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.
Lisa Monaco Faces DOJ Referral Over Microsoft Cybersecurity Allegations
Former Biden Deputy Attorney General and former Obama national security aide Lisa Monaco is facing a referral to the Justice Department after the American Accountability Foundation accused her of shielding Microsoft from cybersecurity enforcement actions before joining the company in 2025 as President of Global Affairs.
The referral alleges the Biden DOJ failed to pursue major action against Microsoft despite multiple cyber intrusions between 2019 and 2023 tied to Russian and Chinese hackers that reportedly compromised sensitive US government systems. The foundation noted Monaco oversaw the DOJ’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, which targeted other contractors for less serious alleged misconduct, while no comparable case was brought against Microsoft.
The complaint also points to several former Biden administration cybersecurity officials who later took jobs with Microsoft or firms connected to the company, including former DOJ official John P. Carlin and former FBI cyber official Bryan A. Vorndran.
The group asked DOJ inspectors general to investigate whether Monaco and other officials violated ethics, recusal, or revolving-door restrictions, and whether Microsoft could face liability under the False Claims Act for representations made to federal agencies about the security of its systems.
The news referral comes as former federal prosecutor Carmen Lineberger was indicted for allegedly sending herself a sealed, unreleased portion of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning the classified-documents investigation into Donald Trump. According to the indictment, Lineberger allegedly emailed the report from her DOJ account to a personal account and disguised the file under names like “Bundt_Cake_Recipe.pdf.”
Ashe in America: Lisa Monaco was, in my opinion, one of the central architects of the coordinated campaign against President Trump during his first administration. She is speculated to be a central player in Crossfire Hurricane, Arctic Frost, and other key RussiaGate plotlines targeting 45-47, ostensibly at the direction of Obama and his intelligence community.
But that’s not what she’s being referred for in this story. In this story, she is being accused of concealing politically damaging cybersecurity failures about Microsoft in her official government capacity – and then taking a senior position at the company in a (seemingly unlawful) quid pro quo. Monaco was only referred – not charged – and, of course, she is innocent until proven guilty.
If corruption permeates the global business landscape, and I think it does, then it only does so with the help of current and former government officials shepherding it and covering it up. There must be accountability if we want it to never happen again.
Accelerate.
Israel Saved Missiles While US Burned Through Stocks During War
The US carried much of the missile-defense burden during the Iran war, according to new reporting, expending large numbers of advanced interceptors while Israel conserved more of its own stockpile. According to The Washington Post, the Pentagon assessed that the US fired more than 200 THAAD interceptors — roughly half the American inventory — along with large numbers of SM-3 and SM-6 naval missiles.
Analysts say the conflict exposed a major vulnerability in Western missile-defense production capacity, since systems like THAAD and Patriot are expensive and slow to replace. Critics argue the war strained US readiness for other potential conflicts, especially in the Indo-Pacific, while supporters say the joint missile-defense effort prevented far greater regional escalation and civilian casualties.
Israel has denied claims it was dangerously low on interceptors, saying its operations were coordinated closely with Washington throughout the conflict.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: So, Israel held off on using their own missile supplies to defend themselves during this conflict, while the US burned through most of our missiles defending Israel?
How does this stuff even happen? Why would we bankrupt ourselves to ensure that another country prospers? Why are we talking about killing world leaders instead of making peace with them?
This is a parasitic relationship. Demanding that the US taxpayer subsidize the IDF (a foreign military) is insane. Demanding that American citizens not criticize their own government is utterly retarded, and an open assault on the Bill of Rights. Anyone who aids and abets the effort to censor and suppress these criticisms is complicit with the enemy.
The world has grown weary of the Greater Israel project. The Zionists will lash out at all of us, should we choose to stand up to them; should we choose to preserve the American Spirit.
Now is not the time to be quivering cowards, or concern ourselves with the favorite labels of identity politics. It is far more important that we are able to look ourselves in the mirror and know that we remained loyal to the mission to save this country so that one day we can leave it to our children.
We must become defiant. We must become ungovernable.
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Putin and Xi Sign ‘Multipolar World’ Declaration in Beijing
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a joint declaration in Beijing this week calling for a “multipolar world” and criticizing what they described as destabilizing US foreign and nuclear policies. The summit produced more than 40 agreements covering trade, technology, energy, media cooperation, and strategic coordination between the two countries.
The declaration framed Russia and China as defenders of a new international order less dominated by the United States and Western alliances. Both leaders condemned “hegemonism” and warned against a return to “the law of the jungle” in global affairs. They also criticized US missile defense initiatives — including President Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” system — and objected to the expiration of key nuclear arms limitations between Washington and Moscow.
The meeting highlighted how closely Beijing and Moscow continue to align strategically despite China also pursuing stable relations with Washington. The summit came just days after Trump’s own visit to Beijing, underscoring Xi’s effort to position China as a central balancing power between major blocs.
At the same time, the summit exposed limits in the partnership. Putin reportedly failed to secure final Chinese approval for the long-discussed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, a project Moscow sees as critical for redirecting energy exports away from Europe. Pricing and long-term dependency concerns reportedly remain unresolved.
Burning Bright: “This is the Nationalist Realignment. It is the exact formation of the Multipolar World that stands as the Sovereign Alliance’s mission statement.”
I wrote that on May 3, five months after ending my 2025 run of analysis with a feature titled, ‘A Multipolar War.’
The core thesis?
That the core animating engine of the theorized Sovereign Alliance between Donald Trump’s America, Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia was to wage a faux, escalating series of narrative and fifth-generation wars with one another, while leveraging their actual vectors of power projection (from the kinetic and political to the financial and logistical) against the Global Cartel that has become of the Western World.
A Western World that WAS, until Trump and his Devolution Operation came along ultimately backstopped by the checkmate power projection capabilities of the US War Machine.
On May 12, I wrote the following ...
“This Multipolar Realignment doesn’t happen all at once, despite my sometimes-framing to the contrary.
Rather, the RECOGNITION of said realignment does.
But the choice to see it forming in advance is before you, now.
And it’s getting easier with each passing day, and deployment, which are usually not coming from us.
The Polycrisis (from Ukraine and Venezuela to Iran and Taiwan) now functions as the very macro mechanism granting narrative shielding for the pillars to align and lock in for the next stage as the Multipolar Mesh continues to be woven, thread by sovereign thread in increasingly public view.
The rot of the Globalist System is no longer hidden behind institutional facades; it is being aired out for all to see. And the old power structures can only watch in mounting fear and disbelief as the age of abstraction yields to the age of emergent multipolarity and unfiltered reality.
The Sovereign Alliance has never required the machine’s permission to exist.
It has only ever required the recognition, by those who hold actual power that the old templates no longer serve the interests of sovereign peoples or the futures they are now being granted the ability to build unencumbered.
Rather, that they never have.
We were told we were going to be shown a new world.
We were never told it was going to be Trump alone who showed it to us.”
The title of that feature?
‘The Multipolar World.’
Then, just 12 days later, on May 20, two core pillars of said Sovereign Alliance, Putin and Xi issued the following declaration following their own meeting in Beijing, which directly followed on the heels of Trump’s visit to the same city as part of the same increasingly-disclosed alliance.
‘Putin and Xi Sign Multipolar World Declaration in Beijing.’
That wasn’t a headline manufactured by the Globalist Media apparatus.
That was a headline chosen directly by the Kremlin in their official readout of the meeting.
The Multipolar World is coming. Which means the Sovereign Alliance is real.
And I LOVE to say, ‘I told ya so.’
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Vance Urges UK Patriots to Defend Culture Amidst Mass Migration While UK Towns Form ‘Vigilante’ Security Teams to Protect Women and Children From Migrants
Vice President JD Vance publicly backed British anti-immigration activists this week after the “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London, saying it was “OK to defend your culture” and encouraging opponents of mass migration in the UK to “keep on going.” Vance argued that Western governments have relied on “millions and millions of unvetted people” and framed tighter border controls as both an economic and cultural issue.
The rally itself was organized by British activist Tommy Robinson and drew tens of thousands of demonstrators according to police estimates. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the event as promoting “hatred and division,” while police reported dozens of arrests, including several tied to alleged hate-crime offenses.
The second part of the claim — that UK towns are forming “vigilante” security groups to protect women and children from migrants — appears tied to reports about anti-migrant activist networks and local protest groups that have emerged amid tensions over asylum housing and Channel crossings. Reporting and watchdog documentation describe some activist groups organizing patrols, monitoring migrant activity, or attempting to disrupt migrant boat crossings in northern France.
Ashe in America: The people of England and France have, according to reports, decided to reclaim their homelands. And globalists and their media propagandists only use the term “vigilante” when they’re engaging in a comprehensive character assassination. It fits here.
The way I read the facts (without the framing),is that British and French citizens formed neighborhood patrols for community safety, and they’re now being labeled as “anti-migrant” and vigilantes.
This isn’t organic or reactive.
It’s storytelling.
The problem statement (and its proposed solutions) in this story are the work product of the “Great Migration,” a transformational change program pushed by the World Economic Forum and their partners over the past two decades.
Opposing it isn’t bigotry.
It’s just good sense.
Godspeed euro-vigilantes. Godspeed.
Colombia’s Petro Likens Israel’s Ben-Gvir to ‘True Nazi’ Over Abuse
Colombian President Gustavo Petro accused Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of acting “like a true Nazi” after Ben-Gvir posted video of detained Gaza flotilla activists, including Colombians, kneeling and handcuffed after Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla.
The convoy reportedly carried about 430 international volunteers trying to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid. Netanyahu defended the interception but distanced himself from Ben-Gvir’s treatment of the detainees and ordered deportations expedited.
What’s crazy about that video is that [Israeli National Security Minister] Itamar Ben-Gvir posted it, himself. He is proud of it.
I’m not sure who the detainees are in the video. Are they Gazan prisoners? Crew members from one of Greta’s flotillas? Hamas fighters?
It doesn’t really matter.
The hubris on display by Ben-Gvir is an increasingly common pattern seen among Israeli leaders.
A video of Israeli Parliament Member Yitzhak Kroizer speaking at the Knesset has been published online. In it, Kroizer explicitly says that there are no innocent people in Palestine, and that killing all the women and children there is a fair price to pay to ensure Israel’s security.
It’s very concerning that our government has become so deeply involved with these monsters; That Israel has such extreme influence over our politicians and our foreign policy objectives. The fact that so-called “Christians” run cover for this depravity and excuse it is beyond despicable. The fact that these military campaigns are being ostensibly conducted in the name of Jesus is unforgivable.
And the world is losing its patience with these ethnic supremacists.
The world isn’t turning on Israel because it hates Jews. The world is turning on Israel because the country is run by blood-thirsty lunatics who openly call for the mass slaughter of women and children while claiming eternal victimhood for themselves, and then demands censorship of those who dare criticize their behavior, or even question it.
And, sadly, it would appear that they have the means to implement these “hate speech” codes in America by leveraging American lawmakers at all levels of government. It would also appear that they have no intention of slowing down.
I have no doubt that by writing all of this I am putting myself in a position where it will later be used against me in some way. That I will be held accountable somehow for saying true things about these aspiring tyrants.
I simply don’t care anymore.
At some point, all of you will have to decide for yourself whether you find this behavior acceptable. Or whether being labeled things like “antisemite” is enough incentive to keep your head down and your mouth shut.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has shown a tremendous amount of courage in the public statements he has made in recent years on Israel this whole dynamic around it. He has purportedly survived at least one attempt on his life.
Do We The People have the courage, strength, and conviction to stand up to this depravity?
BONUS ITEM
FBI Reviewing Flash Drive Incident, Election Procedures in Milwaukee 2020 Probe
The FBI is preparing to interview multiple Milwaukee Police Department officers as part of its investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election, according to sources cited by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The interviews, which could begin as soon as next week, are expected to focus on officers stationed at Milwaukee’s central count facility and polling places on Election Night. Investigators are reportedly examining an incident involving former Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall, who briefly left a flash drive inside a voting machine.
Federal agents have also spoken with Wisconsin Elections Commission Deputy Administrator Robert Kehoe, attempted to question a top Milwaukee County election official at her home, and contacted at least two individuals involved in administering Milwaukee’s 2020 election.
Milwaukee’s 2020 ballots still exist despite standard retention timelines, partly due to ongoing litigation brought by a New London man who sued state and local election officials over issues tied to the 2020 election.
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I stand with Ghost on the Israeli issue. They need to lose their deep state, be satisfied with reasonable borders, and stop the warmongering. I think the tide is turning.
Lisa Monaco, Mary McCord(the real heathen that is still hidden), Susan Rice, Killary Clinton, Samantha Power, Anita Dunn, Victoria Nuland... Stench. Criminal stench.
"The rot of the Globalist System is no longer hidden behind institutional facades; it is being aired out for all to see." Indeed, Bright. Indeed. For me who have lived this for 40+ years it is easy to see, our three GenZers are seeing it and understanding...
Agree with you Ghost on Israel, especially since I was actually defending them in 1991.