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Debt Rattle August 21 2026

Aug 212026
 
 August 21, 2026  Posted by at 9:36 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , ,  3 Responses »


Herbert Draper Lament for Icarus 1898


• Bessent: Aim Is To ‘Collapse’ Iran Regime Through Economic Warfare
• Iran FM Blasts Trump’s Economic D-Day Threat ‘Diversion’ Which Will Fail (ZH)
• Scott Jennings Schools CNN Panel on Biden’s Inflation Disaster (Matt Margolis)
• The Harp Defense: Jennings Jockeys For SPOX After Leavitt Leaves (ZH)
• Plucking Natalie Harp (M. Walter)
• The Dem ‘Big Tent Party’ Is Doomed (Noel S. Williams)
• The Islamic Republic of NYC (Kim Ezra Shienbaum)
• The FBI Paid Eric Swalwell a Visit Over the Weekend (Margolis)
• The Feds Wasted HOW MANY TRILLIONS in Improper Payments? (Stephen Green)
• Distinctions in U.S-Canada Trade Relationship (CTH)
• ‘Operation Forrest Gump’ Deepens Ukraine Corruption Scandal (RMX)

 


 

 


 


“Bessent says maximum sanctions likely mean no major new military campaign for now.”

• Bessent: Aim Is To ‘Collapse’ Iran Regime Through Economic Warfare

• US shifts toward economic warfare, away from military strikes: Bessent says maximum sanctions likely mean no major new military campaign for now.
• Regime change rhetoric persists: Bessent says Washington intends to “collapse” Iran’s regime.
• USS George Washington arrives: A new US carrier is now operating in the Middle East, relieving the over-extended USS Lincoln.
• Iran rejects US threats as a Trump “diversion”: Tehran calls the campaign “economic terrorism” and says Washington is seeking an exit.


Bessent: Going to ‘Collapse this Regime’
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a CNBC appearance seemed to give additional confirmation that further Pentagon operations targeting Iran are unlikely to happen down the line. He also furthered Trump’s ‘Economic D-Day’ plan and threat.”If we are doing the maximum economic pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic restart,” Bessent said in a “Squawk on the Street” interview.

He previewed a press conference which the administration plans to give Monday to “talk about exactly what we’re going to do.” Apparently the White House is keen on resurrecting Bush-Cheney era talking points in the effort to push global countries to comply with a full economic siege and strangulation of the Islamic Republic. According to CNBC: In a preview of the plan, he said that the U.S. will be telling all of its allies, “You are either with us or against us.”

“If you insist on doing business with [Iran], either transferring money, buying their oil or doing seaborne ship transfers, then the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. government … will put its full might and force toward enforcing against you,” Bessent said. “This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world,” he said. He also said in the interview at one point that “we are going to collapse this regime.” Of course, none of this is necessarily new in terms of talking points’…

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“MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY.”

• Iran FM Blasts Trump’s Economic D-Day Threat ‘Diversion’ Which Will Fail (ZH)

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has on Thursday confirmed the USS George Washington is now deployed in the Middle East, following the lengthy, over-extended deployment of personnel onboard the USS Lincoln, which has sparked crisis and media frenzy over poor conditions, lack of supplies, and worsening morale. “The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in Middle East during a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM theater yesterday,” the command said in a statement posted on X.


The USS Washington will now be the military’s frontline carrier leading the mission in regional waters, which has featured an ongoing blockade of Iranian ports. President Trump had the evening prior issued a Truth Social post describing a new “ECONOMIC D-DAY” against Iran, declaring that his total economic war against Tehran will be the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY.”

Trump said that with Tehran’s military and military-industrial base reduced to “now rubble” and its “currency worthless,” he will unleash severe economic consequences against “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran.” On Thursday Iranian leaders responded to the D-Day threat, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stating on X that Trump’s announcement is designed to distract from Washington’s “unprecedented debt & surging interest costs”. He said the new economic measures will “bring further defeat” to the US. He added that “US economic terrorism threatens [the] global economy and sovereignty worldwide.


Another top Iranian official elsewhere asserted the US seeks exit from the region: Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf visited Iraq on Wednesday and said that the US was seeking to exit the region, comments that come following a report from The Washington Post that said the Pentagon is considering pulling back from the Persian Gulf after many of its bases in the area were heavily damaged by Iranian strikes. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also weighed in with another message, saying Washington is headed towards its next defeat. “They claim Iran is on the verge of defeat, hanging by a thread, yet they are begging all their allies to help them,” he posted on X.

Meanwhile Qatar is still seeking mediation and de-escalation, with Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani having said Thursday that traffic in the Strait of Hormuz must go back to what it was before. He urged that no party go back to “blackmailing” the other. “The consequences of this war were grave, not only on the Gulf region but elsewhere in the world,” Sheikh Mohammed told reporters at a press briefing following high-level discussions in El Alamein, Egypt.

“We need the situation to go back to what it used to be before” he said. “We condemn any threats in this regard in any obstacles.” On the question of global shipping flows through the strait, much remains to be seen following a controversial Axios report issued Wednesday which said the Pentagon has successfully established a stealth corridor in and out of the strait. Here are the key untested claims, which await verification:

Under the operation, which has been underway for the last several weeks, 15–20 tankers have entered and exited the strait each night through a southern channel along the coast of Oman. About 10 million barrels of oil a day — roughly half the pre-war volume — are being transported out of the strait and injected into the global energy market, the officials said. If this is the case, then it’s likely to lead to further rounds of war, given Iran is unlikely to sit back and allow the corridor to run smoothly…

Of course, many analysts have pointed out that Axios has not been reliable on oil and Iran related reports, which tend to come out at sensitive moments timeline-wise, perhaps for maximum impact on markets. Regional watcher and Atlantic Council author Danny Citrinowicz writes, “There is a fundamental paradox at the heart of the current U.S. approach to Iran: Washington wants to avoid another major military campaign, yet the very strategy it is pursuing to achieve that goal may make renewed military escalation increasingly difficult to avoid.”

“The administration appears to believe that it can dramatically intensify economic pressure, including through aggressive enforcement of secondary sanctions, while keeping the confrontation largely within the economic domain,” he continues. “But that assumption misunderstands both Iran’s position and the incentives facing its current leadership.” Indeed Washington has seemed to miscalculate and underestimate Tehran at every turn of this nearly 6-month long conflict.

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“There was no inflation during Biden,” Jennings joked. “You heard it here on CNN.”

• Scott Jennings Schools CNN Panel on Biden’s Inflation Disaster (Matt Margolis)

Scott Jennings didn’t just win an argument on CNN Wednesday night. He got Abby Phillip to admit he was right, live, on air, in front of a panel that had spent the whole segment pretending Joe Biden’s inflation disaster never happened. The fight broke out when Keith Boykin, a former Clinton White House aide turned CNN commentator, tried to pin every bit of America’s economic pain on President Trump. Boykin rattled off a list of grievances before Jennings jumped in to correct him.


“I hope, if anything else, if nothing else, that this debacle proves once and for all, or debunks the myth, that Republicans are good for the economy. If you look at Donald Trump’s record, he shows exactly the opposite,” Boykin said. “The debt is up. Inflation is up. Gas prices are up. Unemployment —” “Inflation’s down, actually,” Jennings said, interrupting Boykin’s DNC talking points before he could finish. Boykin shot back that inflation was 3% “when Joe Biden took office,” as though that erases everything that happened afterward. Abby Phillip jumped in to back him up, insisting inflation is “higher today than it was when Trump took office.”

This, of course, is a highly deceptive number. Inflation hit historic highs under Joe Biden, peaking at 9%, whereas under Trump, inflation has remained low. “What was the highest rate during Biden?” Jennings asked. Boykin wouldn’t answer. He asked it again, and Boykin still wouldn’t answer, accusing Jennings instead of “deflecting” while repeating that inflation was 3% when Biden took office, as if the beginning of the story were the whole story. “There was no inflation during Biden,” Jennings joked. “You heard it here on CNN.”

The line landed — because it was true. The same people wringing their hands over prices under Trump spent years insisting there was never a problem under Biden at all. Then something remarkable happened. Anchor Abby Phillip conceded the point herself. “Inflation was very high under Biden,” she admitted. “But when Donald Trump came into office, it was lower than it is today.” Jennings didn’t let her slide the concession past him. “So you admit that it went up under Biden and it’s lower now,” he said. Phillip tried to shut the topic down, asking why anyone was “arguing over things that don’t need to be argued about.”

That’s rich, considering her own network spent years insisting there was nothing to argue about in the first place. Jennings wasn’t done making his point. He followed up on X with a clip from the segment and the facts.

This is what happens every single time Democrats get cornered on the economy. They only discover inflation is a problem the moment a Republican sits in the Oval Office, and they’ll cheerfully blame Trump for price hikes that started on Biden’s watch. For years, the left insisted the Biden economy was strong, that complaints about grocery bills were overblown, that anyone struggling to make ends meet just didn’t understand the data. The left loves to pretend the Biden years never happened, and this panel demonstrated it in real time, on camera, for everyone to see.

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“.. paraphrased Trump as saying he is “not quite sold” on Jennings for the role.”

• The Harp Defense: Jennings Jockeys For SPOX After Leavitt Leaves (ZH)

CNN political contributor and nationally syndicated radio host Scott Jennings just dropped a full-throated defense of Natalie Harp after reports surfaced that the conservative commentator is angling to replace outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to Politico’s Playbook. “I just don’t think that’s what you sign up for when you’re someone like Natalie Harp, who never put her name on a ballot. She’s not the White House press secretary. She’s not a household name, and I just find it to be appalling,” Jennings told Playbook. “Somebody needs to defend her honor.”


Harp, the 35-year-old special assistant to President Donald Trump, has spent years flying under the radar as one of the president’s most constant aides. Insiders call her the “human printer” because she packs a portable printer everywhere, churning out hard copies of news articles, social-media posts and anything else Trump wants to see on paper, according to the anti-Trump publication The Bulwark.

That low profile shattered this week when Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) name-dropped her at a Georgia campaign rally, accusing the Trump of preferring to “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar” rather than fully attend to his official duties. Harp first caught Trump’s eye in 2019 when she publicly credited his Right to Try legislation with opening the door to experimental treatment for bone cancer, the New York Times reports.

Meanwhile, no decision was made and no offer extended an offer to Jennings to take the podium. A report from NOTUS on Wednesday paraphrased Trump as saying he is “not quite sold” on Jennings for the role. The report did note, though, that the president would prefer a man to succeed the outgoing Leavitt.

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“Of course, the human potato, CNN’s Brian Stelter, can always be counted upon, referring to Ossoff’s viral remark as a “victory.”

• Plucking Natalie Harp (M. Walter)

The institutional left is the most misogynistic blob of humans ever to walk the earth. ‘You will allow men into women’s private spaces and places’ — and why? ‘Because the man says so.’ We speak, of course, of the XY-men pretending to be XX-women. From bathrooms to basketball courts the message is clear: Sit down. Shut-up. And take it.


These allied XX-women are the same people who in the seventies were burning bras, singing “I am woman, hear me roar” and marching in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. We now call them AWFLs (Affluent White Female Liberals). And they’ve since raised an entire generation of mini-mes in belly-baring shirts, piercings, and tattoos who all follow their mothers’ lead. So I suppose it should come as no surprise that they are piling on a young Christian, conservative Trump aide who also happens to be a platinum blonde, very pretty, and with, so far as we know, no tattoos or belly-rings.

Natalie Harp, 35, officially the Special Assistant to the President and Executive Assistant to the President, is a remarkable young woman. She’s been in Trump’s orbit since 2019 and close at his side since 2022. (She received her current title last year.) Aside from the sheer stamina it takes to be a close aide to America’s least sleepy president, she hauls around two laptops, four cell phones, and a giant duffle bag full of other stuff, chief among them a portable printer, because the president likes to review things not on a screen but on paper; an understandable tic for an eighty year old.Did I mention she survived what could have been fatal bone cancer? Yeah, there’s that, too.

And who does she credit with saving her life? President Trump, because of his championship of the Right to Try.Evidently she’s become a target of late because “she was among a select group of aides who accompanied him on a secret flight out of Turkey last month.” The press has been in high dudgeon ever since. They’ve even gone so far as to interview Ms. Harp’s estranged brother. What else has this misogynistic bunch of Natalie Harp-haters been up to? Lots. The usual print and cable suspects have mentioned her so often that Google searches for her name have spiked 5,000%. And it’s hardly any wonder given the coverage she’s received. Via Fox:

Harp has received overwhelming coverage on cable news. Her name has been mentioned at least 86 times on MS NOW since Monday, according to Grabien transcripts. CNN has mentioned her at least a whopping 132 times in the same period. The legislative rbanch has also chimed in. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia received White House blowback when he insinuated that President Trump is having an inappropriate relationship with Ms. Harp; that all he wants to do is “build a ballroom and travel with Natalie.” Ossoff added that “no one cares” about “syncophantic” Ms. Harp’s feelings.

All in all a disgustingly misogynistic display, aimed squarely at Ms. Harp’s personal integrity which sounded awfully “war on women-y” to me. Of course, the human potato, CNN’s Brian Stelter, can always be counted upon, referring to Ossoff’s viral remark as a “victory.” The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reduced and objectified Ms. Harp by classifying her as Trump’s “binky.” Other reporting is as follows:

The Daily Beast ran a tabloid-esque story alleging first lady Melania Trump is “locked in a secret power struggle” over her husband with Harp, citing speculation from anti-Trump author Michael Wolff. Rolling Stone declared in a headline, “Nothing About Trump and Natalie Harp Is Normal,” while Forbes went more suspicious with its headline, “Natalie Harp Seen Everywhere With Trump Lately—Why That’s Raising Questions.” I’m no fan of Meghan McCain, but she’s absolutely right in this passage below. Via Fox:

“The egregious sexist attacks on Natalie Harp are absolutely insane — and they’re coming from prestigious journalists. What is wrong with everyone?!” podcast host Meghan McCain posted on X. “Every president has close aides and sometimes they are females. Like what year is this?! Should women never go into politics?!” “I am woman hear me roar” seems rather quaint and innocent now. Not shaving their armpits is clearly the least disgusting thing about these new “feminists” and their brethren. They’re hateful. Misogynistic and hateful. And they have millions of Democrats cheering them on.

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“Be careful what you wish for — the commies within will turn on you. They always do.”

• The Dem ‘Big Tent Party’ Is Doomed (Noel S. Williams)

Towards the end of every calendar year, various colleges publish lists of overused words and phrases. Though it is only August, here’s an obvious entrant for 2026: “big tent party.” Invoking that tired phrase is part of the sophistry that “establishment” Dems contrive to outwit dumb fake-news hosts. It is an attempt to obfuscate concerns about the commie takeover of their party. Publicly and performatively, they pretend to welcome the commies because they are a “big tent party.”Wrong! They are a “folding tent” party when it comes to their historical raison d’être; indeed, common-sense Republicans have co-opted much of their traditional ethnic and working-class base.


Even if their big tent bulges at the seams, what’s the point if the big top ring is swamped with commie clowns who turn it into a chaotic circus? What’s the point of a party that lacks a clear mission or coherent principles? The answer: to spite common-sense conservatives. To thwart Republicans for the sake of it. But what’s the point of that? As the commie clowns usurp the circus ringmaster, they’re effectively chucking sticky pies into the faces of the supposedly establishment Dems. Even leftist Hakeem Obama-wannabee Jeffries has been splattered with sugary goop. He admits he’s against several of the commie demands; in fact, he doesn’t support the DSA platform at all.

Again, I ask: what’s the point in welcoming in commie clowns who run amok? I know TDS is debilitating, but do they really hate an America First President more than soul-destroying commies? They are anti-American, but are they also anti-human? Get some perspective, please.

When it comes to the more “moderate” Dems, perhaps the likes of Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and John Fetterman (D-PA), the policy gulf is even wider. If one considers the political spectrum, they may tilt somewhat closer to conservative than commie (admittedly, Fetterman votes Dem most of the time, but I can’t see much comity with the commies). This is not to say that a big tent can’t remain steadfast. Ronald Reagan managed it, and President Trump expanded traditional Republican constituencies. The difference is they coalesce around all-American common-sense principles that have helped make us the most inventive and prosperous country ever. Genius combined with copious common sense made America great.

The Dem big top tent is crumbling under the weight of the commie onslaught. The DSA-endorsed candidates may have a “D” by their name, but it should be “C.” After all, there was once a time when even Dems supported America; conversely, the commies they now invite in want to overthrow us. How do they belong on the same playing field, let alone in the same tent? I’m an average, commonsense dude, but I’m telling the pretentious intellectuals and highfalutin linguists right now: recommend ditching the phrase “big tent party.” It was useful for Reagan, and even Trump, who both ushered in a bright “Morning again in America,” but has become a ludicrous trope for the demented Dems.

They are lacking a positive platform, so the Communist Manifesto will fill the vacuum. One presumes the ultimate purpose in their big tent is simply to defeat Republicans. Be careful what you wish for — the commies within will turn on you. They always do. As the old saying goes: “United we stand, divided we fall.” As with communism, the Dem big tent is doomed to fall. They’d be advised to break commie camp in a more orderly fashion.

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“Organized Radical Islam has learned that it is not necessary to mount a frontal assault on our buildings or hijack our planes. “

• The Islamic Republic of NYC (Kim Ezra Shienbaum)

Twenty-five years ago, America was attacked on its own soil, a first since 1812. A new generation of voters never directly experienced the horrors of that once-in-a-lifetime experience, played out on TV screens like a Hollywood horror movie. Lessons have been learned in the years since. But not by all Americans, particularly many New Yorkers. New York City, which began as a city of survivors, has become a city of apologists. The lessons of 9/11 have been buried under layers of political fashion and academic abstraction.


In their place, a new political order has risen, one that is less interested in defending the West than in condemning it. And organized Radical Islam has learned that it is not necessary to mount a frontal assault on our buildings or hijack our planes. The most visible expression of this new order is the lightning-fast ascendance of Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani is not merely a mayor; he is an audacious symbol of an ideological movement that has outgrown New York and now threatens to reshape it.

His unprecedentedly expansive view of his role, combined with his globalism, results in issues disconnected from the everyday concerns of New Yorkers, intertwined with unrelated Islamist causes. Take distant Palestine. It was referenced during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations while Mamdani’s wife, invited to address a spiritual retreat in Corsica, framed the Virgin Mary as a “Palestinian woman giving birth under occupation,” a bold religious appropriation of Christian belief.

Mamdani’s commitment to Palestine reached new heights with his call to execute an ICC warrant arresting the democratically elected leader of Israel from the UN opening ceremonies. Trump put an end to this foreign policy incursion by emphatically stating “Benjamin Netanyahu will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.” Undeterred by jurisdictional realities, Mamdani took to TV and social media to brand Netanyahu a “war criminal,” while excluding real war criminals like Putin or Hafez Assad, demanding America respect international law.

His “Commissioner for International Affairs” scheduled a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to the UN, summarily aborted by the State Department, which had earlier voided a meeting with Colombia’s first socialist president. Given his foreign policy initiatives favoring America’s enemies, House Republicans submitted a request to the Justice Department to investigate Mamdani under the 1799 Logan Act, which bars individuals and local officials from independently making foreign policy.

Moreover, Mamdani has publicly and frequently referenced Islamic religion and culture. His inaugural speech celebrated halal cart vendors; his policy of equal city services for illegals was framed by the example set by the Prophet Mohammed’s hijra; his FIFA map of NYC ethnic enclaves featured Little Palestine; and Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia pro-Hamas organizer currently under a deportation order, was invited to celebrate the iftar at Gracie Mansion.

On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Mamdani delivered his own version of patriotism from behind George Washington’s desk at City Hall. He told newly naturalized citizens that they hold “the power to determine what America means.” But the America he described was not the one founded in 1776. It was an America of “calloused, dirt-streaked hands” exploited by oligarchs, of “masked agents” snatching undocumented neighbors, of a nation that “belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin.”

This was not a celebration. It was an indictment. His speech called for “righteous dissent,” for protest, for resistance. He framed patriotism as defiance rather than loyalty. He praised the city’s immigrant legacy while rejecting the longstanding vision of America as a nation of law, order, and tradition. Clearly, Mamdani avoids the cautious language of governance, instead delivering accusatory sermons. He frames American institutions as instruments of oppression, presenting the post-9/11 era as a period of profound fear and systemic bias for Muslim Americans, recounting the experience of his aunt afraid to wear her hijab in the subway.

His rhetoric is not merely radical; it is contemptuous of the very foundations of the society he claims to represent. In his telling, the U.S. is not a flawed democracy to be improved; it is a system of domination to be dismantled. And 9/11 is not a tragedy to be remembered; it is a symbol of American hubris to be mocked. Little wonder that the Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2026 has called on New Yorkers to turn their backs on Mamdani at 9/11 memorial services, while New Yorker Giovanni Galante, whose wife was killed during the attacks, has gathered almost 100,000 signatures on a petition to ban the mayor from the commemorations.

[..[ The question is not only whether Mamdani’s performative socialism delivers. The larger issue is whether New York’s experience should prompt a serious national debate about whether immigration, multiculturalism, and political activism can coexist with a shared commitment to constitutional government, public safety, religious pluralism, and the defense of democratic allies.

Will New York City wake up before it becomes, in all but name, the Islamic Republic of NYC?

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Christine “Fang Fang” Fang.

• The FBI Paid Eric Swalwell a Visit Over the Weekend (Margolis)

Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) started his Saturday in the Washington, D.C., house he still shares with his wife and three kids. He ended it face-to-face with the FBI. When his flight landed at San Francisco International Airport, agents were waiting on the tarmac with a search warrant, and they walked away with his cell phone and other electronic devices. The disgraced former congressman and onetime frontrunner for California governor is now the target of a federal criminal investigation into multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.


The airport stop was just the opening act. On Sunday, agents returned with additional court-approved search warrants and let themselves into Swalwell’s D.C. house while he and his wife, Brittany Watts, 41, were nowhere in sight. According to a report from the Daily Mail, well-placed sources say agents seized additional undisclosed evidence, and that Swalwell was actually cooperative when they confronted him at the airport. Swalwell faces allegations from at least four women. One woman claims he drugged and raped her in 2018. A former staffer says he raped her twice while she was too intoxicated to consent in 2019 and then in 2024. Two of the women say he sent them unsolicited photos of his genitalia.

This is the same congressman who spent years lecturing the country about decency. The former staffer told CNN that after a night of heavy drinking in New York City in April 2024, she woke up to Swalwell having sex with her in his hotel room, months after she had already stopped working for him. “I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” she told CNN. “He didn’t stop,” she added. This is not a scandal Swalwell can spin his way out of with a press release, and it won’t disappear like a fart in the wind.

Swalwell denies wrongdoing in the sexual misconduct case, though he has acknowledged making “mistakes in judgment” and has apologized to his wife. That is one way to describe rape allegations from multiple women. A friend of the family said, “Eric has been accused of horrible things. How do you live with that?” Maybe ask him. The fallout has already cost him plenty. Swalwell had to abandon the California governor’s race and resign from Congress in disgrace. On top of that, his nine-year marriage looks shaky too. Daily Mail photos from May showed Watts leaving their D.C. home without her wedding ring, while Swalwell made sure to stay out of frame entirely.

Making matters worse, the White House Transparency Task Force released newly declassified records Monday detailing his old ties to Christine “Fang Fang” Fang, the accused Chinese spy who spent years cultivating rising Democrat Party figures in California. Fang bundled donations for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign and even placed an intern in his congressional office. Swalwell admitted to the FBI that he “occasionally hooked up” with her — as if “occasionally” makes it better or something.

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“I keep putting TRILLION in all-caps because a number that big deserves it.”

• The Feds Wasted HOW MANY TRILLIONS in Improper Payments? (Stephen Green)

Instead of drawing out the big mystery over how much of your money Washington wastes on improper payments, I’ll just tell you right up front: In the 20 years between 2003 and 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates the total money blown on payments made in error, or in the wrong amount, or with no documentation (!!!) is $2.7 TRILLION. That’s a two followed by a seven followed by 11 zeroes. That’s almost double what we spent last year on Medicare/Medicaid combined, or on Social Security.


It’s triple last year’s defense budget. It’s almost triple the unconscionable amount we spent last year just servicing Washington’s outstanding debt. It is almost exactly the same amount Washington collected last year in personal income taxes. And if that doesn’t make your blood boil, you must be reading this inside a walk-in freezer, chewing on a mouthful of Lopressor. The incomprehensible numbers come from a Cicero Institute report earlier this year titled “Rebuilding Public Trust by Ensuring Accountability in Government Spending.” Dream on, right? Here’s this week’s item from Cicero that drew my attention to the astonishing sum:

Maybe this is where you shrug and say, “Well, things could be worse.”

And then that’s when I’d say, “Oh, they are.” You saw that one coming, didn’t you? So let’s take a close look at just how much worse, and then maybe we’ll do a couple shots of tequila together. We’ll start with Cicero’s GAO chart so you can visualize how the improper payments problem has done nothing but grow over the years — particularly during the 2020-2021 COVID madness. “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimated that up to 10 percent of the federal budget is lost to fraud,” Cicero reported, “citing a GAO analysis of 2018–2022 data that put annual losses between $233 billion and $521 billion.” My first question was whether the dollar figures were adjusted for inflation, and the answer was no.

Adjusting for inflation, Washington misspent or unaccountably spent a grand total of $3.325 TRILLION, not $2.7 TRILLION — almost a quarter more.But why stop in 2023 like Cicero did, when we have figures extending through 2025? And more inflation, too. So just to keep things current — and you chewing down those Lopressor tablets — the 2003–2026 inflation-adjusted total is about $3.9 TRILLION. The entire federal budget, still using constant dollars, didn’t exceed $3.9 TRILLION until 2017. As I said earlier, the numbers are incomprehensible.

And Another Thing: I keep putting TRILLION in all-caps because a number that big deserves it.

I posted this Guy Benson item earlier today on Instapundit, but it bears repeating here.

A meme circulated during the early, exciting days of DOGE last year that if we just eliminated fraud, we could eliminate the deficit, but I have to throw cold water on that before you get too excited again over today’s numbers, staggering though they are. Sure, Washington paid out $3.9 TRILLION it shouldn’t have since 2003, but that miserable swamp town also added a little more than $33 TRILLION in new debt— or eight-and-a-half times more.

While I don’t doubt there’s more fraud to be found, particularly in federal healthcare spending, it seems unlikely to come anywhere close to our annual $2 TRILLION-plus deficits. Washington has a problem with fraud and lack of accountability, sure. But the real problem is voters who demand more spending than we can afford, and irresponsible politicians who refuse to be the grownups and tell us no.

Save money. Get cool stuff.

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I admit, I went for that AI opening shot more than anything…

“Susan Kokinda Outlines ..”

I’m not sure lessons from the grey-haired ladies are very effective.

Not personal. You can teach me, but who else can you teach?

• Distinctions in U.S-Canada Trade Relationship (CTH)

This video from the Promethean Action PAC wraps in a few background details that most readers and followers of the U.S-Canada trade relationship will likely find interesting. Susan Kokinda argues the dispute is larger than USMCA negotiations, portraying Canada as an “outlaw” that enables transshipment “smuggling,” fails to enforce forced-labor bans, and facilitates “snow-washing” through weak corporate transparency and money laundering documented in British Columbia’s Cullen Commission.


She contrasts U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s pro-development case for oil and gas as civilizational progress with Canadian Minister Mélanie Joly’s Chatham House speech promoting “geo-industrialization” and a Mark Carney-aligned “middle powers” strategy against U.S. and China “hegemons.” Kokinda highlights a House of Commons petition led by Green Party leader Elizabeth May to declare U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra persona non grata, and notes Joly’s outreach to U.S. lawmakers and cities during the trade fight.

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Ukrainians (corrupt) investigate Ukrainians (corrupt).

“We’ve got Saving Private Ryan, right? But only an idiot would register the theft of money – and their tuition on top of it – on their own children. That’s why, Forest Gump..”

• ‘Operation Forrest Gump’ Deepens Ukraine Corruption Scandal (RMX)

NABU anti-corruption police displayed giant stacks of stolen cash (pictured right) after the house raid of close Zelensky associate Timur Mindich (middle), who fled the country just hours before police entered his apartment.

Ukrainian anti-corruption services launched searches under codename “Operation Forrest Gump,” targeting, among others, the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. The move expands the ongoing anti-corruption investigation which has seen a number of top officials in Zelensky’s cabinet flee to Israel shortly before police could raid their homes. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) announced they were conducting a special operation involving a criminal organization led by a current and former member of parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials from the Office of the President of Ukraine.


“NABU and SAPO are conducting a special operation aimed at exposing a criminal organization that operated under the leadership of a current and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, with the participation of high-ranking officials of the Office of the President of Ukraine and other individuals. Details – coming soon,” announced the anti-corruption services on Telegram. The operation is codenamed “Forrest Gump,” also referred to as Forest Gump. Ukrayinska Pravda sources and other media reported that NABU and SAPO are conducting searches as part of this special operation at premises belonging to MP Vadym Stolar, who was elected to parliament on behalf of the currently banned Opposition Platform – For Life party.

In addition, Iryna Mudra, deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, is also targeted in the raids. Stolar has confirmed the investigative actions at his home and stated he is fully cooperating without obstruction. Additional figures linked by media and law-enforcement sources include former MP Maksym Mykytas, officials from the Ministry of Justice, and senior management of the state-owned Sense Bank including the chair of the board and supervisory board. Searches were also reported at the bank premises. NABU has released excerpts of intercepted conversations.

Fragments reference “bags of money,” discussions of registering assets or proceeds in the names of children, including high tuition costs, the “Forrest Gump” name itself in a context of concealing theft, and mentions of the Office of the President. As EuroMaidan writes, “The operation carries a mocking name, Forest Gump, drawn from the suspects’ own words. In a 47-second recording of intercepted conversations, one man ties the label to how the group allegedly hid money.” The suspect mocks that one of the co-conspirators used his children’s own name to register the stolen money.

“We’ve got Saving Private Ryan, right? But only an idiot would register the theft of money – and their tuition on top of it – on their own children. That’s why, Forest Gump,” he said. Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators reportedly chose the name “Forrest Gump” to mock these statements from their own criminal targets. Other parts of the conversation reference cash and the presidential administration directly. “Well, there are four bags of money there,” one voice says on the tape. Another chimed in, saying: “If we do this, you can drive to the Office of the President yourselves. Believe me. I can see it.”

Investigators allege the group gained effective control over Sense Bank around early June 2026.According to NABU/SAPO details released as part of the operation, the group organized money laundering of $3.5 million in cash (UAH 150 million). The funds were introduced into legal circulation through accounts of shell companies and Sense Bank to post bail for one of the defendants in the earlier “Midas” case, which was linked to former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko. Cash was reportedly delivered in tranches, processed via controlled entities, and partially directed toward the High Anti-Corruption Court bail account.

Allegations include that Mudra was expected to help arrange the raising of these funds and that unidentified individuals from the President’s Office tasked her with efforts related to bringing Sense Bank under greater control. Investigators also seized a document described as an anti-crisis communications playbook outlining steps and messaging to shape public opinion around a Verkhovna Rada temporary investigative commission, framing it as an “audit, not attack” while shielding President Zelensky and his cabinet.

The probe has also documented alleged attempts to place controlled individuals in NABU and other law-enforcement bodies. Incredibly, NABU has already posted these documents directly to Telegram.One of the main suspects in the related investigation is businessman Tymur Mindich. He is the co-owner of the Kwartal 95 production studio, which was founded and headed in the past by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Fearing arrest in the Energoatom affair (Operation Midas), Mindich fled to Israel. The Midas case centers on alleged large-scale kickbacks, approximately 10-15 percent of contract values, at the state nuclear company Energoatom, involving roughly $100 million in illicit funds, with the group using code names and cash deliveries.

During searches of Mindich’s premises in November 2025, investigators found large quantities of cash and a golden toilet, along with a golden bidet, in one of the bathrooms of his opulent Kyiv apartment – details that became a public symbol of excess and were widely referred to as the “golden toilet scandal,” which Remix News reported extensively on. Mindich was not the only key figure to flee to Israel. His close associate, Oleksandr Tsukerman, also fled. The country does not extradite its citizens but Ukraine later imposed sanctions and issued international arrest warrants.

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