An interesting interview between Tucker Carlson and Former CIA Counterintelligence Operations Officer John Kiriakou about being targeted by the CIA and FBI after telling the truth about CIA torture ops.
Kiriakou outlines how no U.S. President ever controls the CIA, and why politicians are seemingly afraid of holding them accountable. WATCH:
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:41 Speaking Out Against the CIA’s Torture Program
7:20 Why the CIA Loved Obama
19:05 Why John Brennan Hated Kiriakou
23:23 The CIA’s Torture Techniques
32:01 How the FBI Tried to Bait Kiriakou Into Committing Espionage
President Trump and the trade team have made specific requests of Vietnam in order to negotiate a trade agreement. Unfortunately, just like Canada, Vietnam’s problem is not an unwillingness to comply, it’s their inability.
CTH was in the manufacturing base of Vietnam in January; their factories are loaded with component parts from China used to produce finished goods sent to the USA (and globally). President Trump is telling Vietnam they need to reduce their reliance on Chinese imported component goods, but China has spent billions in advanced positioning and contracts, influencing Vietnam.
Vietnam is a very poor country, and their population cannot afford to purchase the products they manufacture. They do not have a domestic consumption base. They are reliant on exports to more wealthy nations to keep their manufacturing base afloat. Practically, it is easy to have sympathy for Vietnam due to their economic dependence on both China (for imported raw materials) and the USA (for exported finished goods).
VIETNAM – The US has sent a “long” list of “tough” requests to Vietnam in its tariff negotiations, including demands that could force the country to cut its reliance on Chinese industrial goods imports, two people briefed about the matter told Reuters.
Washington wants Vietnam-based factories to reduce their use of materials and components from China and is asking the country to control more carefully its production and supply chains, one of the people briefed on the talks said, without elaborating on whether quantitative targets were included.
The list is part of an “annex” to a framework text prepared by US negotiators, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (U-DC) and Lindsey Graham (U-DC) have scheduled a delegation of Ukraine officials to come to the Senate tomorrow and help organize the pro-Ukraine narrative. The Senate is debating the anti-Russia sanctions package and key players are coordinating retention of the Ukraine payment system.
According to Politico all 100 senators have been invited to the lobbying/narrative engineering meeting, and almost all of them are likely to attend. From obvious indications, including Blumenthal and Graham supporting the recent Ukraine attacks against strategic Russian airbases, it would appear the Senate is prepared to dispatch President Trump’s efforts to organize a ceasefire.
As with all things Washington DC, to find the motive follow the money.
WASHINGTON DC – A Ukrainian delegation is set to brief U.S. senators Wednesday as lawmakers weigh a sweeping sanctions bill targeting Russia and its biggest energy customers, China and India.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview that he organized the meeting with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and noted all 100 senators were invited to attend the closed-door session.
“It’s a pivotal moment in Ukraine — and crunch time for the Senate on this bill,” said Blumenthal, noting that the legislation now has 82 co-sponsors, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
The sense that this is not good expands when you consider the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the current conflict between the United States and China. Two Chinese researchers in Michigan have been charged with smuggling into the U.S. a fungus that devastates agricultural crops.
Was this an ‘agroterrorism’ operation intended to unleash a serious problem in the U.S. farming system? That intent cannot be dismissed easily.
MICHIGAN – Two Chinese nationals have been charged with allegedly smuggling into the U.S. a fungus called “Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for their research, some of it at the University of Michigan, officials said.
“The complaint also alleges that Jian’s electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party,” a DOJ press release said.
“It is further alleged that Jian’s boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into America — through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport — so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked,” according to the press release.
A few datapoints to keep on a post-it note as things progress; starting with a rather significant new release that I think you will find interesting.
Approximately 12.3 million Mexicans live abroad, both legally and illegally, with 97% of them living and working in the United States, according to BBVA Research. Last year Mexicans living abroad sent $64.75 billion back home in remittances, largely from Texas and California to states in central and western Mexico.
According to data just released, in April of this year remittances back to Mexico dropped 12.1%. The Mexico central bank said April saw 8.1% fewer transactions than a year earlier, that’s down to 12.4 million transactions. For Mexico this could be a devastating trend. [Sidenote: Remember, Trump is likely planning a complete overhaul of the USMCA later this year.]
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Remittances sent to Mexico slumped 12.1% in April compared to a year earlier, according to central bank data published on Monday, marking the steepest drop in over a decade as U.S. lawmakers mull a tax on such payments sent abroad.
The world’s second-largest recipient of remittances, Mexico receives these payments chiefly from migrants working in the neighboring United States. In April, Mexicans abroad sent fewer transactions and smaller payments, totaling $4.76 billion.
Analysts said the slump likely resulted from a broad crackdown on migration in the U.S. since President Donald Trump came to power in January, as authorities revoke some Biden-era protections and increase raids across the country.
The latest data marks the steepest year-on-year drop since September 2012, according to central bank data.
President Trump has not made any statement after Ukraine launched an attack yesterday deep into Russia targeting long-range nuclear capable bombers. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also remained quiet throughout the day today. However, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking from Vilnius, Lithuania, publicly bragged about the operation today.
According to Turkish officials (note silence from Russia & Ukraine), the previously scheduled meeting between Russian and Ukranian negotiators ended today after less than an hour. There are no details about what took place inside the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, just that once the meeting attendees were seated and gave initial remarks, the event dissolved. Both the Russian and Ukrainian teams left the building.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared full of nervous energy as she spoke to journalists outside the White House, noting that President Trump was in meetings and discussions all day while taking phone calls.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have also remained silent.
Inside Russia the general sense is one of preparation. As I noted in my debrief from last year, the government of Russia has been preparing the Russian people for an expanded escalation of the conflict for quite some time. The Russian media are deliberately pointing to Ukraine -and only Ukraine- in their domestic reporting of the attacks. There is no mention within Russian media of EU, NATO or USA support for the events that took place Sunday; however, there were a few mentions of Great Britain as a likely assistant to the attacks.
First the cliff notes version: There’s an important detail to remember. People are laughing at the long-range Russian bombers being left out in the open, vulnerable to attack. However, the bomber visibility is required as part of several nuclear agreements between the USA and Russia (SALT and START). Our U.S. long range nuclear capable bombers, covered under the same agreements, are also visible.
Ukraine President Zelenskyy is playing with fire by targeting them, which also explains why Zelenskyy never told President Trump in advance.
The U.S and NATO have provided the means. However, #1) did Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just exploit a vulnerability by targeting Russian long-range nuclear capable bombers? and #2) was the CIA and NATO intelligence community a willfully blind participant knowing they would benefit?
Both the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), call for U.S. and Russian long range nuclear capable bombers to remain “visible andobservable by national technical means of verification.” That open visibility creates a mutual vulnerability as well as a method of surveillance and verification for both the USA and Russian Federation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and by extension his NATO enablers, just exploited that SALT/START vulnerability and used drones to attack Russian bombers covered by USA-Russia treaties. There are reports (and videos) now surfacing from inside Russia showing the Russian Federation moving strategic long-range mobile missile launchers into position for a counterattack against Ukraine.
This situation is obviously very fluid and let us all hope that President Trump and President Putin are in communication about this escalation as created by Zelenskyy and his enablers, even if -and probably especially if- our own intelligence agencies are part of the enabling.
Think about the ramifications of NATO enabled Ukraine targeting major Russian military assets which are vulnerable only because they are part of a previously agreed U.S-Russia negotiation to remain vulnerable. In essence, an argument can be made by Russia that NATO -and by extension us- have targeted nuclear capable missile systems, and those systems were protected by the SALT/START treaties. How would we respond if an adversary launched a strike against our strategic long-range nuclear capable bombers in the USA?
The basic outline of what took place are now a bit clearer. In what was called “Operation Spider Web” Ukraine counterintelligence operatives staged a series of semi-trucks near five strategic air bases deep inside Russia. The trucks were loaded with explosive drones, and the drones came out and attacked the bases. Most of the truck drivers and drone operators were captured by Russian military. It was a suicide mission.
According to Ukraine government officials the mission was a big success; however, the claim of 40 strategic long-range Russian bombers being destroyed seems more like a PR narrative than likely actual outcome.
Factually, it was a counterintelligence success to pull off such a well-coordinated significant operation deep inside the Russian Federation. However, on the other hand this operation outlines how Russia is more like the USA than people think as it relates to the locations of their military bases and the vulnerable proximity around them.
Most Americans think of Russia as some form of locked-down totalitarian state where every square inch is under strict surveillance. My recent travels throughout Russia highlight exactly the opposite. Russia is far more open and unmonitored; yes, even around military bases, than our own country. There is not a big matrix of surveillance around the Russian Federation at all.
Some of the five known attacks took place 2,000km deep into Russia. According to Axios, “Ukrainian intelligence agents launched 117 attack drones from trucks that have been covertly placed near Russian air bases — some of them in Siberia — thousands of kilometers from Ukraine. Around 40 Russian military planes — most of them strategic bombers — were reportedly hit in the attack. Zelensky said 34% of Russias strategic bombers were hit.”
I doubt the accuracy of that “40” hit target number with 117 drones; yet even if true, not all the targeted aircraft would be completely disabled.
According to CBS, “The drones hit airfields including the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk region, more than 2,500 miles from Ukraine. It is the first time that a Ukrainian drone has been seen in the region, local Gov. Igor Kobzev told AP, stressing that it did not present a threat to civilians. While White House spokespeople declined to comment on the attack, administration sources told CBS News on Sunday that the White House was not aware it was coming.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CBS News to counter the false information being spread by Margaret Brennan on behalf of Wall Street corporations. The topics of interest surround China and tariffs.
Let me clarify for the audience that does not follow closely. Tariffs are paid by the importer based on the wholesale price of the product as delivered by the exporting country depending on the exporters’ tariff rate. Tariffs are NOT LEVIED/PAID based on the retail price of the product as sold to the consumer.
Example: A pair of Denim Jeans made in China for Guess Brand. The Chinese manufacturer sells the jeans to Guess Brand for $10 a pair manufactured. Guess sells the jeans at retail in the USA for $100 (a $90 gross profit).
A 50% tariff on China means the jeans cost Guess Brand $15 instead of $10 (an $85 gross profit). A 50% tariff on Guess brand jeans, that retail for $100, changes the cost to the retail brand by $5.
Multinational corporations who have off shored their production and manufacturing to China are the ones screaming about tariffs. Ultimately in the final analysis, President Trump is exposing corporatism, multinational corporate vultures; he is not necessarily just exposing China.
In the example above the company makes $85 gross profit as opposed to $90 gross profit on the pair of jeans if they do not raise the retail price. They don’t raise the price because their profit margins are already ridiculous, and that’s why consumer prices do not go up. A 50% direct tariff on Chinese goods only marginally hits the multinational corporation. American consumers need to understand this dynamic better. WATCH:
[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to ‘Face the Nation.’ We begin today with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Good morning and thank you for being here.
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s so much to get to. I want to start with China, because the Defense Secretary just said there’s an imminent military threat from China to Taiwan. Days earlier, Secretary Rubio said he’d aggressively revoked Chinese student visas. On top of that, you have curbing exports to China. Trade talks you said with Beijing are stalled, and President Trump just accused China of violating an agreement, and now says no more, ‘Mr. Nice Guy.’ Are you intentionally escalating this standoff with Beijing?
Next week on Thursday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to travel to Washington DC and meet with President Donald Trump in the White House. Considering the importance of Germany to the EU economy and subsequent trade relationship with the U.S, this meeting with Merz will likely be the most important discussion toward a possible U.S-E.U. trade agreement.
Germany is the largest economy within the EU and the core industrial base of the European Union. The number one issue for the German people is their economic status: everything else circles around this priority.
Having spent time in Hamburg, Bremen, Dresden and Frankfurt, it is very clear to me the German people are very focused on work and their vocations. Germans overall, take their economic standing very personally and seriously.
Inasmuch as Merz may have to represent the interests of the larger EU in his approach, he will undoubtedly be focused on what is in Germany’s best interest, with all else second.
For President Trump this specific German interest creates a unique facet of leverage within the larger EU trade discussion. Because the German economy is so vital, whatever terms Germany decides are the core terms the EU will manifest in their trade and tariff negotiations.
I predict we will hear a talking point from Merz, in generally German snark, something akin to a proposal for a zero-tariff base on the import and export of heavy industrial goods (machinery) for both Germany and the USA. I say in general German snark because passive-aggressive Chancellor Merz knows the U.S. is currently not in a position to sell Germany heavy industrial goods, and that’s entirely what President Trump is trying to recreate with the trade/tariff policy.
WASHINGTON DC – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will travel to Washington next week to meet United States President Donald Trump for the first time since taking office earlier this month.
The leaders will meet in the White House on Thursday and are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Middle East and trade policy, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in an emailed statement.
