We are getting our first big test of how durable Donald Trump's election denialism still is, and it's happening on primary day in Arizona, which you will remember as a hot spot for 2020 elections investigations that ultimately went nowhere. Today, three Republicans on the ballot had either disputed or interfered with that election. Leading GOP candidates for governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, which as you know is also Arizona's top elections job. So, big deal.
DNI Jay Clayton, or the DNI potentially to be Jay Clayton. He was just voted out of committee. Senator Warner said he had deep reservations about him after his performance the other day in front of that committee because he wouldn't answer the question regarding whether 2020 was duly won by President Biden. What do you make of Clayton moving forward?
Well, it's unsurprising given that the Republicans hold the majority in that committee, but I think if he answered honestly the question of who won the 2020 election, he would have had probably a unanimous vote because all of the Democrats on that committee wanted him to get into that position quickly so they could push Bill PY out. And so he just really fumbled quite badly. And if he's unwilling to answer a simple question like that in terms of who won a presidential election, and he seemed very frightened about saying something that was going to annoy Donald Trump, what can we expect from him as director of national intelligence. So, I know that Senator Warner and others are really hopeful that he's going to live up to the reputation he had when he was in the SEC, but I must tell you his first time out of the gate does not give me a lot of confidence that he's going to actually fulfill his obligations as director of national intelligence if he is confirmed by the full Senate.
Well, the vote was 9 to 8, so it looks like it was a party line vote with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no. I've got Andy Biggs who wants to be governor. How's that look?
So, yes, you have Representative Andy Biggs, current member of the House, who was actually cited in some of the J6 documents, the documents around January 6 that the committee put forth about what he did or how he was interacting with the White House as well as to try in Arizona to get what we are basically calling fake electors to vote for Mr. Trump. So he was very very involved in that. You also have Alex Koladan. He is running in the Secretary of State's office and he was one of the lawyers representing some of those fake electors basically. And then you also have the attorney general's race which I think is a guy named Warren Peterson. He has been very vocal about pushing against the current attorney general, the current governor, in cooperating with the investigations that the DOJ has put into when it comes to asking for election rules and from the state and things like that. So, it's three people, three people who are pretty much I think we can call them election deniers, at least two out of three election deniers, but who are definitely on President Trump's side when it comes to investigating things like 2020. When you address the nation, maybe it would have been on Iran or maybe it would have been on the good news from the economy, but that election is I understand he wants to remind people so that they don't do it the next time. But I think the whole MAGA emphasis on the actual election day cheating and now we hear from Mark Wayne Mullen that there's 1 million votes that were cast or registered voters that got ballots.
He says 250,000 non-citizens registered to vote in four Democrat run states.
Yes. Four state million voters that could have any of the swing states that would do that would change the election and they were illegal and they knew it. But the issue I think he should say is I'm not going to adjudicate 2020 because by the time the ballots were cast the system had been altered under the pretense of COVID. And now what do I mean by that, and then he could just do the items that Molly Ball in her triumphalist article, she's a woman of the left, said that bragged that what they did, they changed the voting laws by going to lawsuits to district court judges and such, and in blue states to the legislatures, and what had traditionally been 30% of an absentee ballot became was renamed, rebranded, mail-in ballots, and that was 70% almost nationwide. And they brought in under the guise of COVID that you could register to vote without an ID, without a driver's license. They would give you an ID, you could use a credit card, you could use almost anything, but if you didn't have anything, they would give you one, a number, and then you could vote that same day. You could be ballot harvested. That changed radically the entire American electoral system in one direction for the left. And so that's what I wish he would concentrate on. I don't know if it was illegal or legal, but the way that it did it altered the way we voted. And if you look at population increases, there's no way in the world that you would get so many voters voting in the 2020. More people voted in 2020 than in 2024. It was just astounding. It was just a sudden rise of voters.
And so and we know now that Mark Zuckerberg spent $417 million to appropriate the work of the registrars in key swing states, and by that I mean basically give them all this money to put dropboxes that couldn't really be accounted for all over their states, money to sue to extend the balloting, mail-in ballots, for as in here in California, for 10 days, 7 to 10 days depending on each particular state that the ballot could be cast. So it really ruined the system. It really did.
We know what that means. That means 1.5 trillion, given the world that we live in and the disaster of what the Biden administration budgets gave us. Not funding this department at 1.5 trillion, I believe, is the greatest threat that our nation faces. Either we invest in our warriors at this moment of step change on the battlefield and growing threats, or this is all just talk.
You repeatedly said that you trust the administration's handling the war with Iran. We're now 5 months in and the US death toll has surpassed the withdrawal of Afghanistan. Given that, at what point are you willing to put an AUMF on the floor or go for a War Powers Act resolution to try and bring this in?
The administration is working very hard, the commander-in-chief and the whole Department of War, they're working very hard to bring this to a resolution. There's a lot of discussions about how that will be done. We're all closely watching those developments. Of course, I don't think an AUMF is in order right now. I think we need to bring this to a resolution. Look, I think it's important for all of our international partners is my personal view, to have a role in this. I mean, we've got all of our allied nations through NATO. We've got the Arab countries over there, the Gulf States that are in closest proximity to Iran. Iran has now fired on all of its neighbors, and they're turning everybody in the world into an enemy. And I think this is an important moment of history for all of the world community to decide how they want to handle this. It shouldn't just be America's obligation. My view is that everybody needs to play a role. So we'll see how that develops. I think we have to allow the space to do that and I know that this administration is working around the clock to resolve that in a way so we don't suffer any more troop losses. This is a great tragedy. It shouldn't happen but it is a very important, very important objective that I believe we've achieved to ensure that the largest sponsor of state of terrorism does not have a nuclear weapon. That would be a disaster for everybody and everybody around the world understands that.
Now we got to wrap it up. Mr. Secretary, I'd like to ask you to help me reconcile some numbers. It's my understanding that this whole supplemental funding request is 87.6 billion and most of the funding, 67 billion, is for the Department of Defense. Yet, we are told the Department of Defense still has 75 billion in unobligated funding from last year's reconciliation package. Is that true?
Roughly correct numbers. Yes.
So, you've left some change on the dresser before you prepared to come for this hearing. What's going to happen to that 75 billion?
Well, that 75, there's plans and designs on that part of the rebuild of our military which had to be undertaken. And so, that one big beautiful bill gave us specific avenues. I'd have to get you the exact numbers of what that is left to be allocated.
To do with the war in Iran?
No, this is rebuilding our military from what was not funded in the past under the Biden administration. So that's, these are, this is from 2026 one big beautiful bill which helped move the president's priorities like Golden Dome for America, move away from all the woke priorities of what the Biden administration was pursuing, give us a chance to start cutting these deals on munitions, all the things that the president wanted us to focus on, shipbuilding, hypersonics. I mean, the Biden administration ignored hypersonics, they just decided to pretend like that technology didn't exist and we shouldn't invest in it. There are things, I don't know what Lloyd Austin did for four years, I really don't. The amount of neglect, amount of stale thinking and bureaucracy was staggering when we took over. So, one big beautiful bill gave us...
Let me interrupt your speech for a minute, Mr. Secretary. It's my turn to ask questions. I've been listening patiently while you made your presentation. You estimated at one point that the cost of the war in Iran was $29 billion, but then added a caveat that there was a replacement of munitions, for example. Do you have a new estimate about what the war has cost us so far in this, the fifth month of the first year of this war in Iran?
Senator, the estimate we have as of today is 37.5 billion.
And is the current activity which we've been told about, the exchange of fire back and forth in Iran, an indication that number is going to go up in the months ahead?
Some of that number captures additional O&M, military pay and other that would be anticipated through the fiscal year. So some of that anticipates what costs would be going out in the future as well.
So the new number you've given me is what?
And that represents the cost of the war through what period of time?
Through now for certain aspects of it. But also military pay and other anticipated costs through September 30th. Senator.
I think there was a sense that the president expressed at the start of the war that the US military power was overwhelming and would likely produce unconditional surrender quickly by Iran. And that obviously hasn't happened. Was it your opinion as well? Did you feel like our military force could produce an unconditional surrender in quick order?
Sir, I won't, with due respect, I won't share my private advice to the president. What I will assure you and the American people is I always speak truth to power and offer an accurate assessment of what my assessment is of both our readiness, the plans and activities that might be undertaken, the associated risks, and the secondary and tertiary considerations that go with those opinions or options.
Thank you. So you feel like the various risks that Iran would possibly close the strait despite the destruction of their navy, that the possibility of assassinating their political leaders and their military leaders could produce a strengthened hardline and weaken the reformers, that Iran would have the ability to sustain its ability to attack sites throughout the Middle East, that the initial requirements of the war could surely deplete our basically high-end standoff munitions, that this could affect our relations with our allies, all those were factors well considered in this decision to go to war?
Sir, as I said, I won't opine on or share my private advice to the president.
I'm not asking about your private advice. I'm asking you, did you understand these issues or have these become revelations as the war has unfolded?
Sir, my job is to understand all of the considerations that go into the carefully considered use of military power.
Let me ask you this then. I understand why you don't want to respond, but these are all massive risks that seem to be poorly weighed in the beginning of this misadventure. Currently there are reports that we have hit the Bushehr desalination plant that provides water to about 20 villages or about 10,000 people, and we also damaged the desalination plant at Kharg Island. Were these deliberate targets by the United States?
Sir, I'm not aware of those as being particular targets, nor am I aware of those reports, and I'll have to go back and get back to you on that.
If you could, I'd appreciate that. You are aware that infrastructure that civilians rely on to survive is not generally considered legitimate military targets.
Sir, as you know, we have a robust process which considers a target that goes through a system that looks at a variety of considerations to include what you're alluding to around both purely civilian or dual use targets. I have trust and confidence in CENTCOM that they're looking at the range of those things on a...
It sounds like you are assuring us that the United States will not target, even in a retaliatory sense, infrastructure that is generally considered to be primarily for civilian survival.
Sir, as I mentioned, we have a robust process and you know, we have the most professional military force.
Be nice to have you say yes because this is international law, if you understand the international law.
I do, sir. I've got a lot of lawyers that help me understand it.
Tuesday, 21 July, year of law 2026. We're going to break. We'll be back. We're Through the Looking Glass. Victor Davis Hanson joins us as an election denier. Polly Pocket joins us in saying, hey, we got to wrap this thing up. Back in a moment.
Here's your host, Stephen K. Bannon. We're Through the Looking Glass. Victor Davis Hanson goes full ultra MAGA. Sounds like an original MAGA, original OG gangster on the 2020 election. Lays it out very fundamentally, basically, and then for those of you who've been long-term viewers of the show, calls out the Molly Ball article, which hasn't been referenced in a long time, if we can put that up in Denver with that beautiful artwork for Time magazine, the definitive piece on how the entire Democrat apparatus came together to secure the steal.
Victor Davis Hanson, who's been so wrong on so many things dealing with geopolitics, maybe he's getting onto the election, he can get back on a winning streak. So, because since this guy wrote a column for the Financial Times, I think back in '95 or '96, I got to pull it up. And I believe it was about, he was a professor at Fresno State and a farmer, and he talked, I think it was about the Peloponnesian War, and he wrote a piece about how he taught it in a classics course to young principally Hispanic males at Fresno State and they couldn't get enough of it. It was just fantastic, and I sent it out at the time I was working in Hollywood, financing the motion picture and music industry and TV. I said, this guy has nailed this thing. Then he became the Dick Cheney strategist. So, you know, during the Iraq and Afghan debacle, and he's gotten this war in Iran completely and totally wrong.
But when you go through the looking glass, he's calling Molly Ball. Look at that. I'll play it again tomorrow because we got to go through so much that happened today. And then Polly Pocket. Yo, neocons, when you lose Johnson, you better hit a five alarm fire. What's he say? We got to wrap this thing up. Sounds like he's in the word, got to wrap this thing up. You damn right you got to wrap this thing up. There's going to be some polling out there that shows you people are just tired of it. And today we talked about really expanding a war to a Lebanon front and now to the Houthis.
And the Houthis are going to have something to say about this as they lock down the Red Sea and the entrances to the Red Sea and Suez. And Speaker Johnson, he laid it out. This is a global deal and you've got nations of the world supposed to be our allies, starting with the guys in the Persian Gulf. Let's start with the Saudis, UAE, and Qatar. And people say, well, Steve, you know, they are doing this. They ain't doing enough. Not nearly enough. And Pete, the 67 billion of the 87 billion, and the math is getting so complicated I get a brain freeze. And I had some people in the administration call me so I could work through the math. I was more confused about the math after I got off the phone.
But what I know is 67 billion of this part of the reconciliation, 2.0, they're going to have a 3.0. Who knows? This is 67 billion. We'll take the frozen assets. Let's take a little of that off the top of the Ayatollah. Let's take his frozen assets. Let's go take all their properties in Belgravia and Knightsbridge and Chelsea. Those of you who've been to London, let's monetize all those. Let's get the Saudis to write a check. Let's get UAE to write a check. Let's get Qatar to write a check. Kuwait, Bahrain, all of them. Check writing time. And then see where we are. Anyway, we've got some good news here. Mary Joe Costello from Team Red, I need this today. Mary Joe, tell me how in Allegheny County, you're a devotee of the Dan Schultz School, a precinct strategy. Talk to me how Team Red has now turned Allegheny County back in the pro-
Amen. Thanks so much for having us on, Steve. I wish I could have my whole posse with me because it took a slew of us to make this happen. But back when at the first cyber symposium with Mike Lindell is when I met you and you inspired me to get this team going and to find out with the why, like what is my task? What is my purpose? And then we ran into Dan Schultz to start figuring out the precinct strategy because most of us were pretty clueless. And it has taken us four years and it has created the most beautiful movement. And I feel so proud to have founded Team Red back in, you know, we've been doing this for, I can't believe I'm saying six years, but it has been remarkable. And on Saturday was our leadership election. They always have the establishment pick, they slide them in, they manipulate how they slide them in, and we had had enough and we figured it out and we got moms to recruit their sons and their daughters and we kind of doubled up our team. And we had 462 votes. They anticipated to stack the deck with 195 and we blew, they expected a 30% to 40% turnout. We had a 90% turnout of we the people that just showed up to vote in person. They never saw it coming and we crushed it. So Brian Weiss Mantle is our new leader. He is a homicide detective retired. He is 33 years in the military and he is as steady as they come. Within two days since Saturday night, he's already rocked the world and we have what I'm going to call a phenomenal team moving forward. So we're all excited. We're celebrating the win of the precinct strategy. And without you, Dan Schultz, and all these people that have made such contributions to teaching us, we would have never been able to do it. But the most important thing is if we can do this in Allegheny County, everybody else can do it. And we're willing to help. You can reach out to us. It has been incredible. Our last chair left us completely flat broke. So now we're doing these big fundraising events, whatever we can do to start pulling it together. And we're going to show them how it's done. And we can't wait.
Okay. Hang on. So what I'm going to do is talk to you guys after the show. I want to have the team. I understand we had some logistics problems today because we got the head of the IRS coming on, but I want to talk to you tonight. Let's get you back on if it works tomorrow for people's schedule in the morning show and I want to get your whole team and we'll figure out the cameras because you are the lesson people have to embrace. And I think what's so absolutely amazing, I keep talking about the revolution, is that you've been doing this for six years. I take it there were some dark days in those six years when it looked like, hey, this is not going to happen. This is not going to happen. And what are we wasting our time for? Let's go play tennis or something.
Yeah, we call it the Team Red Derangement Syndrome, because don't kid yourself. We are fighting our own party, and I'm talking to the choir here, but our own party has been so antagonistic against Team Red, and we're the War Room, you know, we're just little minions of Steve Bannon, and so we're here to save our country and they just don't seem to get it. So, we had to be like, we don't have any social media. We had to be sort of stealth, but it's not like we hid anything. They knew we were coming for them, but it's how they tried to assume the election. And we weren't done. The results had barely been turned in and our solicitor quit immediately after. Our chair, they're not happy at all. The establishment handpicked candidates are not happy. But within two days, like I said, the joy that has already happened through Brian Weiss Mantle and his initial hello everybody is quite frankly remarkable. So we're celebrating out here and we're going to make this thing better than it's ever been.
No, this is going to be, this is a teaching moment and we're going to use, because I hear this all the time from every, I just had some meetings after the morning show with people in another state that go through the exact same thing and the question I ask them, why does the establishment, what is it about what you are offering just on, is it policy, is it class difference, what is it? The hatred is almost visceral, they come out, they attack. What is the establishment's problem with people that are part of the grassroots base, are part of the MAGA movement? Ma'am.
I mean, I think it's a multi-faceted question. Fear, they hate change, they don't want anyone to take their little fiefdoms. They're jealous. They're bitter. There's a whole multitude of reasons. In the last two days on Facebook, it's despicable what has transpired. And my team, I just say stay off. They do not deserve the attention. We're trying to teach...
People and we have taught a lot of people. You know, people have come our way despite them being angry, miserable, mad. They don't like change. They fear that they might be held accountable. Oh my gosh, God forbid. But we always teach them John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump have handed us our power back and we don't know how to take it. So, we're teaching people like we got to take our power. And that's exactly what we did on Saturday. And I believe we blindsided them. They might deny it, but I can't answer your question fully, Steve, because we still try to figure out why they are petrified and want to attack their own party when all we're doing is fighting for the Bible and the Constitution and our babies. This is pretty simple.
