Badlands Brief
Border Battles & Diplomatic Duets
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.
Feds Descend on Fulton County as 2020 Election Investigation Heats Up
The FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operations Center in Union City, Georgia on Wednesday. Officials confirmed the warrant was seeking records related to the 2020 General Election, authorizing the federal government to seize a wide range of 2020 election materials, including:
All physical ballots (absentee, advance, provisional, in-person Election Day, emergency, damaged, duplicated, or otherwise used to vote).
Absentee ballot envelopes.
Provisional ballots.
Ballot images.
Tabulator tapes from scanners.
Voter rolls from 2020.
Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory (D-04) confirmed that agents removed around 700 hundred boxes of ballots and related records. Fulton County Court Clerk Ché Alexander (custodian of the records) was present and involved in inventorying items taken.
The search warrant was signed by US Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas in the Northern District of Georgia, and it comes amid ongoing disputes over 2020 election records, access to ballots/voter data, tied to subpoenas from Georgia’s State Election Board.
No official details have been released by the FBI on the specific investigative purpose, targets, or findings. The investigation is said to be ongoing.
Ashe in America: If you missed DPH last night, CannCon joined Jon Herold and Burning Bright to discuss the Fulton County raid, which comes on the heels of last week’s explosive State Election Board meeting and ostensible criminal referrals. It’s worth a watch.
As we discussed last week during our special event coverage on Fulton County – and again on Why We Vote – they knew it was fraudulent and covered it up.
That’s what the evidence shows. Americans should be livid. Our audience has been livid for a long time on this issue; so, for us, it’s time for excitement.
The Golden Age requires accountability.
We are closer to accountability than we’ve ever been.
To recap: Last Wednesday, President Trump said that people were going to prosecuted for election fraud. The same day, the Georgia State Election Board FINALLY heard testimony of indisputable, outcome-altering criminal election fraud in Fulton County. One week later, the FBI is raiding the county for materials they’ve refused to produce since 2020.
The snowball is rolling down hill now.
Nothing can stop it as it accelerates.
Long-Lasting Wood Litter for Kats, Birds, & Kritters
Get Free Shipping with Badlands, Long-time sponsor Luv Litters is offering free shipping on orders to Badlanders, which you can claim by following the linked banner. This is all natural litter that eliminates odors without risking your family’s respiratory health, and as someone who’s been using this type of litter before I even knew these guys, I can tell you it’s a game-changer!
Federal Reserve Pauses Rate Cuts Amid Powell’s Ongoing Criminal Investigation
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged following the January 2026 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The central bank did not announce a change to its policy stance or provide forward guidance signaling an imminent rate move.
Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, held a press conference following the meeting, his first since reports emerged of a Department of Justice investigation related to his congressional testimony concerning the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation project and allegations that he lied during that testimony.
Federal prosecutors issued criminal subpoenas connected to that investigation, though the Fed has failed to comply with the subpoenas, according to reports. Jerome Powell’s term as Federal Reserve Chair ends on May 15, 2026.
Burning Bright: Almost one year ago, I said the following with regards to Donald Trump’s war on the Federal Reserve, perhaps the institution most emblematic of the System itself:
“Trump setting his sights on the Federal Reserve and the globalist exchange system isn’t just an aspect of ‘the plan,’ but its core, animating engine.
After all, all the arrests, all the peace deals and all the exposure in the world counts for less than nothing if the apparatus remains that has allowed the System of Systems to prop itself up while holding down the realm of the real through little more than conscious thought and direction giving sorcerous life to their dark designs.
So, in sum, how is this Game Theory attack taking form? On a few fronts.
Trump currently has the Fed caught in a pincer between freezing rates and cutting them. He is pushing for the latter (and he’ll get it,) which will destroy what’s left of the purchasing power of the Federal Reserve note while boosting asset portfolios AND cultivating public mandate for a transition to a real money system.
He has announced the formation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve AND broader regulation for US stablecoins. Stablecoins are pegged to the value of national currencies, and de facto replace central bank notes, since private issuers MUST hold proportional assets on their balance sheets commiserate with the stablecoins/notes they ‘print,’ something our supposed bankers of the now have no such obligation to do.
Tariffs will result in a rapid collapse in false valuations for international conglomerates that don’t get onboard with the on-shoring and value creation (ie: ENERGY) dynamic that will form the bedrock of the new American Economy.
Combined, we begin to see why the next ‘crash’ will be contained almost exclusively to the System, while the People are not only insulated, but buoyed as a direct result.”
Over the 10 intervening months since I published that one, we’ve seen Jerome Powell’s Fed alternate between halting cuts and outright freezes, as predicted, leaving the American economy in a holding pattern, caught in stasis between the old System and a new one Trump has in the offing.
In the meantime, gold and silver are shattering records, putting further pressure on the fiat illusion, while Trump’s own family and closest economic advisors continue to signal the need for a pivot along Bitcoin and Stablecoin rails.
Trump will keep Powell on through the end of his term.
And he’s doing so to continue to cultivate public mandate for the dissolution of the institution he represents.
Whoever Trump has on deck to inherit ‘the chair’ will push the throttle down, and wring the fake dollar of what remains of its energy in order to accelerate a final crack-up boom to shatter the old paradigm en route to the new.
In other words, I believe there will be a ‘crash’ for one System, AND a soft landing for the other.
Operation Warp Speed, indeed.
(If you want to read the full 2025 feature wherein I made these projections, check out ‘Reality Wars.’)
‘Time Is Running Out!’ — US Armada Positions in Gulf as Tehran Hangs Another Alleged Israeli Spy
President Donald Trump warned Iran to agree to a nuclear deal Wednesday, saying the United States would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Trump’s remarks did not announce a deadline, military authorization, or new agreement, though US military assets were repositioned into the Middle East at the same time as the Presidents’ remarks.
US naval forces are conducting patrols in the Gulf region. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates denied granting airspace access for any military action against Iran.
Iran executed a man accused of spying for Israel on Wednesday, according to the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency. Hamidreza Sabet Esmailpour was convicted of cooperation with Mossad, and was hanged according to the reports. The Iranian state executed Ali Ardestani on January 7 and Aghil Keshavarz in December, also for spying for Mossad.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: President Trump continues to push the Washington Establishment and Zionist Empire into a chaotic storm that they are not prepared to endure.
Trump has successfully branded the first year of this second (third?) term as the earnest pursuit of world peace. Even his political enemies recognize that he was the rightful choice for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. And yet, it was given to a woman who called for a military campaign to be conducted against her own country.
Not only are the Zionists seeking to establish Greater Israel, but the NeoCons (and Zionists) seek to start WW3 with Iran—which is connected to their desire to fight Russia. The only way to achieve any of these objectives is to overtly oppose President Trump and his peacemaking agenda, so that the necessary wars can be conducted. Doing so will mean sacrificing the feigned altruism that has become intrinsic with modern politics and politicians. They will have to abandon their moral high ground and sell their war another way. They will cook up some reason that necessitates killing untold numbers of people.
So while Trump has been working hard to sow peace throughout the world, he has indulged the Trump-a-Mania doctrine when it comes to the specific conflicts that are critical to the NeoCon/Zionist agenda. By leaning into these specific conflicts, and encouraging aggressive strategies, President Trump has forced his domestic (and foreign) enemies to adopt a pro-war position that is utterly indefensible across the new political spectrum in America.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s allies in Tehran have implemented a Continuity of Government protocol, meaning their government cannot be overthrown, which is probably why Trump is perfectly comfortable calling for regime change in the most cartoonish ways possible. Iran has already demonstrated that it is fully prepared to take on these hybrid warfare operations.
It’s a trap, and President Trump is leading the NeoCons right into it.
Now On Sale! Tickets to the Great American Restoration Tour in Nashville
Badlands Media hits the road four times a year for a three-day patriot-packed event with our hosts and the Badlands community. Meet like-minded Americans, hear powerful content, and be part of something real on April 9-12 in Nashville, TN.
Man Shot by Border Patrol Near Arivaca After Exchange of Gunfire
A US Border Patrol agent shot and wounded Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, near Arivaca, Arizona, on January 27, 2026, during an encounter close to the Southern border. Authorities said Schlegel fired at agents and at a Customs and Border Protection helicopter, and agents returned fire.
Schlegel was airlifted to a hospital, underwent surgery, and was later reported in serious but stable condition. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading a use-of-force investigation at the request of the FBI.
Federal prosecutors said Schlegel is expected to face charges including assault on a federal officer, human smuggling, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“There is no ambiguity here, shooting at any law enforcement officer—including federal agents—is a violent felony that attacks the rule of law and undermines universal American values. We will pursue every available charge to ensure the subject is held fully accountable under federal law,” said US Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “The quick and coordinated reaction to the threat posed by this subject from all levels of Arizona law enforcement was key and demonstrates why local and federal cooperation keeps communities safer.”
Ashe in America: On yesterday’s Badlands Daily, CannCon and I discussed use of force by federal agents in immigration enforcement. There is a growing trend of assaults against immigration officers who, regardless of what you think of the agency or the law, are doing their jobs.
As a result of this trend, there is a recent increase in officer involved shootings. The guy in this story shot at a government helicopter. The government shot back.
The guy was also allegedly smuggling humans into our country according to the USAO press release. It’s crazy the American people can’t agree that human trafficking is bad. The agitators in the streets have repeatedly been shown the images and records of who they’re protecting: scammers and robbers and rapists and murderers.
They don’t care.
It’s not protest.
It’s a Color Revolution. It should be–and now seems to be–treated as such.
Accelerate.
Diplomatic Duets: Trump-Erdoğan Call, Putin-al-Sharaa Summit
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Wednesday, for talks that included Syria’s reconstruction, bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, healthcare, construction, industry, and sports, the future of Russia’s military presence at bases including Khmeimim and Tartus, and restoring Syria’s territorial integrity, including reestablishing government control over territories east of the Euphrates River.
Russia has withdrawn some troops and equipment from Qamishli airport in northeastern Syria, according to five Syrian sources cited by Reuters. The withdrawal, which began the previous week, is described as a partial redeployment rather than a full exit from the country. The Kremlin is expected to maintain its main air base and naval facility on the Mediterranean coast.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke by phone with President Trump, discussing developments in Syria, the Board of Peace and Gaza, bilateral relations, trade, and defense industry cooperation. Erdoğan emphasized support for full implementation of the Syria ceasefire and humanitarian relief and reconstruction in Gaza. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed the latest regional developments and efforts to reduce tensions in a phone call Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia and Iran issued statements warning against further regional escalation and emphasizing the need for restraint amid rising tensions in the Middle East, including in separate communications between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian as well as between their foreign ministers. No joint communiqué from the reported meetings was announced.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: It would appear that the Sovereign Alliance have now set things into motion that cannot be done.
That is to say:
There is no going back. The only way out is forward.
I’m referring to Saudi Arabia’s overt pivot against Israel, which has not gone unnoticed by the ADL, AIPAC, and other leading Jewish advocacy groups.
Over the past nine years, the efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reform and moderate the Islamic culture in The Kingdom has not gone unnoticed by the Zionist establishment. It has become a foregone conclusion that Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords. And while MBS and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan have decreed, on countless occasions, their conditions (the formal recognition of Palestine by Israel, the restoration of borders to 1967, and a legitimate pathway to a future two-state solution) it seems that the Zionists and NeoCons have largely dismissed these conditions in remarkable display of hubris. It seems that they assumed that the Saudis’ demands were performative, perhaps to save face to the rest of the Muslim world.
It seems that the Zionists thought they could coax MBS into forgetting about Palestine by granting him every request he has made; from acquiring F-35 fighter jets and other modern military equipment, to signing a nuclear agreement that would allow for Saudi to build nuclear reactors, MBS has been given a wide berth, politically, to operate.
And MBS has taken advantage of it.
The Crown Prince and his star diplomat—Faisal bin Farhan—have successful negotiated a portfolio of deals that entangles Saudi Arabia into every major economy in such a way that all world powers are naturally deterred from any form of aggression toward The Kingdom, and are actually incentivized to protect Saudi from any kinetic conflict.
Saudi Arabia has always enjoyed the plot armor that comes with being the world’s leading exporter of oil. When the Muslim Brotherhood seized control of Mecca in 1979 (lasted two weeks) and accused the Saudis of being western puppets, The Kingdom and Iran fell into an ideological arms race in 1979 that drove both oligarchies into radicalization. With both societies eager to demonstrate that their respective sect of Islam represented the true faith, orthodoxy swept over their cultures and the intelligence community took advantage. Islamic schools were established (by the UK and US) that embraced increasingly radical views, and the net effect was the radicalization of the youth, much like we see today in America with cultural marxism. The corrupt cousins of the Royal Family were recruited by the IC, and the CIA and Mossad suddenly had a large war chest that could be used to build out networks like Al Qaeda and later ISIS.
While Al Qaeda was created to serve in multiple roles, ISIS was specifically created to overthrow Assad and the Syrian government. And many in the Saudi Royal Family were prepared to help fund it.
That’s what makes this relationship between MBS and Syrian President al-Sharaa so symbolically important. Upon becoming Crown Prince, MBS immediately recognized the mistake of expelling Syria from the Arab League, which was spearheaded by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and sought to reverse it. He finally achieved this in May 2023, when Assad attended the annual Arab League summit in Riyadh.
When Sharaa seized control of Syria in December 2024, which appears to have been done with Assad’s consent, to some degree, MBS stepped in and paid off Syria’s debt to IMF, averting a firesale/repo situation that we are now seeing play out in Argentina under Milei. The Gulf State Arabs are now investing billions in rebuilding Syria’s natural gas infrastructure, and are coordinating with Turkish President Erdogan—who is on his own redemption arc, as it relates to the creation of ISIS—to bring the various tribes in Syria to the table for negotiation.
What the Arabs seek is stability. They are not investing in Syria because they are expecting a high ROI (though they could very well get it) or because they seek control. The sooner that Syria is returned to a state of normalcy, the sooner that the region becomes investable from the perspective of the institutional investor. Stability means that banks will lend for construction projects, and insurance companies will provide coverage for the builds. Financing these projects instead of paying cash in full (which has long been the norm in the Middle East) frees up capital so that real estate development can explode.
These things are already happening in key parts of Saudi Arabia, but they will spread into every inhabitable corner of the Middle East, and the rate of growth will accelerate as proof of concept is achieved.
The only thing that stands in the way of this incredibly ambitious vision is the same thing that has long stood in the way of a lasting peace in the Middle East. The Zionist Empire is not going to relent or abandon their goal to establish Greater Israel. Which means the confrontation between MBS and Netanyahu was always inevitable. Now we will see just why MBS and President Trump (and others) have had to play nice with the Diaspora, despite the latter working against the ambitious vision of the Crown Prince.
All signs now point to a character assassination campaign against MBS, who will now have to work quickly to get all the tribes of the Middle East playing from the same sheet of music. The Deep State thought that Syria could be used as a game board to promote hostile competition between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran, but now it appears clear that the three will work together to bring Syria back online quickly, so that the Middle East can stand together against the Unipolar Empire.
When the Republican Establishment turns on Saudi Arabia, President Trump will stand with MBS and Erdogan against the GOP and Israel.
BONUS ITEMS
Rubio Warns Force Remains an Option as US Presses Venezuela’s Interim Government
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is prepared to use force to secure cooperation from Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, while signaling that the United States expects compliance through political and economic leverage before taking further action.
In prepared remarks for his first congressional appearance since the Jan. 3 US operation in Caracas that captured Nicolás Maduro, Rubio said Rodríguez has agreed to open Venezuela’s energy sector to US companies, grant preferential access to production, and direct oil revenue toward purchasing American goods.
“We are prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail,” Rubio said in the statement for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “It is our hope that this will not prove necessary, but we will never shy away from our duty to the American people and our mission in this Hemisphere.”
Rubio is scheduled to meet with María Corina Machado at the State Department following the hearing.
Please share the Brief far and wide! Want to join the conversation? Jump in the comments and let us know your thoughts. And if you like the Substack, you should check out our shows — streaming now on Badlands Media!
The opinions expressed in the Badlands Brief are those of the tagged authors and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes or positions of Badlands Media.
The Brief is free, but you can support us by becoming a paid subscriber to help our collective of citizen journalists take back the narrative.
In Re: Fulton County -
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸.
𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 ..." 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴.
The majority of Americans are not really tuned in to Iran or Syria, but there exists a low grade anxiety that something is cooking. So far nobody has even asked me (or Oak) for an opinion on any of the posturing. What would be my response? The best I can offer is the truth, which is “I don’t really know the ins or outs, but I am not worried about it because I know President Trump wants PEACE.” We owe it to our friends in this community, if we are feeling this sense of peace. Thanks to all and thanks be to God.