Badlands Brief
DC Exposes Itself as the Middle East Gets Gloriously Strange
The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.
DC Circuit Rejects Biden’s Emergency Bid to Block Release of Hur Probe Audio & Transcripts
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has denied an emergency request by Joe Biden for an injunction blocking the release of audio recordings and transcripts of his 2016–2017 private conversations with ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer.
Those recordings, made at Biden’s home while he worked on a memoir, were obtained by the Justice Department as part of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The Justice Department had initially withheld most of the records under FOIA exemptions, but later agreed to release redacted versions to the Heritage Foundation, Mike Howell, and the House Judiciary Committee. Biden intervened in the litigation seeking to block the release; a lower court denied his request for a preliminary injunction, prompting the emergency appeal.
The D.C. Circuit ruled that Biden had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. It cited a substantial public interest in allowing assessment of whether the government had gone easy on a former vice president, while noting that redactions would protect sensitive personal details and that much of the content was already public through Hur’s report and Biden’s own memoir.
The court extended an administrative stay until August 3 to allow time for any further review.
Ashe in America: “When a highly visible investigation of a prominent public figure ends in a decision not to charge, the public has a strong interest in evaluating ‘whether the government had the evidence but nevertheless pulled its punches.’ Id. at 1093. The requested materials are germane to that interest.”
That’s the DC Circuit court of appeals, surprisingly acknowledging the rights of the People in understanding why Joe Biden wasn’t charged for crimes when the government had him dead to rights and President Trump was charged for less.
You will recall that Hur concluded Biden was a, “Well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
Crazy he was allowed to continue being “President” in that condition.
He went on to sign EOs and Pardons (including for his family)…
Or did he?
This decision feels like a step change in getting us to justice for the massively seditious and treasonous autopen scandal. The dementia-ridden scrotus puppet is not the primary perp in that.
The people running him are.
We can’t have a golden age without a justice phase, and we appear to be closer to that than ever before.
Honestly, closer than I even thought possible.
Accelerate.
Media Protectorate Accidentally Reveals Uniparty Unity in Dueling Iran War Headlines
Burning Bright: I've spend tens of thousands of words analyzing the Fake Iran War so far in 2026, which is only half as paradoxical as it seems at first blush.
So ... what's a few more?
In truth, the war that is not a war (and that the establishment is alternatively decrying while questioning its reality) has entered a perpetual holding pattern, which I believe is part of Donald Trump's central plan against the central planners.
But then, why keep the Iran War Narrative going if it's so destructive to Trump's mandate and ensuing agenda?
Well, aside from a series of Actual Disentanglement operations I've been theorizing all year, including the on-shoring of US energy production and the seemingly slow, but inevitable dissolution of the last great instance of the controlled opposition dynamic playing out between dueling, mirrored regimes in Israel and Iran the machine would love to perpetuate unto eternity, I think the mass psychological impact of Trump's perpetual engine is more impactful to the Mind War.
To wit, a pair of headlines this week, both emanating from Politico prove the point, in a roundabout way.
In the first, Politico reports that Democrats are desperate to halt Trump's continuation of, well, the continuation in Iran.
In the second, Politico reports that the GOP is becoming almost hysterical in their trepidation and anxiety over Trump's continuation of said continuation.
Now, to see why this is a contradiction, we must operate from one central premise: the Democratic party does not care about the human cost in the Middle East, and never has.
Accepting that somewhat-controversial stance (outside of this audience,) we are then left with a contradiction: if the perpetuation of the Iran War is so bad for Trump's mandate, and if both the Left and Right agree on it ... then why is the former also trying to stop it?
And taken in that context, why is the Uniparty contingent within the latter group ALSO trying to stop it.
Put another way, sometimes, I believe you can glimpse the real war operating beneath the fake ones, and I think there are times when the media protectorate gets its propagandist wires crossed in ways that aren't even apparent to them in hindsight.
Whenever the so-called Left and the so-called Right agree on something, and whenever that something is anathema to Trump's moves, they aren't being stunning and brave and principled ... they're reminding us that the real enemy has been in the gates all along, and that the only people they consider to be threats to the house we built and that they stole from us are the American people they pretend to represent, and the man who currently acts as our tribune.
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Trump Approves Saudi Nuclear Deal; Sends It to Congress for Final Approval
The Trump administration intends to submit to Congress within days a 123 Agreement with Saudi Arabia that would authorize U.S. cooperation on civil nuclear technology.
The document is expected to be signed by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman, following a preliminary agreement reached in Riyadh last year.
The pact does not incorporate the so-called Gold Standard, which would prohibit Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel—both potential routes to weapons-grade material. It also omits the Additional Protocol that would give the International Atomic Energy Agency expanded rights to conduct snap inspections at undeclared sites.
While the agreement creates a legal pathway for cooperation on the nuclear fuel cycle, including enrichment, it does not require the United States to transfer related technology or capabilities.
Once submitted, Congress will have roughly 90 days of continuous session to review it; blocking the deal would require a joint resolution and a two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has previously stated that the kingdom would seek nuclear weapons if Iran obtained them. The United Arab Emirates accepted the Gold Standard when it signed its own 123 Agreement in 2009.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: We covered this on Monday, when it was just speculation, but now it's real and Trump is sending it to Congress for approval.
The critical development is that the document Trump is sending to Congress is the 123 Agreement, referring to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which would allow US contractors to work in Saudi Arabi to develop their nuclear reactor and infrastructure.
I have been tracking this specific issue since Trump came back into office.
The other important detail is the fact that the agreement lacks any guardrails to prevent Saudi from developing a nuclear weapon.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bret Baier in a Fox News interview years ago that if Iran developed a nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia would too.
It should be noted that Lindsey Graham was vehemently against Saudi Arabia getting nuclear technology. The timing of this—coming on the heels of his death—is not lost on me.
Though I fully expect others in Congress to throw a hissy fit and get their panties in a wad because, let's face it, most of those clowns are owned by Israel, and Israel has made it clear that any Muslim nation receiving nuclear technology is a red line for them.
Fortunately, I don't think Israel has any political capital left to prevent this agreement from going through, other than having their congressional stooges use their bureaucratic powers to shut it down.
But know this: if American contractors are blocked by Congress to work in Saudi, the Kingdom will bring in South Korean or Japanese companies to do the work instead.
One way or another, the Saudis are going to get a nuclear energy program.
The question will be whether the US plays a role in the process.
Congress Continues Admitting They Should Be Nowhere Near Power
Congresswoman Kat Cammack has called for an immediate House vote on H.Res. 500, a resolution she introduced earlier that would amend House rules to require criminal background checks for all House employees.
It would also mandate public disclosure—filed with the Clerk and made available—of any payments, contracts, or agreements with foreign governments in the three years prior to employment, as well as any foreign citizenship or nationality.
The requirements would apply to both current staff and new hires.
Cammack has argued that congressional staff routinely handle sensitive personal information, yet currently face no mandatory background checks of the kind required for executive-branch employees, and that efforts to advance the measure have repeatedly stalled.
Separately, House Speaker Mike Johnson has endorsed expanding the House Code of Official Conduct to ban lawmakers from sexual relationships with any congressional staff, not only subordinates.
The current rule, adopted in 2018, already prohibits intimate relationships with subordinates in personal offices or on committees (with an exception for married staffers). The proposed change would remove the subordinate limitation.
Ashe in America: Over the weekend, Anna Paulina Luna attempted to appear heroic by amplifying Kat Cammack’s bill to require congressional staffers to be background checked to prevent foreign spies from becoming staffers.
It backfired spectacularly, as Americans everywhere reacted in shock that this wasn’t already happening.
After Swalwell and Fang Fang, after Feinstein’s driver, after the many other examples of staffers being bad actors, background checks still weren’t required?
Now, Speaker Johnson is supporting a new rule that prevents people working in Congress from lying with each other in the Biblical sense.
And again, it backfired.
After the sex tape in the Senate room — and again Fang Fang — and given the secret sex crime slush fund, this isn’t already policy?
Congress continues to prove that they are the People’s real problem — and problems don’t get to design their own solutions.
Maybe one day we’ll have real elections but, until we do, the beneficiaries of the fake ones continue to prove that they shouldn’t be anywhere near power, and that they should be prevented from doing anything that impacts the People.
That includes receiving a paycheck.
Iranian Foreign Minister Reveals Saudi Crown Prince Warned Him About Coming War; Said to “Hold On, and This Story Ends Forever”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a lengthy recent interview, stated that Tehran refused even temporary limits on uranium enrichment because doing so would sacrifice national “honor” and set a precedent of yielding to military pressure.
He said Iranian leaders were certain the United States and Israel would attack regardless of negotiations, which he described as largely intended to demonstrate that diplomacy had been attempted.
Araghchi claimed Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz from the first day of fighting under a pre-agreed contingency plan triggered by any threat to the supreme leader. He asserted that Iran later achieved strategic parity with the United States, forcing mutual language on respecting sovereignty into a memorandum of understanding.
He identified the regime’s greatest vulnerability as internal penetration by spies, noting that the Supreme National Security Council never convened in full during the war because the simultaneous loss of its members could collapse the system.
Araghchi confirmed meetings occurred in underground tunnels and said he has never met the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, whose appointment he described as a signal of policy continuity.
The interview has drawn sharp criticism inside Iran from hardline commentators and media outlets affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.
Critics accused Araghchi of recklessly disclosing sensitive security details, wartime contingency planning, and leadership vulnerabilities that could aid foreign intelligence services.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: From the Source.
Speaking in the first part of a nearly 90-minute podcast interview, Araghchi suggested foreign intelligence activity inside Iran may be something more ambitious than gathering intelligence: shaping the decisions of the state itself.
He made the remarks when asked by establishment podcaster Javad Mogoei about the opening hours of the war, when coordinated strikes killed Iran's supreme leader along with several senior military, security and political figures.
“I believe this security breach is not limited merely to infiltration and obtaining information," Araghchi said.
"Sometimes it also exists in influencing the decision-making process itself. And even more importantly, it extends to shaping our psychological environment and public perception."
The Foreign Minister of Iran just said, on camera, that he believes that spies have infiltrated the Iranian government, and are attempting to influence decision-making, as well as shaping the psychological environment and public perception.
The article continues:
Omid Memarian, an Iran analyst at DAWN, said one possible manifestation of the kind of influence Araghchi described would be officials advocating policies that prolong the war despite the damage continued conflict causes to the Islamic Republic's own interests.
“Some of the decisions they are making are exactly the things that Israelis might wish for," Memarian told Iran International.
Interesting.
So they are saying that Mossad has potentially infiltrated the chain-of-command, and is now influencing decision-making that is designed to prolong the war?
Such as breaking ceasefires and attacking Gulf Arab States?
I guess the notion of Iranian Devolution—that it was completely necessary—doesn't seem so crazy after all?
Could that be what the intended role of General Soleimani was?
Was he meant to escalate conflict with Israel, using his network of proxy militias, and then undermine earnest Iranian leadership and prevent peace from breaking out?
Or perhaps he was so powerful that he could have prevented any earnest benevolent actor from even taking office?
Would Pezeshkian and Araghchi be in power if Soleimani had never been killed?
It’s worth noting that this article’s headline is that this interview that Araghchi gave triggered a backlash from Iran’s hardliners—those who I assume would have supported Soleimani in this moment?
This interview is loaded with juicy tidbits, but the part that I found most interesting was when Araghchi described his meetings with the Gulf Arab State leaders.
The clip is in Farsi and has no English subtitles, but I did have an AI transcribe and translate what is being said.
Here’s what it gave me:
• Opening text:
“When I met with one of the leaders of the region
Behind-the-scenes of a heated dialogue between Araghchi
and one of the Gulf princes before the war"
• Prince’s statement (as recounted by Araghchi):
“They will destroy your nuclear facilities, and they will seize
your missile capabilities.”
• Araghchi’s reply in the meeting:
“Now let’s not go into the details, because in the end we have dealings with them.”
• Araghchi describing the atmosphere:
“But their morale was all like this,
they were all waiting for this event.”
• Araghchi’s firm response to the threat:
“If they strike our nuclear facilities, we will strike
their nuclear facilities.”
• Continuing his response:
“Because our missiles do not reach American territory,
but they do reach their bases in the region.”
• Araghchi’s warning/statement:
“No one can threaten us. If someone threatens us,
then all of Europe and all of America will stand against him.”
• Araghchi’s reaction in the meeting:
“So I laughed and said: Sir, God forbid,
we do not want to strike you.”
• Final part (prince’s closing remark, as recounted):
“Endure for one more month at most,
and this story will end forever.”
Araghchi doesn’t mention MBS by name, but his description of his interactions with this Gulf Arab prince is congruent with what MBS has said and done
We even have public reports of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan’s meeting with Iranian counterparts, though the story was twisted by the media to make it look like Saudi was issuing threats.
The fact that the Saudis are now playing an ever-expanding role in developing diplomacy is also not lost on me.
If I were to revise the contextualization of this meeting, it seems that Iran was giving a full warning by the Sovereign Alliance, and Araghchi now feels compelled to disclose the major developments as it relates to regime change operations.
Araghchi says that he explicitly told the Gulf Arabs that Iran had no qualms with them and did not want to destroy their infrastructure.
This respect seems to have been reciprocated by the Arabs when they warned Araghchi about the forth-coming attack against key targets.
That last comment, “Endure for one month, and then this story ends forever.”
They are talking about narrative warfare. They are talking about storytelling. But most of all, they are talking about a 5GW psyop being run against all parties involved, including the soldiers.
It truly feels like we are entering a new phase of the war.
These disclosures are happening at a moment when Israel’s reputation is being destroyed.
It’s hard to believe that some Americans are still blindly supporting the Zionist agenda.
Trump Pledges to Help Lebanon, Bring in Syria as Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Faces Challenges
President Trump met Tuesday at the White House with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and pledged to help Lebanon “a lot,” describing the country as having been “very badly treated” and saying it would now receive the respect it deserves.
The discussion focused on a June 26 U.S.-mediated framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
That plan calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and steps toward a possible formal peace agreement between the two countries.
Trump stated that Israeli forces were “in the process” of withdrawing and redeploying, but offered no further details.
Trump acknowledged “a Hezbollah problem” and indicated he would be willing to speak directly with the group if requested by Aoun. He also raised the possibility of Syrian involvement against Hezbollah.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated U.S. support for full implementation of the framework, stating that Lebanon cannot achieve lasting peace while Hezbollah remains a powerful armed force and that a strong central government must become the sole legitimate military authority.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Just weeks after President Trump attended the NATO summit where he asserted that the IDF should withdraw from Lebanon and Syria, and that the Arabs should be left to deal with their neighbors.
(Hezbollah)
Now Trump is meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who has been widely panned as a Saudi loyalist, and was backed by the Turks and their antagonists.
We all saw what happened with the Doha Agreement in 2020:
The patience that President Trump’s exhibited in dealing with the Taliban was excellent, and it seems that we are now going to get a replay. I suspect that we will see Trump negotiate a historic deal with Hezbollah, and serve up to Netanyahu everything he ever wanted as it relates to the Arabs.
What happens if Netanyahu doesn’t accept?
What happens if Netanyahu demands more war?
At what point does the mainstream media accept the framing that Trump’s closet allies are all Muslim countries, and many of those countries have openly expressed raw anger toward Israel for its constant attacks and gaslighting?
What happens if Trump makes peace with the “terrorists,” and Israel rejects the peace and walks away from the table to pursue more war?
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To play off of BB's confession/query: I have written hundreds of thousands of words on the eschatological disclosures found in the Bible that were written under inspiration between 2 and 3 thousand years ago...so why not write a few more?
Though the timing of the realizations of the promised climax of this particular phase of God's plan - Who as the Creator of all that was, is, or ever will be, not only put these events in motion but has declared His intent to see them through - is never definitively stated, the environment as regards the governments and economics of mankind's machinations are described in detail. And what was described is precisely what the Briefs continue to report.
My point: Jesus warned us (both those who heard Him directly and the generations that would follow) of the propensity of hierarchies to propagate greed, self-interest, and debauchery. (Colloquially we refer to it as "power corrupts...") And yet they persist for the sole reason that mankind stubbornly refuses to recognize from "whence comes our help"!
Be aware (or "beware" if you prefer) of the wolves in sheep's clothing...you will know them by their fruits. The hardest part of that warning: fruit takes time to manifest itself!!
I am praying that the fruits of honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness would be manifest!
The real impact of releasing the Biden transcripts may not be primarily to expose him as to remove the shielding he provided for the shadow administration that used him.