Welcome, fellow Conspirators!
Immense thanks to Eric Peters (his X), of EricPetersAutosDotCom, for joining us in our Mind Meld, to discuss the US war crimes against Iran, the economic consequences, and more! Big thanks to our fellow Conspirators who joined us in the chats, and to the excellent journalists whose work we got to cover. - Check them out, if you haven't had the chance! And join us, m-f 6 PM on Rumble or on X “AT” gardgoldsmith - Here are some of the big issues we got to explore tonight!
WAR
IRAN
Trump spoke last night, and made things worse. Lying for almost all of the appx 20-minute screed, Trump offered contradictory claims (the US has decisively destroyed the Iranian military capabilities, yet the US also has to increase men and armed attacks, even to the point of committing MORE war crimes and hitting more civilian sites such as electricity and water infrastructure) and he changed the goals, claiming that he would “bomb them (Iranians) back into the Stone Age, where they belong…” even though he had claimed that he was bombing Iran to ostensibly help the civilians about whom he purportedly cares with all his McDonald’s-soaked heart.
See if you can count the lies
-And he today brags about a DOUBLE-TAP attack on a major Iranian bridge used by civilians. It’s called the B1 Bridge, just west of Tehran.
Even IF one thought it was justified for politicians to force one’s neighbor to pay for arms and troops to kill others, and even IF the state-v-state paradigm saw Iran as a true “bad actor” which is not the case, these bombings are wiping out homes, indiscriminately killing…
Graham and Hannity loved Trump’s threats against civilians
Because, of course, the US is following the Israeli model - criminality and brutality
Iran struck back, hitting the Amazon tech center in Bahrain.
-RE TRUMP: Natali Morris put it well near the opening of her morning Redacted email: ‘President Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday. Allow me to paraphrase: “Iran is the worst ever so we had to start a war with them. They are responsible for every bad thing in modern history. We’re almost done. Since this war is shorter than most wars, it hardly counts. We’ve pretty much won but we’re going to do some warring a little harder for a little while longer but basically, it’s done. And also, we’re the best ever.” Not much of what he said was true but what does that matter when you’re justifying a war that was based on a lie? Normally it is wise not to read too much into what President Trump says but this was a prime-time, nationwide address. It feels like he is asking Americans to brace for impact because a ground invasion is coming and when it gets bad, as it is predicted to, just remember we’re almost done. “We’re going to hit [Iran] extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks,” he said. “We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong.”
This kind of savage rhetoric sounds a bit genocidal, doesn’t it? It almost feels as if Gaza was a warm up act to what we’re about to witness.
Iran preemptively responded to the President’s speech with this letter to the American people. They rightly point out that “Iran has never initiated a war.” The letter says that the “Iranian people harbor no enmity toward other nations, including the people of America, Europe, or neighboring countries.”
It is ironic that the Western world is calling Iran barbaric while our leaders talk openly of death and destruction as justified and began this war by killing children.
If we are being prepared for a brutal and bloody ground invasion, was this the pep talk we needed or America’s last rites?’
What Trump said last night simultaneously was predictable and disappointing. He said that he met the families of the dead soldiers who came back, and they said that Trump needed to complete “the mission.” Immediately after he said that, parents of one of the dead soldiers refuted his claim. Headline: ‘Father of service member killed in Iran war said he never told Pete Hegseth to ‘finish’ the job’ LINK
What does finishing the job look like right now? Nobody really knows. The only thing that we can point to at this stage are really two things that he talks about. He continues to talk about preventing Iran from ever developing or fielding a nuclear weapon, though he tells us that he obliterated the nuclear development on his last strike in June. And he purportedly wants the Strait of Hormuz to be open, while also saying he’s not prepared to cooperate or discuss anything with the Iranians until they open the Strait.
He treats us to the usual litany of Netanyahu talking points, demonizing Iran as the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism and all that blather. Anybody who has any sort of knowledge of the area knows that’s nonsense. We can look for terrorists in a number of places, but we haven’t found very many in Iran. Instead, the US and Isreal openly target civilians and peace negotiators.
MORE:
And this (his point about Putin here is misplaced, overall, but the rest is worthwhile)…
And Lindsey G loves complete destruction of civilian targets
Judge Napolitano and Lawrence Wilkerson replay John Mersheimer’s salient observation about the US-Israeli war crimes against Iran.
Many people hoped that, even if he were being deceptive for part of his appearance, he would, PERHAPS, say, “Look, we’ve done all we can do. We want the strait to be open for the world. It’s in the interest of the global economy that this strait be open as quickly as possible and so we are ending this conflict and we’re prepared to talk in the future with the Iranian government whatever it is.” But that didn’t happen.
More innocent people will die at the hands of Trump and the US Congress. And the economic fallout will become more disastrous.
It’s going to get a lot worse from here. With Trump and Netanyahu’s aggression, massive energy infrastructure not only has been taken offline, it’s been destroyed. It will take many months, to over a year, even in normal circumstances, to replace oil well heads, pipelines, ships, and more. With Trump and Netanyahu’s aggression, the tightening of the Persian Gulf has seen a massive decrease in traffic. Trump talked last night about commercial traffic dropping. Such would not be the case, if he had not engaged in this attack. Now, the Iranians could charge a toll, paid in Yuan, and they will not allow US/Israel-allied ships to pass. It’s obvious that if you are unfriendly to Iran, if you are hostile to Iran, if you are connected to the US or Israel, you’re the enemy, and you’re not going to get through. Otherwise, it’s quite clear that the Iranians are trying to accommodate the rest of the world. Trump could lift the pressure on all of us, but he is too egomaniacal and tied to Israel.
Trump has turned the global economy into a locomotive on rails that go off a cliff. Seeing the dangers ahead, a prudent man would hit the brakes. Instead, Trump is stepping on the proverbial and ironic fuel pedal. Things are going to get a lot worse. So, the people that are already worried, as people in India, Africa, Asia, are worried? They are right… Here is video from RT that offers valuable insights into the energy needs of places such as the Philippines and India:
Putin offers an alternative
Many people justly seem worried about the same things. Plastic companies can’t produce. Chip makers can’t operate. Pharma can’t get what it needs. Farmers can’t get fertilizer and the petrol to run their machines or move their product. We now have various countries bidding for oil. Tankers that were headed to Europe suddenly turned around and went back to Japan and Korea. This is a catastrophe. Yet, Lindsey Graham is thrilled, and wants Trump to “Blow up everything they got” (re Iran)
Next to the human mind that finds it, makes it, transports, it, etc, cheap energy is the lifeblood of civilization. It always has been. And that’s what Trump should be thinking about. But instead of being the global leader that he wants to be, he’s being very narrow-minded and unhelpful. And we’re looking at is a greater catastrophe down the line. We’re looking at famine. Someone I know who works in the agricultural sector said, essentially, if Trump stops right now, we probably can arrest the most dangerous tendencies. We’re going to suffer for several months, but we’re going to get through this. But if he continues down the road that he wants to go on right now, another two or three weeks of this, it will take us years to recover. Agricultural efficiency is one of the great things that America introduced to the world, and the US government is destroying it.
Trump claimed, “We don’t need that oil. We have all the oil we need.” Guess what, Donald? California imports most of its oil. California faces a very severe crisis. We spoke about the Phillips 66 problem this week on Liberty Conspiracy. And Trump doesn’t understand the global market for oil. He doesn’t understand petroleum. He doesn’t understand there are at least 50 products out there that depend upon petroleum. And all these old firms and organizations all over the world are shutting down. It’s a disaster.
Trump says that they’re on track to finish their objectives. And in the middle of this, there will be discussions, but the US still will hit Iran in the next two or three weeks? If that happens, prices will continue to spiral. Trump says “we” are going to bomb them back into the Stone Age “where they belong.” But he says “we’re still negotiating.” Right. What possible right or interest does Trump have in bombing the Iranian people back into the Stone Age? And then, to force us to pay for the mass murder? It’s outrageous. As he does this, the US starves world markets, and prints more money. Government banks can print money, but they cannot print food, fuel, feedstock, and fertilizers. If Trump attacks more of Iran’s electric generation plants and their oil assets in the region, the Iranians will reciprocate. And the Iranians don’t have much incentive to exercise restraint when it comes to the UAE and other Arab states that have played cozy with Trump.
Then there is India. India does about $180 billion in trade with the Gulf states every year. With India as an example, we can see that the post-UK Arab world will be destabilized, and India is going to experience terrible poverty and hunger. (See that above video from RT…)
THE US BASES?
Trump will not be able to go back in there and rebuild those bases. There’s no short-term evidence for that as an option. If I were in the UAE right now, I would get out. If the US hits Iranian desal plants, the Iranians are going to hit the UAE desalination plants. There’s a desalination plant right near Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval port, on the other side. I would be very surprised if Trump and Netanyahu don’t try to hit that. There’s also a uranium mine there, where they harvest yellow cake. Bandar Abbas has about 580,000 people in it. It’s a substantial city. They have an airfield and they have train connections. I don’t know what Trump might do, but I would be very concerned if I were an Iranian about Bandar Abbas. And of course, what’s the point? Nobody seems to understand that just because you seize an island, Abu Musa, Tulum, whatever, that the whole world is going to stop. It’s not worked that way.
Everybody forgets Lloyds of London shut down insurance for ships tied to the US and Israel, and the only thing allowing passage through the Strait of Hormuz is peace with Iran. If your host nation is peaceful, you can arrange to pay the toll and float through.
At the same time, Iran has this distributed command and control, and missile points — launch points — all over the country. Those can converge in a matter of a minute or two on targets in the Gulf. They don’t have to be in the Gulf to do that. They can launch drones, they can launch missiles, cruise missiles… And the new disproportion, the strength of small, decentralized defenses against overwrought, expensive offensive weapons? It is amazing to see, and it is depleting US resources, including MONEY from the already delusional US budget
Sources tell me that only appx 25 to 30% of the Iranian capability has been destroyed or disabled. That leaves a lot of capability, and every time somebody stands up in Washington and says, oh, this war is won, we’ve done it, you get a massive strike. They just launched another massive strike on Israel. They’ve launched strikes again on the Gulf Emirates. So, there’s a lot left in Iran. And if you can’t neutralize that network of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike systems, you’re going to have a hell of a time putting soldiers or Marines on those little islands.
And, last night, Trump didn’t reject that notion of boots on the ground. What do he think will happen next? There’s a lot of military hardware heading into the region with Marines in those ships. The buildup continues, and I suspect you’re going to see the use of ground troops. I think they will be used either inside the Persian Gulf, or at its southeastern end. They’re going to try and seize these islands with the view of saying that they’re now in control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump is a paper tiger, and he is pushing men and women to their deaths. Those men and women are not supposed to accept unconstitutional commands. They are culpable, and they all are part of a massive war crime spree that is killing thousands of innocent people in Iran, and is starving the world.
One last point. Mr. Trump, if the Iranians are as bankrupt and weak as you argue, why is the US navy parked hundreds of miles away?
Finally, as Trump engages in war crimes, as he lies, as he coerces taxpayers to toil for his war machine, Franklin Graham and Paula White engage in blasphemy at the White House - Scroll to 46 Min and gaze at the grift and vileness.
OIL NEEDS - THE US AND WORLD ECONOMIC SITUATION WORSENS
Joe Scarborough makes good points here
AND, as a BONUS, here is a list of more than 50 products that heavily rely on petroleum (crude oil) or natural gas for their production, processing, or distribution:
Gasoline – directly refined from petroleum.
Diesel fuel – refined from petroleum.
Jet fuel (kerosene) – petroleum-derived.
Heating oil – from petroleum.
Asphalt (for roads) – petroleum byproduct.
Plastic bags – made from ethylene (petroleum/natural gas).
Plastic water bottles – polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from petroleum.
Food packaging films – various plastics from petrochemicals.
Soda bottles – PET plastic from petroleum.
Yogurt containers – polystyrene or polypropylene from petroleum.
Disposable diapers – contain plastics and synthetic fibers from petroleum.
Toothbrushes – handles and bristles often from nylon/plastic (petrochemicals).
Shampoo bottles – HDPE plastic from petroleum.
Laundry detergent bottles – plastic from petrochemicals.
Sunscreen – many contain petroleum-derived ingredients (e.g., mineral oil, petrolatum).
Lipstick – often contains petroleum jelly or mineral oil.
Hand lotion – petroleum-based emollients common.
Vaseline (petroleum jelly) – directly from petroleum refining.
Synthetic rubber tires – styrene-butadiene rubber from petroleum.
Car batteries (lead-acid) – plastic casings from petroleum.
Windshield wiper blades – synthetic rubber from petroleum.
Dashboard and interior plastics in vehicles – from petrochemicals.
Synthetic clothing (polyester shirts, fleece) – polyester from petroleum.
Nylon stockings / pantyhose – nylon from petroleum chemicals.
Athletic shoes – soles and synthetic uppers from petroleum.
Computer keyboards – ABS plastic from petrochemicals.
Smartphone cases – plastic from petroleum.
Laptop shells – often polycarbonate or ABS plastic.
Television housings – flame-retardant plastics from petroleum.
Refrigerator liners – polystyrene foam from petroleum.
PVC pipes (plumbing) – polyvinyl chloride from petroleum/natural gas.
Electrical insulation (on wires) – PVC or polyethylene from petrochemicals.
Paint – many solvents and resins are petroleum-derived.
Varnish and sealants – petroleum-based.
Adhesives / glues – many are petrochemical-based.
Pesticides and herbicides – often synthesized from petroleum feedstocks.
Fertilizers (ammonia-based) – natural gas is the main feedstock for Haber-Bosch process.
Insect repellents (DEET) – petroleum-derived chemical.
Candles (paraffin wax) – byproduct of petroleum refining.
Chewing gum – base is often synthetic from petroleum.
Ballpoint pen ink and plastic body – petroleum-derived.
Credit cards – PVC or ABS plastic from petrochemicals.
Toys (plastic action figures, blocks) – from petroleum plastics.
Artificial Christmas trees – PVC branches from petroleum.
Carpet fibers (nylon or polypropylene) – petrochemical-based.
Dish sponges – polyurethane or cellulose with synthetic backing from petroleum.
Contact lenses – many are made from petroleum-derived polymers.
Eyeglass frames (plastic) – from petrochemicals.
Medical IV bags and tubing – PVC or polyethylene from petroleum.
Asphalt shingles (for roofs) – petroleum-based.
Bonus items (for good measure):
Synthetic motor oil – often petroleum-derived base stocks.
Propane (for grills) – byproduct of natural gas processing/petroleum refining.
Lighter fluid – petroleum distillates.
Dry-cleaning solvents – often petroleum-based.
Rubber bands – synthetic rubber from petroleum.
Virtually all modern plastics, synthetic fibers, and many chemicals start with hydrocarbon feedstocks from petroleum or natural gas. Even items that appear “natural” often use petroleum in their processing, transportation, or packaging.
Transportation and distribution of almost everything also depends heavily on petroleum (trucks, ships, planes) and natural gas (for energy in manufacturing).
BONDI IS OUT AT AG
Not soon enough.
VENEZUELA
Headline: “Trump administration lifts sanctions against Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez” LINK
IMMIGRATION POLICE STATE
- Trump attended part of the SCOTUS hearings on Birthright Citizenship at the court yesterday, no April Fool joke - except the joke that there is “justice” in a polis-based system of coercion. LINK
-MURDER: This is and has been obvious. Notice that the government is NOT charging ICE goons with murder. For them, “technicalities” in the statutes allow them to slide through, it seems. Headline: “Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide” LINK
DHS TURMOIL and GEO GROUP - A Special Report
Headline: “DHS spokeswoman Zacharia exits weeks after appointment” LINK The most important part of this article is the last para, which reads: “Her departure also lands as House Democrats press for investigations into Corey Lewandowski, a special government employee at DHS, including a March 18 request for an inspector general probe and a March 23 expansion of that inquiry tied to alleged pay-to-play contracting questions. Lewandowski has denied wrongdoing.” THAT, in turn, is tied to KRISTI NOEM AND GEO GROUP/CORP, which has ties to Pam Bondi and Tom Homan (as we have noted, both the latter two worked either directly for or for firms hired by GEO). Here is the lowdown:
Lewandowski, a longtime Trump ally and former 2016 campaign manager, faced accusations in early March of attempting a pay-to-play scheme involving GEO Group, the major private prison and immigration detention contractor.
As an unpaid special government employee (SGE) and de facto chief of staff/adviser to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Lewandowski allegedly solicited payments from GEO Group CEO/Founder George Zoley in exchange for protecting and expanding the company’s existing DHS/ICE contracts (which were already worth over $1 billion annually and poised to grow under the Trump administration’s mass-deportation plans).
Details of the Allegations
According to NBC News reporting (citing industry sources, a senior DHS official, and people familiar with the meetings):
During the presidential transition (pre-inauguration 2025), Lewandowski told Zoley he wanted to be paid for helping GEO with its DHS contracts.
After Lewandowski was inside DHS, a second meeting occurred. Zoley offered Lewandowski a standard retainer/consulting fee; Lewandowski reportedly refused and instead demanded “success fees” or kickbacks tied directly to the value of any new or renewed GEO contracts with DHS. Sources described this as a classic pay-to-play demand.
GEO Group declined both times. Afterward, two of the company’s federal contracts reportedly shrank, facilities sat idle despite the deportation push, and company officials believed it was retaliation. Lewandowski allegedly instructed a senior DHS official not to award GEO further contracts.
Multiple other DHS contractors also complained to White House officials that Lewandowski (or people tied to him) had solicited payments for influence over contracting.
Lewandowski and his lawyer have strongly denied the allegations, calling them “absolutely false” and “misleading.” His side claims there was only one meeting, that GEO offered him money (a $50k/month retainer) which he refused, and that he never demanded any compensation or retaliated. He has threatened defamation action against NBC News. LINK
Congressional and Oversight Response
House Democrats (led by Rep. Robert Garcia on Oversight) launched an investigation into the alleged scheme and Lewandowski’s broader role in DHS contracting. Senate Democrats have also raised concerns, and the DHS Inspector General is examining Lewandowski’s interactions with contractors as part of a wider probe.
The scandal contributed to broader turmoil at DHS: Noem was fired/removed as Secretary, Lewandowski was ousted, and the linked article you see is about new DHS spokeswoman Katie Zacharia resigning just weeks into her role (mid-February to early April, 2026). Reports indicate her departure was tied to perceived closeness to Lewandowski amid the fallout.
Pam Bondi’s Connection to GEO Group (LINK) (LINK)
Pam Bondi (Trump’s Attorney General nominee, later confirmed and reportedly later fired in some reporting) has a documented past professional tie to GEO Group through her lobbying work.
While at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners (after serving as Florida Attorney General), Bondi was registered to lobby for GEO Group in 2019, with Bondi personally receiving substantial compensation tied to her lobbying clients, reportedly around $390,000 from GEO-related work in disclosures. She and her team lobbied the White House and DHS on issues including “promoting the use of public-private partnerships in correctional services”—exactly the kind of policy that benefits private prison operators like GEO.
GEO Group is one of the largest ICE contractors for immigration detention facilities; roughly 40%+ of its revenue historically comes from federal immigration enforcement. Trump’s mass-deportation agenda was expected to be a major windfall for the company.
How the Lewandowski Accusations Tie to Bondi:
The connection is not a direct personal or joint scheme between Lewandowski and Bondi, but a shared spotlight on potential conflicts of interest and influence-peddling around GEO Group’s lucrative DHS/ICE contracts in the Trump administration:
Lewandowski (inside DHS in 2025–2026) was accused of trying to personally monetize his influence over GEO’s current and future government business.
Bondi (as a former GEO lobbyist in 2019) was criticized for a clear conflict once she became Attorney General: DOJ oversees immigration courts, prosecutions, and aspects of detention policy that directly affect how long people stay in GEO-run facilities (and thus how much GEO earns). Democrats (e.g., Sen. Dick Durbin) publicly demanded she recuse herself from any GEO-related matters.
durbin.senate.gov
Congressional Democrats explicitly grouped the two issues together in oversight letters. For example, a March 2026 letter from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jamie Raskin (and dozens of others) to GEO Group about proposed “warehouse” detention centers highlighted both Lewandowski’s alleged demands for payments from GEO and Bondi’s status as a former GEO lobbyist as reasons for heightened corruption concerns in the administration’s immigration contracting. In short: Lewandowski’s story involves fresh allegations of direct solicitation for personal gain from GEO while in government. Bondi’s involves a prior paid lobbying relationship with the same company, now raising ethics flags in a powerful oversight role. Both cases fueled Democratic scrutiny of whether private prison profits were improperly influencing (or being influenced by) Trump-era immigration enforcement decisions. All of Lewandowski’s specific claims remain unproven allegations that he denies; Bondi’s lobbying history is a matter of public disclosure.
RELATED - JOHNSON GIVES DHS MORE CASH? LINK
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