Badlands Brief

Election Bombshells, Peace Board Bangers, & Clintons in Contempt

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.

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Jack Smith Testifies Before Congress & House Advances Clinton Contempt as Georgia Hearings Reveal 2020 Election Bombshell

Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith testified publicly Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee, defending his Trump investigations and saying prosecutors had developed “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” of criminal activity and that “No one should be above the law.”

During the five hour hearing, Republican lawmakers questioned Smith about his oath of office, his office’s use of subpoena powers, his handling of Republican lawmakers’ phone toll records, the January 6 committee and more.

Separately, the House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress after they did not appear for depositions related to the committee’s Jeffrey Epstein probe. The measure still requires approval by the full House before any referral to the Justice Department.

At the state level, the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) held an 11-hour hearing Wednesday to address election cases and make referrals to the state’s attorney general. During the hearing, local investigator Joe Rossi presented evidence of intentional human intervention in the 2020 election, called on the SEB Chairman to resign, and asked the board to commit to criminal referrals.

On Thursday, the Georgia State Senate Ethics Committee passed Resolution 563 urging the GA Secretary of State to fully comply with the Justice Department’s request for Georgia voter registration information to meet obligations under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and Civil Rights Act of 1960.

Ashe in America: On Wednesday, President Trump said people are going to be prosecuted for 2020. Here is the clip again, just because it’s so good:

Also on Wednesday, the State Election Board of Georgia finally heard rebuttal to their Secretary of State’s election narrative, and it was incredible. In case you missed it, CannCon and I recapped the key moments from the 11-hour hearing yesterday, and then carried the Senate Ethics Committee meeting live.

Here is the most explosive part of the hearing:

“He runs that report at noon 06 (12:06) on Thursday, December 3rd. Okay. Noon 06 on Thursday. At noon 13 (12:13), he sends that report in an email. We’ve got the email to Ryan Macias. I don’t know who Ryan Macias is, but I know he was a, maybe a consultant that worked for The Election Group. I don’t know why he sent it to him. I could speculate saying, ‘Hey, Ryan, we’re deep doo doo here. You know, we’re only at 511. What do we do?’ Well, Richard Barron testified on Friday of that certification week that they were short. He said, ‘We knew we were short.’ He said, ‘We called the state.’ I’m assuming that’s the Secretary of State’s office.” — Joe Rossi

The knew on November 19, 2020 that the counts didn’t match. So on December 3, 2020, it appears that, they made them match.

That bombshell happened on Wednesday, then yesterday we had the Jack Smith hearing where he repeatedly relied on the authority of GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for his unprecedented treatment of President Trump.

…and…

Raffensperger was the only witness that Smith mentioned… is it a coincidence that he was just implicated on Wednesday for lying to the President on January 2, 2021? They knew on November 19, 2020 that President Trump was right about their vote being “under what they thought they needed.”

Also, Jack Smith likely swore himself in and signed his own oath outside the presence of witnesses.

A Grand Treasonous Conspiracy… ongoing against the President since 2016.

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Trump Ratifies ‘Board of Peace’ Charter in Davos, Meetings for Peace in Abu Dhabi Today

“The first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East, and a much safer future for the world are unfolding right before your very eyes,” said President Donald J. Trump, in a signing ceremony to formally ratify the “Charter of the Board of Peace.” The charter establishes an “official international organization,” with President Trump serving as Chairman.

President Trump said permanent members would pay $1 billion each and that no other permanent UN Security Council member besides the US had committed at that point. Named participants currently include Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Tony Blair. Benjamin Netanyahu accepted an invite to join despite prior objectives to the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, according to Israeli media citing unnamed Israeli officials.

Kushner presented a multi-phase reconstruction and economic plan for Gaza at Davos during Thursday’s ceremony. The plan aims to raise Gaza’s GDP and increase average annual household incomes over the next decade.” [Slides]

Reuters is reporting that some major US allies balked at the proposal, but those reports appear to link back to a UN paper from October.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Witkoff and Kushner, and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks were “substantive, constructive and very frank.” The first meeting of a Russia-US-Ukraine working group on security issues will be held in Abu Dhabi today, January 23, according to Russian media.

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: President Trump has successfully strong-armed the World Economic Forum—an organization founded by Klaus Schwab in 1971 under the guidance of Henry Kissinger, for the purpose of planning and managing the subjugation of the human race—into allowing him to use the WEF’s precious time during this high-profile week to host the founding of an organization that stands in direct opposition to the WEF’s core mission.

President Trump kicked it off with a banger of an intro.

Marco Rubio later explained how useless these kinds of transnational organizations typically are, even when you have two earnest sides trying to reach agreement.

Trump summoned the attending world leaders to sit down at the table with him to sign the charter and thus formalize their acceptance of Trump’s invitation.

A highly notable moment was when Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

I have long discussed the ostensible role Faisal bin Farhan has played in orchestrating the Sovereign Alliance during Biden’s term. We are used to seeing him in his traditional Saudi thobe (robe) and keffiyah (head covering) but here he shows up in a western suit and head uncovered, flexing his German upbringing.

Putting Saudi and Turkey on the stage together was a strategic symbol, as the two countries just aided President Trump in negotiating a peace deal with Syrian President Al Jolani. Saudi and Turkey have long had a troubled and inconsistent relationship, but now we see them ready to fully bury the hatchet and work together.

Finally, we received a presentation on the reconstruction of Gaza, presented by Jared Kushner.

Kushner showed off the Master Plan for Gaza, which has been discussed and speculated since it was revealed around the time of September 2025.

There was so much anxiety when it was revealed that they were working on a master plan, but as I said then and will reiterate now: a master plan is simply a color block site diagram. It does not convey design work or even design intent, rather it shows the intent for the usage of different areas of a site.

Kushner’s callout at the end was pretty epic. He called out several groups, but he specifically said that Israelis needed to stop persecuting pro-Palestine activists online and “give Trump 30 days,” before pummeling him with another round of criticisms.

And now we have reports from the Times of Israel that the Arab Gulf leaders are souring on the direction of the Gaza peace project, after learning that the Israeli government has withheld over $4 million from the Palestinian Authority, among other things.

Putin hasn’t joined the board yet, but when he does, I don’t expect the rhetoric between him and Netanyahu to be excessively cordial.

You heard Jared: let Trump cook.

P.S. Everybody online has noticed that the logo for the Board of Peace is merely a rebranding of the United Nations, which Trump affirmed a few days ago “may” end up getting replaced with the Board of Peace.

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Burning Bright: Sometimes, you write the right thing ... just a BIT too early.

On the back of Donald Trump’s Narrative Blitzkrieg on the Hegemon, observe how some not only saw this coming ... but also what happens next.

Trump’s not telling the Globalists at the World Economic Forum anything they don’t already know, and fear.

He’s telling everyone else.

The Sovereign Alliance is real. And it’s beginning to be disclosed.

Very slowly ... and then all at once.

“From where I’m sitting, the enemy has been accelerated to the point where they’re making our argument for us, rightly framing the Sovereign Alliance—even if they refuse to call it such—as the new power block standing definitionally in opposition to collectivism itself.

On an Actual level, this is all part and parcel to the Power is Power refrain I’ve been discussing since 2022, wherein the great powers of the world on a Narrative level are reduced to mewling sycophants due to the sovereign convergence of the true Military and Economic Superpowers of the modern era, and now, without the ultimate Deep State backstop of backdoor, de facto control over the most powerful kinetic power projection apparatus in the world at its disposal in the form of the US Military, thanks to Donald Trump.

But more to the point of this particular writing ... and the EU of it all, which Trump just took a devastating Narrative hammer to in the meat of his 2025 National Security Strategy, a recent headline out of The Guardian had me doing a double take for just how, well, accurate it was, in an inverted sort of way.

From The Guardian:

‘Trump and Putin are carrying out a pincer movement on Europe’s democracies.’

Look at that beauty.

They’re even using terminology ubiquitous to the Righteous Russia series that brought many of you to my writing in the first place.

From Righteous Russia, Part 0, my first piece of writing in the Info War, which introduced the concept of the Sovereign Alliance and a pincer movement being carried out between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin:

‘I can think of no greater story than an alliance of East and West, and no more terrifying a nationalistic, sovereign pincer for the Globalist Deep State to be caught in.’

So, while it seems like they might just have caught on to this whole Sovereign Alliance thing, I think they’ve known for some time.

But then, it seems their script didn’t just get rejected, but ultimately transformed into the narrative inversion we’ve been tracking since the enemy first attempted to conflate Trump and Putin in the Collective Mind.

Which, as I have been arguing for a LONG time, should lend credence to the idea that the back-and-forth, engineered whiplash that often follows Trumpian deployments is a feature, and not a bug of the engineered chaos of the Info War.

To sum up ... I’ve been telling you the Sovereign Alliance is real, AND that it’s winning.

Now ... they are, too.”

From ‘A Multipolar War.’

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One Year After Trump Executive Order, US Set to Exit World Health Organization

The United States officially withdrew from the World Health Organization, effective Thursday, following the one-year notice period required by US law. The notice period began on President Trump’s first day in office when he issued an executive order notifying the United Nations of the US intent to exit. The White House posted on X:

“EFFECTIVE TODAY: The United States has exited the World Health Organization. This fulfills President Trump’s commitment under an executive order signed one year ago, following the WHO’s mishandling of COVID-19 and its ongoing lack of reform, accountability, & transparency.”

A joint statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., said:

“Like many international organizations, the WHO abandoned its core mission and acted repeatedly against the interests of the United States. Although the United States was a founding member and the WHO’s largest financial contributor, the organization pursued a politicized, bureaucratic agenda driven by nations hostile to American interests. In doing so, the WHO obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives and then concealed those failures under the pretext of acting “in the interest of public health.” Even on our way out of the organization, the WHO tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it. The WHO refuses to hand over the American flag that hung in front of it, arguing it has not approved our withdrawal and, in fact, claims that we owe it compensation. From our days as its primary founder, primary financial backer, and primary champion until now, our final day, the insults to America continue.Going forward, U.S. engagement with the WHO will be limited strictly to effectuate our withdrawal and to safeguard the health and safety of the American people.”

The planned exit has triggered a financial crisis at the WHO. The United States has historically been the organization’s largest donor.

Ashe in America: A financial crisis at a globalist genocidal eugenics entity? Excellent. Even better that it’s happening because the United States is no longer participating.

The World Health Organization isn’t about health, it’s about control. It’s been a vehicle for the driving the global change management for the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of health and wellness and personal life. In honor of ending them, let’s review some of their greatest hits. During COVID, the World Health Organization:

• Claimed no evidence of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19.

• Flip-flopped on masking guidance multiple times.

• Redefined herd immunity to push vaccination.

• Praised China’s transparency and speed in handling the pandemic.

• Promoted the concept of an “infodemic” to limit scientific debate.

• Renamed monkeypox to “mpox,” citing concerns about stigma.

Prior to COVID-19, the WHO issued nutrition guidance that emphasized low-fat diets and downplayed sugar risks. They also frame climate change as the world’s greatest health threat.

The question isn’t why are we leaving. The question is, why would we ever join this thing to begin with?

Thankfully, that globalist silliness is over.

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Ambassador Huckabee Responds to Churches in Jerusalem Letter Calling Christian Zionism a “Damaging” Ideology

The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued a public statement on January 17, 2026, describing Christian Zionism as a “damaging” ideology:

“The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the flock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.”

US Ambassador to Israel responded the Patriarchs on X with his own statement:

“I love my brothers and sisters in Christ from traditional, liturgical churches and respect their views, but I do not feel any sect of the Christian faith should claim exclusivity in speaking for Christians worldwide or assume there is only one viewpoint regarding faith in the Holy Land… If God can or would break His covenant with the Jews, then what hope would Christians have that He would keep His covenant with us? Labels such as ‘Christian Zionism’ are too often used in a pejorative manner to disparage free-church believers, of which there are millions across the planet. Christians are followers of Christ and a Zionist simply accepts that the Jewish people have a right to live in their ancient, indigenous, and Biblical homeland. It’s hard for me to understand why every one who takes on the moniker ‘Christian’ would not also be a Zionist.”

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land have issued a harsh rebuke of Christian Zionism, decrying it as a damaging ideology. Here is a copy of their publicly issued letter.

The group asserts that Christian Zionism misleads the public, sows confusion, and harms Christian unity. They condemn the political leaders—such as Mike Huckabee—who use their positions in government to promote war and undermine peace.

Huckabee responded to the statement, asserting that this particular church (or group of churches) does not speak for all Christians in the Holy Land, let alone the world.

(An awkward situation for Pastor Huckabee to be in, for sure.)

With all of this happening, we have Arab diplomats speaking to the Israeli press, assuring them that the Arab leadership is souring on the direction of the Gaza peace deal, after learning that Israel is withholding $4 billion in collected tax revenue that rightfully belongs to the Palestine Authority, which governs the West Bank. From the The Times of Israel:

“Israel has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza, likening the Ramallah-based body to Hamas and insisting that it undergo significant reforms. The Arab diplomat said Arab countries also back reforming the PA and are chaperoning Ramallah through that process. However, he claimed that Israel’s demand for reform was “disingenuous” and a “guise” for Jerusalem to prevent a two-state solution. According to the diplomat, there is particular anger in Riyadh over Israel’s withholding of over $4 billion in tax revenues from the PA, as Saudi Arabia has been called on to help compensate for some of those losses.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE will still have representatives on US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, and the UAE will also have a person on the intermediate Gaza Executive Board — both panels involved in the oversight of the postwar Strip. However, the Arab diplomat said that the appetite in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, along with their allies in the region, for more significant involvement and financial investment in Gaza has decreased significantly.

“There’s a feeling that this isn’t heading in the right direction, so the preference for some countries in the Gulf is to mostly remain on the sidelines,” the Arab diplomat said. “It’s ironic to see how upset Netanyahu is about Turkey and Qatar when his policies brought us to this situation.”

Did I see this coming? Absolutely.

The natural progression here will likely be that as peace is normalized and established as the expected outcome, Netanyahu’s government will become increasingly hostile and further reveal itself the proverbial turd in the punch bowl.

As this develops, I expect the Arabs and Turks to call out the subversion and ask for Trump and Putin to address it together.

P.S. We’ve long been told that Hamas would end up being the turd in the punch bowl, yet they just announced that they have cut a deal with Trump and will disarm.

Sometimes you can’t tell the people the truth, you must show them. Netanyahu will never allow this peace to stand.

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BONUS ITEMS

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Federal Authorities Announce Two Arrests Tied to St. Paul Church Attack

Federal law enforcement agents have arrested two individuals in connection with a coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced, identifying Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen as being taken into custody at her direction.

Bondi said Homeland Security Investigations and FBI agents executed the arrests in Minnesota, stating that Armstrong allegedly played a key role in organizing the attack on the church. The arrests follow a protest at the church last weekend that drew national attention after activists disrupted services to target a pastor they said was linked to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Federal officials are investigating potential civil rights and other charges related to the incident. Despite his involvement in the attack, Don Lemon was not arrested.

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President Trump Files $5 Billion Lawsuit Against JPMorgan Over Alleged Political Debanking

President Trump filed a $5 billion lawsuit Thursday against JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon, accusing the bank of cutting off his accounts for political reasons after decades-long business ties.

The suit, filed in Florida state court in Miami by Trump attorney Alejandro Brito, alleges JPMorgan abruptly terminated multiple accounts belonging to Trump and his hospitality companies in early 2021, despite the accounts being in good standing and having processed hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions over the years. The complaint claims the bank provided no warning, appeal process, or alternative banking arrangements.

Trump’s legal team argues the closures were driven by political and social considerations rather than legitimate financial or regulatory concerns, asserting the bank sought to distance itself from Trump and his conservative views at a time when doing so was politically advantageous. The lawsuit further alleges JPMorgan and Dimon caused Trump, the Trump Organization, affiliated entities, and members of the Trump family to be placed on an internal banking blacklist shared across federally regulated institutions, a move the complaint characterizes as false, malicious, and designed to prevent other banks from doing business with them.

“While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit,” JPMorgan Chase said in a statement. “We respect the president’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves — that’s what courts are for.”

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