Badlands Brief
NeoCon Goggles & Phantom Whistleblowers
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.
ODNI Says No Actionable Whistleblower Complaint Exists Against Tulsi Gabbard
Reporting by The Wall Street Journal alleges a classified whistleblower complaint concerning Tulsi Gabbard was filed within a US intelligence agency and has not advanced beyond internal channels. The Journal cited unnamed current and former officials who claimed the complaint stalled and was not referred for further review or action.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence publicly rejected the framing and implications of that reporting. In an official statement, ODNI said it is not aware of any legitimate or substantiated whistleblower complaint against Gabbard that is being improperly handled or suppressed, and that claims suggesting otherwise are misleading. ODNI emphasized that classified whistleblower complaints are governed by strict statutory processes and that failure to advance a complaint can reflect threshold determinations, including jurisdictional defects, credibility issues, or lack of qualifying protected disclosures.
No complaint has been referred to an Inspector General, transmitted to Congress, or resulted in any findings, charges, or disciplinary action. The contents of any alleged complaint have not been made public, and no evidence has been released showing that Gabbard violated intelligence laws, mishandled classified information, or engaged in misconduct. As of now, the matter exists only as an uncorroborated media claim disputed by the intelligence community’s top oversight office.
Ashe in America: Unnamed current and former officials are very concerned that the fake complaint they seeded isn’t going the way they wanted. There is as much, if not more, support for that statement as there is for the assertions in the WSJ article, but that didn’t stop people from burning cycles on another ridiculous rumor.
Legitimate criticism goes after ideas and policies. A lot of what we’re seeing is attacks on individuals as “bad people.” Wrap up smears targeted at those audiences who are still being led around by their emotions—which, according to the public reaction on this Tulsi story, is still a lot of people. Chaos, doubt and distraction, doom…benefits the regime and creates baseless headaches for the President and his team.
From Gottemukala in CISA to Tulsi in ODNI to Todd Blanche in DOJ, there is a sustained effort to create fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the transformation program. Politico is running point on Gottem, the WSJ is leading the charge on Tulsi, and, for Blanche, it’s mostly conservative influencers fudding Justice.
That’s notable…
“...weaponized agencies that for seven years have been running illegal psychological warfare campaigns against the American people…”
Are those campaigns ongoing? If the answer is yes, and it’s happening now, what would the goal be and what would the tactics look like?
Now consider that Tulsi’s response to all this drama was to write Congress a letter about Election Fraud.
Beneath the hysterical headlines, the hunt is heating up.
Let ‘em cook.
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MSM Launches Coordinated Misinformation Campaign Claiming Epstein Was a Russian Agent
Multiple western media outlets have simultaneously advanced variations of a claim that Jeffrey Epstein was secretly operating on behalf of Russian intelligence or the Kremlin in recent days. The coordinated theme appears across British tabloids, European state-backed broadcasters, and US celebrity media.
An article in The Telegraph framed Epstein as potentially linked to the FSB and Vladimir Putin, citing the recently released Epstein files and alleging that 1,056 documents name Vladimir Putin and more than 9,000 refer to Moscow. The article mentions discussions of “Russian girls” (e.g., Epstein offering a 26-year-old Russian woman to Prince Andrew) and cites Ukrainian reporters and other unnamed officials.
The narrative was echoed more aggressively by France 24, amplifying a Daily Mail claim that Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation functioned as a Cold War–style “honeytrap” directed by the KGB—an agency dissolved in 1991, years before Epstein’s documented rise. The segment offers no sourcing beyond tabloid reporting.
In the US, People magazine published a story asserting Epstein acted as a “wealth manager” for Putin, attributing the allegation to an anonymous “FBI source.” The article presents no financial records, court exhibits, or prior investigative findings to support the claim.
Notably absent from all three pieces is engagement with the documented record: Epstein’s prior conviction, his non-prosecution agreement with US federal prosecutors, his extensive ties to American and European institutions, and the lack of any charges, indictments, or intelligence assessments—public or leaked—naming him as a Russian asset.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: The media has fallen into full-blown panic mode, as Tulsi Gabbard is seen walking the site of an election integrity raid in Georgia, and President Trump is organizing Sovereign Alliance meetings in Turkey and the UAE that are designed to subvert World War 3 and deliver World Peace.
They are now accusing Jeffery Epstein of being a Russian asset, even though there is no credible evidence to support it. Russia does appear thousands of times throughout the Epstein Files, but almost entirely in the context of cited news articles and when discussed as a third party.
For example, here is an email between Epstein and the Rothschilds from 2014 where the Rothschilds want to meet to discuss Ukraine. (The email is sent just weeks after the CIA/Mossad overthrew the Ukrainian government via the Maidan Coup.) In a separate conversation, Epstein asserts to Larry Summers that Putin was dismissive of helping Zelensky, because he believed that he was “being run by Israel.”
Isn’t that interesting? The most famous Jewish banking family in the world—the one that coerced the British government into seizing Palestine from the Ottomans as a spoil of war at the end of World War I, and then converting it into Israel and gifting it to the World Zionist Organization—reached out to Epstein to “discuss Ukraine” right after the Maidan Coup. And then Epstein asserts that Putin has affirmed my own long-running theory that Ukraine and Israel are deeply connected, not just religiously, culturally, and ethnically, but politically, as well.
According to Orthodox Judaism, which one is the Holy Land? Israel or Ukraine?
The answer is both. Look up the significance of Uman, Ukraine, and why Israelis make the pilgrimage every year during Rosh Hashanah. (It’s because a famous rabbi [Nachman of Breslov] who died in 1810 is buried in Uman, and he is considered some sort of a divine entity in modern Judaism.)
Very strange that Ukraine would be considered so holy that Jews would leave the Biblical Holy Land to make a pilgrimage there. I’m not sure that we are dealing with the same religion that Jesus and His disciples practiced. This is something very different, in many ways. And Russia and Ukraine are at the heart of that story.
Trump Unveils Coordinated Trade, Energy, and Arms Moves Across India, Venezuela, and the Middle East
President Donald Trump announced a series of coordinated foreign-policy actions between January 30 and February 2, 2026, spanning trade, energy markets, and arms sales.
Trump confirmed that the United States cut its reciprocal tariff on Indian imports from 25% to 18%, effective immediately, following a phone call Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move also eliminates an additional 25% punitive tariff imposed in 2025 over India’s purchases of Russian crude oil, reducing the effective US tariff burden on Indian goods from as high as ~50% to 18%. Modi publicly confirmed the new 18% tariff rate.
As part of the agreement, India committed to halting purchases of Russian crude oil and shifting imports toward US suppliers and Venezuelan crude. Trump also stated that India agreed to reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products, describing the goal as moving toward zero, resolving the 2025 US–India trade dispute tied to Russian energy imports.
In parallel, Trump said the United States welcomes Chinese and Indian investment in Venezuela’s oil sector, making the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One around January 31–February 1. He stated that China “is welcome” to make deals in Venezuela, and that India is “coming in” to buy Venezuelan oil. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but production has been constrained for years by sanctions and political instability; Trump characterized the current approach as allowing third-country investment and purchases as part of broader energy realignment.
Separately, the US State Department recently approved Foreign Military Sales notifications totaling approximately $15.7 billion to Israel and Saudi Arabia. The package includes about $6.67 billion for Israel, featuring 30 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, associated weapons and equipment, and 3,250 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, and about $9 billion for Saudi Arabia, primarily for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile systems and roughly 730 interceptors with related support equipment.
The approvals were transmitted to Congress amid ongoing regional tensions involving Iran and broader Middle East security concerns.
Burning Bright: The cleanest signal as to the depth, ubiquity and inexorable advance of the Sovereign Alliance isn’t always found in the direct, headline-grabbing convergences between the core triad of renewed American sovereignty under Donald Trump, Russia’s righteous reclamation under Vladimir Putin and China’s disciplined ascent under Xi Jinping.
Instead, some of the clearest translation vectors for the emergence of a Tripolar Macro order—and its natural expansion into a broader Multipolar Mesh—come in the form of the bridge players on the game board.
While the foundational theory of the Sovereign Alliance has long centered on that tripolar core—three sovereign poles wielding Actual power to disentangle from the dying Globalist Hegemon and its borderless, parasitic dependencies—the bridge states serve as both narrative conduits and practical accelerators.
Nations like India and Saudi Arabia don’t just sit adjacent to the core; they function as sovereign-coded relays, massaging deals, stabilizing regions and offering the Collective Mind a pragmatic path toward accepting what is already, on an Actual level, largely done.
Observe the latest moves with India, wherein President Trump has announced a sweeping trade recalibration with Narendra Modi.
On the surface—through the NeoCon goggles the Media Industrial Complex still tries to force on the normie layers—this looks like classic Trumpian hardball: India capitulates on its continued purchases of Russian oil, swaps them for American supply and the deal is framed as a geopolitical win that helps choke Moscow’s energy lifeline in service of ending the war in Ukraine.
Pragmatic. Practical. America First.
Yet, in the same breath—almost as an aside—Trump welcomes not just Indian investment in Venezuelan oil fields, but Chinese investment as well.
What we’re witnessing, then isn’t isolationist decoupling or zero-sum containment; it’s sovereign acceleration—mending ties that were never truly fractured, while threading energy and capital flows that bind the bridge state (India) more tightly to both American renewal and Chinese partnership, while using an antagonistic framing with Russia as a translation layer for the above.
Why?
Direct, public deals between Trump and the core poles (Russia and China) remain difficult to translate at this stage of the game, with too much calcified dissonance in the Collective Mind, so the Sovereign Alliance uses these bridge states as conduits: pragmatic on the surface for the normies and the holdout institutions that must be brought onboard, while flashing unmistakable signal to those tracking the real war, and the real (done) deals.
And then there’s Saudi Arabia—perhaps the premier bridge player in the Middle East theater.
The central narrative would have you believe Trump is simultaneously arming Israel to the teeth while re-arming the Saudis, stoking regional tensions in service of some nebulous NeoCon forever-war script.
Yet the reality is far more coherent when viewed through the Sovereign Alliance lens.
On the surface: arming both Israel and Riyadh is a contradiction.
And yet, in the estimation of some, the Saudis are now primed to fill the Middle Eastern void as peacemakers and stabilizers, maintaining warm, functional ties with both Russia and China while anchoring the expansion of the Abraham Accords.
They balance Israel’s security needs with broader regional calm (and yes, perhaps threat,) all while Trump’s moves strengthen both while weakening the prospect of war.
And this doesn’t even touch on the Iranian knot.
To wit, we’re told Trump is beating the war drums against Tehran—another maximum pressure redux—while simultaneously cutting energy and investment deals with Iran’s closest regional partners and defenders (Russia, China and soon enough, Iran herself.)
All of the above might provoke cognitive dissonance in the NeoCon mind.
But for the sovereign-coded, the Real Regime, like so many Globalist holdouts, is being isolated not through kinetic escalation, but through sovereign encirclement and economic disentanglement.
And while I do believe the Trinity of the US, China and Russia represent the foundation, the bridge states are the conduits that make the translation and formation of this eventuality possible.
Sovereign Bridging, then is the art of using these relay nations to layer the Multipolar Mesh over the dissolving Globalist Order while offering the normie layers and long-time institutional power players alike plausible, pragmatic on-ramps to the future that’s already here, for those with the eyes to see it.
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Witkoff to Hold Russia-Ukraine Talks in Abu Dhabi, Iran Nuclear Meetings in Istanbul
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to hold a series of diplomatic meetings in the coming days across two regional hubs, according to multiple reports. Talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives are expected to take place in Abu Dhabi, while separate discussions with Iranian officials are planned for Istanbul, focusing on Iran’s nuclear program.
The meetings come amid heightened tensions involving Iran, Russia, and Ukraine. Russian and Iranian officials have publicly acknowledged ongoing contacts with the United States regarding the nuclear deal framework, while US officials have warned of potential military consequences if diplomacy fails.
Separately, after US warnings, Iranian authorities stated they had no plans to conduct live-fire naval exercises in the Strait of Hormuz at this time, signaling a temporary de-escalation as diplomatic engagements proceed.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: So now Putin and the lads are running interference on the Iran op, as Mark Levin crashes out completely.
Let’s start by checking in on Levin...
Mark asks, “Who the hell is in charge of this?”
Well, Mark, that would be Donald John Trump—President of the United States. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? He’s the guy who has spent the last several years convincing you and your friends that he was in your corner and going to deliver everything you’ve always wanted from a sitting President. But now comes reality, and with it, the wincing sobriety brought by the morning sun.
The morning sun, of course, is peace, Mark. World peace—a concept that we know is completely foreign to you and your ilk; but nonetheless, we will achieve it, in spite of your best efforts to thwart it.
Let’s see what else Mark has to say:
Hm. So it would seem that as long as President Trump is giving Levin exactly what he wants—war with Iran—Levin loves him. But as soon as it appears that we will be getting peace, instead, Levin is flinging his feces at the wall like a chimp at the zoo. (Many such cases.)
Meanwhile, Putin and the lads are in Abu Dhabi charting the course of the Golden Age with Steve Witkoff and the homies. The Iranians are in Turkey meeting with Erdogan, the Qataris, and the Saudis. My guess is that this later group is game-planning how they intend to deal with Netanyahu and Mark Levin.
It doesn’t seem likely that this ends without some form of confrontation. Luckily, the Sovereign Alliance is not operating at full capacity out in the open, and most of the world still fails to see it for what it is.
P.S. I told you they were going to launch a smear campaign against MBS.
‘I Don’t Need to Wear a Pin About It” – Hollywood Gets Political at the Grammys Again
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards were held Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and broadcast live. Performers included Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, and Tyler, The Creator. Bad Bunny won Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, the first Spanish-language album to receive the award. Kendrick Lamar and SZA won Record of the Year for “Luther.” Billie Eilish and Finneas won Song of the Year. Olivia Dean won Best New Artist.
The ceremony included extended tribute segments, including an In Memoriam honoring Ozzy Osbourne with performances by Post Malone, Slash, Duff McKagan, and Chad Smith, and tributes led by Lauryn Hill honoring D’Angelo and Roberta Flack with Chaka Khan and John Legend. Cher’s Lifetime Achievement appearance included a brief misstatement while announcing Record of the Year that was corrected. Minor in-ear monitor issues occurred during performances. Many acceptance speeches included political remarks, particularly on US immigration.
Trevor Noah drew the ire of President Trump during the event, when he made comments about the President and Jeffrey Epstein. The President posted to Truth Social:
“The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT”
In the wake of the event, Bill Maher’s Real Time monologue from January 30th went viral on social media. In the clip, Maher criticizes celebrity politicization, saying of ICE. “I don’t need to wear a pin about it.”
Ashe in America: I’m not going to belabor this topic, as Hollywood is not worth our energy or focus, but I am encouraged by three things.
First, Bill Maher wants to trigger the externally beautiful people, and he’s openly mocking their causes. As I said on Alphas Make Sandwiches yesterday, Maher enjoys triggering his core audience, and he certainly will during this peak virtue signal on immigration. He called their pain—about Renee Good, no less—stupid. He never could have done that in 2020 about, for example, Breonna Taylor. I know Good wasn’t black, but she was rainbow, and that used to mean something. Not so much anymore, I guess.
Next up is Joy Villa, whose protest outfit this year took on Scientology. Villa is known for making political statements at awards shows, and this year was no different.
Villa left the cult after 15 years, writing in Evie:
“From the outside, my life inside Scientology looked like a success story. Inside, it was slowly destroying me.”
“I was visible, successful, and influential. And Scientology took credit for all of it. Every achievement was attributed not to God, not to talent, not to perseverance, but to auditing, donations, and loyalty to the organization. My success became propaganda. My life became marketing,”
“Silence protects systems of abuse. I’m speaking now because no one should be interrogated for praying or punished for seeking a church. I am now fully surrendered to Jesus Christ, rebaptized, and committed to helping others recover from cult abuse and coercive control through my nonprofit, The Fearless Joy Foundation. We support survivors in rebuilding their lives, reclaiming their faith, and finding peace after years of manipulation.”
As if Villa didn’t irritate the demons enough, the third and final moment of the Grammys worth mentioning was Jelly Roll using his acceptance speech to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ into that place of great darkness:
“Jesus is for everybody.”
Hallelujah!
Related, did y’all see this new movie launching at Easter?
Accelerate.
BONUS ITEM
House Weighs Senate Funding Bill as Shutdown Continues
A partial federal government shutdown began at 12:01 a.m. on January 31, 2026, after Congress failed to enact all required appropriations before the funding deadline. The Senate subsequently passed a bipartisan spending package funding most federal agencies through the end of the fiscal year, while extending Department of Homeland Security funding on a short-term basis.
The legislation returned to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson faces divisions within the Republican conference. A bloc of House Republicans has sought to attach the SAVE Act, which would require proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, to the spending bill—an approach opposed by Democrats and not included in the Senate package.
President Donald Trump, who won re-election in 2024, has urged House Republicans to pass the Senate-approved funding measure to reopen the government. Democratic leaders have rejected adding the SAVE Act and have instead pressed for changes to immigration enforcement policy, including unmasking federal agents, ending roving patrols, and increasing oversight of DHS operations.
House leadership has indicated that a vote to reopen the government is expected once members return to Washington, with negotiations focused on whether the funding package will proceed cleanly or include additional policy conditions.
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For context @Ghost, if you don't mind:
Most certainly Jesus practiced the Law (though not all of the traditions) - perfectly - in fact He told John the Immerser that He needed to be obedient to the whole Law (and He was - how else could He be sinless?). And then He fulfilled it - meeting all of its earthly obligations, fulfilling all of its types, symbols and foreshadowings - enabling Him to inaugurate a New Covenant made between God and all of Mankind with Himself, the Son of God and Son of Man, acting as the Perfect Mediator and Sacrifice!
***
PS: https://hisgloriousvictory.substack.com/p/hebrews-part-nine-chapter-69-20-81?r=q0fod
Wow - what a selection of articles today. I am most intrigued by the India - Venezuela - Middle East News. I kind of feel like I'm the ball in a pinball machine trying to keep track of who and what and where. What is the cooperation between T, P and X? Is India buying oil from Venezuela a condition so that Russia can have more autonomy in Iran and Middle East? Or JUST Iran? I get it that we don't know. But keeping track of this is ....well.....challenging, at best. Thank you to Badlands for your insights, your areas of interests, and the clarity you bring into the info war....at least for me. The Brief is valuable for me.