Gaslit Nation

Donald Trump's kleptocracy didn't happen overnight–it was part of the Kremlin's long game. With reports of Russia trying to explode planes headed to the US, we're running out of time to wake up before it's too late. In this week's bonus show for Gaslit Nation's Patreon supporters, who keep our independent journalism going in these dark times of institutional rot, media capitulation, and complacency, Andrea warns that we're nearing the point of no return. Putin can now say the U.S. and Russia are aligned, because they are. Trump's regime is declaring a return to the Monroe Doctrine, claiming the Western Hemisphere belongs to the U.S. That's exactly what Putin does in Eastern Europe. The Pentagon is handing Trump's gestapo-like immigration agenda $2 billion on top of $75 billion for ICE in Trump's Big Ugly Bill. Like Putin, Trump is building a gulag and gearing up for conflict with our neighbors, including Mexico, Venezuela, and whoever else he wants to casually kill. As we've long warned, Trump wants to become the Putin of North America, because that's his plan for staying in power indefinitely: enrich his family, build a dynastic oligarchy, and protect it with sadistic security services. To help us fight back and stay grounded in the gaslighting, this special bonus show includes a discussion of Gaslit Nation's Book Club: Total Resistance by Hans von Dach–a civilian guerrilla resistance guide produced by a Swiss military theorist in preparation for Soviet occupation during the Cold War–and Deaf Republic, a play-like book of poems by Ukrainian-born poet Ilya Kaminsky. "At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this?," Kaminsky writes, "And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?" We have to stop the worst from happening and wake people up before it's too late. For ways to fight back, check out, and share, the Gaslit Nation Action Guide on GaslitNationPod.com. The full discussion of this month's book club will be published on Patreon Monday morning, along with the Zoom link for the Gaslit Nation Salon at 4pm ET later that day. To get access to that, join our community on Patreon at Patreon.com/Gaslit and get invites to exclusive events, bonus shows, all episodes ad free, and more. Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit – discounted annual memberships are available and you can give the gift of member. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you. Show Notes: Today in Washington, DC! Celebrate voices of resistance with COURIER. Reflect on 2025's lessons and explore how courage drives the fights ahead. Andrea will be speaking tonight, joined by other independent journalists and activists. More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/courage-cowardice-tickets-1968694585501?aff=promotoolkit Total Resistance by H Von Dach https://bookshop.org/p/books/total-resistance-h-von-dach/df1aa810a26bacea?ean=9781607963042&next=t Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky https://bookshop.org/p/books/deaf-republic-poems-ilya-kaminsky/33e16033f9269bdf?ean=9781555978310&next=t Read and Resist: The Gaslit Nation Book Club https://www.patreon.com/posts/read-and-resist-132804210?utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link&utm_id=4d59916b-2d54-46a3-b9e7-76fa99f42f1e&utm_medium=email Trump strategy document revives Monroe Doctrine, slams Europe https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/trump-strategy-document-revives-monroe-doctrine-slams-europe-2025-12-05/ $2 Billion in Pentagon Funds Said to Go to Anti-Immigrant Operations: Democratic lawmakers said in a report that shifting Defense Department funding to support the Trump administration's immigration agenda has hurt military readiness. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/politics/defense-department-funds-immigration.html?smid=url-share Russia Suspected of Plotting to Send Incendiary Devices on U.S.-Bound Planes: Two devices that ignited in Europe, officials say, were part of a covert operation to put them on cargo or passenger aircraft https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/politics/defense-department-funds-immigration.html?smid=url-share Kremlin hails Trump's national security strategy as aligned with Russia's vision: Moscow welcomes White House document critical of the EU as talks to end the Ukraine war enter a key phase https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/07/kremlin-hails-trump-national-security-strategy-as-aligned-with-russia-vision

On this extremely cursed episode of Gaslit Nation, we take a break from gas station dictatorships to talk about their emo tech cousin: crypto, the shadow banking system for oligarchs, autocrats, and the Trump family, with Andy Greenberg of Wired, author of Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency. Greenberg walks us through how Bitcoin was sold as untraceable "freedom money"–digital cash for the revolution!–and instead became a giant glowing crime map. Dark-web drug empires, massive child sex abuse rings, ransomware gangs, investment scam sweatshops, North Korean weapons programs, autocratic terrorists like Russia and China. Turns out their transnational crypto crime sprees left a trace. Greenberg profiles investigators who followed the blockchain to catch some of the world's worst monsters and advises how to "follow the money" in the digital age. We also discuss Trump's crypto war on the U.S. dollar and how he and his family enrich themselves with the help of crypto criminals. This week's bonus show, for our Patreon supporters at the Truth-teller ($5/month) level and higher, features Gaslit Nation's book club discussion of Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky and Total Resistance by H Von Dach–and an urgent wake-up call to see the Kremlin's long-game in exporting oligarch-fascism, before it's too late. Just today, it was reported that Russia tried to plant bombs on U.S.-bound flights, following similar reports of planned attacks across Europe. Join our community of listeners and get bonus shows, Q&A sessions, invites to exclusive events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, ad free listening, group chats with other listeners, ways to shape the show, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency by Andy Greenberg https://bookshop.org/p/books/tracers-in-the-dark-the-global-hunt-for-the-crime-lords-of-cryptocurrency-andy-greenberg/b449e45a97a6794b?ean=9780593315613&next=t Trump pardon of billionaire sparks concerns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcHn1GSZwo Aaron Rupar: "Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link)" https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3m7lbz4g7nc2v

Looking for a festive holiday gathering that plants seeds of hope to rebuild our democracy? Andrea was invited to the Courage>Cowardice event hosted by Courier News, the folks who built the searchable database of the Epstein files released by Congress. She'll be joined by other independent journalists and creators at Eaton in the heart of Washington, DC from 6pm to 9pm this Thursday December 11. Andrea will be speaking on a panel about media capitulation and how to fight back with Meredith Lynch, Cohost of The Moment Live; Jack Cocchiarella, Gen Z Political Commentator & YouTuber; Brian Beutler, Journalist, Off Message; in a discussion moderated by veteran journalist Mark Jacob, the former Metro Editor at the Chicago Tribune and Sunday Editor at the Chicago Sun-Times. For more info, check out the event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/courage-cowardice-tickets-1968694585501?aff=promotoolkit Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chats, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

Is America ready for a woman president? Andrea and independent journalist Terrell Starr debate, and we want to hear where you stand. Let us know in the comments. Consider this: the two times Trump was elected president, he ran against a woman–but both of those women faced highly unusual, unprecedented elections for any candidate. In 2016, Hillary Clinton ran against a hostile foreign intelligence operation and an FBI director, James Comey, with a misogynistic track record. The FBI was successfully sued by 34 women who faced sexual descrimination as recruits, their complaints dismissed by Comey. The 2016 election wasn't politics as usual: it was an act of war–by the Kremlin and criminal negligence by Comey's abuse of power. In 2024, Kamala Harris had a few short months to save global democracy. Again, a woman was handed a political grenade. Will America's first woman president be Ivanka Trump? Republicans elevate three types of women: Concentration camp Barbies like Kristi Noem, pedofile-defending child-looking brides like Karoline Leavitt, and Trump's personal favorite: the blond bombshell–like his daughter Ivanka. Trump once said he would date Ivanka if she wasn't his daughter. He told the porn star Stormy Daniels, who he had an affair with when Melania had just given birth to Barron, that Stormy reminded him of Ivanka. With Jared Kushner back in the White House, grifting and running Trump's shadow foreign policy, does that mean Ivanka is the likely candidate to break the glass ceiling by being a patriarchal blow-up doll? And how do we stop that? Studies have shown countries led by women are more prosperous, resilient and environmentally friendly. A 2022 U.S. News Survey found that 70% of respondents believe women are better at leading countries than men. So why can't America have nice things? What will it take for us to finally elect a progressive woman president? Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chats, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: FBI to pay $22 million to women who alleged sexual discrimination at training academy https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-to-pay-22-million-to-women-who-alleged-sexual-discrimination-at-training-academy Women Are Better at Leading Countries Than Men, Survey Respondents Say https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2022-10-05/women-are-better-at-leading-countries-than-men-survey-respondents-say How Women in Power Foster National Happiness https://esthinktank.com/2025/02/10/how-womens-leadership-shapes-happier-nations/ Women and girls around the world are leading the fight against climate change https://unsdg.un.org/latest/stories/women-and-girls-leading-fight-against-climate-change Countries with more female politicians pass more ambitious climate policies, study suggests https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/09/countries-with-more-female-politicians-pass-more-ambitious-climate-policies-study-suggests/ Terrell Starr Substack: https://terrellstarr.substack.com/

In this week's Gaslit Nation, Andrea and Kyiv-based journalist Terrell Starr discuss how American corporate oligarchs act like authoritarian regimes. It's a lot like Trump, Kushner, and their real estate buddy Steve Witkoff's plan to sell out Ukraine to Russia. Once again we're reminding you that the war against oligarchy here at home is global. Amazon, one of the 37 donors who helped bankroll Trump's illegal and unnecessary ballroom, was exposed in an investigation by Rolling Stone for possibly causing a cancer cluster near one of its data centers in Oregon, an allegation the company denies, because they know, under Kremlin-backed mass-murdering Trump, escalating a war for oil in Venezuela, they will get away with it. This is the same Jeff Bezos who celebrated in the White House with Trump, Kushner, and the Saudis who murdered Washington Post writer and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. Democracy doesn't just die in darkness; it dies under cheap gold fixtures and chandeliers. We also discuss why both Trump and Putin need a war in Venezuela to distract from their corruption at home, how oligarch ownership of the press continues to hollow it out, and how much more Americans can take of this abuse and gaslighting. And yet, amid all this lawlessness, democracy defenders around the world are fighting back. Bolsonaro's escape plan got foiled as he faces 27 years in prison, New Yorkers joined other American cities and towns in shutting down Trump's gestapo, and MAGA continue to be punished for voting for him–with a recent poll showing one in four Trump voters are disappointed or regret their vote. Join us for Gaslit Nation's bonus show out Thursday as we debate whether America is ready for a woman president–and how to stop Kushner and Ivanka from winning the MAGA succession war to install Ivanka with the help of their dictator friends. To listen and join our community of supporters, be sure to subscribe at the Truth-teller ($5/month level) or higher. Thank you to everyone who supports our independent journalism. Your support keeps us going and gives us the freedom to tell the truth. Join our community of listeners and get bonus shows, Q&A sessions, invites to exclusive events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, ad free listening, group chats with other listeners, ways to shape the show, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, available on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, available on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, available on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community Show Notes: Article that Terrell references in the episode: 'What's the Big Deal?' Ask Trump Voters on Russia Hacking Report https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/us/russia-hacking-election-trump-voters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5k8.LzM3.Aqyb_HChdz9L&smid=url-share "In his book Berlin: the Downfall 1945, Beevor described how Russian soldiers would gang rape not just German women but the starving and emaciated survivors of concentration camps and slave-labour factories." https://bsky.app/profile/andreachalupa.bsky.social/post/3m6ubnaxavk2h "This exposé is breathtaking. Witkoff and Kushner do not just have conflicts of interest - thy are deeply woven into a web of Russian influence peddling by "investments". Money, personal ties and geopolitics have become indistinguishable." https://bsky.app/profile/joerglau.bsky.social/post/3m6yvn5n6g22i Rolling Stone investigation into Amazon data center in Oregon polluting water, leading to mysterious cancers and miscarriages https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/data-center-water-pollution-amazon-oregon-1235466613/ "According to the US Coast Guard, the year prior to Trump changing our policy to summary execution, only 21% of the vessels interdicted by them off the coast of Venezuela suspected of trafficking drugs had drugs on board. The other 79% had nothing. But now we just kill them all." https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3m6zh6tznsk27 Make Money Not War: Trump's Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine The Kremlin pitched the White House on peace through business. To Europe's dismay, the president and his envoy are on board. https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-u-s-peace-business-ties-4db9b290 Not A Bad Week For Ukraine Truth, Democracy and Corruption, Possible High Command Changes, Are European Gloves Coming Off? https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-update-161-not-a-bad-week?r=1tgexa&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true Jared Kushner's double life Kushner has resumed his role as a top Trump foreign policy advisor while expanding his business partnership with the Saudi government. https://popular.info/p/jared-kushners-double-life Meet all 37 White House ballroom donors funding the $300 million build, including Silicon Valley tech giants, crypto bros and the Lutnicks https://fortune.com/2025/10/26/37-white-house-ballroom-donors-funding-300-million-build-tech-ceos-trump/ "This is what it looks like when billionaires own the media." https://x.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1995566687249465706 Trump Envoy Has Financial Ties With Former Adviser to Putin's 'Money Man' Now Leading Kremlin Peace Talks: Steve Witkoff's real-estate empire is bankrolled by a former adviser to Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and a key architect of Moscow's Ukraine negotiations https://bylinetimes.com/2025/12/01/trump-envoy-has-financial-ties-with-former-adviser-to-putins-money-man-now-leading-kremlin-peace-talks/ Dictatorship-era army officers and supporters rally in Argentina in latest sign of political shift https://apnews.com/article/argentina-military-junta-dictatorship-javier-milei-plaza-de-mayo-6122d6d7541141badaf78522efd42fd9 Layoff announcements surged last month: The worst October in 22 years https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/economy/job-layoff-announcements-challenger A year on from Trump's victory, resistance is everywhere https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/09/trump-resistance-is-everywhere?CMP=share_btn_url Ivanka Trump Sat in Vladimir Putin's Chair and Spun Around When at Kremlin, President's Former Associate Says https://www.newsweek.com/ivanka-putin-chair-spun-kremlin-931754 Ivanka Trump Was In Contact With A Russian Who Offered A Trump-Putin Meeting: Her contact said a meeting between Trump and Putin could expedite a Trump tower in Moscow. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/ivanka-trump-putin-moscow-meeting-michael-cohen-tower Admiral Overseeing Caribbean Mission to Retire after One Year in Role https://news.usni.org/2025/10/16/admiral-overseeing-caribbean-mission-to-retire-after-one-year-in-role "Prospera Honduras is a Zone for Employment & Economic Development (ZEDE) backed by Peter Thiel. Trump plans to pardon the former Honduran president who championed ZEDES b4 his drug trafficking conviction. Honduras current outgoing president has tried to eliminate ZEDES, an obstacle for Prospera." https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:we7sidyj3b5or2r7trtpfzt7/post/3m6ungpja622f Terrell Starr Substack: https://terrellstarr.substack.com/

In Part II of our conversation, Nick Schwellenbach, a Senior Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, shares his insights from his time in the U.S. Office of Special Counsel–a government agency set up after Watergate, meant to protect us from the next Nixon. So, what happened? In this week's bonus show, we're looking for checks-and-balances. With a grifter-in-chief enriching himself and his family, following in the footsteps of overthrown Kremlin-backed kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych, we're especially curious about the Hatch Act–whatever happened to that? This Thanksgiving, we're grateful for our Gaslit Nation listeners with us in the fight of our lives, for a livable future for our families and the world. We wish you all a restful holiday season, as we charge up for battle in the 2026 Midterms–building another blue tsunami together. Join our community of listeners and get bonus shows, Q&A sessions, invites to exclusive events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, ad free listening, group chats with other listeners, ways to shape the show, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Art is a big source of our power. We're proud to share with you a Kickstarter by longtime Gaslit Nation listener Leslie Nuss to help her release her next album, Ride at Dawn. Check out and support her work here!: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/leslienuss/ride-at-dawn-the-new-12-track-vinyl-lp-cd-by-leslie-nuss/posts EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, join on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, join on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, join on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community

This week we go into the dark heart of American Gestapo: Gregory Bovino's Border Patrol, which pushes ICE to become even more aggressive in his fascist feverdream. Here to help us make sense of this hellscape is Nick Schwellenbach, a Senior Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight and former Communications Director at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel–a government agency set up after Watergate, meant to protect us from the next Nixon–more on that in this week's bonus show out Thursday. Bovino grew up a Border Patrol fanboy idolizing fascist fiction and now stalks American cities in a Nazi-style trench coat with a taxpayer-funded film crew glamorizing his violent raids. Like Trump is a showman, Bovino is cruelty as a recruitment tool to consolidate power. Under his un-checked leadership, his border patrol army operates deep inside the U.S., smashing car windows, kidnapping U.S. citizens, and rounding up tens of thousands of people, including veterans and children, into detention centers where deaths are spiking at unprecedented rates. With the help of questions submitted by a Gaslit Nation listener (thank you, Isabel!) we go into all the pressing questions about Bovino's Border Patrol and also ICE, including what happened to the children who disappeared under Trump's first term and what can be done to protect vulnerable immigrants today? As you listen to this episode, which opens with a clip of Bovino justifying shooting protesters with pepper balls, keep in mind Republicans gave ICE, which works closely with Bovino's Border Patrol, $75 billion over the next four years. They're also operating under aggressive weekly quotas. But is their war chest also for general population control? For our bonus episode this week, we look at the safeguards that could have prevented Trump's return and why they didn't. To listen to the bonus, subscribe to our Patreon at the Truth-Teller level ($5/month) or higher. We are extremely grateful to our listeners who are keeping us afloat during a very difficult economic time. Every bit of support helps give us the freedom to be independent and tell the truth, so thank you again for making Gaslit Nation possible! If America climbs out of this black hole, it will be because people like you, our Gaslit Nation listeners, refused to look away. Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, join on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, join on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, join on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community Show Notes: Where ICE Has Taken The Most People | On The Grid | WIRED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD9ETC80HDA NPR report: This year was the deadliest since 2005 for people in ICE custody https://www.expressnews.com/news/border-mexico/article/ice-deadliest-year-npr-21119815.php Big Budget Act Creates a "Deportation-Industrial Complex": The result will be a lopsided, enforcement-only machine that will be hard to dismantle. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/big-budget-act-creates-deportation-industrial-complex Man arrested by Ice dies in jail cell in Long Island, New York: This article is more than 1 month old Officials in Nassau county confirmed death of 42-year-old man to Newsday but declined to share details https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/19/ice-death-long-island-ny Trump officials launch ICE effort to deport unaccompanied migrant children https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-directs-ice-agents-find-deport-unaccompanied-migrant-2025-02-23/ Federal judge says border patrol chief admitted he lied, in ruling limiting federal agents' use of force in Chicago https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/us/gregory-bovino-deposition-chicago-immigration Greg Bovino's Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data Shows https://www.pogo.org/investigations/greg-bovinos-border-patrol-agents-use-disproportionate-force-data-shows Fighting for a government that serves the people. https://www.pogo.org/ 8-year-old girl dies in Border Patrol custody in Texas, as agency struggles with overcrowding https://apnews.com/article/border-patrol-child-custody-death-harlingen-2e2b27eeb3da669ee17241b8b3ee9ee2 Detainee Death Reporting https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting CBP Fatal Encounters Tracker https://www.aclutx.org/en/cbp-fatal-encounters-tracker FACT FOCUS: Claims that more than 300,000 migrant children are missing lack context https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-migrant-children-missing-7ab0cea2fd2238346197429e952baa8b How they did it: The New York Times exposes migrant child labor exploitation across 50 states https://journalistsresource.org/media/migrant-children-labor-abuse-goldmith/ Homeland Security agents rescue migrant teen sisters from sex traffickers — after they arrived in US as unaccompanied minors https://nypost.com/2025/04/29/us-news/hsi-agents-rescue-teen-migrant-sisters-from-sex-traffickers/ Gaps in Sponsor Screening and Followup Raise Safety Concerns for Unaccompanied Children https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2024/gaps-in-sponsor-screening-and-followup-raise-safety-concerns-for-unaccompanied-children/ Trump's False Claim of Missing Immigrant Children https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/16/trump-false-claim-missing-immigrant-children Under Joe Biden, Have 85,000 Undocumented Children Gone 'Missing'? https://www.newsweek.com/under-joe-biden-undocumented-children-missing-1812728 Democratic Women's Caucus Open Letter https://juliabrownley.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dwc-letter-to-dhs-on-ice-impersonators-and-women-s-safety.pdf How ICE Raids Are Making It Easier for Civilian Men to Assault Immigrant Women: Kylie Cheung argues in this op-ed that a rash of cases of men dressing as plainclothes ICE agents and assaulting immigrant women is possible because ICE agents operate with impunity. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-dressed-as-ice-agents-to-assault-immigrant-women-horrifying-trend Houston man pretended to be ICE agent to rob driver, charging docs allege https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/houston-ice-agent-robbery-20395157.php North Dakota man accused of impersonating an ICE officer when jail staff released an inmate to him https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-immigration-williston-ice-agent-f89f0f070e5c39cd763a5018017ff332 US sees spate of arrests of civilians impersonating Ice officers https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/28/civilians-impersonating-ice-officers ICE Annual Report Fiscal Year 2022 https://www.ice.gov/doclib/eoy/iceAnnualReportFY2022.pdf Border agent charged with child sex trafficking, fraud in Cochise County https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_5e596767-4575-485b-88e8-0a6265e5bb41.html The Green Monster: How the Border Patrol became America's most out-of-control law enforcement agency. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/border-patrol-the-green-monster-112220/ FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves: In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the FBI said criminal impersonators are exploiting ICE's image and urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes. https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-warns-of-criminals-posing-as-ice-urges-agents-to-id-themselves/ How a tragic family secret turned Greg Bovino from a quiet country boy into the force of Trump's unflinching border patrol crackdown https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15288355/greg-bovino-border-patrol-family-secret-donald-trump-immigration.html Revealed: Trump administration retreats on combating human trafficking and child exploitation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/trump-human-trafficking-programs-cut Trump administration takes hundreds of migrant children out of their homes, into government custody https://archive.ph/qc65g#selection-2109.7-2109.106 Oversight Agency Says 32,000 Unaccompanied Children Are Missing. But Are They? https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/are-32000-unaccompanied-children-missing/ Judge rules against Department of Homeland Security: "Given the inconsistencies between the BWC footage and the use of force reports, with the BWC footage undermining what agents put in their reports, the Court cannot rely on Parra's [who is Bovino's deputy] broad generalizations of protesters' actions or Defendants' responses to those actions. Turning to Bovino, the Court specifically finds his testimony not credible. Bovino appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing "cute" responses to Plaintiffs' counsel's questions or outright lying." "To the extent that agents use ChatGPT to create their use of force reports, this further undermines their credibility and may explain the inaccuracy of these reports when viewed in light of the BWC footage." https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571.281.0_3.pdf

November is a month when communities around the world commemorate the Holodomor–Stalin's genocide famine in Ukraine that, in 1933, starved millions to death, the vast majority of them Ukrainians. Conservative estimates place the death toll at 3.9 million. During the famine, a death certificate listed the cause of death simply as "Ukrainian." In the years leading up to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine today, Vladimir Putin's KGB dictatorship revived the cult of mass-murdering dictator Joseph Stalin–producing propaganda textbooks, putting up Stalin statues, and outlawing acknowledgment of the fact that Stalin helped launch World War II by invading Poland two weeks after Nazi Germany, then holding joint military parades with the Nazis. Stalin monuments and billboards are today in regions of Ukraine under Russian occupation. Back in the early 1930s, as Stalin laid the groundwork for his man-made famine–a diabolically efficient way of killing millions before the invention of the atomic bomb–the New York Times praised his regime. Walter Duranty, the paper's Moscow bureau chief, won a Pulitzer for Soviet propaganda and went on to gaslight readers by insisting, "There is no famine." Challenging the media establishment, political elites, and industry leaders eager to profit from helping Stalin modernize his empire was a young Welsh journalist, Gareth Jones. Idealistic and courageous, he risked his life and career to become a vital independent witness to the genocide. His story is told in the film Mr. Jones and in the award-winning graphic novel In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones. The film was developed with support from historical advisors, including Timothy Snyder, whose classic Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin opens with Jones's story. To commemorate the Holodomor this year, we're sharing the audio from a video interview from September 2024 featuring In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, which recently won a Ringo Award for Best Nonfiction and received the honor of being a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. (You can find the video in the show notes). Andrea Chalupa of Gaslit Nation, the writer/producer of the Mr. Jones film and comic In the Shadow of Stalin, speaks with Anastasia Ulanowicz, an Associate Professor of English at the University of Florida who specializes in comics as a medium for personal and historical memory. If you're looking for a way to help Ukraine, consider purchasing a copy of In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones for your local school or library. Hundreds of copies have already been given to members of Congress and sold to raise funds for Razom for Ukraine–Andrea has given away so many copies that she will never see any royalties for this as those books must be paid off to the publisher to cover their costs. When you purchase a book to give away to raise awareness, you're supporting Ukraine, not the author. Any effort to help spread this story is deeply appreciated. For those who haven't seen Mr. Jones, it's available here, and Andrea's short documentary Stalin's Secret Genocide–which screened at the United Nations in 2016 and features Timothy Snyder; Anne Applebaum; Norman Naimark of Stanford, author of Stalin's Genocides; Serhii Plokhii of Harvard, author of The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine; and other leading historians–is available here. Thank you to everyone who continues to raise their voices for Ukraine during the country's existential fight for survival–and for the freedom of the world against Russian fascist lawlessness. Show Notes: Buy a copy for your local school or library: In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones By Andrea Chalupa, Illustrated by Ivan Rodrigues https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/In-the-Shadow-of-Stalin-The-Story-of-Mr-Jones/Andrea-Chalupa/9781637152775 Watch the video discussion of the Mr. Jones graphic novel In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones: https://education.holodomor.ca/new-webinar-holodomor-hot-off-the-press/ Watch Stalin's Secret Genocide: https://youtu.be/Sr5WkhEiqcY Where to watch Mr. Jones http://www.samuelgoldwynfilms.com/mr-jones/ Music: Prayer for Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn0_p1ZR3hg&list=RDzn0_p1ZR3hg&start_radio=1

Here's a clip from last week's Gaslit Nation Salon, where I lay out what it will take for us to stop reactionary elections that punish whichever party is in power: the political pendulum swinging between Christian nationalists to establishment Democrats back to Christian nationalists. If we're serious about defeating fascism and overcoming the many crises we face, we need real political stability built from the ground up, not another cycle of rage-voting whiplash. Because if we don't confront these systemic issues, the voters will continue to punish whichever party is in power, and, as we saw in 2016 and 2024, this just makes everything worse, for everyone. The clip also unpacks my conversation with the great E. Jean Carroll, an interview that sparked a lot of questions and debate among our listeners. You can listen to the full interview here on Patreon, here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last week's full salon discussion will be available on Monday morning for our Patreon members, along with a Zoom link for Monday's salon at 4pm ET. Come vent or tell us what's happening in your corner of the country. EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET Book Club Discussion – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect: available on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join: available on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group: available on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community Coming soon! Patreon members at the Democracy Defender ($10/month) tier and higher will receive a PDF of Andrea's book Orwell and The Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm. Coming soon! Patreon members at the Fact Checker ($25/month) tier and higher will receive a new behind-the-scenes look of Mr. Jones, directed by three-time Academy Award-nominee Agnieszka Holland. Mrs. Orwell – Andrea's new graphic novel on Eileen O'Shaughnessy Blair, the Irish-English poet, wife, and muse of George Orwell who made him into the artist he always longed to be, is out in April. Pre-order your copy here. Patreon supporters at the Freedom Fighter ($50/month) tier and higher will receive signed copies. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you.

In this extremely enraged episode of Follow the Money, we ask the only question that actually matters in Trump's second crime spree through history: who is getting rich off of Trump chaos and the world's misery? Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman of Trump Tyranny Tracker and Andrea Chalupa of Gaslit Nation together trace a financial pipeline of blood money that runs from the Kremlin, through Qatar, through crypto, straight into Trump World and its favorite oligarch bagmen. While Ukrainian kids are protesting, begging the world not to look away as Russia bombs their playgrounds and kindergartens, Trump's MAGA lackeys, like Matt Gaetz protege Rep. Anna Luna, are in Florida huddling with Putin's money man and messenger, Kirill Dmitriev, sketching out yet another fake "peace plan" that is nothing but a genocide plan for Ukraine and a launchpad for a larger war with Europe. In a blatant crime of access journalism that would make Michael Wolff jealous, Axios published Kremlin/MAGA disinformation by calling it a "peace proposal." In reality, it's a Kremlin bribe: sell off Ukraine's land, launder the theft through "diplomacy," and cash out in crypto for Trump and his longtime real estate buddy-turned-Kremlin fixer Steve Witkoff, and their sons. Their plan is for Ukraine to give up Donbas and Crimea, which suffers under Soviet-style repression, disarm Ukraine' military, and expect the world to recognize stolen land as Russian. In exchange, Trump, Witkoff, and their sons would allegedly get crypto via Qatar and a chance to turn genocide into an investment opportunity. All of this is happening while Russia openly kidnaps Ukrainian children, erases their identities, and feeds them into a military pipeline of Putin's forever war, while half of Europe anxiously prepares for war with Moscow. Follow the money, and you see the gaslighting of Trump once again being bribed to call the Kremlin's foreign policy his own. Be sure to follow us on our new YouTube channel to help us get the word out about Follow the Money! https://www.youtube.com/@FollowTheMoneyTrail Want to hear bonus shows and listen to Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for live events like our Monday 4pm ET salons over Zoom, bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Trump Tyranny Tracker: https://trumptyrannytracker.substack.com/ Putin ally suggests Seychelles meeting with Erik Prince more than chance encounter over a beer https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/putin-ally-seychelles-meeting-erik-prince-chance-encounter/story?id=55408942 The Story Behind Jared Kushner's Curious Acceptance Into Harvard https://www.propublica.org/article/the-story-behind-jared-kushners-curious-acceptance-into-harvard Kushner got emails about WikiLeaks, Russia in 2016, lawmakers say https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/jared-kushner-wikileaks-emails-245197 Trump's Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff & Sons Blur Peace & Profit, from Real Estate to Crypto Deals https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/3/debra_kamin_steve_witkoff_real_estate Trump and special envoy Witkoff stand to reap rewards from official business https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-steve-witkoff-envoy George Nader arrested on child pornography charges: Nader, a well-connected Middle East fixer, accused of having sexually explicit pictures of children on his mobile phone. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/4/george-nader-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges Former Trump lobbyist from Lake Norman charged with distribution of child porn https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-trump-lobbyist-lake-norman-193651678.html Maryland delegate for Trump charged with child pornography and possession of illegal gun and explosives https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/19/politics/trump-delegate-child-porn-gun-explosives Former Trump Commerce Department official and Turning Point USA ex-employee sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for child pornography possession https://www.businessinsider.com/former-trump-commerce-official-pleads-guilty-child-porn-charge-2022-10 Former GOP Hill aide pleads guilty in child porn case Ruben Verastigui, 27, faces 12 years or more in prison under a deal with prosecutors. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/09/former-hill-aide-pleads-guilty-child-porn-498937