
There’s at least one senator supportive of President Trump’s negotiations to take a government stake in chip maker Intel: socialist Bernie Sanders.

Immigration...

Trump administration is reviewing all 55 million foreigners with US visas for any violations
The State Department said it was looking for indicators of ineligibility, including people staying past the authorized time frame outlined in a visa, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity, or providing support to a terrorist organization.

Rubio pauses worker visas for truck drivers after deadly Florida crash involving illegal immigrant kills 3
"The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers," Rubio wrote.

Trump expands citizenship test to include 'good moral character,' consider 'positive contributions to society'
"Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen means being an active and responsible member of society instead of just having a right to live and work in the United States."

Obama-appointed judge orders administration to stop sending illegal aliens to 'Alligator Alcatraz'
The judge additionally said all temporary fencing must be removed to give Native American tribe members access to the site.

Trump administration moves to block visas for Palestinian terrorists invited to Detroit conference
Officials say foreign speakers at the Aug. 29-31 People’s Conference for Palestine — including convicted terrorists and extremists tied to Hamas and anti-Israel groups — will be flagged for denial, as the event pushes for a global arms embargo on Israel.

Israel...

UN-Backed Watchdog Set To Declare Famine in Gaza Amid Accusations of Flawed Data
Israeli ambassador accuses org of promoting Hamas propaganda and misusing data.

Ukraine - Russia...

Vance says it’s up to Europe to provide Ukraine security guarantees, with Pentagon confirming US involvement will be ‘minimal’
Vice president says it will up to neighbor states to provide "lion’s share" of peacekeeping support to Kyiv if peace deal with Russia can be agreed.

North Korea's top officers abruptly pulled out of Russia — and what this could mean for Ukraine peace talks
Kim Jong Un welcomed home generals who oversaw Pyongyang’s 12,000-troop deployment in Kursk, a sign that Moscow feels secure enough to scale back visible North Korean involvement as negotiations move forward.

Russia Orders State-Backed MAX App Preinstalled on All Phones Starting Sept. 1
State media says accusations from Kremlin critics that MAX is a spying app are false, and you're ridiculous to even suggest that.

Europe...

Trump, EU unveil trade deal slashing tariffs and boosting US energy sales
The agreement caps pharma and semiconductor tariffs at 15%, cuts auto duties nearly in half, and includes a pledge from Brussels to buy $750 billion in U.S. energy and invest $600 billion more in America.

Entertainment...

Jack White melts down after White House calls him a ‘washed-up loser’
The ex-White Stripes frontman blasted Trump as a “low life fascist” in a two-page Instagram rant after communications director Steven Cheung mocked his stalled career and response to the Oval Office’s new gold décor.

Lil Nas X arrested while dancing in the street in his underwear with a traffic cone on his head
The rapper was hospitalized after police said he appeared to be overdosing and threw punches at officers, following a bizarre scene in Los Angeles caught on video.

Hulk Hogan's cause of death in question after shocking new surgery details emerge
A potentially massive error during one of his surgeries may have contributed to Hulk Hogan's death.

Apple TV+ hikes monthly subscription price for Apple users
Apple is raising the monthly cost of Apple TV+ by $3, marking the streaming service’s first price increase in nearly two years.

Environment...

Trump administration opens national security probe into wind turbine imports
The Commerce Department is reviewing whether foreign-made turbines and parts pose risks, as most components are imported, a move that could justify tariffs beyond the 50% duties already imposed on their steel and aluminum content.

Education...

House Ed Committee Opens Investigation into Anti-Semitism at Nation's Largest Teachers' Union
Committee chairman Tim Walberg wrote in a letter to NEA leadership that he is "gravely concerned" about the union fostering anti-Semitism "among its members and in classrooms across the United States."

LGBTQIA2S+...

The Smithsonian’s absurd LGBTQ exhibit exposed
The Smithsonian's "LGBTQ+ History" includes "lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer, transsexual, transvestite, mahu, homosexual, fluid, invert, urning, third sex, two sex, gender-bender, sapphist, hijra, friend of Dorothy, drag queen/king, and many other experiences."

German neo-Nazi uses gender law to enter women's prison
Questions are now being raised as to whether the neo-Nazi exploited a recent reform that made it significantly easier for people to alter their officially registered gender.

AI...

Altman teases GPT-6 as faster, adaptive, and ideologically customizable
OpenAI’s Sam Altman said GPT-6 will arrive sooner than the last model gap, with memory as its core feature — allowing ChatGPT to adapt to user quirks and preferences. He promised it will comply with Trump’s neutrality order, letting users push it left or right. Altman did not mention AGI.

The AI Bubble Paradox: Why OpenAI's $500 Billion Valuation Proves The Opposite
Even as Sam Altman admits investors may be overexcited, OpenAI is raising billions and planning multitrillion-dollar data center build-outs, echoing the dot-com frenzy of the 1990s but backed by real infrastructure and exploding adoption.

Is the AI bubble about to pop? Sam Altman is prepared either way.
"Someone will lose a phenomenal amount of money," says CEO while fundraising at record prices.

Science...

Bones of ancient child suggest humans could have interbred with Neanderthals earlier than thought
Modern humans and Neanderthals may have interacted 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Sports...

Father of Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown accused of stabbing a man in Las Vegas
According to TMZ, Quenton Marselles Brown admitted dinging the victim’s car with his door when he got out of his Lincoln Navigator. An argument ensued, and Brown stabbed the victim in the back and stomach, the website reported.

Animals...

Zombie spiders are invading homes all over the world
Spiders infected with a fungus that turns them into “zombies” are now being discovered worldwide, with sightings reported in North America, Europe, and New Zealand.

August 22, 2012 - Cost of food getting out of control... Jake Tapper explains how the press has let America down... Glenn's awkward meeting with Nolan Ryan... Scary future plans of the NHS... The left has no sense of humor...

Durham annex EXPOSES Soros, Pentagon ties to Deep State machine

ullstein bild Dtl. / Contributor | Getty Images

The Durham annex and ODNI report documents expose a vast network of funders and fixers — from Soros’ Open Society Foundations to the Pentagon.

In a column earlier this month, I argued the deep state is no longer deniable, thanks to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. I outlined the structural design of the deep state as revealed by two recent declassifications: Gabbard’s ODNI report and the Durham annex released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

These documents expose a transnational apparatus of intelligence agencies, media platforms, think tanks, and NGOs operating as a parallel government.

The deep state is funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

But institutions are only part of the story. This web of influence is made possible by people — and by money. This follow-up to the first piece traces the key operatives and financial networks fueling the deep state’s most consequential manipulations, including the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.

Architects and operatives

At the top of the intelligence pyramid sits John Brennan, President Obama’s CIA director and one of the principal architects of the manipulated 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. James Clapper, who served as director of national intelligence, signed off on that same ICA and later joined 50 other former officials in concluding the Hunter Biden laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” ahead of the 2020 election. The timing, once again, served a political objective.

James Comey, then FBI director, presided over Crossfire Hurricane. According to the Durham annex, he also allowed the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server to collapse after it became entangled with “sensitive intelligence” revealing her plan to tie President Donald Trump to Russia.

That plan, as documented in the annex, originated with Hillary Clinton herself and was personally pushed by President Obama. Her campaign, through law firm Perkins Coie, hired Fusion GPS, which commissioned the now-debunked Steele dossier — a document used to justify surveillance warrants on Trump associates.

Several individuals orbiting the Clinton operation have remained influential. Jake Sullivan, who served as President Biden’s national security adviser, was a foreign policy aide to Clinton during her 2016 campaign. He was named in 2021 as a figure involved in circulating the collusion narrative, and his presence in successive Democratic administrations suggests institutional continuity.

Andrew McCabe, then the FBI’s deputy director, approved the use of FISA warrants derived from unverified sources. His connection to the internal “insurance policy” discussion — described in a 2016 text by FBI official Peter Strzok to colleague Lisa Page — underscores the Bureau’s political posture during that election cycle.

The list of political enablers is long but revealing:

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who, as a former representative from California, chaired the House Intelligence Committee at the time and publicly promoted the collusion narrative while having access to intelligence that contradicted it.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), both members of the “Gang of Eight” with oversight of intelligence operations, advanced the same narrative despite receiving classified briefings.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, exchanged encrypted text messages with a Russian lobbyist in efforts to speak with Christopher Steele.

These were not passive recipients of flawed intelligence. They were participants in its amplification.

The funding networks behind the machine

The deep state’s operations are not possible without financing — much of it indirect, routed through a nexus of private foundations, quasi-governmental entities, and federal agencies.

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations appear throughout the Durham annex. In one instance, Open Society Foundations documents were intercepted by foreign intelligence and used to track coordination between NGOs and the Clinton campaign’s anti-Trump strategy.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control.

Soros has also been a principal funder of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which ran a project during the Trump administration called the Moscow Project, dedicated to promoting the Russia collusion narrative.

The Tides Foundation and Arabella Advisors both specialize in “dark money” donor-advised funds that obscure the source and destination of political funding. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was the biggest donor to the Arabella Advisors by far, which routed $127 million through Arabella’s network in 2020 alone and nearly $500 million in total.

The MacArthur Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation also financed many of the think tanks named in the Durham annex, including the Council on Foreign Relations.

Federal funding pipelines

Parallel to the private networks are government-funded influence operations, often justified under the guise of “democracy promotion” or counter-disinformation initiatives.

USAID directed $270 million to Soros-affiliated organizations for overseas “democracy” programs, a significant portion of which has reverberated back into domestic influence campaigns.

The State Department funds the National Endowment for Democracy, a quasi-governmental organization with a $315 million annual budget and ties to narrative engineering projects.

The Department of Homeland Security underwrote entities involved in online censorship programs targeting American citizens.

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The Pentagon, from 2020 to 2024, awarded over $2.4 trillion to private contractors — many with domestic intelligence capabilities. It also directed $1.4 billion to select think tanks since 2019.

According to public records compiled by DataRepublican, these tax-funded flows often support the very actors shaping U.S. political discourse and global perception campaigns.

Not just domestic — but global

What these disclosures confirm is that the deep state is not a theory. It is a documented structure — funded by elite donors, shielded by bureaucracies, and perpetuated by operatives who drift between public office and private influence without accountability.

This system was not designed for transparency but for control. It launders narratives, neutralizes opposition, and overrides democratic will by leveraging the very institutions meant to protect it.

With the Durham annex and the ODNI report, we now see the network's architecture and its actors — names, agencies, funding trails — all laid bare. What remains is the task of dismantling it before its next iteration takes shape.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The truth behind ‘defense’: How America was rebranded for war

PAUL J. RICHARDS / Staff | Getty Images

Donald Trump emphasizes peace through strength, reminding the world that the United States is willing to fight to win. That’s beyond ‘defense.’

President Donald Trump made headlines this week by signaling a rebrand of the Defense Department — restoring its original name, the Department of War.

At first, I was skeptical. “Defense” suggests restraint, a principle I consider vital to U.S. foreign policy. “War” suggests aggression. But for the first 158 years of the republic, that was the honest name: the Department of War.

A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

The founders never intended a permanent standing army. When conflict came — the Revolution, the War of 1812, the trenches of France, the beaches of Normandy — the nation called men to arms, fought, and then sent them home. Each campaign was temporary, targeted, and necessary.

From ‘war’ to ‘military-industrial complex’

Everything changed in 1947. President Harry Truman — facing the new reality of nuclear weapons, global tension, and two world wars within 20 years — established a full-time military and rebranded the Department of War as the Department of Defense. Americans resisted; we had never wanted a permanent army. But Truman convinced the country it was necessary.

Was the name change an early form of political correctness? A way to soften America’s image as a global aggressor? Or was it simply practical? Regardless, the move created a permanent, professional military. But it also set the stage for something Truman’s successor, President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower, famously warned about: the military-industrial complex.

Ike, the five-star general who commanded Allied forces in World War II and stormed Normandy, delivered a harrowing warning during his farewell address: The military-industrial complex would grow powerful. Left unchecked, it could influence policy and push the nation toward unnecessary wars.

And that’s exactly what happened. The Department of Defense, with its full-time and permanent army, began spending like there was no tomorrow. Weapons were developed, deployed, and sometimes used simply to justify their existence.

Peace through strength

When Donald Trump said this week, “I don’t want to be defense only. We want defense, but we want offense too,” some people freaked out. They called him a warmonger. He isn’t. Trump is channeling a principle older than him: peace through strength. Ronald Reagan preached it; Trump is taking it a step further.

Just this week, Trump also suggested limiting nuclear missiles — hardly the considerations of a warmonger — echoing Reagan, who wanted to remove missiles from silos while keeping them deployable on planes.

The seemingly contradictory move of Trump calling for a Department of War sends a clear message: He wants Americans to recognize that our military exists not just for defense, but to project power when necessary.

Trump has pointed to something critically important: The best way to prevent war is to have a leader who knows exactly who he is and what he will do. Trump signals strength, deterrence, and resolve. You want to negotiate? Great. You don’t? Then we’ll finish the fight decisively.

That’s why the world listens to us. That’s why nations come to the table — not because Trump is reckless, but because he means what he says and says what he means. Peace under weakness invites aggression. Peace under strength commands respect.

Trump is the most anti-war president we’ve had since Jimmy Carter. But unlike Carter, Trump isn’t weak. Carter’s indecision emboldened enemies and made the world less safe. Trump’s strength makes the country stronger. He believes in peace as much as any president. But he knows peace requires readiness for war.

Names matter

When we think of “defense,” we imagine cybersecurity, spy programs, and missile shields. But when we think of “war,” we recall its harsh reality: death, destruction, and national survival. Trump is reminding us what the Department of Defense is really for: war. Not nation-building, not diplomacy disguised as military action, not endless training missions. War — full stop.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

Names matter. Words matter. They shape identity and character. A Department of Defense implies passivity, a posture of reaction. A Department of War recognizes the truth: The military exists to fight and, if necessary, to win decisively.

So yes, I’ve changed my mind. I’m for the rebranding to the Department of War. It shows strength to the world. It reminds Americans, internally and externally, of the reality we face. The Department of Defense can no longer be a euphemism. Our military exists for war — not without deterrence, but not without strength either. And we need to stop deluding ourselves.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Censorship, spying, lies—The Deep State’s web finally unmasked

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

From surveillance abuse to censorship, the deep state used state power and private institutions to suppress dissent and influence two US elections.

The term “deep state” has long been dismissed as the province of cranks and conspiracists. But the recent declassification of two critical documents — the Durham annex, released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and a report publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — has rendered further denial untenable.

These documents lay bare the structure and function of a bureaucratic, semi-autonomous network of agencies, contractors, nonprofits, and media entities that together constitute a parallel government operating alongside — and at times in opposition to — the duly elected one.

The ‘deep state’ is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment.

The disclosures do not merely recount past abuses; they offer a schematic of how modern influence operations are conceived, coordinated, and deployed across domestic and international domains.

What they reveal is not a rogue element operating in secret, but a systematized apparatus capable of shaping elections, suppressing dissent, and laundering narratives through a transnational network of intelligence, academia, media, and philanthropic institutions.

Narrative engineering from the top

According to Gabbard’s report, a pivotal moment occurred on December 9, 2016, when the Obama White House convened its national security leadership in the Situation Room. Attendees included CIA Director John Brennan, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry, and others.

During this meeting, the consensus view up to that point — that Russia had not manipulated the election outcome — was subordinated to new instructions.

The record states plainly: The intelligence community was directed to prepare an assessment “per the President’s request” that would frame Russia as the aggressor and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as its preferred candidate. Notably absent was any claim that new intelligence had emerged. The motivation was political, not evidentiary.

This maneuver became the foundation for the now-discredited 2017 intelligence community assessment on Russian election interference. From that point on, U.S. intelligence agencies became not neutral evaluators of fact but active participants in constructing a public narrative designed to delegitimize the incoming administration.

Institutional and media coordination

The ODNI report and the Durham annex jointly describe a feedback loop in which intelligence is laundered through think tanks and nongovernmental organizations, then cited by media outlets as “independent verification.” At the center of this loop are agencies like the CIA, FBI, and ODNI; law firms such as Perkins Coie; and NGOs such as the Open Society Foundations.

According to the Durham annex, think tanks including the Atlantic Council, the Carnegie Endowment, and the Center for a New American Security were allegedly informed of Clinton’s 2016 plan to link Trump to Russia. These institutions, operating under the veneer of academic independence, helped diffuse the narrative into public discourse.

Media coordination was not incidental. On the very day of the aforementioned White House meeting, the Washington Post published a front-page article headlined “Obama Orders Review of Russian Hacking During Presidential Campaign” — a story that mirrored the internal shift in official narrative. The article marked the beginning of a coordinated media campaign that would amplify the Trump-Russia collusion narrative throughout the transition period.

Surveillance and suppression

Surveillance, once limited to foreign intelligence operations, was turned inward through the abuse of FISA warrants. The Steele dossier — funded by the Clinton campaign via Perkins Coie and Fusion GPS — served as the basis for wiretaps on Trump affiliates, despite being unverified and partially discredited. The FBI even altered emails to facilitate the warrants.

ROBYN BECK / Contributor | Getty Images

This capacity for internal subversion reappeared in 2020, when 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter labeling the Hunter Biden laptop story as “Russian disinformation.” According to polling, 79% of Americans believed truthful coverage of the laptop could have altered the election. The suppression of that story — now confirmed as authentic — was election interference, pure and simple.

A machine, not a ‘conspiracy theory’

The deep state is a self-reinforcing institutional machine — a decentralized, global bureaucracy whose members share ideological alignment and strategic goals.

Each node — law firms, think tanks, newsrooms, federal agencies — operates with plausible deniability. But taken together, they form a matrix of influence capable of undermining electoral legitimacy and redirecting national policy without democratic input.

The ODNI report and the Durham annex mark the first crack in the firewall shielding this machine. They expose more than a political scandal buried in the past. They lay bare a living system of elite coordination — one that demands exposure, confrontation, and ultimately dismantling.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Trump's proposal explained: Ukraine's path to peace without NATO expansion

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / Contributor | Getty Images

Strategic compromise, not absolute victory, often ensures lasting stability.

When has any country been asked to give up land it won in a war? Even if a nation is at fault, the punishment must be measured.

After World War I, Germany, the main aggressor, faced harsh penalties under the Treaty of Versailles. Germans resented the restrictions, and that resentment fueled the rise of Adolf Hitler, ultimately leading to World War II. History teaches that justice for transgressions must avoid creating conditions for future conflict.

Ukraine and Russia must choose to either continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

Russia and Ukraine now stand at a similar crossroads. They can cling to disputed land and prolong a devastating war, or they can make concessions that might secure a lasting peace. The stakes could not be higher: Tens of thousands die each month, and the choice between endless bloodshed and negotiated stability hinges on each side’s willingness to yield.

History offers a guide. In 1967, Israel faced annihilation. Surrounded by hostile armies, the nation fought back and seized large swaths of territory from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. Yet Israel did not seek an empire. It held only the buffer zones needed for survival and returned most of the land. Security and peace, not conquest, drove its decisions.

Peace requires concessions

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says both Russia and Ukraine will need to “get something” from a peace deal. He’s right. Israel proved that survival outweighs pride. By giving up land in exchange for recognition and an end to hostilities, it stopped the cycle of war. Egypt and Israel have not fought in more than 50 years.

Russia and Ukraine now press opposing security demands. Moscow wants a buffer to block NATO. Kyiv, scarred by invasion, seeks NATO membership — a pledge that any attack would trigger collective defense by the United States and Europe.

President Donald Trump and his allies have floated a middle path: an Article 5-style guarantee without full NATO membership. Article 5, the core of NATO’s charter, declares that an attack on one is an attack on all. For Ukraine, such a pledge would act as a powerful deterrent. For Russia, it might be more palatable than NATO expansion to its border

Andrew Harnik / Staff | Getty Images

Peace requires concessions. The human cost is staggering: U.S. estimates indicate 20,000 Russian soldiers died in a single month — nearly half the total U.S. casualties in Vietnam — and the toll on Ukrainians is also severe. To stop this bloodshed, both sides need to recognize reality on the ground, make difficult choices, and anchor negotiations in security and peace rather than pride.

Peace or bloodshed?

Both Russia and Ukraine claim deep historical grievances. Ukraine arguably has a stronger claim of injustice. But the question is not whose parchment is older or whose deed is more valid. The question is whether either side is willing to trade some land for the lives of thousands of innocent people. True security, not historical vindication, must guide the path forward.

History shows that punitive measures or rigid insistence on territorial claims can perpetuate cycles of war. Germany’s punishment after World War I contributed directly to World War II. By contrast, Israel’s willingness to cede land for security and recognition created enduring peace. Ukraine and Russia now face the same choice: Continue the cycle of bloodshed or make difficult compromises in pursuit of survival and stability.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.