Hello Reader,
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It was a devastating week for American democracy, as Donald Trump proved willing to sacrifice our freedom, safety, and prosperity to fuel his political vendettas—which now spiral out of control.
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For my Trump-supporting readers, consider this: the weapons empowered today will be available to all future presidents—when power inevitably changes hands.

1. Trump Weaponizes, Neuters the CIA
2. Trump Weaponizes, Enfeebles the NSA
3. Trump Weaponizes, Corrupts the DOJ
4. Trump Weaponizes, Politicizes the FHFA
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Note: I will be on vacation August 30th through September 6th. The next edition will be September 9th. This week's edition includes limited source links as my domain's reputation recovers.

She never saw it coming. Having devoted over 20 years to American intelligence, she had risen to oversee the agency's operations across Russia and the former Soviet Union. By 2016, she was the country's top intelligence officer for the region when she was called on to oversee production of a report describing Russian election interference.
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But in 2025, expertise can be a death sentence.
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Last week, Tulsi Gabbard ended her career, revoking her security clearance along with 36 colleagues across the NSA and CIA. Gabbard accused them of "betraying their oath to the Constitution"— for producing analysis Trump didn’t like.
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To be clear, the 2016 report concluded Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election in Trump’s favor. Although the Mueller investigation later found no evidence Trump participated, the report’s conclusions have not been refuted.
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Trump has now systematically purged expertise from intelligence agencies for connections to the investigation. As Evelyn Farkas of the McCain Institute warned: "They're flying blind without the expertise. The kinds of people who had been fired have seen all the intelligence relating to Vladimir Putin's intentions.”
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The impact on CIA morale has been devastating. "Everyone is so afraid and looking over their shoulder, asking am I next?" a former colleague revealed. As former CIA Director Bill Burns observed: "If intelligence analysts at the CIA saw our rivals engage in this kind of great-power suicide, we would break out the bourbon. Instead, the sound we hear is of champagne glasses clinking in the Kremlin and Zhongnanhai.”
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"We do not want to live in a society where our AI are built and run by the People's Republic of China—because they are not built on our democratic values." – Vinh X. Nguyen
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Nobody embodied this fight more than Vinh—son of a South Vietnamese general who fought Communism alongside American forces. Recruited at just 17 for his mathematical genius, Nguyen devoted his life to protecting America's technological edge. Rising through National Security Administration ranks to become chief data scientist, he earned many of the nation's highest intelligence honors.
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This week, Tulsi Gabbard destroyed his career on Trump's orders.
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According to the New York Times, Nguyen’s work at the NSA was pioneering quantum computing breakthroughs that could revolutionize American espionage and encryption. Now it won’t. When the acting NSA director pleaded with Gabbard to spare his top scientist, asking for evidence of wrongdoing, she ignored him.
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The reason? Nguyen had, tangentially, worked on intelligence related to Russian interference in our elections—eight years ago.
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When America's brightest minds fear speaking truth to power, our enemies celebrate—and we all become less safe.

"This is exactly what authoritarians do—they use the justice system as a weapon against their political enemies."
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John Bolton's words proved prophetic.
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Just 72 hours later, twenty-three FBI agents stormed his Maryland home at dawn, seizing computers and classified documents while his terrified wife watched from their bedroom window.
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The raid's timing was no accident. Bolton had spent days excoriating Trump's intelligence purges, warning America was "committing national security suicide" and accusing the President of "Putin-level paranoia."
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Now Bolton faces espionage charges under the same laws typically reserved for foreign spies.
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The Justice Department's 47-page indictment accuses Bolton of "willfully retaining" documents he was authorized to keep as National Security Adviser, then profiting from them through his 2020 memoir criticizing Trump's foreign policy failures.
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But the tentacles of retribution extend far beyond the ever-divisive Bolton and confrontational figures like James Comey and Jack Smith. Former CIA Director John Brennan faces criminal investigation for his role in the Trump-Russia probe. Trump signed executive orders targeting former DHS official Miles Taylor and cybersecurity chief Christopher Krebs —both former appointees who merely criticized him.
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Former Attorney General William Barr, no Trump critic, accurately identified the problem, calling the Bolton prosecution "banana republic behavior." Even Trump loyalist Senator Tom Cotton warned that "criminalizing policy disagreements" threatens the peaceful transfer of power that defines American democracy.
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When justice becomes a tool of vengeance, a democracy loses its legitimacy in the eyes of its people.

Lisa Cook has an impressive resume: PhD in economics from UC Berkeley, Truman Scholar, tenured MSU professor, and adviser to developing economies from Nigeria to Rwanda. Yet during her 2022 Senate confirmation hearing for Fed Governor, Cook acknowledged she'd published zero papers on monetary economics, admitting her previous role as Chicago Fed director was limited to "filling out paperwork."
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Republicans pounced, while attacking her "left-wing political advocacy"—including her call to cancel a rival economist for opposing “Defund the Police”.
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Yet Cook's record since she became the first black woman to serve as a Federal Reserve Governor has been anything but partisan. Cook has consistently sided with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a Trump appointee, supporting aggressive rate hikes that hardly favored Biden.
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On Monday, shortly after Cook voted—wisely—against rate cuts, Trump fired her on Truth Social, citing mortgage fraud allegations from Federal Housing Finance Agency director William Pulte—the third time Pulte has targeted a Trump opponent.
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Under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, Fed governors can be removed only "for cause"—typically serious misconduct tied to performance, not actions predating appointment.
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Cook, with the Fed’s backing, vowed to fight her ouster in court—likely the Supreme one.
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The weaponization of federal agencies to punish monetary policy dissent directly threatens our economic freedom. Republican challenges to Cook's qualifications were fair game—but allowing Trump to transform agencies into weapons of political lawfare is unforgivable.

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American Renegade of the Week: Miles Taylor

When his wife saw the FBI raid John Bolton's home this week, she turned to Miles Taylor with an ominous warning: "It's coming."
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The former Homeland Security chief of staff knows he's next on Trump's hit list.
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In 2018, Taylor watched in horror as the Trump administration ripped immigrant children from their parents' arms at the border, calling it "one of the most…disgusting things I've ever experienced in public service." He witnessed Trump casually offer pardons to Homeland Security officials for any crimes they might commit fighting illegal immigration.
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Later that year, the brazen lawlessness pushed Taylor to anonymously publish an explosive op-ed in the New York Times, which revealed senior officials fighting Trump’s “worst inclinations” from within. After leaving government, Taylor ended his anonymity in 2020 to campaign against Trump's reelection.
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Now Trump seeks to exact his revenge.
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In April, Trump issued a presidential memorandum accusing Taylor of treason—a crime punishable by death. The memo contains no accusation of any crime, simply declaring Taylor guilty and instructing federal agencies to find the evidence.
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Taylor's legal team has now filed complaints with the inspectors general of DHS and the DOJ, arguing the memo violates the Constitution by targeting a citizen, not for a crime but for dissent.
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The consequences have been devastating. Violent death threats pour in against Taylor's 10-month-old daughter. He's been forced to leave his firm and faces financial ruin from legal costs.
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Yet Taylor refuses to cower. From his defiant "Treason" Substack, he continues exposing Trump’s authoritarian overreach. As Trump’s vendetta machine reaches new heights, Taylor persists—in deploying truth against power.

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