Episode 1862 · Thursday, 23 April 2026

Smear Campaign

Federal prosecutors target the Southern Poverty Law Center for manufacturing extremism while Kash Patel uncovers a deep-seated corruption temple within the FBI hierarchy.

By The No Agenda Show | 2h 51m listen | 3 chapters
Smear Campaign cover
The No Agenda Show · No. 1862

About this episode

The Department of Justice and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have unsealed an 11-count federal indictment against the Southern Poverty Lake Center, alleging a massive wire fraud and money laundering scheme. Prosecutors claim the SPLC utilized shell companies like Rare Books Warehouse to fund extremist informants, effectively manufacturing the radicalism they claimed to monitor. This legal action directly implicates the organization in the planning of the 2017 Charlottesville protests, fundamentally challenging the political narrative surrounding the Unite the Right event.

FBI Director Kash Patel has launched a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic following allegations of public intoxication and erratic behavior. Patel asserts that his investigation into the FBI has uncovered restricted case files and hidden rooms used to influence the 2016 election, promising imminent arrests for those involved in what he labels a systemic disease temple of corruption. Meanwhile, former CIA Director John Brennan and James Comey have received subpoenas from the DOJ, with Brennan characterizing the move as a retribution campaign. In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces intense scrutiny over Peter Mandelson’s past associations with Jeffrey Epstein, while the Tobacco and Vapes Bill moves to permanently raise the smoking age.

John C. Dvorak recounts a harrowing emergency room experience involving 24/7 data collection and a confrontation with hospital staff over Medicare discharge incentives. Adam Curry explores the strategic ambiguity of Donald Trump’s public persona, described by Eric Weinstein as a form of psychological drunken boxing. The show concludes with a deep dive into McMaster-Carr industrial supplies and the value-for-value model that sustains the No Agenda Nation.


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CHAPTER 10 / 28 Discussion

Keir Starmer, Peter Mandelson, and Jeffrey Epstein Association

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces criticism after admitting he was aware of Peter Mandelson’s past association with Jeffrey Epstein during a security briefing. Mandelson, nicknamed the "Prince of Darkness," was reportedly being fast-tracked for a U.S. ambassador role before the Trump administration released relevant Epstein files. The situation has led to allegations of negligence in the UK government's vetting process and political embarrassment for the Labour Party.

keir starmer· peter mandelson· jeffrey epstein· uk government· vetting

52:38 So he's coming after me because he doesn't know how to get out of this mess. Okay, and now... Now what is she worried about? Oh, Brennan? Yeah what's he worried about if this is all true. Brennans going to the guillotine. Bring that back! That was good. We can only hope. One more clip. Donald Trump said something this morning that was very telling when they asked him about the Brits and Keir Starmer Prime Minister Starmer why he has not joined this effort. And Starmer told Trump I need to speak with my advisor. Hold on second He has, oh maybe he's talking about the Iran war. Yeah Starmer has not joined this effort okay. Why he has not joined this effort? Because Starmer told Trump I need to speak with my advisors and Trump said why do you have to speak with your advisors

53:24 It just demonstrates that these are all things that he does on his own and he's not taking the advice and input of others, even though they're all seem to be the sycophants here. But you know, Kirsten Stahmer and others are listening to their intelligence professionals listening to their military experts listening to their foreign policy advisors and others to see the right way forward but Donald Trump acts on his gut, on his feelings which is not the way to prosecute any war, especially one that is so needless as this. And this is kind of an unfortunate example that former CIA director Brennan brings up because this is exactly the topic

54:03 what is happening in the UK and I've finally put together a couple of clips because it's so entertaining. Starmer listening to his advisors hmm let's recap shall we? Let's just recap Peter Mandelson has been on the rack or had been on the rack twice, twice sacked from the cabinet for the Labour Cabinet Blair's cabinet first time Blair second time I believe Gordon Brown First time for taking a big mortgage loan from, interest free I do believe from Geoffrey Robertson the Labour Party's in-house multi millionaire. He bought a house in Notting Hill didn't tell anyone and then had to declare it he had to be sacked It was the scandal hilariously called Notting Hill gate gate

54:53 He then went on to be restored to the cabinet and then had to be fired for trying to get the very rich billionaire Indian Hinduja brothers, tycoons there in India British passports under the counter. for that and then we had of course the Epstein affair so all through that then star admits in the house when asked by Bader not did you know that Peter Mandelson had continued a friendship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while he was in jail and had stayed at his apartment in Manhattan while he was in jail for child sex offenses. Did you know that Prime Minister? Yes I did so, he knew that

55:42 He said that in the House of Commons. He knew about this guy's background but from what we're hearing he didn't feel it was worth asking the security services whether or not this man had passed the vetting process That is either a lie, or it is the height of incompetence Unbelievable negligence of duty But he always checks with his advisors, doesn't he? Yeah. Brennan so this is Esther Krakow. No Brennan's full of it man! What?! This is a great story uh... It just gets so deep and uh...

56:20 the connections between what they were, clearly this Mandelson I think it might be in this clip or in the next one. They wanted Mandelson close to Trump as soon as possible because they knew that Mandelson well...they call him The Prince of Darkness and so hey! They wanted their guy close to Trump as the ambassador in the United States to the UK and Esther Krakow who's an international affairs commentator has some background on that. So today during Prime Minister's question times, Keir Starmer was forced to admit that he actually did know about Peter Mandelstam association with Jeffrey Epstein in a security briefing so he was asked point blank and point blank in the dispatch box whether he actually knew during the vetting process which Kier Starmer actually even celebrated Peter Mandelstam coming on board before the vetting was complete so he'd already made his mind up that this man is going to be the US ambassador

57:14 And then in sort of an embarrassing U-turn, he now had to reveal that he did know but that Peter Mandelson misled him and his team on the extent of the relationship. Which again is quite baffling because this was easily Googleable information I mean if a conservative researcher who's about 20 years old can find this on the internet than the Labour vesting team should have been able to. But it's more about why he even brought him back in the first place, Peter Mandelson had to resign twice in disgrace from government back in 1998 and 2001 one of which was because he basically peddled his influence together an Indian billionaire British passport so this is not something

57:53 someone who had a clean track record to begin with. But it's clear that Labour is so bereft of talent, that they had to bring someone whose nickname is I kid you not the Prince of Darkness into the Labour sort of high office to try and get anything done. Unfortunately even during Peter Mandelson brief stint as US ambassador no one knew his name because basically Nigel Farage was our de facto ambassador and he actually peddled more influence for the Americans than Peter Mandelson did But his association with Jeffrey Epstein has proven to be extremely ugly. He called, you know, Jeffrey Epstein being released from prison on Liberation Day and the email exchanges between the two suggest that Peter Mandelson was happy to use this influence to try and influence bankers bonuses during the financial crisis, the sale of a bank

58:38 about a European bank bailout. This is at the time where, you know, governments were really scrambling to try and reassure people. People were losing their jobs left right and centre in their homes and you had basically what was effective with the deputy prime minister of the time using his influence to get a paedophile financier and his friends whatever scraps they could so this is what happens when you resurrect the carcasses of a man like Peter Mandelson's political career and unfortunately Kiyosama is really going to try hard to ride this wave but I don't think he'll be successful. And then finally, this Ollie Robbins character who was the former senior civil servant...I think he quit

59:17 or he was sacked, I'm not sure. Testifying before the parliamentary committee which is the nail in the coffin for Starmer and for what i think was a clear gambit to get close to Trump maybe use some Epstein sap who knows And I think the president, that's when he said you know we should probably release all this Epstein stuff. Let's get it all out there. Can i ask you this? So let's move on... I think throughout January honestly my office the foreign secretary's office were under constant pressure there was an atmosphere of constant chasing. Daily phone calls? I couldn't say for certain daily but certainly very frequent from private office to private office, has this been delivered yet never any interest as far as i recall in weather but only an interest in when When you say private office to private office are you saying private office of number 10

1:00:22 Yes I am. that coming from Number 10, that he needed to be in post and in America as quickly as humanly possible. The very first formal communication of this to my predecessor from Number Ten private office being that they wanted all this done at pace and Mandelson in post before inauguration So I'm afraid what that translated into for my team in the Foreign Office and certainly the handover briefing I was getting as I arrived at post

1:01:01 was what I felt was a generally dismissive attitude to his vetting clearance. The focus was on getting Mandelson out of Washington quickly Despite this atmosphere, an atmosphere of pressure the department completed developed vetting to the normal high standard Because the vetting process is not there to determine fitness for office or reputational risk. It's there to protect national security Yeah, so there you go Wait you show you So your analysis has it that Mandelson was put over here on purpose to do something did Trump? yeah, he had all the trump guys figured added two and two where his team did and Then they rolled out all the Epstein stuff and got that guy out of here Mandelson was the first one to go if you recall yes

1:01:49 Yeah, he was it was the first one and I'm sure that they staggered the files that way. Yeah yeah Let's make sure this gets out first and then let's put this here on page 1 Let's make sure that you can copy paste in the redactions are taken out. There goes a huge humiliation for the star mer regime Star Mer is on the ropes He should be yeah, but guys You know, we still have to try something here at home. We already had the New York Times article with you know the Situation Room sources say Bibi Netanyahu sit at the head of the table He was he had the buttons there. He was pushing everything. Yeah, Bibi was running a meeting Trump Trump was serving him drinks and Bibi was doing all this and now we have a new one This is one of those former CIA analysts were my favorites, you know like

CHAPTER 11 / 28 Discussion

Larry Johnson, Nuclear Codes Claim, and 25th Amendment

Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson is criticized for promoting a story alleging that Donald Trump attempted to use nuclear codes during an emergency meeting, only to be overruled by General Dan Kane. The narrative is dismissed as a "scattergun" attempt to revive 25th Amendment discussions and undermine the president's mental stability. The hosts characterize Johnson's claims as part of a long-standing pattern of anti-Trump misinformation.

larry johnson· nuclear codes· 25th amendment· donald trump· general dan kane

1:01:01 was what I felt was a generally dismissive attitude to his vetting clearance. The focus was on getting Mandelson out of Washington quickly Despite this atmosphere, an atmosphere of pressure the department completed developed vetting to the normal high standard Because the vetting process is not there to determine fitness for office or reputational risk. It's there to protect national security Yeah, so there you go Wait you show you So your analysis has it that Mandelson was put over here on purpose to do something did Trump? yeah, he had all the trump guys figured added two and two where his team did and Then they rolled out all the Epstein stuff and got that guy out of here Mandelson was the first one to go if you recall yes

1:01:49 Yeah, he was it was the first one and I'm sure that they staggered the files that way. Yeah yeah Let's make sure this gets out first and then let's put this here on page 1 Let's make sure that you can copy paste in the redactions are taken out. There goes a huge humiliation for the star mer regime Star Mer is on the ropes He should be yeah, but guys You know, we still have to try something here at home. We already had the New York Times article with you know the Situation Room sources say Bibi Netanyahu sit at the head of the table He was he had the buttons there. He was pushing everything. Yeah, Bibi was running a meeting Trump Trump was serving him drinks and Bibi was doing all this and now we have a new one This is one of those former CIA analysts were my favorites, you know like

1:02:44 they all show up on Shawn Ryan's show. Larry Johnson, here we go. Oh that, Larry Johnson okay let's stop here so we can preface this. Larry Johnson is some sort, still working for somebody. Larry Johnson is the worst of the worst. He's the worse of the worse! Everything as an anti-Trumpism, it's all... you know like The Walls Are Closing In he's still back on that theme from like 2017 The Walls are Closing in type a guy. He is full of it Larry Johnson is the absolute worst. And this is part of the 25th Amendment ploy, I'm quite convinced and then there was a report out that they had an emergency meeting Saturday night and apparently well one report coming out at that meeting at White House is that Trump wanted to use the nuclear so-called use the nuclear codes and General Dan Cain stood up said no

1:03:41 he invoked his privilege as the head of the military. No! That's not right. There are pictures of Kane coming out at that meeting with this head down to the ground, you know there is some very bizarre things going on in DC. I'm pretty sure in every movie I've seen and we could check with The Book Of Knowledge when the president says it's time for the new codes The generals don't get to overrule that. No, no they don't So they're desperate here so this is a bullcrap story Yes you think which is what you expect yeah and These guys are really hard up for I Don't understand why they can't focus better Well You know the system is being there's a scattergun Yeah, there it is blunderbuss

CHAPTER 12 / 28 Discussion

Kevin Warsh, Federal Reserve Independence, and Elizabeth Warren

Kevin Warsh testified before a Senate committee following his nomination to lead the Federal Reserve. Senator Elizabeth Warren questioned Warsh on his independence, labeling him a potential "human sock puppet" for Donald Trump. Warsh maintained that he would be an independent actor while advocating for a lower profile for the Fed and a reduction in the frequency of market-destabilizing press conferences.

kevin warsh· federal reserve· elizabeth warren· interest rates· npr

1:04:39 Is that a term? Blunderbuss. Yeah, blunderbuss is the type of weapon with big... yeah with nails you put nails in it don't you? Blunderbuss. Yeah I got some other stuff but i'm open to your suggestions well uh we do like i got these two clips from the Kevin Warsh. Oh yeah! I watched this. This kind of an aside and then we can talk about I got a number of ways to go after that, but let's get these out of the way. All right the president's choice to lead the Federal Reserve says he would like the agency to do a little less Kevin Warsh testified before a Senate committee Tuesday He said the Fed could do a better job of curbing inflation and unemployment if it was more narrowly focused One big question is who decides what the Fed does? Warsh was nominated by a president who wants greater control over an independent agency

1:05:33 NPR's Scott Horsley remains independent and joins us now. Agency? Agency! Says who, yeah what kind of agency are we talking about? It's not a government agency. The Federal Reserve is not a government agency. Well Scott good morning Good morning Steve What was the hearing like It was quite polarized. Committee Republicans mostly backed the nominee, Democrats were uniformly opposed One question that came up again and again was whether Warsh would take marching orders from the president who's been demanding lower interest rates Here's GOP Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana Are you going to be the President's human sock puppet? Uh, senator absolutely not Are you gonna be anybody's human sock pup

1:06:12 No, I'm honored the president nominated me for the position and i'll be an independent actor if confirmed as chairman of the federal reserve. Moore says it's not unusual that Trump wants lower interest rates he says most presidents do And Moore says just because Trump is more outspoken than most other presidents that's not a threat to the fed's independence Hold on a second what outfit is reporting this? The NPR Alright so they forgot To give you the bit before that Would you have, luckily? Of course I do! Here is Pocahontas. I try to end the independence of the Fed because Trump's economic failures are causing him political problems and he wants the Fed to use monetary policies to artificially juice the economy in the short term and this is his last chance to do that before the November elections

1:07:07 Having a sock puppet in charge of the Fed would also give the president access to the fed's powerful authorities To enrich himself his family and his Wall Street buddies it could mean granting special accounts to his family's crypto company or bailouts do is friends on Wall Street if they get into trouble in other words a The Fed, under Donald Trump's control creates more opportunities for Trump's corruption. It is interesting they didn't put that bit in! She was the impetus for the question... It might be in one of the other clips but yeah she's the one who brought up sock puppets and uh... And they also didn't play it right They didn't play- In fact

1:07:54 Hold on, it's short but this is the full Kennedy quote which was better. If I was working at NPR would have chosen... No these okay? I would have chosen this one. The editing is no good. Professor what's a sock puppet? Uh..I heard the reference from Senator Warren Yeah What is it? I'm not sure I know. Okay. Why do you stick your hand in yeah kind of like this yes What's a human sock puppet getting a human a sock puppet Somebody will do what somebody else tells them to do. I think that's what the senator was trying to suggest Are you gonna be the president's human sock puppet? You know he shows his hand up the puppets, but no that's the clip NPR week is weak yeah well Yeah

1:08:47 It is weak. I'm surprised that Warren, well let's play clip two Although we should mention Trump did more than speak He has done a lot of things to try and get more control over the Fed so are Democrats persuaded that this nominee would be independent? Well that was exactly the point that Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren made She says Trump hasn't just expressed an opinion he has gone to great lengths to bend The Central Bank to his will The president has repeatedly and illegally attempted to take over the Fed. His bogus attacks on Governor Lisa Cook and Chair Powell were designed to threaten all the members of the Fed

1:09:25 Now so far those efforts by the president have been blocked in the courts but Trump's pressure campaign has raised alarms. The Fed is supposed to be insulated from that kind of pressure so they can do what's best in the long run for the economy not just what's good until next election Aside from his independence this is a chance to find out what it is that Warsh would want to do with this agency how if at all does he want to change it? Yeah, he thinks there is room for lower interest rates but also a lower profile for the fed. He suggests policyholders at the central bank might hold fewer news conferences and give fewer speeches. He wants to improve the data that they use to measure things like inflation, and he wants the Fed to scale back its investment in government debt." Oh man I hope there's more in this third clip because I watched a different hearing than NPR did, I guess. It was the same hearings as NPR has their perspective. By the way I should mention

1:10:24 that having less press conferences would be a good thing. The problem they have now is that when the chairman goes and does his press conference, the stock market's all paying attention for code words and then it makes the market unstable. Less press conferences would dramatically lower Andrew Horowitz' blood pressure It would, for sure. He's always like and the market has this price in or we're expecting this and nothing will happen and they think it's gonna say this and what does this phrase mean exactly? Yeah no I'm down with that. Play this last clip then you can follow up with the real clips What is Worse saying about his own personal investments

1:11:08 not a whole lot he is worth more than 100 million dollars who doesn't count his wife was there that this day louder fortune but not just financial disclosure form is pretty opaque about how and where that money's invested senator warren grilled warship out whether he has financial ties to the trump family or to china or even jeffrey epstein what senator I am very tirelessly with the ethics officials at the office of government yes you have now I'm doing after we went down $100,000 and have agreed senator to sell All of my financial assets were stuck that question with a promise to sell those undisclosed assets before he starts work at the Fed. How soon would he start work?