Tag Archives: Decepticons

Dec 17 2025

Bannon 2.0 – Another Trump Chief of Staff Creates Another Hot Mess


Posted originally on CTH on December 16, 2025 | Sundance 

Last time it was Steve Bannon who held multiple interviews with Michael Wolff for his book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.  This time it is White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles who sat down for a series of recorded ‘on the record’ interviews with Vanity Fair author Chris Whipple. [Article w/ Paywall]

The interviews with Susie Wiles have been taking place all year, with recordings of her statements made to ensure she could not retract the divisive content now deployed by Vanity Fair at a critical moment in the Trump administration.

The intent of the Vanity Fair outline is to paint the most negative light possible, and it appears Susie Wiles gave Chris Whipple all the ammunition to do so.

TIMING: This anti-Trump narrative, supported by the toxic statements by Wiles, is dropped at a key moment when European leadership is purposefully pushing a narrative against President Trump. This series of articles and documented interviews hits at a moment of merging interests against the administration.  The coordination is noted.

SUBSTANCE: The New York Times outlines some of the statements by Susie Wiles that are going to grab attention.

[…] “Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vice President JD Vance has “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade” and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was “sort of political” because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is “an avowed ketamine” user and “an odd, odd duck,” whose actions were not always “rational” and left her “aghast.” Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is “a right-wing absolute zealot.” And Attorney General Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” in handling the Epstein files.”

[…] She said she urged Mr. Trump not to pardon the most violent rioters from Jan. 6, 2021, which he did anyway. She unsuccessfully tried to get him to delay his major tariffs because of a “huge disagreement” among his advisers. And she said the administration needed to “look harder” at deportations to prevent mistakes.

[…] She attributes her ability to work for Mr. Trump to growing up with an alcoholic father, the sportscaster Pat Summerall. “High-functioning alcoholics or alcoholics in general, their personalities are exaggerated when they drink,” she said. “And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.” While Mr. Trump does not drink, she said he has “an alcoholic’s personality” and operates with “a view that there’s nothing he can’t do. Nothing, zero, nothing.”

[…] Ms. Wiles confided in Mr. Whipple in March that she had told Mr. Trump that his presidency was not supposed to be a retribution tour. “We have a loose agreement that the score settling will end before the first 90 days are over,” she said then. When that did not happen by August, she told Mr. Whipple that “I don’t think he’s on a retribution tour” but said that he was aiming at people who did “bad things” in coming after him. “In some cases, it may look like retribution,” she said. “And there may be an element of that from time to time. Who would blame him? Not me.”

[…] In the interviews published by Vanity Fair, Ms. Wiles faulted Ms. Bondi, one of her closest friends in the administration, for her early handling of the Epstein files, an issue that has been a cause célèbre for Mr. Trump’s right-wing base.

“I think she completely whiffed on appreciating that that was the very targeted group that cared about this,” Ms. Wiles said. “First, she gave them binders full of nothingness. And then she said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.” Mr. Vance, by contrast, understood the sensitivity because he himself was “a conspiracy theorist,” she said.

Ms. Wiles said she has read the Epstein documents and acknowledged that Mr. Trump’s name is in them. “We know he’s in the file,” she said. “And he’s not in the file doing anything awful.”

[…] Ms. Wiles described frustration with Mr. Musk, the billionaire who early in the year was empowered to eviscerate federal agencies and fire employees en masse with almost no process. “He’s an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it’s not helpful, but he is his own person.” When he shared a post saying that Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn’t murder millions, their public sector workers did, Ms. Wiles said, “I think that’s when he’s microdosing.” Asked what she meant, she said, “he’s an avowed ketamine” user.

[…] In the interview with The Times on Monday, Ms. Wiles took issue with the quote attributed to her about his drug use. “That’s ridiculous,” she said. “I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know.” But Mr. Whipple played a tape for The Times in which she could be heard saying it.

[…] She acknowledged sharp internal divisions over Mr. Trump’s announcement of major tariffs last spring. “There was a huge disagreement over whether” tariffs were “a good idea,” she said. “We told Donald Trump, ‘Hey, let’s not talk about tariffs today. Let’s wait until we have the team in complete unity and then we’ll do it.’” But he announced them anyway and “it’s been more painful than I expected.”

[…] As for the potential successors, Mr. Vance and Mr. Rubio, she distinguished how each of them came around to supporting Mr. Trump after initially opposing him. “Marco was not the sort of person that would violate his principles,” she said. “He just won’t. And so he had to get there.” As for Mr. Vance, “his conversion came when he was running for the Senate. And I think his conversion was a little bit more, sort of political.”

Mr. Rubio told Mr. Whipple what he has said publicly, that “if JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee and I’ll be one of the first people to support him.” (read more)

Immediately after publication of the Vanity Fair story, Mrs. Wiles took to Twitter to explain her position:

[SOURCE]

Mrs. Wiles never explains why, for all that is reasonable and holy, she would even sit down with Vanity Fair for eleven interviews over the course of the year.

If you find yourself looking at this narrative engineering and saying, “WTF, why would she be so stupid?”  You are not alone.

Perhaps it’s the old axiom that sooner or later the senior staff always convince themselves that they are the star of the show.  Or perhaps Mrs. Wiles just never heard the Snake Poem:

On her way to work one morning
Down the path ‘longside the lake
A tender-hearted woman saw a poor half-frozen snake
His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew
“Oh well,” she cried, “I’ll take you in and I’ll take care of you”
“Take me in, tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in, tender woman,” sighed the snake

She wrapped him up all cozy in a comforter of silk
And laid him by thе fireside with some honеy and some milk
She hurried home from work that night, and soon as she arrived
She found that pretty snake she’d taken in had been revived
“Take me in, tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in, tender woman,” sighed the snake

She clutched him to her bosom, “You’re so beautiful,” she cried
“But if I hadn’t brought you in, by now you might have died”
She stroked his pretty skin again and kissed and held him tight
Instead of saying thanks, that snake gave her a vicious bite
“Take me in, tender woman
Take me in, for heaven’s sake
Take me in, tender woman,” sighed the snake

“I saved you,” cried the woman
“And you’ve bitten me, but why?
And you know your bite is poisonous and now I’m gonna die”
“Oh shut up, silly woman,” said the reptile with a grin
“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in”

~ Oscar Brown Jr

Dec 13 2025

DNI Tulsi Gabbard Discusses Ongoing Efforts to Find and Remove 18,000 Known Terrorists Who Entered U.S. Under Biden


Posted originally on CTH on December 13, 2025

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard appears on Fox News to discuss the Trump administrations’ effort to track down, capture and remove a reported 18,000 known and documented terrorists who crossed the southern border and entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

There are several elements to this issue, and unfortunately the aspect that pertains to identifying them and locating them works to enhance the argument of those who support govt surveillance. In fact, both the use of Palantir track and trace technology in combination with the FISA-702 reauthorization come into play here.

I would argue, as I have since 2022, that one of the reasons the DC administrative state allowed the Biden regime to create this national security threat, was specifically so they could justify the creation and use of a national identity surveillance net.

Washington DC supported the creation of the borderless crisis, in part to ensure the need for their surveillance solution. This puts the efforts of DNI Gabbard into a catch-22 scenario as witnessed in the questioning before congress of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. WATCH:

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DNI Tulsi Gabbard and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem are trying to remove thousands of national security threats and deport millions of illegal aliens.  The tools they need to track and identify those threats are the tools DC wants to retain against everyone, not just the threats.

In order to keep the pitchforks away, Washington DC has filled the haystack with needles. Gabbard (DNI), Noem (DHS) and Homan (ICE) are using metal detectors while the DC UniParty keeps operating the needle-making machinery.

Dec 12 2025

Small Details Help Understand Big Picture Politics


Posted originally on CTH on December 12, 2025 | Sundance

There was a rather disposable and brief discussion that surfaced during the Patrick David Bet podcast that helps to frame perspective on the current state of U.S. UniParty politics.  Normally, this interview segment wouldn’t be of much value; however, given the specifics of the names involved and some confusion about alliances and allegiances there is something to be remembered.  This interview is a good reminder.

John Morgan is the head of a massive law firm based in Florida.  As a strong democrat Morgan was one of Barack Obama’s biggest bundlers in the state.  Many high-profile lawyers including current Attorney General Pam Bondi and current HHS Secretary RFK Jr have worked for and with John Morgan.  This is why the best advice is to stay emotionally detached from reliance on these people.  At the core of everything it’s the money that matters.

In this interview John Morgan, a man of generally horrid character and disposition, highlights some of his influence in state, regional and national politics; giving details about the relationships he holds.  It’s a good reminder of exactly how the UniParty operates when contrast against the forces opposed to President Trump.  WATCH:

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Dec 10 2025

President Trump Delivers a Speech on the Economy from Pennsylvania – Video Replay


Posted originally on CTH on December 10, 2025 | Sundance

Against an organized effort by leftists and media allies to blame President Trump for the ¹affordability crisis, President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the economy and his policies to reverse the Biden price problem.  WATCH:

Joe Biden economic, monetary and energy policies created two years of massive inflation.  That inflation skyrocketed the cost for goods and services.  Those high prices were then handed to the entering Trump administration, under the narrative of the “affordability crisis.”

Dec 9 2025

Volodymyr Zelensky


Zelenskyy Met with Starmer, Merz and Macron – Now Heading to Brussels

Posted originally on CTH on December 9, 2025 | Sundance | 19 Comments

Yesterday, Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskyy traveled to London to meet with British PM Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

As expected, part of the Zelenskyy meeting with the “coalition of the willing” included a briefing by Ukraine negotiator Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, who held detailed consultations for three days last week in Miami with Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

President Zelenskyy then departed London traveling with his media entourage to Brussels for the next round of discussions with the European Union stakeholders, financiers and politicians. During the trip Zelenskyy told his media stenographers, “Under our laws, under international law — and under moral law — we have no right to give anything away. That is what we are fighting for.”

The U.K, France and Germany support Zelenskyy’s position that he is not going to concede any territory to the Russian Federation, specifically the 30% of the Donbas area in Eastern Ukraine currently at the heart of the physical conflict.

The 30% issue surrounds the Donetsk region in Ukraine, which includes the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Russia is currently pushing deep into fortified Ukraine resistance in this region with a population of around 100,000. Zelenskyy claims losing this area would allow Putin to invade the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions.

Historically, this Donbas area was part of a brutal long-term Ukraine civil war between the pro-Russia eastern Ukrainian citizens and the pro-EU western aligned Ukrainian army. Russia’s current position is for Ukraine to cede the entire Donbas to Russia as part of the ceasefire agreement, or Russia will continue forward conflict military operations until successful.

Seeing things through the pragmatic prism of inevitability, President Trump’s view appears to be that this Donbas area will be lost to Russia one way or the other. So, the best scenario to stop the killing is for Ukraine to give up this territory as part of the ceasefire terms. Zelenskyy, with support of the EU, France, Germany and U.K says a firm “no.”

Politico reports that Zelenskyy said in August of this year “it would take Russia four-years to fully occupy the Donbas,” subsequently a lot of killing would take place during this process.  President Trump is trying to stop the brutal “killing” part of that dynamic by getting the negotiation to the point of concession, but the EU team view any land area concession as positive affirmation for Russia to continue threatening Europe.

♦ On the ‘Security Guarantee‘ issue, this is where a quagmire is presented by European leaders.

From a pragmatic standpoint a European demilitarized zone, stood up and supported by EU military forces would appear to be the best solution.  However, the “coalition of the willing” say they are willing to put security troops into Ukraine, but only if the USA will defend them if attacked by Russia.  In essence, quasi-NATO forces on a non-NATO country, that if attacked would draw the entirety of NATO into the conflict, including the United States.

The U.K, France, Germany and EU Commission want a security structure similar to NATO for Ukraine that legally binds the United States to defend their interests if the ceasefire does not hold.  President Trump has rejected this construct as yet another way for Europe to pull the U.S into a conflict zone that is not in our vital national security interests.

The ceasefire proposal structured by Trump, Witkoff and Kushner – seemingly supported by Russia, does not permit Ukraine to join NATO; however, EU membership is entirely up to the EU and people of Ukraine to decide.  If Ukraine joins the EU, then EU forces alone should provide the security guarantee, not NATO which includes the U.S. and Canada.

(Washington Post) […] Zelensky said Ukraine will not surrender its territory in the eastern Donbas region — not to hasten peace talks, not to satisfy Washington’s push for compromise and not under pressure from Moscow’s continuing military onslaught.

Ukraine and Europe have insisted that a ceasefire be declared along current battle lines, but Russia has refused. Putin has claimed, illegally, to have annexed four entire regions of Ukraine (in addition to Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014) — far more territory than his military forces have been able to occupy.

Some Ukrainian officials held out hope that the negotiations could still bear fruit.

The proposal “is closer to be doable for Ukraine, but not easy and not finished,” said a senior Ukrainian official familiar with recent discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. (read more)

President Zelenskyy, whose term in office has long expired, departed London with his EU media entourage heading to Brussels.  The collective group is trying to figure out how to keep America tied to their stakeholder interests in Ukraine.

The European leaders are manufacturing a construct that is not supported by the vast majority of the citizens within the EU, even within Ukraine itself.  Meanwhile back in the USA, congress (House and Senate majorities) supports the position of Ukraine and the EU against the interests of President Trump and the voting majority.

There are trillions at stake.

The ruling class is supporting Zelenskyy, while the killing of the non-ruling class continues on the fields of Ukraine.

Dec 8 2025

Tucker Carlson Interviews Qatar’s Prime Minister Al Thani


Posted originally on CTH on December 7, 2025 | Sundance

Tucker Carlson is attending a conference in Doha along with a series of U.S. and EU political pundits and people within the geopolitical world including Donald Trump Jr.  This conference has people like Mark Levin and Laura Loomer going bananas as the Qatar vs Israel influence operation reaches new political levels of antagonism.

In the interview below Tucker Carlson is interviewing Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on the Israel–Gaza war, U.S. foreign policy toward Israel, Qatar’s long and ongoing role in mediation with Hamas, and the surge of propaganda targeting Doha.

The discussion includes how various administrations have asked Qatar for assistance, and the issue of Israel attacking Qatar amid the active peace talks. Tucker Carlson also tackles the issue of U.S. voices calling him a propagandist for Qatar head on.  WATCH:

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As previously noted, Donald Trump Jr also attended the Doha, Qatar, conference.  His remarks are below.

The Qatar vs Israel influence battle, seems to be -essentially- the JD Vance vs Ron DeSantis pre-battle and influence operation.  I’ll keep watching it unfold, because the transparency of the objectives is interesting.

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Dec 6 2025

CNN Reports J6 Pipe Bomb Suspect as Trump Supporter Angered by Stolen Election


Posted originally on CTH on December 6, 2025 | Sundance

You know a deep state cover-story operation is underway when Natasha Bertrand and Evan Perez are pushing the narrative.

The narrative is laughable, claiming the 30-year-old black North Virgina resident, working for a bail bond company that supports illegal aliens, whose father previously sued the Trump administration and claims racism against their company opposition, is a Trump supporter.

Alas, that’s the story -according to FBI people familiar with the matter- and CNN are sticking to it.

(VIA CNN) – During interviews with the FBI, the suspect arrested in the pipe bomb probe told investigators that he believed the 2020 election was stolen, providing perhaps the first indication of a possible motive for the bombs placed near the DNC and RNC headquarters, people briefed on the matter told CNN. (read more)

If you are to believe this narrative and simultaneously overlay the indictment evidence, the pipe bomber had remarkable predictive abilities in purchasing the explosive components for his devices before the 2020 election took place.  Somehow, according to CNN, Brian Cole Jr knew the 2020 election would be “stolen” and was prepared for the outcome.

Ridiculous, all of it.

Meanwhile, Brian Cole Jr’s grandmother, Loretta, tells an entirely different story.

(Via Daily Mail) – […] ‘He’s not politically affiliated with anything,’ the grandmother told the Daily Mail during an interview at her home in Gainesville, Virginia. ‘He has no social media contacts. He’s never online going back and forth with politics or anything like that. He says he don’t like either party.

‘He’s borderline autistic,’ she added. ‘He’s slow. He may be 30, but he’s got the mind of a 16-year-old. That’s why we’re thinking – What the hell? What’s going on?’

[…] ‘We’re terrified,’ she said. ‘They say they’ve got all this evidence. Whatever happened, we’ve still got to fight it. We have to figure out what to do.’

She said she had no idea her grandson may have been gathering parts for months to build the bombs from area businesses, stored them in the home, then allegedly tried to carry out a terrorist attack.

Cole was charged with laying explosives outside the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters, which did not detonate.

She said she doesn’t believe the charges.

‘This young man is very calm and quiet,’ she said. ‘He just stays to himself. Nobody bothers him because he doesn’t bother anybody.

‘He doesn’t have a girlfriend,’ she added. ‘That’s how slow he is. He’s just off in a little world on his own. He stays downstairs and he used to be with his dog all the time.’

‘That’s why everything is so messed up with us because he’s a good kid,’ she said. ‘If you knew him, you would say that he couldn’t have done it.’

‘And if he did, it was just him trying to prove a point or whatever,’ she continued. ‘He probably doesn’t even know the magnitude of what he’s done, if he did it.’

‘He’s a data entry clerk in the office and answers the phones,’ she said. ‘He’s right in the reception area up front. We have a business, so we have to put him to work. And he understands that. He’s good with data entry.’

‘All I can tell you is I love my grandson,’ she said. ‘He’s not a bad kid and he’s not affiliated with any gangs or anything like that. He’s not a political anarchist, or whatever they’re calling him. People could pull unnamed sources out of the sky. I don’t believe that. I don’t know.’ (read more)

I personally am not ascribing operational motive (or outcome) to the intents of either Kash Patel or Dan Bongino because as I have said from the outset of their selection, neither of these two men have the intellectual or discernment skillset needed to confront the corrupt institutional intent of the FBI as an organization.

Both Dan and Kash have easily identifiable ‘attack vectors’ which can be exploited by those skilled in the dark arts of manipulation.  Kash’s open weakness is his ego and lust for lifestyle, Bongino’s open emotional weakness is his need to be cherished and appreciated.  Both mindsets are easily influenced by those who know how to do such things.

Was/is Brian Cole Jr a patsy or was he a secretly hiding from his family a high functioning intellectual skillset capable of strategic thinking, foresight and developing covert plans.  Something just doesn’t add up.

The media’s need to ascribe a pro-Trump spin to the motives and intents is typical of their fake news status, pumping toxic fuel into the minds of those who genuinely believe some form of credibility in DC reporting still exists.  When CNN pushes a narrative the domestic Intelligence Community is generally behind it.

♦ The overall FBI angle is EXTREMELY SKETCHY (noted in Fox video below) as the “new FBI” investigative unit simply used Brian Cole’s cell phone and geolocation as part of the evidence against him.  This cell phone geolocation and ID are exactly what all of the J6 pipe bomb researchers have been shouting about for five years.

For five years the FBI couldn’t exploit the cell phone use for identification, then suddenly they were able to exploit the cell phone use for identification.  Something doesn’t add up here and is really hinky, despite Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino claiming the FBI’s investigative efforts were excellent.

Dec 6 2025

The Money Phase – Emissary Witkoff Updates on Ukraine/Russia Peace Negotiations


Posted originally on CTH on December 6, 2025 | Sundance

If we read between the lines in the latest update from President Trump emissary Steve Witkoff, we can clearly see the negotiations have entered into that critical phase where payments to all of the stakeholders will determine a successful outcome.

Pragmatic people have long predicted the ultimate solution to the bloodshed will only be determined once western interests get to the point where negotiators propose a long-term plan for continued financial benefit.  Too many people, “stakeholders” are making money from the conflict.

From a western perspective, support for the Ukraine conflict is based on money. Therefore, the solution to the conflict requires a system where the western opportunity for financial benefit continues.

Written in polite diplomatic terms, the continued payments are identified as “the prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint U.S.–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.” This is codespeak for the U.S. Senate and EU will retain a financial mechanism to exploit for personal benefit.

From the language it appears that Witkoff and Kusher are confident they can construct a financial reward system for western banks, investors, politicians and Ukraine officials that will retain the benefits of war without the ancillary ingredient of bloodshed.

If the U.S. delegation can pull this off, then Russia can gain the territory they want, corrupt Ukraine officials can keep skimming investment money, the EU can retain the power it wants to extract financial payments, American politicians can use the “long-term recovery projects” for money laundering and quasi-public/private investment banks can benefit from the exploitation of Ukraine resources.

Again, from a ‘western geopolitical perspective’, the territorial issues, security guarantees, EU membership status and the position of NATO are downstream details once the larger payment system is organized.  Put another way, they are down to the stuff that really matters, the money.

STEVE WITKOFF – Readout of Meeting Between Special Envoy for Peace Steven Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Ukrainian Secretary of National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, and Chief of General Staff General Andriy Hnatov

Over two days, Special Envoy for Peace Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian Secretary of National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov and Chief of General Staff General Andriy Hnatov for constructive discussions on advancing a credible pathway toward a durable and just peace in Ukraine.

Today, the group had their sixth meeting over the past two weeks. Secretary Umerov reaffirmed that Ukraine’s priority is securing a settlement that protects its independence and sovereignty, ensures the safety of Ukrainians, and provides a stable foundation for a prosperous democratic future.

The participants discussed the results of recent meeting of the American side with the Russians and steps that could lead to ending this war. The American and Ukrainians also agreed on the framework of security arrangements and discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace.

Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.

Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint U.S.–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.

American and Ukrainian parties underscored that an end to the war and credible steps toward ceasefire and de-escalation are necessary to prevent renewed aggression and to enable Ukraine’s comprehensive redevelopment plan, designed to make the nation stronger and more prosperous than before the war.

Parties will reconvene tomorrow to continue advancing the discussions.” (source)

From the Russian side of the equation the war is about ideology, national security and proactive defeat of western, mostly American, encroachment and influence.  From the western side, the EU support for Ukraine was less ideological and more financially motivated.

Russia and Ukraine have paid a high price in the larger proxy war.  Russia has won the physical fight.  Hopefully soon the financial terms will be accepted by the western stakeholders and combat operations can cease.

Ukraine President Zelenskyy will get a nice villa in Europe and a reasonable mansion in the USA.  The cocktail parties will continue with crustless cucumber sandwiches and white wine spritzers, while the ladies go shopping and the men get manicures while talking about which of their favorites will replace Zelenskyy.

Dec 2 2025

Pretending Not to Know Things, Continues


Posted originally on CTH on December 1, 2025 | Sundance

Washington DC continues pretending they do not know things.  It is insufferable and frustrating.  However, they are blind to the reality that a large segment of the American population is aware of the issues and understand the position of Republicans is not part of some mistake or flaw; it is a feature of their intent.

Elise Stefanik notes: “Republicans have the House, Senate, and the White House, yet the deep state is alive and well with the Speaker getting rolled by House Dems attempting to block my provision to require Congressional disclosure when the FBI opens counterintelligence investigations into presidential and federal candidates seeking office.

In a March 2017 open hearing, my questions to former FBI Director James Comey began the unraveling of the Russia Hoax when Comey admitted to not following proper notification procedures with his illegal opening of Crossfire Hurricane. A criminal act that can never happen again.

My provision will strengthen this accountability and transparency to deter this illegal weaponization and it passed out of the House Intelligence Committee in this Congress and previous ones. Yet House Republicans continue to get rolled by the deep state due to opposition by Jamie Raskin.

If Republicans can’t deliver accountability and legislative fixes to arguably the biggest illegal corruption and government weaponization issue of all time, then what are we even doing.

This language is even more essential in light of the continued weaponization of the federal government evidenced by the sweeping Arctic Frost wiretapping scandal and the recent illegal leaks of Steve Witkoff’s conversations with foreign counterparts.

Unless this provision is added back into the bill to prevent illegal political weaponization of the intelligence community in our elections, I am a HARD NO. I have always voted in support of the defense and intelligence authorization bills, but no more.

It is a scandalous disgrace that Republicans are allowing themselves to be rolled by the Dems and deep state on this.”  (more)

Republicans are not getting “rolled”, and Mrs. Stefanik knows this.

It’s all so performative, and ‘we the people‘ can see the strings.

This is factually a very dangerous situation, because the abused are now numb to the patterns and consequences of the abusers.  The abuser has not yet noticed.

Once the abuser catches on to the audience rolling their eyes and laughing at them, that creates a sense of humiliation directly in the psyche of the abuser…. Things get really ugly.

Nov 24 2025

Sunday Talks – Senator Mark Warner Not Happy with Ukraine Peace Proposal – Video and Transcript


Posted originally on CTH on November 23, 2025 | Sundance 

Sometimes it pays to remind what Marco Rubio said back in February, “Ukraine is a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia.”  From that context the remarks from SSCI Vice-Chair, Senator Mark Warner, make sense.

Warner appears on ABC News ‘This Week’ to denounce the peace proposal now being negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland between Secretary Rubio and the Ukrainian delegation.  Senator Warner makes it clear he will not accept the end to conflict in Ukraine.  Video and Transcript Below:

[TRANSCRIPT] – Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Mark Warner joins me now.

Good to see you this morning, Senator.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR: Good morning, Martha.

RADDATZ: What is your reaction to this peace proposal that is on the table?

WARNER: My reaction is it’s awful. It would make Neville Chamberlain’s giving in to Hitler outside of World War II looks strong in comparison. The fact that this was almost a series of Russian talking points, would require Ukraine to give the — totality of the Donbas, parts they still control, cut back their military forces going forward, never be able to join NATO.

This would be a complete capitulation. And it’s why I think you’re hearing from Congress, both sides, people pushing back. And, obviously, the Europeans feel like they’ve been totally left high and dry.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: You’ve heard the deadline from President Trump, but then him saying that’s not — there’s room for negotiation here, it seems like. So, what do you think happens after today (ph)?

WARNER: I think what happens — it feels like this was a plan that they took almost entirely from the Russians, did no consultation with Congress, no consultation with the Europeans, obviously didn’t read in Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians, and now they’re getting ferocious pushback. So, one more time, Trump is changing his deadline.

Of course, how he picked Thanksgiving to start with, I have no idea. But now it — even with this — some of this back and forth that it’s not really an American plan, or isn’t an American plan, this is the kind of chaos that, unfortunately, represents so much of the Trump foreign policy.

RADDATZ: So, what do you think President Zelenskyy should do? He’s been through this before. It’s kind of back and forth with this White House. They support you. They pull it back. Do you think all of this, this proposal, which seems to heavily favor Russia, is that just a starting point again?

WARNER: Well, I would hope — I would hope so. Again, the Ukrainians have performed magnificently in the field. And they are reinventing the nature of warfare in terms of use — use of drones. To have this proposal forced upon them, I think as Zelenskyy said, Ukrainian dignity versus giving up a partner, I would hope the president would not be so weak as to try to force this plan on the Ukrainian and our other allies. It would, I think, send not only a horrible signal for Europe, but the person who’s watching this probably the most closely is President Xi in China. And if the Americans are willing to throw in their towel so much like this on Ukraine, you can bet that Xi is thinking, this gives him a clearer path in terms of taking Taiwan.

RADDATZ: But what does Zelenskyy do here? If on Thursday the president says, I’m telling you right now, take what we’ve got on the table and — and there will probably be some changes, or we’re done. What — what does Zelenskyy do, just hope that Europe rises and helps him out?

WARNER: Well, let’s — let’s, again, you have overwhelming support still for Ukraine. The last Ukraine aid package had 80 percent of the Congress. I think the president is seeing this one-sided plan kind of blow up in his face with pushback from the Ukrainians, from the Europeans, from members of Congress of his own party. And my hope is, he’ll come back and be a bit more reasonable.

RADDATZ: I want to turn to Venezuela. We’re all watching that this week. What can you tell us about what you think happens now. We’ve got this massive buildup. We’ve got this massive show of force. We have airline who aren’t — that aren’t flying there because of all the activity and the military activity right now.

Do you expect something more to happen?

WARNER: Well, historically, the United States’ intervention in Central America or South America has not always rolled out the way we’d hope. Maduro was a bad guy, frankly, under Biden. When the Venezuelan people voted in overwhelming numbers, Biden should have put more pressure on getting Maduro out then. It was a mistake.

But now, to have this much armed forces, we have not been briefed on any military action that would have been authorized. He keeps putting the word out that maybe he has authorized, maybe he’s not. We are trying to get the answer on that. But there is a real question. You know, to take this big a fleet, bring our largest aircraft carrier, put them there to further blow up boats that they claim have drugs on them, frankly they could have interdicted some of those boats and shown the world that there were drugs.

In terms of Venezuela, the legal opinion about the drug run — drug running doesn’t touch Venezuela at all. So, the president would have to come back and brief us.

RADDATZ: Trump says he’ll be speaking with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Do you think that is a good idea? And what can you say to him?

WARNER: Because I think the notion that Trump says he’ll talk to anyone, I think that is — I’m not going to critique him on that, if there’s a way to push Maduro out. Remember, our government and fifty other governments, almost all of Western Europe, don’t recognize the Maduro government as legitimate. But it does not feel like there is an organized plan. And coming down again, America only, without any of our other allies in South America or Central America again seems not the right approach to me.

RADDATZ: What could happen short of a show of force? When you have that massive a show of force, it’s almost like, you’re in a position where you have to do something or you might look weak. Short of Maduro saying, OK, I’ll leave, then what does he do?

WARNER: Well, again, that’s the million-dollar question. And as you know, when you’ve got this many forces down there, and you can’t keep the carrier positioned there forever, you also have the chance of an accident happening or a conflict between the Venezuelan air force or some of our planes that might —

RADDATZ: Do you think he wants to go to war with Venezuela? Do you think he wants (INAUDIBLE) —

WARNER: I don’t know. I don’t know. I think he is trying to put outside pressure on Maduro. But by doing it in this kind of America only approach, again without giving any sign to, I think, even his — the Republicans on The Hill what his plans are, I’m not sure is the right way to do foreign policy. You couple this Venezuela misadventure with this desertion of Ukraine and this is not making America safer, and it’s sure not putting America first.

RADDATZ: Thanks very much for joining us, Senator. Always appreciate it.

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