The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal



Picture your local leaders — the ones you elect to defend your rights and reflect your values — stripped of the power to regulate the most powerful technology ever invented. Not in some dystopian future. In Congress. Right now.

Buried in the House version of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a provision that would block every state in the country from passing any AI regulations for the next 10 years.

The idea that Washington can prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.

An earlier Senate draft took a different route, using federal funding as a weapon: States that tried to pass their own AI laws would lose access to key resources. But the version the Senate passed on July 1 dropped that language entirely.

Now House and Senate Republicans face a choice — negotiate a compromise or let the "big, beautiful bill" die.

The Trump administration has supported efforts to bar states from imposing their own AI regulations. But with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act already facing a rocky path through Congress, President Trump is likely to sign it regardless of how lawmakers resolve the question.

Supporters of a federal ban on state-level AI laws have made thoughtful and at times persuasive arguments. But handing Washington that much control would be a serious error.

A ban would concentrate power in the hands of unelected federal bureaucrats and weaken the constitutional framework that protects individual liberty. It would ignore the clear limits the Constitution places on federal authority.

Federalism isn’t a suggestion

The 10th Amendment reserves all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government to the states or the people. That includes the power to regulate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

For more than 200 years, federalism has safeguarded American freedom by allowing states to address the specific needs and values of their citizens. It lets states experiment — whether that means California mandating electric vehicles or Texas fostering energy freedom.

If states can regulate oil rigs and wind farms, surely they can regulate server farms and machine learning models.

A federal case for caution

David Sacks — tech entrepreneur and now the White House’s AI and crypto czar — has made a thoughtful case on X for a centralized federal approach to AI regulation. He warns that letting 50 states write their own rules could create a chaotic patchwork, stifle innovation, and weaken America’s position in the global AI race.

— (@)  
 

Those concerns aren’t without merit. Sacks underscores the speed and scale of AI development and the need for a strategic, national response.

But the answer isn’t to strip states of their constitutional authority.

America’s founders built a system designed to resist such centralization. They understood that when power moves farther from the people, government becomes less accountable. The American answer to complexity isn’t uniformity imposed from above — it’s responsive governance closest to the people.

Besides, complexity isn’t new. States already handle it without descending into chaos. The Uniform Commercial Code offers a clear example: It governs business law across all 50 states with remarkable consistency — without federal coercion.

States also have interstate compacts (official agreements between states) on several issues, including driver’s licenses and emergency aid.

AI regulation can follow a similar path. Uniformity doesn’t require surrendering state sovereignty.

State regulation is necessary

The threats posed by artificial intelligence aren’t theoretical. Mass surveillance, cultural manipulation, and weaponized censorship are already at the doorstep.

In the wrong hands, AI becomes a tool of digital tyranny. And if federal leaders won’t act — or worse, block oversight entirely — then states have a duty to defend liberty while they still can.

RELATED: Your job, your future, your humanity: AI just crossed the line we can never undo

  BlackJack3D via iStock/Getty Images

From banning AI systems that impersonate government officials to regulating the collection and use of personal data, local governments are often better positioned to protect their communities. They’re closer to the people. They hear the concerns firsthand.

These decisions shouldn’t be handed over to unelected federal agencies, no matter how well intentioned the bureaucracy claims to be.

The real danger: Doing nothing

This is not a question of partisanship. It’s a question of sovereignty. The idea that Washington, D.C., can or should prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.

If Republicans in Congress are serious about defending liberty, they should reject any proposal that strips states of their constitutional right to govern themselves. Let California be California. Let Texas be Texas. That’s how America was designed to work.

Artificial intelligence may change the world, but it should never be allowed to change who we are as a people. We are free citizens in a self-governing republic, not subjects of a central authority.

It’s time for states to reclaim their rightful role and for Congress to remember what the Constitution actually says.

Every Church Needs A Security Plan Fortified By The Second Amendment

Until Jesus comes back, churches should anticipate the persistence of crime, tragedy, and death and arm themselves accordingly.

After The Terrorist Attack In Boulder, Congress Must Reform Visitor Visas

Nearly half of the illegal immigrants in the U.S. initially entered legally with visitor visas and then overstayed their permitted time.

The reckless left is turning ICE agents into cartel targets



Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) recently took aim at Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for covering their faces during immigration raids, framing the practice as both a lack of transparency and an authoritarian overreach. Jeffries went so far as to vow to “unmask every single ICE agent,” declaring, “This is America, not the Soviet Union.

This reckless rhetoric will lead to innocent people being harmed or killed if it continues.

By posting videos online or sharing personal details, activists provide cartels with a roadmap to retribution.

ICE agents cover their faces to protect both themselves and their families from violent retribution by human trafficking cartels, a threat exacerbated by the unprecedented lawlessness of the former Biden administration’s border policies.

The words of Jeffries, Goldman, and their activist allies not only endanger lives but also expose their inability to grasp the seriousness of the illegal immigration crisis. Such comments disqualify them as honest brokers on the subject.

Masks save lives

ICE agents operate in a high-stakes environment where their identities are a liability. Human trafficking cartels, particularly those tied to groups like MS-13 or Sinaloa, thrive on fear and retaliation. These organizations don’t just smuggle people across borders — they exploit, extort, and kill.

When ICE agents conduct raids to apprehend illegal aliens, many of whom are entangled with these cartels, they themselves become targets. Cartels have the resources and networks to track down agents’ personal information — addresses, family members, daily routines, and so on.

A single photo of an agent’s face, circulated online or sold to the wrong hands, can lead to harassment, assault, or worse. Border czar Tom Homan recently said that agents are being “doxxed all over the place,” with their pictures posted on telephone poles in major cities.

Masking is not a power play — it’s a necessity to protect agents and their families.

— (@)  
 

Doxxing could be a death sentence

Activists who film these raids and attempt to expose agents’ identities are not champions of transparency — they’re overzealous enablers of violence. By posting videos online or sharing personal details, they provide cartels with a roadmap to retribution.

This is not speculation; it is happening. Agents have faced death threats, their children have been harassed, and their homes have been targeted.

RELATED: Sen. Fetterman breaks ranks, admits the truth about Democrats' radical position on the anti-ICE riots

  Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images

The precautions agents take stem directly from the Biden administration’s catastrophic negligence on the southern border. Over the past four years, millions of illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States, overwhelming border facilities and local communities.

The previous administration’s policies — from stopping border wall construction to limiting deportations — created a vacuum that cartels have exploited. Human trafficking, drug smuggling, and violent crime all surged as a direct result of these policies.

Biden made raids necessary

ICE raids don’t create problems — they respond to them. Agents now face the task of cleaning up a border disaster the last administration let spiral out of control, and they’re doing it at great personal risk.

If Democrats like Jeffries and Goldman understood the threat cartels pose, they wouldn’t push policies that put federal agents in danger. If they grasped the scale of the crisis — millions crossing unchecked, with thousands of criminals among them — they wouldn’t waste time posturing about “transparency” while ignoring the lawlessness that forced ICE to act in the first place.

Their obsession with exposing agents reflects a dangerous unseriousness. It disqualifies them from offering any credible solution.

ICE agents are not faceless storm troopers; they are public servants enforcing laws that Congress itself passed. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, still in effect, mandates strict enforcement measures, including deportations. Jeffries and Goldman, as lawmakers, should be aware of this. Yet, their rhetoric aligns more with activist talking points than with the reality of law enforcement.

Strong leadership needed

To solve the illegal immigration crisis, we need leaders who acknowledge its severity and prioritize the safety of both American citizens and law enforcement. Jeffries and Goldman have shown they are not those leaders.

Honest brokers would address the root causes — lax policies, cartel exploitation, and unchecked migration — rather than scapegoating the agents tasked with upholding the law. Until they demonstrate a willingness to confront these realities, their voices in this debate are not only unhelpful but also part of the problem. Our ICE agents, their families, and our communities demand better.

'Insane': GOP condemns Gov. Hobbs for killing bill that would prevent Chinese communists from owning land near military bases



The Arizona Senate passed legislation in a 17-11 party-line vote last month that would prohibit the communist Chinese regime or one of the enterprises under its direct control from purchasing, owning, or acquiring an ownership interest of 30% or more of property in the state, including property of strategic significance around U.S. military sites.

Lawmakers stressed within the text of the bill that it was necessary to "halt or reverse the influence operation of the Chinese Communist Party that poses a risk to the national security of the United States"; "to protect the critical infrastructure of this state"; and to protect Arizona's "military, commercial and agricultural assets from foreign espionage and sabotage" in order to "place this state in a significantly stronger position to withstand national security threats."

'Governor Katie Hobbs continues to violate her oath of office.'

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs evidently disagreed — and that disagreement has earned her more disgust from Arizona Republicans.

RELATED: Agroterrorism plot? Chinese nationals arrested for smuggling potential bioweapon into US: FBI

 Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Photo by DIRK WAEM/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

Hobbs vetoed the bill sponsored by Arizona Senate Majority Leader Janae Shamp, claiming it was "ineffective at counter-espionage and does not directly protect our military assets."

The governor added that the bill "lacks clear implementation criteria and opens the door to arbitrary enforcement."

Shamp lashed out at Hobbs over her decision, noting that "with every politically motivated veto of public safety legislation put on her desk by Republicans, Governor Katie Hobbs continues to violate her oath of office she swore to uphold by endangering the lives and livelihoods of all Arizonans."

"SB 1109 was a commonsense security measure to ensure enemies of the United States would not have easy access to our military bases and critical infrastructure to carry out harm," Shamp continued.

"It is utterly insane that Arizona's top elected official would rather be an obstructionist against safeguarding our citizens from threats than to sign legislation giving our state a fighting chance at proactively preventing attacks," she added.

Beijing has provided America with plenty of cause in recent years to suspect ill will and continued sabotage.

China has, for instance, sent spy craft over the U.S. mainland; operated illegal police stations on American soil; threatened diplomats; dispatched agents to execute espionage and political destabilization missions; reportedly provided terrorist cartels with illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill press equipment; admitted to orchestrating significant cyberattacks on American institutions and critical infrastructure; engaged in numerous military provocations; and watched with interest as party members gobble up American properties.

According to the Annual Threat Assessment report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in March, "China stands out as the actor most capable of threatening U.S. interests globally."

The America First Policy Institute noted last year that the communist Chinese regime's acquisition of American land is accelerating, and Arizona might be a prime target on account of the military installations it is home to, including Barry M. Goldwater Range, Davis-Monthan, and Luke Air Force bases.

'Governor Hobbs’ veto of SB 1109 hangs an "Open for the CCP" sign on Arizona’s front door.'

"Hobbs is a total disgrace," added Shamp.

A statement posted to the X account of U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.) similarly suggested that Hobbs' "latest insane veto leaves Arizona’s critical infrastructure, including Luke Air Force Base, vulnerable to espionage and surveillance risks from nearby foreign-owned farmland." The statement suggested that state Republicans' goal could alternatively be realized at the federal level.

RELATED: Rubio to 'aggressively' revoke Chinese nationals' student visas to eviscerate CCP's spy invasion

 Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced the No American Land for Communist China Act in February. The bill, which presently appears to be inert, would prohibit any agent of the Chinese regime and any business under its control from purchasing real estate located adjacent to covered federal lands.

Various other bills have been introduced in recent years that would prevent elements of the Chinese regime from acquiring land, in most cases farmland or land near military sites.

Karrin Taylor Robson, a Republican attorney who is running to unseat Hobbs in next year's gubernatorial election, vowed to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from getting "a single acre" if elected governor.

Michael Lucci, the founder and CEO of State Armor, a foreign policy outfit that helps states combat the influence of the CCP, said in a statement to Fox News, "Governor Hobbs’ veto of SB 1109 hangs an 'Open for the CCP' sign on Arizona’s front door, allowing Communist China to buy up American land near critical assets like Luke Air Force Base, Palo Verde nuclear power plant, and Taiwan Semiconductor’s growing fabrication footprint."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Japan considers support for Trump's Golden Dome project as tariffs weigh heavily on nation



Following two phone calls between U.S. President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Nikkei Asia has reported that Japan is “exploring support” for the United States’ proposed “Golden Dome” project in the coming years. This potential cooperation comes in light of the global tariffs imposed by President Trump as well as a mutual ongoing commitment to promote a U.S.-Japan “golden age,” according to a White House press briefing.

The White House briefing reported that Japan and the U.S. have been in talks since February in an effort to reaffirm “bilateral security and defense” commitments between the two countries. At the end of last month, Trump and Ishiba discussed their views on the tariffs, “economic security cooperation,” and “diplomatic and security challenges,” per a report from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some, including the original Nikkei report, have speculated that Japan may use its involvement in the project as a “bargaining chip” in economic negotiations. Prime Minister Ishiba has since noted in a press conference that Japan has “consistently advocated for an ‘investment rather than tariffs’” approach in cooperation.

RELATED: Trump says Canada is considering his offer to become the 51st US state after he made one key concession

  Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Golden Dome, modeled after Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, is set to cost an estimated $175 billion, with some long-term estimates, according to the Congressional Budget Office, reaching as high as $831 billion.

Trump has tapped U.S. Space Force General Michael Guetlein to oversee this project, which he hopes to complete by the end of his term in 2029. The state-of-the-art Golden Dome will be a “network of satellites, sensors, and interceptors to prevent aerial attacks on the U.S. mainland,” Time magazine reports. Proponents have insisted that the system is intended only as a deterrent.

Critics have expressed concerns that this project may push adversaries and even aligned nations into what Carnegie Politika called a “new arms race” against the U.S. in the space and defense industries. The building of the Golden Dome system may be taken as a threat by nations like China, Russia, and North Korea. Japan’s involvement in the project may raise concerns in the region.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Navy sends second warship to US southern border to 'restore territorial integrity'



U.S. Northern Command deployed the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Gravely to the Gulf of America on March 15 to secure American territorial waters and to help prevent waterborne drug-runners from shipping their poison into the United States.

On Saturday, a second guided missile destroyer embarked on a mission to support U.S. Northern Command southern border operations — this time down the West Coast.

NORTHCOM announced Saturday that the USS Spruance — one of the American ships previously with the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that Houthi terrorists tried to damage in the Red Sea last year — departed Naval Base San Diego.

The warship is accompanied by an embedded U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, which specializes in maritime interdiction missions, including military combat operations, alien migration interdiction, and counterterrorism.

 USS Spruance fires its MK45 5-inch gun during a live-fire exercise. Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan McLearnon

"USS Spruance's deployment as part of U.S. Northern Command's southern border mission brings additional capability and expands the geography of unique military capabilities working with the Department of Homeland Security," Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, NORTHCOM commander, said in a statement.

"With Spruance off the West Coast and USS Gravely in the Gulf of America, our maritime presence contributes to the all-domain, coordinated DOD response to the presidential executive order and demonstrates our resolve to achieve operational control of the border," added Guillot.

'It is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty.'

The military noted in its statement that the Spruance's presence brings maritime capabilities "in response to presidential executive orders and a national emergency declaration and clarification of the military's role in protecting the territorial integrity of the United States."

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump directed his future Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to assign NORTHCOM the mission of sealing America's borders and maintaining its territorial integrity "by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities."

Trump noted that the American military has long worked to secure "our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation."

"Threats against our Nation's sovereignty continue today, and it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty," continued Trump. "A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States. Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness."

In recent weeks and months, the Coast Guard has encountered numerous migrant boats off the coast of southern California as well as drug-runners. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche alone interdicted 11 separate suspected drug-smuggling vessels from December through February, offloading 37,256 pounds of cocaine.

Narcos and potential invaders might now think twice about testing the waters off the West Coast with the USS Spruance patrolling the area.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

At CPAC, Vance doubles down on Munich message, tells men to celebrate masculinity



Vice President JD Vance kicked off the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, by highlighting some of the Trump administration's victories so far, issuing a compelling message to young men, and defending his controversial Munich speech, the mere mention of which prompted a standing ovation.

Vance broke thin skin with his Feb. 14 speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany where he suggested that Britain and various European nations were goose-stepping toward tyranny and abandoning along the way the values they once shared in common with the United States.

In addition to expressing disappointment over continental authorities' suppression of political movements and undesirable facts as well as their routine attacks on religious liberties, the vice president blasted the European political establishment for its ruinous mass migration policies.

Former Trump White House staffer Mercedes Schlapp revisited the Munich speech and pressed Vance at CPAC to comment further on what he regards as the greatest threats to Europe.

'No more of this BS.'

The vice president indicated that up until Trump's inauguration, the U.S. and Europe faced a similar problem: "You've had the leaders of the West decide that they should send millions and millions of unvetted foreign migrants into their countries."

"That is the biggest threat to Europe, and frankly, it remains, by the way, the biggest threat to the United States," continued Vance, "because yes, we've got four years of President Trump's leadership, but I guarantee you if the Democrats ever get power again, they're going to try to do it again."

Vance stressed that "we cannot rebuild Western civilization, we cannot rebuild the United States of America or Europe by letting millions and millions of unvetted illegal migrants come into our country. It has to stop. Thank God it stopped here, but it's got to stop there."

Doubling down on one of the key points in his Munich speech — one that bent Germany's socialist defense minister and various other European officials out of shape — the vice president suggested that in order to end such ruinous policies, citizens' freedom to say "no more of this B.S." must be protected.

This is certainly not the case in Germany, a nation adversely impacted by mass migration whose capital city is once again a dangerous place for Jews and homosexuals, this time on account of foreign-born populations. Just last year, a member of the Alternative for Germany Party was convicted of a "hate crime" for simply sharing statistics about the disproportionate number of gang rapes committed by immigrants, Afghan nationals in particular.

Vance indicated that rather that continue to follow the example of former President Joe Biden "into censorship and mass migration," Europeans should "follow the lead of Donald J. Trump — and that's free speech, borders, and sovereignty. That is the future of our shared civilization."

'We actually think God made male and female for a purpose.'

According to Vance, the strength of America's alliances with European nations will largely depend on what direction they wish to take, noting that "friendship is based on shared values."

After suggesting continentals should get their act together, delineating his core Christian beliefs as a Catholic, and articulating the Trump administration's pro-natalist vision for the future, Vance effectively told young American men — a cohort that majoritively voted for Trump in 2024 — to get off the sidelines and to play for keeps.

"I think that our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge, you should try to cast aside your family, you should try to suppress what makes you a young man in the first place," said Vance. "Don't allow this broken culture to send you a message that you're a bad person because you're a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends, or because you're competitive."

Vance noted while there are forces at work keen to "turn everybody, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same, we actually think God made male and female for a purpose, and we want you guys to thrive as young men, and as young women, and we're going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Thin-skinned German minister melts down over Vance's speech: 'Not acceptable'



Vice President JD Vance minced no words in his Friday address at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, putting various European nations on blast for their heavy-handed suppression of political movements and ideas unfavorable to their respective ruling classes; for their dismissal of citizens' concerns and common sense; for their routine attacks on religious liberties; and for their ruinous mass migration policies.

"The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia. It's not China. It's not any other external actor," said Vance. "What I worry about is the threat from within."

Vance's speech clearly struck a chord, prompting German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a member of the Social Democratic Party, to spend some of his time onstage refuting the suggestion that democracy and free speech are on the decline in his and other European nations.

"I had a speech I prepared today," said the German socialist. "It was supposed to be about security in Europe. But I cannot start in the way I originally intended."

"This democracy was called into question by the U.S. vice president," continued Pistorius. "He speaks of the annulment of democracy, and, if I understood him correctly, he compares the condition of Europe with the condition that prevails in some authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not acceptable."

Pistorius staked his claim on shaky ground.

Alternative for Germany is a right-leaning populist party founded in 2013 by free-market economists keen to strengthen German sovereignty and enraged by the European Union's bailout of Greece and other debtor nations. It has since also taken aim at mass migration, open borders, climate alarmism, Islamization, and gender ideology.

The AFD has enjoyed considerable success in recent elections, placing second in the European Parliament election in June and enjoying representation in 14 of the country's 16 state legislatures. Recent polls indicate that where the upcoming German election is concerned, AFD has a lock on second place.

'In our democracy, every opinion has a voice.'

While Pistorius suggested that democracy is strong in Germany and the country's political establishment protects the rights of those who disagree with it, German authorities have worked feverishly to ban, vilify, disarm, de-bank, and criminalize the party. In certain German states, such as Saxony and Thuringia, the AFD has been classified as a "right-wing extremist" group.

Not only has the German establishment taken aim at the AFD, it has also clamped down on members' factual assertions deemed hateful by the powers that be.

Blaze News previously reported that Marie-Thérèse Kaiser, a member of the popular Alternative for Germany party, was convicted of a "hate crime" in May for sharing statistics about the disproportionate number of gang rapes committed by immigrants.

Pistorius suggested that the Europe described by Vance — where establishmentarians dismiss citizens, shut down elections, and run in fear of their own voters — "is not the Europe, not the democracy where I live and where I conduct my election campaign right now, and this is not the democracy that I witness every day in our parliament. In our democracy, every opinion has a voice."

Germany's Bundestag was just weeks ago debating banning the AFD. Evidently panicked over the alliance of the AFD and the Christian Democratic Union party on immigration, 124 parliamentarians introduced a motion urging an investigation into whether the platforming of certain voices in the German democracy is unconstitutional.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

John Brennan tries slithering around true nature of Hunter Biden laptop letter after losing security clearance



John Brennan, former director of the CIA and chief counterterrorism adviser to former President Barack Obama, appeared bent out of shape in an interview following President Donald Trump's removal of his security clearance.

The 69-year-old deep-stater suggested that his continued access was a benefit to the government and that its withdrawal was not the result of his having misled the nation in 2020 but instead an act of "revenge" in response to his criticism of the president.

The letter

Brennan was among the 51 signatories of an Oct. 19, 2020, letter aimed at discrediting the New York Post's Oct. 14 report about the discovery and damning contents of Hunter Biden's laptop, which the FBI "verified" one year earlier.

The letter Brennan gladly put his name to claimed that the story was likely a thing of Slavic fantasy — that the story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation" and that the damning emails on the laptop discussed by the Post were manufactured in an attempt to influence how Americans would vote in the election.

The liberal media dutifully picked up on the intel officials' framing. Politico, for instance, titled its write-up, "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say."

'The faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled.'

Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden was quick to put the combined efforts of anti-Trump intelligence officials and the liberal media to work for his campaign, referring to the letter in his first debate with Trump on Oct. 22, 2020.

Although former Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied doing so, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government indicated in 2023 that Blinken, at the time an adviser to the Biden campaign, got the ball rolling on the letter.

Just as Blinken was apparently rewarded for his commitment to Biden's success in the 2020 election, Brennan was later appointed to the Biden Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Intelligence Experts Group.

The executive order

In his Monday executive order titled, "Holding former government officials accountable for election interference and improper disclosure of sensitive governmental information," Trump noted that "federal policymakers must be able to rely on analysis conducted by the Intelligence Community and be confident that it is accurate, crafted with professionalism, and free from politically motivated engineering to affect political outcomes in the United States."

"The signatories willfully weaponized the gravitas of the Intelligence Community to manipulate the political process and undermine our democratic institutions," continued the president. "This fabrication of the imprimatur of the Intelligence Community to suppress information essential to the American people during a Presidential election is an egregious breach of trust reminiscent of a third world country. And now the faith of Americans in all other patriotic intelligence professionals who are sworn to protect the Nation has been imperiled."

Brennan showed up fourth from the top on Trump's list of former spooks whose clearances would be revoked.

In addition to tearing up the former intel officials' security clearances, Trump tasked his incoming director of national intelligence — possibly Tulsi Gabbard, whose candidacy and capabilities Brennan has criticized — with reporting to him on whether there should be any disciplinary action "that should be taken against anyone who engaged in inappropriate conduct related to the letter signed by the 51 former intelligence officials."

The spy's spin

Brennan told MSNBC Tuesday that he has kept his clearance for as long as he has "for the benefit of the government — so that if the CIA or another government agency wanted to call me in to discuss a classified matter, they could do that."

Apparently failing to grasp that the people's government no longer wants his misleading input, Brennan called Trump's executive order "bizarre among the many bizarre executive orders that he had signed out."

Brennan claimed that Trump "misrepresented the facts in that executive order 'cause it said we had suggested that the Hunter Biden laptop story was disinformation. No, we said it bore the hallmarks of Russian information operations, including the dumping of accurate information."

Brennan neglected to mention that his letter concluded with a quote suggesting that the material in the Post story was "part of a smoke bomb of disinformation pushed by Russia" or that there was apparently no effort on his part or the part of other signatories to correct Politico's framing of their letter, which, again, stated, "Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo."

Unwilling to admit the letter's misleading and tactical nature, Brennan suggested that Trump's push for accountability is "just his effort to try to get back at those individuals who have criticized him openly and publicly in the past."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!