Badlands News Brief

Jurors Judged, Faces Saved & Memes Made

The News Cycle is almost impossible to track these days. At least, to do so fully.

That’s where we come in.

In the Badlands News Brief, the Badlands Media team hand pick news items of interest from the previous days to give you an overview of the biggest goings-on relevant to the Truth Community.

Many items feature original (and subjective) commentary. Feel free to follow the corresponding link to see our writers’ Substack accounts and check out their other work.

Now, onto the news from Tuesday, April 16 …

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Trump's criminal hush money trial has its first seven jurors

The first seven jurors were selected on Tuesday to serve on Donald Trump's hush-money criminal trial, as the selection process continues to choose a panel of 12 members and six alternates who can be fair to the former U.S. president.

The judge also warned lawyers that he would not tolerate any efforts to intimidate prospective jurors after saying Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the Nov. 5 election, was audibly muttering while one of the possible members of the panel was questioned.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump about a decade beforehand.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies an encounter took place. He has called the case, brought by Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a partisan "witch hunt" meant to interfere with his campaign to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden.

The hush money case is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces, which also stem from trying to overturn his 2020 loss and alleged mishandling of classified information. He has also pleaded not guilty to those charges, though the other three cases may not go to trial before the election. — Reuters

Our Take: “We followed the play by play of Inner City Press again for day two, and jury selection was fiery.

Several jurors straight up said, ‘I can’t be impartial,’ while others claimed they could despite social media posts revealing their bias. The judge excused many, rejected challenges to others, and ultimately seven jurors were seated. Jury selection for the remaining five, and an expected six alternates, continues on Thursday.

Let’s hope the jury can be more impartial than the press. Reuters has effectively already convicted President Trump, which is convenient for the prosecution considering many people still think Reuters is journalism.

Can 45 get a fair trial in NY? Outlook uncertain.” — Ashe in America

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Another Take: “Hear me out ...

While the MSM and their Deep State handlers spend what's left of their sociopolitical capital (it's not much) trying to convince you to doom out, keep in mind this man has produced two of the most memetic images in modern American history ... during the same Witch Hunt ... for opposite reasons.

On the one side, we see Trump's memetic Game Face, in which he lets the Deep State (but more importantly, his base,) know just how screwed [they] really are when the reckoning comes on the back of his second (public) term, which will be borne on the back of our sovereign will.

On the other, we have the latest masterwork, which demonstrates the exact opposite mood, albeit one that leads to the same endpoint. While the latest court sketch is almost goofy in its virility, it's also communicating calm under fire, or, as Anons say, 'comfiness and coziness' in equal measure.

The question you need to ask yourself is the same one [they] are right now:

Does Trump seem afraid to you?” — Burning Bright

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Israel War Cabinet Decides On Military Response To Iran Even As Blinken Pleads 'Not In Anyone's Interest'

Israel's war cabinet has just decided on a response to Iran's weekend attack, according to a breaking report by the country's Kan public broadcaster. At this point it seems a matter of if not when - even as the US (and European countries) leans on Israel not to escalate. Below is the Hebrew media statement at the conclusion of Tuesday's high-level meeting (machine translation): 

Israel has decided how to respond to Iran's missile attack. This was reported Tuesday evening on Kan 11 evening news. Israel is now waiting to "seize an opportunity." The agreement came against the backdrop of significant disagreements in the Israeli leadership over the timing and nature of the response. Some ministers demanded to wait for agreement on the international coalition, while others thought it was necessary to respond immediately.

Axios at the same time is reporting that US Secretary of State Blinken just told a group of American Jewish leaders that the White House wants to see no further escalation, essentially signaling the Washington position that a return to status quo before the Saturday massive Iranian attack is desirable. 

The report cites Blinken as saying that "further escalation with Iran is not in the interests of either the U.S. or Israel, three people who attended the meeting told Axios." — ZeroHedge

Our Take: “Strategy is really important when planning anything, most especially in war. Establishing an endgame—a final goal—is the most critical part of developing a strategy.

So what is Israel's endgame when it comes to Iran?

Bibi Netanyahu has been talking about going to war with them since at least the 1990's, so this idea is nothing new. Is it Bibi's desire to completely destroy Iran in an existential conflict? Is it to force Iran to surrender and submit as a vassal of Israel? Or, is it to establish a real and lasting peace that is built on mutual respect? (Respect comes in many forms; it doesn't have to be based on love or admiration.)

What is the purpose behind this silly idea of a ‘limited attack?’ To flex your big muscles and show the world how strong you are? Frankly, it sounds like something a feckless and insecure man would pursue—so this must be Jake Sullivan's idea.

If you aren't attacking Iran with the intent of waging real war, then what is the point in attacking them at all?

The idea that a regional coalition will form against Iran—which is behaving itself, following the rules of the UN Security Council, unlike Israel—is a fever dream. If anything, the opposite is actually occurring. The longer that Israel drags out this entire post-October 7th campaign, the more the region and world at large coalesces around those on the receiving end of Israel's aggression.

For some reason, Israel sees itself as the infinite player in this chess match, but it is not. The infinite player is the other side—Iran/Palestine—which just needs to bide its time and hold on long enough for the world to wake up and realize that Israel's ever-expanding campaign is not one that will foster peace, but one that is fostering more war. With every bomb they drop, they create more dissidents, not only in Palestine and Arabia, but also online among observers worldwide. There seems to be this thought that they can kill an idea—such as Hamas, or Iran, or Palestinian statehood—with bullets, but as anyone who has seen the film V for Vendetta knows, ideas cannot be killed because ideas are bulletproof. Killing an idea's messenger only turns him into a martyr, strengthening the reach and resolve of the idea.

So I ask again: what is the endgame with Iran? Is it an existential battle of Biblical proportions, equating to World War 3? Because if the answer to that question is ‘no,’ then why order another offensive strike? Especially one ‘designed not to escalate tensions?’ Is such a strike intended to inspire fear or intimidation in the minds of a government that is comfortably allied with two of the world's great superpowers? (Russia and China)

To those who purport that it is the Iranian regime who is so desperate to exacerbate a conflict in order to maintain its grip on power: If this is true, then wouldn't Israel suing for peace be Iran's ultimate undoing? This is how a real strategist would think. Do we have any real strategists involved in these conversations? Or just a bunch of hammers looking for a nail in a room full of machine screws?

The real Art of War is the Art of Peace.” — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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Another Take: “Israel is an exhaustingly tense topic, even in a community that's supposed to be heterodox in its ability to consider Bicameral mindsets when it comes to events that are quite literally largely unknowable to those without direct access to intel on the ground.

This is why pulling back and observing the Macro Narratives spilling out of such events is not only easier, but significantly more advantageous to developing a movable framework of the Macro trend line of unfolding stories, and more importantly, how the Collective Mind is viewing them.

Wherever you stand on Israel, what the Normie Layers of the Collective Mind are observing in back-to-back weeks is foreign proxies of the US Hegemon eschewing the direct requests of the Biden Admin, even while pressuring said Admin for financial and MIL support for their continued proxy wars.

Normies see a total loss of control by the Establishment.

That's bullish for change, which means it's bullish for Trump.

Which means it's bullish for us.” — Burning Bright

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Iran threatens to attack Israel with weapons 'never used' before as it receives Russian support

Iran is threatening to deploy never-used-before weaponry in response to a potential Israeli counter-strike, as the Islamic Republic receives support from Russia.

"We are prepared to use a weapon that we have never used," Abolfazl Amouei, a spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee, said, Iran International reported. He urged Israel to "act wisely."

After launching more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, Iran warned that it would launch another attack if Israel responded to its assault. However, Israel's war cabinet, formed days after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has expressed that it is determined to respond.

Russia justified Iran's attack as "self-defense" after Iran blamed Israel for airstrikes in Syria earlier this month that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, including Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Israel has not claimed responsibility. — Just the News

Our Take: “The collaborative infrastructure projects mentioned here between Russia and Iran are something that Matthew Ehret and I have discussed extensively on ‘Breaking History.’

In fact, cooperating on mutually-beneficial infrastructure is EXACTLY how nations develop bonds of friendship and trust. In the 19th century, America was working with Russia to build a massive railroad project in Siberia, but those efforts were subverted by bad actors who did not want to see America and Russia working together. (We actually have a very long history of brotherhood and friendship with Russia, going back to the American Revolution, when they helped us defeat the British. But your would-be masters in DC do not want you to know that.)

Raisi told Putin that he does not want further escalation. Many will hear that and not believe him, but the fact remains that if it is Iran's desire to see Israel destroyed, all they have to do is sit back and allow Israel to continue on the course it is currently set.

As for this supposed ‘weapon,’ who knows what they mean. The obvious assumption is nukes, but I don't think that's what they meant. My guess is that they were referring to something non-kinetic, such as a cyberwarfare weapon, but I also kind of want to take the Chris Paul/Patrick Gunnels position and speculate that there is no secret weapon, and this is all just psychological warfare designed to bait Israel into destroying itself in a punch-drunk fit of rage.

Personally, I think we should be focusing on building things, rather than destroying them.” — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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Supreme Court appears divided on case that could upend felony charges against Jan. 6 rioters, Trump

The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared divided over whether the federal government had properly charged hundreds of alleged Jan. 6 rioters with felony obstruction, with several justices voicing concern that prosecutors' broad interpretation of a financial crimes law could be weaponized against political protests.

The high-stakes case, brought by a former Pennsylvania police officer facing charges for his alleged conduct at the Capitol in 2021, could upend the convictions and sentences of more than 300 defendants -- and could also potentially invalidate two of the four charges against former President Donald Trump brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

At issue in the case of Fischer v. United States is whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, enacted in the wake of the Enron scandal to prevent the destruction of evidence in financial crimes, can be used against alleged participants in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, which disrupted congressional certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. — ABC News

Our Take: “The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fischer vs. US on Tuesday, and the petitioner is asking the court to find that the government erred in charging J6 defendants under 18 U.S. Code § 1512(c)(2).

If you missed Badlands Media’s coverage, including commentary by Brad Cologero Getz and yours truly, you can check it out here. 

The statute deals with Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant, and section (c) explicitly deals with evidence and other obstruction. The statute was passed in the wake of the Enron scandal, as a part of a broader attempt to restore public trust in US capital markets. Other sections of 1512 address killing or coercing witnesses, and legal analysts have long challenged the government’s use of 1512 to charge mostly peaceful protestors for a so-called riot.

One of the most interesting parts of Brad and my discussion during our coverage was a big potential boomerang; that is, the J6 Committee actually destroyed records to obstruct incoming House GOP investigations. The Biden DOJ may have just accidentally made the case for the J6 committee members to be charged and tried under 18 USC § 1512(c) — both (1) and (2). Yikes.

Let’s see what happens.” — Ashe in America

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Nebraska teacher charged with sexual abuse of student is wife of high-ranking US Defense official

It has been revealed that an Omaha, Nebraska substitute teacher who was caught having sex with a 17-year-old student is the wife of a high-ranking official in the federal government. Erin Ward, 45, is married to Doug Ward, who serves as deputy director of the Department of Defense's Commander's Action Group and Senior Nuclear Deterrence Advisor at the United States Strategic Command. 

Mrs. Ward admitted to having sex with the student in her family vehicle, however because the age of consent in the state is 16, she was only charged with felony sexual abuse by a school employee. Nonetheless, she could face up to 20 years in prison. 

According to the Daily Mail, Mrs. Ward and her 53-year-old husband have three children together, including a daughter who is around the same age as her victim, and have posted numerous photos together on social media. — The Post Millennial

Our Take: “This story was bad before it involved the Biden Administration, and now it’s worse. And it’s weird.

Remember when the Biden’s transgender nuclear scientist was caught stealing luggage? Well now the wife of Biden’s senior nuclear deterrence advisor was caught having sex in her car with a 17yo student. I wonder what other kinds of degenerate criminals we might find in the Biden nuclear domain. Is there something in the water?

The heartbreaking part of this story, in my opinion, is the kids. Yes, the 17yo being raped by the pedophile, but also, the pedophile’s children. ‘Mrs. Ward and her 53-year-old husband have three children together, including a daughter who is around the same age as her victim.’ I feel badly for this girl and the other two kids. Their mother’s shame will mark their childhoods and impact the rest of their lives. For the student, according to the CDC, ‘The total lifetime economic burden of child sexual abuse in the United States in 2015 was estimated to be at least $9.3 billion.’

There is real harm from Ward’s actions. Punishment should be severe.

These stories — sexual degeneracy and crimes against children — are becoming more common, but I don’t think that’s because the crimes are increasing. Rather, it seems to be that the mechanisms that previously would have shielded these crimes from the public aren’t doing as much shielding. The very fact that this story made it into the news — and wasn’t buried by the regime to protect the DOD official — is encouraging.

Exposure: Accelerate.” — Ashe in America

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Saudi Arabia calls for ceasefire in Gaza, says ‘de-escalation’ in region is top priority

Saudi Arabia issues a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on a visit to Islamabad, says international efforts toward a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have been “wholly insufficient.”

“We are now actively discussing the potential for famine in Gaza, and it means people are starving to death because humanitarian assistance is not getting to them,” he says. “This is an unacceptable situation.”

Without directly mentioning an Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, he says “we are already in an unstable region, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is already inflaming the region. We do not need more conflict in our region, we do not need more confrontation in our region, so it is our position that the de-escalation must be everybody’s priority.” — Times of Israel

Our Take: “The Saudi Foreign Minister—Faisal bin Farhan—is the most important diplomat in the world right now.

I wanted to take this opportunity to educate this audience on his specific background.

Faisal bin Farhan (FBF) was born in Frankfurt, West Germany in 1974, spending part of his childhood there before attending school in the US. He went home to Saudi to attend business school at King Saud University in Riyadh. From there, he spent a few years as the Vice Chairman of the Saudi Company for Maintennance and Operations, which is responsible for managing the trades in The Kingdom—plumbers, electricians, carpenters; the working class.

In 2003, FBF founded an investment group based in Dubai called Shamal Investment Group. According to the group's website, they manage a portfolio of ‘extraordinary investments’ that ostensibly focus on tourist-centric real estate development and entertainment experiences. (This company appears to have played a role in the development of Dubai, which has resulted in the explosive growth of tourism and development in the city under the leadership of Mohammed bin Zayed, who was appointed Crown Prince of Dubai by his father that same year—2003. It was MBZ who had this vision for a highly modernized Dubai. Fair to assume that FBF and MBZ have a relationship that goes back 20+ years.)

FBF ran this investment group until 2017, when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked him to serve as the Kingdom's ambassador to Germany. (This appointment enraged a continent of powerful Saudi dissidents living in Germany, who believed MBS and FBF were coming after them.) Two years later, in 2019, MBS elevated FBF to become the Saudi Foreign Minister; it's my belief that FBF used his contacts in the region to broker specific meetings for Jared Kushner and facilitate the Abraham Accords.

What we know for certain is that, around the time that the Abraham Accords were formally signed in 2020, MBS officially tasked FBF with working to expand the Accords by negotiating the inclusion of both Saudi Arabia and Palestine—reviving the 10 bullet points from the Saudi Peace Initiative that was presented at the Arab League summit in Beirut in 2002 by MBS's uncle, King Abdullah Al Saud. (Both the Bush and Obama administrations expressed admiration for the spirit of the Initiative, but rejected its specific terms of restoring the borders of Palestine to 1967 conditions.)

Now contrast FBF's background with that of MBS, who spent his entire life living in Saudi Arabia by his father's side, learning from him through hands-on experience. Unlike all of his half-brothers and cousins, MBS rejected offers to attend school in Europe and the US, though maintained a deep interest in American culture from his childhood.

Together, MBS and FBF represent a very unique pairing of proud Arab-nationalists who also seem to possess a personal admiration for western culture. Having grown up in West Germany, FBF has surely seen the realities of communism and totalitarian regimes first-hand, and is likely cognizant of the efforts to destabilize Europe through weaponized migration.

MBS has already demonstrated his desire to dismantle corrupt networks, as well as regressive institutions such as radical Islam. They both share a strong desire for peace, which is almost certainly driven by a vision to transform the Middle East into the true geographic center of the world through ‘extraordinary investments’ and ambitious, tourist-centric real estate development. (For example, an expressed desire to transform the Red Sea coast into ‘the next French Riviera.’)

If only there were a legendary real estate developer out there who shared their passion for building great things, as well as their unrelenting desire for justice, but was also in a position politically to help them achieve their ambitious longterm vision...

(None of this can be achieved, as long as there is war and chaos in the region.)” — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry

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BONUS ITEMS

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Brink Of Unrest? Migrants "Flood" NYC City Hall In Protest Of Losing Luxury Hotel Rooms

New York City could be on the cusp of social unrest as hundreds of migrants have flooded the grounds of City Hall in Lower Manhattan to protest the scaling down of their luxury hotel accommodations (funded by us, the taxpayers). 

[…]

Elon Musk responded with "Wow," while another X user posted a video of angry migrants surrounding the City Hall complex building. Security is beefed up as the situation remains tense. 

The migrant protest comes one day after pro-Palestinian groups shuttered critical infrastructure nationwide across various metro areas of the US, including the Brooklyn Bridge. 

The risk of social instabilities nationwide is elevated as the Biden administration (through open southern borders), and a shadowy network of NGOs have facilitated the greatest invasion of illegal aliens this nation has ever seen. — ZeroHedge

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White House deems House impeachment inquiry 'over,' President Biden formally declines to testify

The White House formally declined an invitation by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., for President Biden to testify in connection to his son Hunter’s business dealings.

"As our Office has demonstrated, and you acknowledged in a recent fundraising email, your impeachment investigation is over," Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, wrote in a letter to Comer on Monday. "It is past time for the House to focus on the issues that matter to the American people rather than continuing to waste time and taxpayer resources on this partisan charade." 

Sauber said the House Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry "has succeeded only in turning up abundant evidence that, in fact, the President has done nothing wrong." 

"Yet rather than acknowledge this reality, your March 28, 2024, letter contains the same litany of false allegations that have been repeatedly debunked and refuted by the very witnesses you have called before your Committee and the many documents you have obtained," the special counsel told Comer. "Your insistence on peddling these false and unsupported allegations despite ample evidence to the contrary makes one thing about your investigation abundantly clear:  The facts do not matter to you." — FOX News

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Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds

After months of inaction, House Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled on Monday evening an outline of his plan to address the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, defying Republicans who threatened to oust him from the speakership if he moved forward with funding for Ukraine.

But Johnson (R-La.) risks angering many of his members with a convoluted plan aiming to placate his critics on the right, while also giving national security hawks a chance to advance billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Johnson plans to put four different bills on the floor, essentially decoupling aid for Israel — which faced a barrage of missiles and drone threats from Iran over the weekend in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria — from help for Ukraine, which is more controversial inside his conference. The speaker will then advance separate votes for aid to Taiwan and a measure to satisfy Republican foreign policy demands, including the seizure of Russian assets and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok from the United States, among other measures.

A draft of Johnson’s plan mirrors the Senate bill, according to five people familiar with the numbers, but may not include humanitarian assistance mainly directed toward Gaza. — The Washington Post

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We hope you enjoyed this brief look back at the major news items you might have missed in this ever-escalating and ever-accelerating news cycle as the Information War continues to rage on around us.

As always, if you have any thoughts on these news items or the MANY others swirling in the digital ether, drop into the comments below to share them with your fellow Badlanders.

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