People knew that you weren't fully on board with the regime change program. And then I read all of a sudden that you're a traitor. You're like, marched out of the Pentagon. You did make, just from an outsider's perspective, one maybe career mistake by, [00:00:16] giving on the record interviews before you went in describing your foreign policy views, which I think are fully within the mainstream of the world and the US, but out of the mainstream among, you know, warmongers. We were threatening a lot of established interests in our own separate ways. [00:00:32] And we had people who had personal vendettas against us. But you're being accused of betraying Hegseth, who's under attack? From people who want a war with Iran. Let's just be totally blunt about it. [00:00:48] In reality, it appears that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is the one who has betrayed his longtime friends who were in the Defense Department until recently and in fact, Tucker Carlson had a chat with Dan Caldwell, one of the officials who ended up getting fired from the Defense Department. [00:01:07] He was a close advisor to Pete Hegseth. And there were allegations that the reason that he was let go along with two other individuals is because they were allegedly leaking classified information to reporters. Now, the department hasn't provided any evidence of that. [00:01:24] In fact, these individuals are now going to sue the department because they claim there was no investigation into our conduct. We weren't given any polygraph tests. We don't know why we're getting pushed out. This is wrongful termination. Now, the two others who were fired from the Pentagon [00:01:42] were Colin Carroll and Darren Zelnick. These are two other individuals who say they've never leaked anything to the press. And in fact, they've been very close to Pete Hegseth, huge cheerleaders for the Trump administration. It's just that their opinions on foreign policy seem to differ [00:01:59] from what the, you know, war machine military establishment wants and likes. And so we're going to get into some of those details in just a moment. But this was a huge interview that had quite a few revelations that I think the audience will enjoy learning about. [00:02:14] Yeah. So this now begins to explain what was the mystery yesterday. And it's not surprising. In fact, you know, I thought we did a pretty good job of sussing out what it might be on yesterday's, edition of The Young Turks. Obviously, you can watch it live at 6:00 eastern every day on YouTube. [00:02:32] And, and I'll get the podcast on Spotify, which is where I am today. So, what didn't make sense was why would Pete Hegseth bring in allies, that he's had for at least a decade and then fire them within a couple of months? [00:02:49] Because, remember, these are not leftover, Biden people. Hegseth brought them in. So then two, three months later, abrupt firing. So that didn't make any sense at all. So and he keeps talking about the deep state. We'll get to that in a second. But wait a minute. [00:03:06] How could they be deep state if you brought them in. Are you deep state like so. That part doesn't make any sense at all. Now, the fact that there might be something akin to a deep state is beginning to make sense, but it doesn't make sense that the guys who were fired were deep state. It makes a lot more sense that the Deep State were the ones who fired him. [00:03:23] But isn't that amazing that it's his allies and they're getting fired from underneath him, and he has to pretend it's about a leak. And now we know definitively that it isn't that it was. They didn't offer a polygraph test. They had no evidence. They didn't even take their computers. [00:03:38] We know all of this now. So. And but yes, there are neocons within the government. And I think this is an enormous story. And yes, we have enormously strange bedfellows. Tucker Carlson and today, Steve Bannon talking about similar things. [00:03:53] But you know what? If ever there was a time and a cause to unite the left and the right, it would be this to stop a war with Iran that the neocons want to drive us into. And let's be honest, to satiate Israel, not this country. So let's talk about the cover story briefly [00:04:10] before we get to the meat of this story. So defense officials told Politico last week that the investigation centered around a series of leaks, including the deployments of carriers to the Red sea. Elon Musk's visit to the Pentagon for a security briefing, and the pause of U.S. [00:04:28] Intelligence to Ukraine. Now, Caldwell. Dan Caldwell, who was a close adviser to Pete Hegseth and was pushed out of the Defense Department, recently insisted that the untold story was that his controversial views had made him a target. And I happen to believe him. [00:04:44] I think the story that he tells here is definitely believable. And to really understand why Caldwell believes that he was falsely accused of being a leaker and pushed out of the Trump administration. As a result. We have to kind of delve into his foreign policy views, which unfortunately happened to be pretty novel within the Defense Department. [00:05:04] Let's take a look. A war with Iran risks being incredibly costly in terms of lives and dollars and instability in the Middle East. The idea that it could become a major war is kind of absent from American news accounts. So the idea is that the United States, probably in partnership with Israel [00:05:23] or vice versa, Israel, in partnership with the United States, would take take out the, I think, six, Iranian nuclear sites. And that would kind of be the end of it, that it wouldn't become a major war. I mean, I don't think I've ever read any account that suggests it could become [00:05:41] a major war, but you're saying it could. Look, when the minute that the bombs or bullets start flying, you can never say with certainty what exactly is going to happen? Yeah, but I think that because of. [00:05:57] The fact that Iran has been put on its back foot and Iran is weakened, they've had a lot of failures in the region. I think that actually creates an opportunity for more and better diplomacy. But there's some who argue that creates an opportunity for more military action. [00:06:17] In fact, if you go back to The New York Times reporting last week about what was thought of as an impending military strike against Iran, which, by the way, Trump actually decided against engaging in, you know, Caldwell [00:06:34] is part of a small group of people within the Defense Department, or at least he was a part of a small group of people within the Defense Department who saw the weakening of Iran as an opportunity to engage in diplomacy and get a nuclear deal signed, [00:06:51] as opposed to engaging in a hot war with Iran. Now, the war machine within the Defense Department very much wants that war. But what was so surprising about that reporting last week, Jake, was that among the individuals in the Trump administration who were against doing, [00:07:08] you know, military strikes along with Israel against Iran were Tulsi Gabbard, which I'm going to give her a lot of credit for, VP J.D. Vance going to give him credit for that as well. But included in that group was actually Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, [00:07:25] who has this, like, neocon history. So I was actually really surprised to see that he was one of the voices in Trump's ear, discouraging him from going along with what Israel wanted, which was to engage in these, you know, strikes against the nuclear targets in Iran. [00:07:44] And so that's making me really rethink the way I perceive some of the stories that are coming out about Pete Hegseth and all these other individuals who have been purged from the Defense Department in recent days. Yeah. So there's something that's, a really interesting, phenomenon here. [00:08:03] And that is not just about this story, but that really goes to the heart of what is what is a deep state mean? Who what who if they exist, who are they and how do they have this much power? So here's why I say that. So, you know, we reported on that story that Anna is referring to last week [00:08:19] on The Young Turks. And, you know, I said huge credit to Tulsi Gabbard, by the way, huge credit to Donald Trump for not doing the strike against Iran. He Israel already pressured him. Netanyahu came to America to pressure him into attacking Iran, on behalf of Israel. And we showed you the story where Israel decided, oh, you know what? [00:08:37] Our planes can't do this attack. So we're going to order America to do it. And, oh, right. And we can't really fully handle the defense. So defense. So we're going to order America to do the defense after we start the war. And so Trump for now said no. Great. Okay. Hegseth is on the side. [00:08:53] It appeared, based on New York Times reporting of Gabbard and J.D. Vance and saying no to the strike. So then who's firing the guys under Hegseth? Who are his allies? Because it doesn't look like Hegseth is firing them. I mean, even if he's technically firing them, why would he? [00:09:11] He's they're the guys he brought in and in, like, a minute ago, so that doesn't make sense. Trump said no to the Iran strike and is generally clueless about what's going on in his administration, so I don't think he necessarily gave the direct orders to fire these guys. So who the hell is giving the order to fire these guys [00:09:28] who are hardcore MAGA hardcore Texas supporters from underneath Hegseth? See, that's super interesting. So how does the I mean, if such a thing is the deep state exists, how do they do that? Who are they and how do they pressure Hegseth to actually commit to. [00:09:47] Yes, I'm the one who fired them. Yes. It's because of this made up story about leaks. ET cetera. How do they get them to do that? And I don't know. Yeah, that is a good question. I should say that in an interview recently with Brian Kilmeade on Fox News, [00:10:02] unfortunately, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not defend his friends, including Caldwell, who actually worked for Hegseth, at an organization known as Concerned Veterans for America. They had a close relationship. Caldwell wrote an op ed in town hall. [00:10:19] I'm sorry he wasn't the one who wrote an op ed in townhall, but he was one of the individuals who was really, you know, rooting for Hegseth to become secretary of defense. They are not enemies in any way. They never had any kind of, you know, negative relationship. But someone you're right. Someone or a group of people got rid of Caldwell, along with other individuals [00:10:37] who have some ideas about foreign policy that don't go along with the neoconservative ideology. And now you have Hegseth essentially providing cover for the decision to fire these individuals, because I think he realizes, oh, wow, my job is really on the line, you know? [00:10:53] Just yesterday, we shared the story about how there are some rumors about how the white House is already looking for a replacement for Pete Hegseth. So now that he's afraid about losing his job, maybe he's willing to throw his friends under the bus. But nonetheless, later in the interview, Caldwell also said, quote, I think [00:11:09] there clearly is a very strong coalition within the United States that wants to see another war in the Middle East. And it crosses both parties. Preach. I mean, I think I think we all know that. But the fact that he references this bipartisan support for more war [00:11:26] in the Middle East, you know, really goes to the point he's trying to make about why he believes he was actually fired. And so, look, why is it that Caldwell does not believe that he was actually fired for, you know, being a suspect in leaking classified information to reporters. [00:11:45] Well, he explains part of it in this next clip. Let's take a look. So I just want to be totally direct with you. Did you leak classified information against the wishes of your superiors to media outlets? Absolutely not. Did you photograph classified, classified material and then text pictures [00:12:02] of that material to an NBC news reporter? Absolutely not. And I have not spoken to an NBC reporter while at the Pentagon. Are you do you know what you've been accused of? No, I don't. Sitting here right now, myself and Darren Zelnick and Colin Carroll, [00:12:21] the other two individuals that were escorted out of the Pentagon, initially placed on leave and then fired on Friday. We have not been told as of this recording. One is there what we were being investigated for? Two. [00:12:36] Is there still an investigation? And three? Was there even a real investigation? Because there's a lot of evidence that there there is not a real investigation. We're going to get to some more details about why he doesn't believe there's been a real investigation into possible leakers within the Defense Department. [00:12:55] But before we get to that, I just want to just quickly remind you all that Mike Waltz, national security adviser to Donald Trump, the guy who accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg in that signal chat where they're discussing a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen. [00:13:13] That guy, that guy, he's still employed by the Trump administration. Interesting how that guy is still employed by the Trump administration, considering his massive mistake. But these individuals are fired under incredibly flimsy allegations. [00:13:30] - Fascinating. - Yeah. And look, this is so interesting because it, in a lot of ways unites the right and the left in terms of the actual voters. Because if you're a fan of Hegseth or you're anti-war and you voted for Trump [00:13:46] because he's you thought he's anti-war, well, then you don't want these guys fired. These are the this is the anti-war contingent, right? And so and if you're on the left, I sure hope to God you don't want war just because Trump's president and he hasn't declared one yet. [00:14:01] So and so of course, the left is anti-war. So we should all want to get to the bottom of what's going on here. So why is Hegseth firing these guys when it's super obvious that he didn't want to? [00:14:17] And this conversation about leaks is ridiculous. They didn't. They didn't do any investigation at all. And remember, they're not firing lefties. They're firing their own. And to your point, Anna, about the cover story. So, wait, let me get this right. [00:14:33] There's no investigation of theoretical leaks from the Pentagon, and there's no evidence connecting it to these anti-war guys inside the Pentagon. But they're immediately fired with no evidence and no investigation. But we all know we saw with our own eyes. We heard it with our own ears. [00:14:49] We saw Hegseth and Mike Wallace and all those guys in the signal chat actually leaking national security information, top secret information about how we're going to strike. So if you say this is accountability for leaks, how could there be no accountability for walls who set up that group and included a reporter? [00:15:08] How could there be no accountability for Hegseth? Who's the one who actually gave the coordinates and the timing of the bombing, etc.? But there's accountability for people who are underneath them with no evidence and no investigation. No, exactly nothing to do with leaks. It has everything to do with whether we're going to war with Iran or not. [00:15:26] And by the way, it's not just Israel that wants that war. The military industrial complex wants that war. They're going to make a literal killing off of that there. I mean, that's going to affect hundreds of billions of dollars that they're going to make. If you think that they're not motivated by that. You're probably, you know, just recently escaped from an asylum [00:15:45] or a national media report. I just think it's fascinating. Like last week, it's reported by The New York Times that you have two camps within the Defense Department there, both in Trump's ear. One side is encouraging him to do military strikes against Iran. [00:16:00] You know, obviously with, Israel by its side. The other camp is saying, no, this is not a good idea. This is going to drag us into a hot war with Iran. You should avoid it. And now you're seeing that side, in particular, being pushed out of the Defense Department. [00:16:15] And by the way, what's also just so incredibly absurd is just how much access Caldwell had to incredibly top secret classified Information up until the moment he was fired. He talks about that in the next clip. [00:16:33] So there was this leak investigation that was ongoing for weeks, right? What were you was your access to classified information limited during that time? Not at all. In fact, the day I was escorted out of the escorted out of the building I went into, [00:16:51] I won't get specific, the highest of high level intelligence briefings. And up until the minute I was pulled out of my office, I was on highly classified systems doing my work. So you were looking at highly classified information up until the moment [00:17:06] they brought you outside and separated on the basis of the claim that you were leaking classified. I was doing my job. Part of my job entailed looking at at intelligence, helping make recommendations to secretary, giving my thoughts, working with the policy team and most of [00:17:25] our work was done on classified systems. The reason I'm pressing on this is that doesn't make any sense. - Does it make any sense to me? - Yeah, it really doesn't make any sense. So if the Defense Department suspected that Caldwell was one of the people [00:17:41] who is a liability because they suspect that he's leaking classified information to reporters, why did he have access to highly classified information up until the moment he was fired from the Defense Department? It just doesn't make any sense. [00:17:56] And to me, it's becoming clearer and clearer that this cover story is flimsy at best. Okay, but also incredibly gross in covering up what the real reasons are at worst. At worst, because it's all really about pushing certain individuals out [00:18:13] because of, you know, viewpoint diversity, something that the Trump administration wants to see on Ivy League campuses. They really want viewpoint diversity, but not in the Defense Department. Viewpoint diversity is not allowed in the Defense Department. You must beat the drums of the war machine. [00:18:30] You must support anything and everything that Israel wants the United States to do in regard to foreign policy in the Middle East. That's what this is really about. And it's disgusting because the US has been dragged into wars in the Middle East as a result of what Israel demands. In the past, we have suffered the loss of thousands of our soldiers, so much of our [00:18:50] resources, and there's some possibility we could get dragged into it again. If more of these individuals get pushed out of the Defense Department. So, and there's one, other really interesting part of this story, and I think this is, you know, fascinating as politics and government gets is, [00:19:08] the media component because here we have, you know, you know, one of our members is asking and I'll address it in the social break when I read more of the comments, about Tucker Carlson. Wait, he's starting to make sense. Is that. No, no, no, guys, on other things, they don't make sense at all. [00:19:24] So you know like Steve Bannon I mentioned earlier and he's warning about the deep state in a similar way. But then on another topic on the Abrigo Garcia topic, he's saying let's suspend habeas corpus. That's insane. So like I but at the same time, is Tucker good on this issue? [00:19:42] Yes. Unequivocally, absolutely. And so if you say no, I'm going to hate Tucker, even though he's clearly you could see it with your own eyes trying to stop a war with Iran. Okay. But like I, I'm trying to save lives. [00:19:59] And so I believe in positive change in the world. So if Tucker's come to our position of being massively anti-war, anti neocon, no more wars in the Middle East, no more serving Israel. Yes. I'll take yes for an answer. And God, we need those allies. And that brother talking to him right there, said that, you know, that Tucker [00:20:18] has been critical in in pushing back against the idea of war with Iran. And remember, guys, this is what I keep reiterating. It's important for us to be in alliance with those guys on given topics that we agree on. Why? Because Trump's not going to listen to us, but he is listening to Tucker Carlson. [00:20:37] So I would much rather have Tucker Carlson as an ally on this than not have any allies on the right. And so and it's a great day in America that the there's some portions of the right wing media are changing and going outside of what the Trump talking points are, [00:20:54] what the right wing talking points are, etc.. So because now bring it back to mainstream media, is anyone in mainstream media even talking about this as a war between the neocons and the America First guys within the administration? [00:21:10] Because they seem to be having a nonsense conversation. So the Trump's team, idea is, oh, there was, they leaked and without an investigation, we magically knew it was them and with no evidence we knew it was them. Okay, so that story is nonsense, right? So by the way, what are the Democrats saying, generally speaking? [00:21:26] Absolutely nothing, because it's beloved Israel. So they've all bowed their heads. But if they're saying anything at all, the pushback is, oh, Heggs is an idiot and drunk and etc. And this is just his incompetence. Nah, that doesn't make any sense at all. I mean, you don't just throw away these friends and colleagues [00:21:44] and allies from all this time. Within three months of you getting the job because you're incompetent or you're. That doesn't make any sense. No, no. Nobody's that incompetent. So both sides have an official story that is utter horse crap. [00:22:00] And is anyone in mainstream media calling them out? No one. No one. So then it's super curious to see if people on the left like us and people on the right, like Tucker Carlson, can actually rally enough voters to create enough pressure on the Trump administration to push back against Israel's efforts here [00:22:19] to drag us into this war. And I don't know the answer to that. I don't know that we have enough power. I don't know that we have enough democracy to be able to do that. But at least the battle is joined. And so now maybe we have a fighter's chance, whereas we didn't in the Iraq war, because all we had was mainstream media monopoly that just did propaganda [00:22:37] about how awesome and easy that Iraq war was going to be and how necessary it was. So now we have mainstream media just kind of letting it lie and not sharing the truth with anyone. But folks on both wings have, because of online media and [00:22:52] independent media, have begun to realize this game is being played on you. Soon they're going to send your kids to that war and certainly your money to finance that war. I just want to say both things can be true. So the cover story about how these people are being pushed out because they're [00:23:09] allegedly leakers is a cover story. It's BS. Right? I see that as separate to the issue of Pete Hegseth s incompetence, because his willingness to engage in detailed conversations [00:23:26] about military operations on signal, not just the signal gate story that initially broke, but the fact that there was another separate signal chat that his wife, brother and lawyer were in on, in which he's also sharing [00:23:42] more and more of these, you know, sensitive military operations and details about it like that does show a level of incompetence when it comes to Pete Hegseth. So both things can be true at the same time. But I think that signal gate, to be honest with you, is being exploited by those [00:23:59] who want to push, you know, the anti-war component of the Defense Department out. And I didn't think that Pete Hegseth was part of that group. But considering what The New York Times had reported just last week about how he was in the president's ear advising him against doing [00:24:17] these military strikes against Iran. That makes me think, okay, well, Pete Hegseth has become a bit of a target as well. So he could be a target. But he's also incompetent for for the signal gate issues and other issues. So that's my take on that. I want to just end with one final video. [00:24:32] Let's go to the last video in this segment because, you know, Caldwell said a lot of really glowing things about Pete Hegseth in the context of this interview with Tucker Carlson. And I just feel really bad about that because of the fact that Pete Hegseth then went on Fox News to say this. [00:24:49] Through that leak investigation, unfortunately, we found some folks that we believe were were not holding to the protocols that we hold dear here at the Defense Department. Through that investigation, they have been moved on. And that investigation continues. Those folks who were leaking, who have been pushed out of the building, [00:25:07] are now attempting to leak and sabotage the president's agenda. And what we're doing. And that's unfortunate. It's not what I do, it's not how we operate. And so you've got another allegation being pushed again, not based on how we're operating around here. Do you believe this came out? [00:25:22] They said it was called Team Huddle because one of the people who worked for you, one of the three who no longer are there, leaked this out as a way to get back at you. That's right. Brian, when you dismiss people who you believe are leaking classified information and again, the investigation is ongoing and that will take time. [00:25:40] And if when the evidence is produced, it will go to DOJ. Why would it surprise anybody, Brian, if those very same people keep leaking. I mean, that is some leftist level betrayal. It's pretty incredible. Jake, back to you. But if there's such leftists, why are they on Tucker Carlson's show? [00:25:59] And and why is Tucker agreeing with them completely? So, yeah. No, we're at a super interesting moment in American history. Will we be pushed into this war with Iran because of a foreign government? [00:26:15] And then, if we are, what will be the consequences? At what point do we reach critical mass of enough people getting news from independent media that the rebellion begins, that we say, well, no, we don't want to be occupied anymore, and we don't want [00:26:32] to fight these wars for Israel. And I don't care what anybody on cable news says or what any of the incredibly corrupt people in Washington think. I'm a great interview with Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Napolitano. I mean, look at these strange bedfellows. But that's good. That's how democracy should be. [00:26:47] It should be, hey, we agree on this and we don't agree on that. And Jeffrey Sachs has always been a brilliant scholar. We totally disagree with Napolitano in the past, but here we are. We all agree. And Sachs and Napolitano are saying the same thing we are, which is this is obviously Israel and they're not hiding it. [00:27:02] Israel definitely wants us to attack Iran. Netanyahu says it publicly, and he's now, applying incredible pressure. And what form that pressure takes is also super interesting. Why are they getting Hegseth, and how are they getting Hegseth [00:27:18] to throw his own allies under the bus? I don't know the answer to that, but if we ever find out, yeah, there's going to come a point where the American people are going to be fairly furious with Israel and how they've controlled our government. But they keep poking the bear, poking the bear, and saying, oh, that's okay. [00:27:35] We'll just make the, you know, sucker. Americans fight one more war for us. And maybe they could have tens of thousands of people that were casualties, like the Iraq War of Americans, let alone hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. And this idea that Iran wants to be attacked. [00:27:51] Absurd. Everything about this is absolutely absurd. And which way is Trump going to go? I still don't know. So yeah, that's as interesting as it gets. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.