Tag: pentagon

Pentagon Barred Senior House Staffers From Briefing on Venezuela Boat Strike

The Department of War is thwarting congressional oversight of the Trump administration’s attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela earlier this month.

Senior staff from House leadership and relevant committees were barred by the Office of the Secretary of War from attending a briefing on the attack last Tuesday, according to three government sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The military cited “alternative compensatory control measures” — the term for enhanced security procedures designed to keep information under wraps — as the reason.

The War Department has attempted to conceal numerous details about the attack that killed 11 people in the Caribbean, including the fact that the vessel altered its course and appeared to have turned back toward shore prior to the strikes. Men on board were said to have survived an initial strike, The Intercept reported last week. They were then killed shortly after in a follow-up attack.

“I’m incredibly disturbed by this new reporting that the Trump Administration launched multiple strikes on the boat off Venezuela,” Rep., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., a member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, said of The Intercept’s coverage. “They didn’t even bother to seek congressional authorization, bragged about these killings — and teased more to come.”

A very small number of Senate and House staffers, mostly from the Armed Services committees, received highly classified briefings about the attack last Tuesday, after the military delayed the meeting for days. Staff for key members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which oversee war powers, were conspicuously absent.

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What Is ICE Doing With This Israeli Spyware Firm?

The deployment of Paragon’s Graphite spyware was a major scandal in Italy. Earlier this year, the messaging app WhatsApp revealed that 90 journalists and civil society figures had been targeted by the military-grade surveillance tech, which gives “total access” to a victim’s messages. The Italian government admitted to spying on refugee rights activists, and Paragon cancelled its contract with the government almost immediately after the story broke.

Now the same software may be coming to America—and again with an immigration focus. Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security quietly lifted a stop-work order on a $2 million contract that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had with Paragon for a “fully configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance, and training.”

The deal was first signed by the Biden administration, and it was frozen in October 2024, less than a week after Wired broke the news of the contract. An administration official later insisted to Wired that, rather than reacting to bad publicity, they were reviewing the contract to comply with President Joe Biden’s order to ensure that commercial spyware use by the U.S. government “does not undermine democracy, civil rights and civil liberties.”

The details of that review—or even the contract itself—were never publicly disclosed. But the results are clear: ICE now has a green light to use whatever software Paragon was offering. (Neither Paragon nor ICE responded to requests for comment from The Guardian.)

The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, dedicated to researching electronic surveillance, found that Graphite targeted users through a “zero-click exploit.” By adding someone to a WhatsApp group in a certain way, Graphite can force their phones to read an infected PDF file without the user’s input. In other words, a cyberattack can be disguised as a spam text—and works even if victims ignore it.

After discovering the vulnerability with the Citizen Lab’s help, WhatsApp said in a statement that it was “constantly working to stay ahead of threats” and “build new layers of protection into WhatsApp.”

Paragon was co-founded by Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister and general in charge of military intelligence, and Ehud Schneorson, a former head of Unit 8200, the Israeli equivalent of the National Security Agency. Last year, an American private equity firm bought Paragon for $500 million with the intention of merging it into RED Lattice, a firm connected to former U.S. intelligence officials. Paragon has positioned itself as a more ethical alternative to NSO Group, a spyware company similarly run by Unit 8200 veterans.

In 2021, NSO Group suffered a series of scandals after it was revealed that its Pegasus spyware was sold to police states around the world and was possibly used to spy on journalists who were murdered. NSO Group accused the media of running a “vicious and slanderous campaign” and promised to “thoroughly investigate any credible proof of misuse.” The Biden administration hit NSO Group with economic sanctions in response.

Around the time that the Pegasus scandal was breaking, a Paragon executive boasted to Forbes that their company would only deal with customers who “abide by international norms and respect fundamental rights and freedoms.”

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Pentagon Human Resources Leader Championed DEI, Vaccine Mandates Under Biden

The current head of human resources at the Department of War (DOW), formerly the Department of Defense (DOD), was the “architect” of the military’s previous Diversity and Inclusion program, enforced the unlawful COVID vaccine mandate, and developed a program that expedited citizenship for noncitizen service members who were deported after being convicted of crimes.

Retired Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Samuel Shoemate sounded the alarm on X this week, drawing attention to DOW Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Military Personnel Policy Stephanie Miller.

Miller oversees the “full spectrum of human resource policies for over two million military personnel serving in the Department of War,” Shoemate wrote.

Her old bio, which has been revised to remove any mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), states that her career includes “leadership positions as the DoD Director of Diversity and Inclusion Management, Deputy Director for Navy Diversity, and Director, Navy Women’s Policy.”

She also served as a Defense Legislative Fellow for Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — a close associate of Hollywood Democrat donors and one of just three Republican senators who voted against the confirmation of War Secretary Pete Hegseth in January.

“Stephanie has been an advisor to, and architect of, every decision in the military over the last decade and a half that has harmed military readiness and overall military strength,” Shoemate wrote. 

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Pentagon-Funded Research Supported Chinese Military Projects, House Report Finds

A congressional investigation has revealed the Chinese regime exploited U.S. universities to collaborate on hundreds of defense projects funded by American taxpayers, including some blacklisted by the U.S. government due to ties to the Chinese military.

The report, released on Sept. 5 by House Republicans on the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), builds on a 2024 investigation by Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and former House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).

It found that hundreds of millions in U.S. federal research funding over the past decade have aided China’s technological and military advancements.

“American taxpayer dollars should be used to defend the nation—not strengthen its foremost strategic competitor,” the report said.

The report identified over 1,400 research publications linked to Department of Defense (DOD)-funded projects with Chinese partners, valued at more than $2.5 billion in taxpayer funds. Approximately 800—over half—involved direct collaboration with defense entities of the Chinese state.

It urges limiting U.S. research collaboration with China and supports new legislation by Moolenaar to block DOD funding for projects involving Chinese entities flagged as security risks by the U.S. government.

The report highlighted several case studies posing significant national security risks.

One project—funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Army Research Office (ARO), and NASA—involved researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Beihang University.

Shanghai Jiao Tong is overseen by China’s State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), the agency managing the defense industry. Beihang, part of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defence” linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was added to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List in 2001 for its involvement in rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, deemed a threat to U.S. national security.

Another project on thin film research, funded by the DOD’s Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, involved Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Arkansas, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). HIT, also a “Seven Sons of National Defence” university, operates a SASTIND-overseen lab researching advanced materials and welding for military applications, including spaceflight, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines, in collaboration with the state-owned Ansteel Group.

The Select Committee’s report reveals major issues with DOD Research & Engineering (R&E). For example, it failed to update its risk framework or enforcement, listing only a few of China’s known talent programs and defense labs on the 1286 List, despite many more being identified. Additionally, there have been no follow-ups to ensure that grants comply with safety rules, even when risks are flagged.

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Pentagon backs X-energy’s mini nuclear reactor to boost military energy resilience

The US Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of the Air Force have signed an agreement with X-energy Reactor Company to advance the development of its commercial microreactor.

The agreement has been made with the goal of deploying advanced nuclear technologies at DoD installations to support national security. It aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order issued in May 2025.

It will support the design and development of X-energy’s XENITH microreactor under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program, which DIU leads in partnership with the Department of the Air Force.

The program aims to accelerate the deployment of next-generation microreactor technologies to provide power at military installations.

It enables government agencies to engage with private companies under a flexible contracting mechanism that allows for faster development and deployment of commercial nuclear systems.

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Pentagon effectively confirms ‘Golden Dome’ will breach Outer Space Treaty

On January 27, US President Donald Trump announced that the construction of the “state-of-the-art ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense shield” will begin “immediately” and will be made “right here in the USA 100%”. Since then, apart from a name change to avoid confusion with a homonymous Israeli system, there’s been little concrete information on the project. However, last week, the Pentagon presented more details about the upcoming “Golden Dome”, revealing that it will be a four-layer missile defense system and that it will also include a space-based component (the other three are ground-based, including eleven short-range batteries planned for deployment in the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii). Reuters cited a presentation of the project, titled “Go Fast, Think Big!”, shown in Huntsville, Alabama, last week to around 3,000 representatives of the American Military Industrial Complex (MIC).

The revelation didn’t really show much more than what was already known about the US strategic missile defenses. The slides revealed there would be early warning satellites for detecting missile launches, tracking and “boost-phase interception”. The “upper layer” would be composed of the Next Generation Interceptors (NGI), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and “Aegis” systems, with a new missile field “likely in the Midwest”. This would be followed by the “under layer” composed of “Patriot” systems, new radars and a “common launcher for current and future interceptors”. The space-based “boost-phase interception” capability is particularly curious. Although the slides didn’t really reveal how this would be accomplished, common sense implies that this is either deliberate disinformation (like the SDI was) or the Pentagon is actively pursuing space-based weapons.

Reuters noted that “one surprise was a new large missile field – seemingly in the Midwest according to a map contained in the presentation – for Next Generation Interceptors (NGI) which are made by Lockheed Martin” and “would be a part of the ‘upper layer’ alongside Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and ‘Aegis’ systems which Lockheed also makes”. The NGI is supposed to be the next iteration of GBI (Ground-Based Interceptors), which is part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD). This system is a nationwide network of radars, interceptors and other assets that the US planned for decades, even unilaterally withdrawing from the 1972 ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty back in 2002, so it could pursue the project. This arms control agreement served to prevent the US and USSR/Russia from being incentivized to endlessly enlarge their thermonuclear arsenals by limiting the number of deployed ABM systems.

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Shock Claim: Govt. Docs Reveal Pentagon’s “Self-Spreading” Vaccine Development, Already Passed Animal Trials

The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) has obtained new documents through a Department of Defense (DoD) request for proposal revealing the U.S. military’s funding of a controversial self-spreading vaccine program known as DARPA INTERCEPT.

The documents reveal, say ICAN, that the animal trials were a success and that the next step of development is to inject terminally-ill humans next.

ICAN reports that Autonomous Therapeutics, a biotech company, has already published results showing successful tests of its self-spreading vaccines in monkeys. Their stated goal is to build “synthetic immune systems.”

FOIA Revelations on “Tiny Trojan Horses”

Last year, ICAN drew public attention to U.S. government studies on self-spreading vaccines. Now, ICAN attorneys have uncovered fresh details showing that DARPA’s INTERCEPT program funded the development of ‘therapeutic interfering particles’ (TIPs). These are engineered viruses designed to act as “tiny Trojan horses” that carry genetic material from person to person.

The FOIA records show that the INTERCEPT program planned not only to create these spreading particles, but also to build computer models to predict how TIPs could move from a single cell to an entire population.

The military’s role in this work has been reported for several years, such as in this 2020 Washington Post profile.

Contract Awarded to Autonomous Therapeutics

Documents reveal a 2016 DoD request for proposal calling for a “biological system for replicating ‘human-like conditions’” to study the evolutionary dynamics of mutating pathogens and diseases. This contract was awarded to Autonomous Therapeutics, co-founded by Ariel and Leor Weinberger.

Leor Weinberger has published research testing TIPs engineered for HIV on rhesus monkeys. He is now pursuing plans to inject TIPs into terminally ill HIV patients. ICAN warns that such genetic payloads could integrate permanently into patients’ DNA and could possibly spread beyond the intended clinical trial population.

Scientists have typically justified this research on the basis that it could be utilized to stop quick outbreaks of major viruses such as Ebola and quickly stop potential pandemics.

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Defense Department Continues Ignoring Harms to Readiness by Pushing Flu Shots Contrary to Large Body of Evidence

After the tyrannical enforcement of the now-rescinded 2021 COVID-19 shot mandate, now determined to be “unlawful as implemented,” skepticism of all vaccines has clearly increased throughout the military community.

Sadly, some service members are facing punitive actions for objecting to the flu shot, having argued it is ineffective and detrimental to not only their health, but also their religious convictions. An anonymous Marine officer and Air Force Major Brennan Schilperoort share a similar moral and religious objection to the shot, while also suffering adverse effects from a previous injection. Additionally, both officers have also shown natural immunity.

Rather than recognizing their Constitutionally protected religious rights to substantiate their objection, the military has decided to separate both individuals from service. Although Maj. Schilperoort’s pay was restored by the Air Force, it must be noted Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is aware of their situation, but has thus far remained silent on the issue of separation over the flu shot.

The Gateway Pundit spoke to independent journalist Jeremy Hammond, whose articles about the flu shot have elicited high praise from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

For Hammond, “The coerced vaccination of military service members is yet another unfortunate example of how the government systematically violates individuals’ right to informed consent.” He explained, “This policy exists despite scientific evidence indicating that getting an annual flu shot can actually increase the risk of influenza illness.”

A Cleveland Clinic study of their 54,402 employees during the 2024-2025 flu season found the flu shot was not effective in preventing the transmission of the respiratory illness. Results of the study can be found at MedRxiv, pronounced “med-archive,” an online platform used to share “preprints” in the medical, clinical, and health science fields.

The manuscript is a preprint, meaning it has not been peer-reviewed. Thus, “it reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice,” according to the site.

While some might question the validity and reliability of the research as a result, preprints are also known to allow for quicker dissemination of research, provide opportunities for feedback from the scientific community, or could simply be considered an early version of the research manuscript.

With these parameters in place to consider, the study found “in an analysis adjusted for age, sex, clinical nursing job, and employment location, the risk of influenza was significantly higher for the vaccinated compared to the unvaccinated state, yielding a calculated vaccine effectiveness of −26.9%” [emphasis added]. Therefore, based on this data, it can be stated vaccinated individuals were 27 percent more likely to get the flu.

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LEAK: Pentagon Inspector General Has ‘Evidence’ Hegseth Signal Chat Included Classified Information From Central Command – Pentagon Spox Responds

Another day, another leak.

CNN and The Washington Post on Wednesday reported that sources say the Pentagon Inspector General has ‘evidence’ that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal chat included classified information from Central Command.

The Pentagon Inspector General expanded his investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the double-encrypted app Signal in May.

Steven Stebbins took over as Acting Inspector General after President Trump fired the previous IG and 17 other inspectors general.

Stebbins was first appointed to his position in 2015.

Pete Hegseth has been under heavy attack since before his confirmation hearing and the leaks keep coming.

The Pentagon Inspector General expanded his probe following The Wall Street Journal’s reporting on Hegseth’s wife and brother participating in Signal chat groups.

Pete Hegseth was blamed for not noticing Jeffrey Goldberg was added to the Signal chat group with other high-level Trump Administration officials.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to the latest leak in a statement to CNN: “This Signal narrative is so old and worn out, it’s starting to resemble Joe Biden’s mental state. The Department stands behind its previous statements: no classified information was shared via Signal. As we’ve said repeatedly, nobody was texting war plans and the success of the Department’s recent operations–from Operation Rough Rider to Operation Midnight Hammer–are proof that our operational security and discipline are top notch.”

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Pentagon shifts focus to drone warfare to bolster American military power

Drone warfare is emerging as a central strategic tool in the Trump administration’s plan to expand American military power.

The U.S. pioneered remotely piloted weapons during the war on terrorism in the post-9/11 era, when the term “drone” became a verb for effective strikes against al Qaeda figures in several corners of the world. The military term for missile attacks by large Predator and later Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles was simply “death from above.”

Since the early 2020s, drone weaponry has advanced dramatically from those initial, long-range missile carriers to an entirely new generation of warfare that has come into sharper focus during the Russia-Ukraine war.

In one recent two-day period, Russia fired 355 Iranian-made Shahed-type drones, including decoys, at Ukrainian targets. The wide-scale use of such one-way attack quadcopters and other pilotless aircraft underscores how drone warfare is rapidly becoming the face of modern warfare.

It’s not just Russia and Iran. Other U.S. adversaries are now in the drone manufacturing game, often pioneering inexpensive ways to mass-produce basic but deadly small drones.

China has notably developed a vast slate of drones for attack and support operations and is said to be producing as many as 100,000 small drones monthly. By contrast, the U.S. defense industrial base produces about 5,000 to 6,000 small drones monthly.

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