CIA Whistleblower Reveals How Intelligence Agencies Gather Blackmail on Politicians Without Them Suspecting It

The ex-CIA officer who blew the whistle on torture just shared a chilling story about how the intelligence community will go to any lengths to blackmail people in power for the secrets they want.

On Patrick Bet-David’s podcast, John Kiriakou revealed that his CIA operational trainer was rewarded with a promotion and a medal for recruiting a copy machine repairman.

At first, Kiriakou laughed, but then he realized the brilliance of the plan when he learned that the repairman secretly sent every document from a prime minister’s office straight to the CIA.

How did he do it? By planting a tiny device on the copy machine.

“He [my trainer] said, all of us want to recruit the prime minister. We’re not going to recruit the prime minister. We’re not even going to have access to the prime minister. But the prime minister’s got a copy machine in his office.

“And every once in a while, that machine is going to need to be cleaned and serviced. So you recruit the copy machine repairman. And when he goes in there to make his repair or to clean the drums or whatever, he installs a little device that we give him so that every time somebody makes a copy, it transmits a copy back to the CIA.”

What happened next?

He said, “I got a promotion. I got a medal. I got a photo op with the director. It made my career…

Because this flow of information was pure leverage for the CIA:

“You know what they’re thinking. You know their next move. You know who their enemies are and who their allies are. Maybe it’s their position on trade negotiations. Maybe the prime minister has a health problem you need to plan for. You never know what might come through,” Kiriakou explained.

That ONE critical nugget is all it takes.”

Keep reading

Henchmen Behind Brennan’s Fake Russia Collusion Assessment Are Still At The CIA

The analysts who crafted the corrupt Intelligence Community Assessment (“ICA”) on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of disgraced former CIA Director John Brennan remain active at the CIA, a source familiar with the assessment told The Federalist. Multiple other sources familiar with the House intelligence committee’s investigation into the Russia-collusion hoax added that HPSCI interviewed the specific people responsible for writing the ICA. And as The Federalist reported earlier this week, that HPSCI staff report established that the ICA was “significantly worse and significantly more corrupt than conveyed in the memorandum released last week by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.”

Taken together then, it seems there are two possible conclusions: Either Director Ratcliffe’s efforts to clean out the agency have hit a snag, or the CIA director is quietly seeking to hold Brennan’s collaborators accountable — just as he has done in the case of Brennan and former FBI Director Comey, who now reportedly face criminal referrals based on the CIA’s investigation into the ICA.

Last Tuesday, Director Ratcliffe released a report summarizing the CIA’s probe into the crafting of the ICA. That CIA report detailed numerous problems related to the assessment of Russia’s activities in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The CIA report, among other things, concluded the ICA should not have attributed “high confidence” to the conclusion that “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances.” The ICA also should not have included the Steele Dossier in its annex or referenced it in the text of the report, the CIA concluded.

The CIA’s investigation into the ICA exposed damning information related to former CIA Director John Brennan’s role in producing the bogus report, as well as details implicating the then-FBI Director James Comey in the get-Trump conspiracy. But as The Federalist reported earlier this week, “the CIA report pales in comparison to the real corruption at play, according to sources familiar with a separate HPSCI staff report.” 

According to sources, HPSCI, under the leadership of then-Chair Devin Nunes, “found the ICA significantly worse and significantly more corrupt than was conveyed in the CIA report.” As The Federalist further reported, “[t]he staff report also reveals more details related to the ICA’s report on Russia’s 2016 influence campaign.”

Now another source familiar with the HPSCI staff report has told The Federalist that the analysts who actually drafted the ICA report for Brennan are still with the CIA — some maybe even having been promoted after compiling the faulty report in violation of standard operating procedures. 

Given the serious flaws exposed last week by CIA Director Ratcliffe and that the ICA on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was significantly more corrupt than the CIA’s report revealed, that the analysts that assisted Brennan and his ilk in the get-Trump effort remain at the Agency raises grave concerns.

A spokesperson for the CIA did not respond to The Federalist’s questions concerning what Director Ratcliffe has done, or will do, to ensure these analysts’ faulty and biased tradecraft is not continuing under Trump 2.0. The CIA also did not comment on whether the analysts responsible for the bogus ICA will face disciplinary action or are themselves the subject of a criminal referral.

Keep reading

Epstein Horrors: Official Sleight of Hand about Millions of Pages of Unreleased Evidence: It’s not all “Child Porn”, Not all Destroyed

The Department of Justice and the White House knows that there are millions of Epstein-related documents that are still in existence.

Part of the response so far has been to characterize the remaining documents as all being related to child porn. And the alleged child porn that Epstein had on his personal devices is irrelevant to what the public is seeking: documents and evidence about Epstein, where his wealth came from, who aided his criminal and espionage enterprise, who was being blackmailed, and who covered it up.

As the Gateway Pundit exclusively showed yesterday, though: plenty of public evidence could give the DOJ cause to file a criminal investigation into dead alleged child abusers linked to Epstein, to find the clients, uncover more evidence, and get prosecutions.

Trump supporters and long-time allies are expressing major frustration across the country at the way the Epstein affair, and issues like Iran and Ukraine, has been handled since January.

Worth noting is that it was the then-Bill Barr Department of Justice that had custody of Epstein when he died under extremely suspicious circumstances in the first place, with Barr, whose father had first employed Epstein, declaring that Epstein killed himself.

Let’s look at what the White House said this week about further evidence in the Epstein case:

A reporter asked, “Karoline, the DOJ and FBI have now concluded there was no Jeffrey Epstein client list. What do you tell MAGA supporters who say they want anyone involved in Epstein’s alleged crimes held accountable?”

Leavitt replied, “This administration wants anyone who has ever committed a crime to be accountable, and I would argue this administration has done more to lock up bad guys than certainly the previous administration.”

She continued, “The Trump administration is committed to truth and transparency. That’s why the Attorney General and the FBI Director pledged, at the president’s direction, to do an exhaustive review of all the files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and his death. They put out a memo in conclusion of that review.”

There was material they did not release because frankly it was incredibly graphic and contained child pornography, which is not something that is appropriate for public consumption,” she added. “But they committed to an exhaustive investigation. That’s what they did and they provided the results of that.”

“That’s transparency,” Leavitt said.

There is no evidence that an ‘exhaustive investigation’ has occurred to date.

Keep reading

DOJ Says No Epstein ‘Client List,’ but Indictments in Just One Case Could Reveal Possible Pedo Networks if Justice Dept Sought Justice

After years of public outrage over Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network, the Department of Justice has issued several stunning claims: there is no “client list,” no investigative files worth pursuing, no more files will be publicly produced, Epstein wasn’t murdered, and nothing relevant was found on Epstein’s seized computers other than downloaded child pornography.

The Gateway Pundit lasered in on a missing minute from the released jail cameras, however, showing that the Bondi DOJ has mishandled this release. Their excuse is that prison cameras always delete a minute from their footage.

Trump and Bondi want America to move on because there’s nothing to see here: Epstein killed himself, there’s no clients for child sex trafficking, and no ongoing blackmail operation, and nothing left to prosecute.

But a single name on Epstein’s flight logs: Tyler Grasham, calls that claim into serious question. And unlike the redacted pages and vanished leads surrounding Epstein himself, the Grasham case offers a viable avenue for investigation with ample probable cause, and a clear path to uncovering the wider Epstein client network the DOJ claims doesn’t exist.

Grasham, a prominent Hollywood talent agent who represented child actors, was accused in 2017 of sexually assaulting underage boys under his professional care. Several accusers described similar patterns: grooming, coercion, and exploitation within the entertainment and movie industry.

APA, the agency where Grasham worked, terminated his employment in October 2017.

But no charges were filed against him despite there being multiple accusers, and no federal inquiry followed. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office reviewed four felony complaints ranging in age from accusers being 15 to in their 20s and decided not to prosecute. The DA ruled that two of the cases were barred by the statute of limitations, and the other two lacked sufficient evidence to support felony charges.

This was a powerful person with access to hundreds of potentially abused kids.

Keep reading

Former CBP Officer Sentenced for Smuggling Cocaine from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Atlanta

Ivan Van Beverhoudt, 45, a former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, will serve a 20-year prison sentence following his convictions for importing and possessing with intent to distribute over 15 kilograms of cocaine.

“Van Beverhoudt betrayed his badge by committing one of the very crimes he was entrusted to prevent—smuggling dangerous drugs into our country,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “Our office and its agency partners will hold accountable any law enforcement officer who abuses his authority for criminal ends, and Van Beverhoudt’s twenty-year sentence demonstrates that such abuse will be met with severe consequences.”

“This case highlights the severe repercussions for law enforcement officers who abuse their positions of trust,” said Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and Alabama. “Ivan Van Beverhoudt’s attempt to smuggle over 15 kilograms of cocaine into the country was a grave violation, and thanks to the efforts of HSI and our partners, he will spend 20 years behind bars.”

According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: On January 10, 2020, Van Beverhoudt, a CBP officer, boarded a commercial flight from St. Thomas to Atlanta with 16 bricks of cocaine in his two carry-on bags. To avoid TSA screening in St. Thomas, Van Beverhoudt traveled in his official capacity with his loaded CBP-issued firearm. Upon arriving at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a CBP-trained narcotics K-9 officer in the jetway alerted to Van Beverhoudt’s luggage, which led to the discovery of the cocaine. 

On February 24, 2025, following a five-day jury trial, Van Beverhoudt was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, importation of cocaine into the United States, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. 

On July 8, 2025, United States District Judge J.P. Boulee sentenced Van Beverhoudt to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General. 

Keep reading

Investigative Journalist Explains Why Epstein Case Will Never Progress…

Journalist Nick Bryant notes in this viral clip from the Shawn Ryan podcast that the Jeffrey Epstein case is being covered up by the federal government and will never progress because it would destroy their entire operational system.

“Epstein had cameras in all of his homes. Epstein was definitely a blackmail artist,” Bryant notes.

“The government wants to make sure that that does not come out. A huge part of our political system is predicated on blackmail,” he adds.

“If that dark, malignant corner of the intelligence that is using blackmail against our politicians and other people, if they were using children, that would make the American people erupt,” Bryant further urges.

He continues, “For that dark corner of intelligence, this is Omaha Beach. They’re not going to give an inch.”

“If you look at all the victims and all the perpetrators and all the procurers involved in the Epstein network … no one’s been indicted except for Ghislaine Maxwell,” the journalist explains.

“That really shows that our government, unfortunately, wants to stop it there,” he adds.

“Why is our government aiding, abetting child trafficking unless they’re protecting some very powerful people and a political process?” Bryant posits.

“That’s the only way that it makes sense,” he concludes.

Keep reading

FBI Launches Criminal Investigations into Obama-Era Spymasters John Brennan and James Comey

Former CIA Director John Brennan and disgraced former FBI Director James Comey are now under criminal investigation by the FBI for potential wrongdoing related to the now-debunked Trump–Russia collusion narrative — including allegedly lying under oath to Congress, according to bombshell revelations from DOJ sources obtained by Fox News.

According to DOJ sources, CIA Director John Ratcliffe formally referred evidence of Brennan’s misconduct to FBI Director Kash Patel for criminal review.

Meanwhile, a separate FBI probe into James Comey is also active, though details remain under wraps.

Sources told Fox News that the feds are exploring a potential “conspiracy” between Brennan and Comey to politicize the 2016 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA).

The Gateway Pundit reported last week that a new CIA report reveals former FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and DNI James Clapper worked together to purposely corrupt the Trump-Russia investigation in 2016 before Trump entered office.

The three corrupt Obama officials even included the Steele Dossier in their quest to “screw Trump” knowing at the time that the Steele Dossier was complete rubbish.

For the next three years, Democrats and deep state operatives used these documents in their attempt to impeach Trump and run a coup on the White House.

According to Fox News, the probe is said to focus on Brennan’s false statements regarding the infamous Steele Dossier, which was secretly funded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the DNC, and weaponized by intelligence agencies in an effort to sabotage Donald Trump’s presidency before it even began.

Brennan testified under oath before Congress in 2023 that he opposed including the unverified Steele Dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) on Russian election interference. But recently declassified emails and an internal CIA review prove the opposite.

According to internal CIA memos, Brennan insisted on including the salacious dossier — even after senior analysts warned it would “jeopardize the credibility” of the entire intelligence report.

Keep reading

New York Times Readers and Staffers Unable to Handle a Rare Brush with Objective Journalism

The New York Times is experiencing backlash among its staff and readers after it held New York City mayor candidate Zohran Mamdani to account on Thursday for apparently lying on his application to Columbia University by claiming he was black.

Law professor and legal commentator Jonathan Turley wrote about the incident on his website Sunday, detailing the drama unfolding at the paper of record.

“The paper was denounced by its own staff and liberal pundits called for the entire editorial staff to be canned,” Turley wrote. “Why? Because The New York Times actually reported news that was deemed harmful to the Democrats, specifically Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.”

The Times’ assistant managing editor for Standards and Trust, Patrick Healy, wrote a long thread on the social media site X that stated: “When we hear anything of news value, we try to confirm it through direct sources. Mr. Mamdani confirmed this information in an interview with The Times.”

Healy seemed like a hostage. He rattled off 11 tweets as if he was waving his hands in the air, screaming his defense. Ultimately, he bowed to the mob.

The Times couldn’t have pulled the story. That would’ve been professional suicide. But this step-by-step explainer was the next best thing. This is not a good look for American journalism.

“For liberals, it was an utter nightmare,” Turley continued. “For a party still defined by identity politics, Mamdani’s false claim over his race left many uncertain about how to react. The left has always maintained a high degree of tolerance for false claims by its own leaders, from Sen. Elizabeth Warren claiming to be a native American to Sen. Richard Blumenthal claiming to have served in the Vietnam War.”

Turley also rightly pointed out that many people who patronize the Times are emotionally triggered. The legal scholar highlighted the “anger” felt by the far-left when this happens and compared it to how liberals on college campuses feel when opposing views are offered.

“The fact is that the Mamdani story was obvious news — and confirmed by the candidate himself,” Turley declared. “Mamdani identified as both Asian and African American on his 2009 Columbia University application, according to the New York Times.”

The Times piece stated: “Columbia, like many elite universities, used a race-conscious affirmative action admissions program at the time. Reporting that his race was Black or African American in addition to Asian could have given an advantage to Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and spent his earliest years there.”

“In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Mamdani, 33, said he did not consider himself either Black or African American, but rather ‘an American who was born in Africa,’” the story continued. “He said his answers on the college application were an attempt to represent his complex background given the limited choices before him, not to gain an upper hand in the admissions process.”

Mamdani cheated the system, and in the end, he didn’t even get accepted to Columbia. For someone who pushes “equality” at all costs, isn’t that significant? Doesn’t it prove he’s a liar, a fraud, and an opportunist?

Keep reading

Former Trump Adviser to CNN: Epstein Memo Blowback ‘Ado About Nothing’

In 2023, current FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino himself admonished his audience, when he was a talk show host before whatever happened to him in office changed his tune, to “not let the story die.”

Now, according to an agency memo conspicuously leaked to Axios, the Epstein story is totally dead: there was no blackmail operation, no client list, N no prison murder.

Epstein was, if we’re to believe the FBI, a lone predator who made thousands of videos, which AG Pam Bondi has admitted exist and are in the agency’s custody, by himself, presumably of himself and no one else. There was no blackmail, and there weren’t even any clients to blackmail.

If you were wondering what The Most Trusted Name in News™ take on the Epstein “client list” cover-up — or, if you’re the more trusting type, lack thereof — is, it’s a doozy.

Here we go.

Keep reading

Does Medicaid demand accountability for doctors for dishonorable or even illegal behavior?

ATexas pediatrician’s controversial social media post mocking flood victims, insinuating that it would be good if Trump supporters were not protected from the disaster, and suggesting that people who voted for Trump deserve to die, raises larger questions about whether federal health officials are using any tools to hold doctors registered to provide services under Medicaid or other government programs accountable. 

In fact, a review of the federal database used for Medicaid billing shows that the federal government has repeatedly failed to remove doctors from the system who have been convicted of crimes ranging from fraud to improperly distributing opioids, calling into question the health administration’s willingness to hold medical professionals accountable for the appropriate standards of conduct and care.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), individual Medicaid programs vary according to each state’s statutes within broad Federal guidelines. Medical professionals are responsible for knowing and abiding by state-specific rules where they furnish services and for each of the programs for which they furnish services.

Keep reading