FiveStack with Dean Blundell & Zev Shalev

Today’s FiveStack is brought to you by Ground News — FiveStack viewers get 40% off. Click the button below to access the discount.BREAKING: Two Pilots Dead at LaGuardiaAn air traffic controller at LaGuardia Airport cleared a Port Authority fire truck onto an active runway at 11:40 PM Sunday, then screamed “stop” at least ten times as Air Canada Express Flight 8646 barreled in from Montreal at 150 miles per hour. Both pilots were killed instantly. Flight attendant Solange Tremblay was ejected from the aircraft while still strapped to her seat, thrown dozens of feet from the wreckage — her daughter called it “nothing short of a miracle.” The escape slides never deployed, leaving 72 passengers to organize their own evacuation in the dark, scrambling over the wings. “The flight attendant in the front got ejected from the plane, so we really did not have direction,” said passenger Rebecca Liquori. Dean noted the controller “has got to live with this for the rest of his life” and pointed out that air traffic controllers have the second-highest burnout rate of any profession in the world. The crash came at an airport already buckling — earlier that same day, travelers endured hourslong security lines because of TSA staffing shortages tied to the DHS shutdown. LaGuardia is 40% below safe staffing levels, controller retirements have surged from four a day to 15-20 during the shutdown, and DOGE fired 400 FAA employees back in February 2025. It is the first fatal accident at LaGuardia since 1992.5️⃣ Trump Blocks TSA Deal, Sends ICE to AirportsSenate Majority Leader John Thune had a deal with Chuck Schumer to end the 43-day DHS shutdown — fund everything except ICE, get TSA workers back on the job, end the airport chaos. Trump killed it on Truth Social. “Donald Trump doesn’t give a f**k if that lasts,” Dean said, describing how Trump told Thune he wanted to keep the fight going for political leverage. “I don’t care how dangerous flying the friendly skies of the United States are. Because it’s more important to me that I look like I win this fight.” Trump’s solution: deploy untrained ICE agents to 15-20 airports starting Monday. “None of them are trained to do any TSA work, any screening, none of that,” Dean noted. “They’re trained for customs and border enforcement.” Meanwhile, ICE agents were filmed at airports without masks, some directing travelers to TGI Friday’s, others leaning on mezzanine railings with their heads in their hands. “I don’t know what the f**k we’re doing here, but we’re here.”4️⃣ SAVE Act: Do It for JesusTrump appeared at an event in Tennessee and delivered what may be the most revealing moment of his presidency. He told Republican senators to tie voter ID and proof of citizenship to the DHS funding bill — the SAVE America Act — and skip Easter recess to get it done. Then he said it: “Make this one for Jesus.” Dean, who grew up in the evangelical faith, broke it down: “When you’re out of answers, when you need them to do something, you tell them it’s their God-given duty. Jesus died for you so you could pass the SAVE Act.” Trump was laughing as he said it, unable to keep a straight face. “He knows he’s misusing Jesus’s name,” Zev observed. “The idea that Jesus would have endorsed anything Donald Trump is doing is nonsensical.” The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote — targeting communities of color, women, trans people, and anyone who’s undergone a name change. Trump has made it clear: this bill is more important to him than funding TSA, more important than airport safety, more important than ending the shutdown.3️⃣ SCOTUS Signals Kill on Mail-In VotingThe Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could eliminate mail-in ballot grace periods in 18 states just in time for November’s midterms. The RNC is challenging Mississippi’s own Republican-passed law allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day to arrive five days later. Only the three liberal justices appeared sympathetic. “This is part of the SAVE Act,” Dean said. “The SAVE Act is just this enormous go f**k yourself — we don’t want you voting. If you’re Black, if you’re trans, if you’re a woman, if you’ve undergone a name change, we want you to stay as far away from the polls.” A ruling by June would reshape the midterm elections.HERE’S HOW GROUND NEWS ANALYZED THIS STORYGround News tracked coverage across the political spectrum: left-leaning outlets framed it as voter suppression targeting minorities and the elderly, center outlets focused on the legal question of federal versus state authority, and right-leaning outlets called it an election integrity measure to prevent late-arriving ballots from swinging results. Get 40% off Ground News by clicking here:2️⃣ Columbus Statue Returns to the White HouseWhile two pilots lay dead at LaGuardia, the White House installed a 13-foot replica of the Christopher Columbus statue torn down in Baltimore in 2020, rebuilt with pieces of the original. They also reinstalled the Confederate General Albert Pike statue. Dean had a take that surprised: “I actually applaud the return of the Christopher Columbus statue. Because to me, that’s truly what America was built on — a lie.” Zev pushed back, insisting America’s foundational ideas — government for and by the people — remain “the most incredible, beautiful things the world has ever been given.” Dean countered with data: Canadians have a 40% greater chance of moving between economic classes. The two sparred over whether America’s promise was real or myth, eventually agreeing the country needs “a reset of some sort.”1️⃣ Iran: Trump’s Ghost TalksTrump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran expired with no strikes and no explanation — just a Truth Social post about “very good and productive conversations.” Iran’s response: “There is no dialogue between Tehran and Washington.” Dean called it what it is: “Donald Trump had an entire two-day negotiating session with the Iranian regime that no one knew about — including the Iranian regime.” Zev noted that Trump’s entire financial future — his crypto holdings, his business interests — is tied to the region he accidentally set on fire. “I probably would invent an imaginary negotiation too,” Dean admitted. The new deadline is Friday. Iran is still enriching uranium. The Strait of Hormuz is still closed. And the president of the United States may be talking to no one.The Spring from Hell is here. Trump is blocking deals, invoking Jesus, deploying ICE to airports, and negotiating with ghosts — while two pilots lie dead on a runway. Welcome to the FiveStack.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Lev Parnas, Cat: Poli-Psych, Robin Payes, Iulia Huiu, Noble Blend, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Today’s FiveStack is brought to you by Ground News — FiveStack viewers get 40% off. Click the button below to access the discount.5️⃣ Bari Weiss Kills CBS News RadioAfter nearly a century on the air, CBS News Radio is dead. Bari Weiss announced she’s shutting down the division Edward R. Murrow built and laying off 6 percent of the CBS newsroom, with 700 affiliated stations given two months to find a replacement. “She is systematically destroying everything,” Zev said of Weiss, calling her unqualified for the position and noting the only qualification she has is supporting Israel and Bibi Netanyahu. Dean traced the pattern further: “Does money even matter to the bottom line of what they’re trying to accomplish with this consolidation? I don’t think ratings matter.” With CBS Evening News cratering to 3.83 million viewers under Tony Dokoupil and the Ellison family now acquiring CNN through the Warner Bros. Discovery deal, the consolidation of American media under Trump-aligned ownership continues at speed.4️⃣ Staley’s Wife Files for DivorceAfter 40 years of marriage, Debora Staley has filed for divorce from former Barclays CEO Jes Staley, the banker banned from the UK financial industry over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. All documents are sealed. “They’re doing a performative divorce more likely than anything else in order to separate their assets so she can control them going forward,” Zev explained, noting that British regulators are investigating Staley’s ties again. Dean didn’t hold back: “Do you know how many women, how many girls slash women have accused Jes Staley of sexual abuse? I counted 38.” With JPMorgan’s $290 million Epstein settlement and more litigation coming, the Epstein reckoning is now forcing the people who enabled it to scramble for financial cover.HERE”S A STORY YOU MAY HAVE MISSED WE FOUND ON GROUND NEWS:Saudi Arabia's oil officials are privately projecting crude could spike to $180 a barrel if the Iran war's disruption of energy supplies persists past April, according to the Wall Street Journal. Oil is already above $110 with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to commercial traffic. Economists surveyed by the Journal put the probability of a global recession at 50 percent if prices reach $138. Don’t miss another story like this. Fivestack viewers get 40% at groundnews.com/fivestack3️⃣ Epstein’s Lawyer: “I Knew Nothing”Darren Indyke, Jeffrey Epstein’s personal attorney for decades and co-executor of his estate, sat before the House Oversight Committee and told Congress under oath that he had “no knowledge whatsoever” of Epstein’s crimes. His name is on NDAs covering payments totaling up to $280 million to victims. He signed off on settlements during the estate process. And yet he claims he knew nothing. “This isn’t perjury. This is flat out lying,” Dean said. “Just flat out lying about what this man helped Jeffrey Epstein get away with for 20 years.” Congressman David Min, a former law professor, said after the hearing that Indyke likely perjured himself “over and over and over again,” revealing that Indyke couldn’t explain $725,000 in structured cash withdrawals designed to avoid federal reporting, that multiple women described him helping them with apartments and immigration issues, and that he reportedly told women not to talk to police. The FBI and Department of Justice had never even interviewed Indyke before this deposition.2️⃣ Trump Ally Weaponized ICE Against His ExThe New York Times reported that Paolo Zampolli, the man who introduced Donald Trump to Melania and a figure in the Epstein files, used his White House connections to get ICE to detain and deport the mother of his child during a custody battle. Zampolli reached out to top ICE official David Venturella, who personally called the Miami office to ensure agents picked up Amanda Ungaro before she was released on bail. Dean laid out the deeper connection: Zampolli was recruited into the modeling world by Jean-Luc Brunel, Epstein’s associate who died in a French jail. He brought Melania into the Epstein world and is now serving as a presidential special envoy with what amounts to diplomatic cover. “Every single person around Donald Trump that is impugned by the Epstein files has been given some type of cover,” Zev noted, connecting the pattern of Trump surrounding himself with compromised figures from both the Epstein and Russia networks.Ice Detains 7-Year-Old Canadian GirlAlso on today's show: Dean broke the story of Ayala Lucas, a seven-year-old Canadian girl with autism currently being held by ICE at the Rio Grande Valley Central Processing Center near McAllen, Texas. Her mother, Tanya Warner, is a Canadian citizen from British Columbia who had been living legally in the United States for five years with a Texas driver's license, a work visa, and a green card. The family was crossing the border legally when agents took her inside for routine fingerprinting and never let her out. Ayala has been subjected to 24-hour lights, noise, and overcrowding — sensory chaos that an autistic child cannot process. She is one of at least 40 Canadian children currently in ICE detention. "Get this young girl home," Dean said, calling on the Canadian government to intervene. "As a father, this thing crushed me."1️⃣ Trump and Bibi: Boots on the GroundThree weeks into a war Congress never authorized, the United States is deploying ground forces to the Middle East. The USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group departed San Diego March 18th carrying 2,500 Marines and 20 F-35B fighter jets. Trump admitted he killed Iran’s entire leadership and now has no negotiating partner, saying “there’s no one to talk to” and then adding “I like that.” Netanyahu appeared publicly and confirmed a ground component is necessary, telling reporters “you can’t do revolutions from the air.” Dean connected the escalation directly to the Epstein cover-up: “If you wanted to know how serious Donald Trump is about getting out from underneath this whole pedophile conversation, he’s willing to sacrifice 8,000 men and women.” Zev tied the thread tighter: “Epstein worked for Israel and Epstein worked for Russia. The fact that we are at war at the behest of Bibi Netanyahu is important because the reason Donald Trump is in power is partially because of Jeffrey Epstein.”The through line across all five stories is the same network protecting itself, whether through media consolidation, performative divorces, perjury before Congress, weaponizing federal agencies, or launching unauthorized wars.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Lev Parnas, Ellie Leonard, Cat: Poli-Psych, Dee Batiste, "Sushi"(Jen) of MIND HAVEN, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Today’s FiveStack is brought to you by Ground News — FiveStack viewers get 40% off. Click the button below to access the discount.5️⃣ Trump’s Pearl Harbor Clanger Donald Trump invoked the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor at a White House press conference Thursday — while Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stood beside him. A Japanese reporter asked why the U.S. didn’t warn allies before attacking Iran. Trump’s response: “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Takaichi had arrived bearing 250 cherry trees as a gift and hoping to strengthen the alliance. Instead she got a reminder of the most painful chapter in the relationship. “She brought 250 cherry trees. He brought 1941,” Dean said. “There’s probably nothing worse you could do than mention Pearl Harbor next to the Japanese Prime Minister.” Trump needs Takaichi to send naval vessels to the Strait of Hormuz. Japanese media is playing the clip on a loop. Decades of diplomatic bridge-building between the two countries — Obama at Hiroshima, Abe at Pearl Harbor — undone in 30 seconds for a punchline.4️⃣ $200 Billion for IranPentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Congress Thursday for $200 billion in additional war funding on top of the existing $1 trillion defense budget. “It takes money to kill bad guys,” Hegseth said. The U.S. has struck over 7,000 targets in Iran with no end date in sight. Even Republican Sen. Roger Marshall called the figure “a little tall.” HERE’S THE HEADLINE WE WOULD HAVE MISSED WITHOUT GROUND NEWS:This story is getting 60% right-wing coverage — if you consume left-leaning media, you’re probably not seeing it. Iranian lawmakers are moving to impose tolls and taxes on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared that maritime traffic “will not return to its pre-war status.” Tehran lawmaker Somayeh Rafiei said countries must pay taxes for strait transit. The $200 billion war just got more expensive. Find this story and thousands more at groundnews.com/fivestack — 40% off.3️⃣ Joe Kent’s Bombshells on TuckerFormer National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent sat down with Tucker Carlson Wednesday night for his first public interview since resigning over the Iran war, while the FBI investigates him for alleged classified leaks. Kent told Carlson there was no U.S. intelligence supporting an imminent threat from Iran — confirming what the ODNI’s own worldwide threat assessment says. He described Israeli officials bypassing U.S. intelligence channels to go directly to policymakers, shifting the red line from “no nuclear weapon” to “no enrichment at all,” killing any possibility of a deal. Kent also connected the war to the unresolved murder of Charlie Kirk, saying his NCTC found leads suggesting a potential foreign nexus to the assassination that the FBI and DOJ shut down. “This is a guy who was sitting in the DNI’s office, seeing all the intelligence, saying there’s no real threat from Iran,” Zev said. Lev Parnas added: “The most important thing is the timing — it had nothing to do with imminent threat. It had to do with Russia and Israel.”2️⃣ Gabbard Contradicts Trump, RFK on the RopesDNI Tulsi Gabbard appeared before the House committee Thursday, one day after telling the Senate she went to the FBI’s Fulton County raid “at the request of the president” — directly contradicting Trump, who said Bondi sent her. Today’s testimony was strikingly different. “She was basically a lot more demure, did not really answer any questions related to Fulton County,” Zev observed. “She got smacked on the wrist for yesterday.” Dean noted the body language: “Number one, you know when your kid knows he’s in trouble? That’s what we got today from Tulsi Gabbard.” Asked directly whether she possessed intelligence pointing to foreign interference in Georgia’s 2020 election, Gabbard repeatedly deflected: “We are continuing to look into this matter.” Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s standing with Trump’s inner circle has hit “a new low,” per the Wall Street Journal. A federal judge blocked his revised vaccine schedule. Zev reported that a good source says Mehmet Oz may soon take over at HHS, which may explain Kennedy’s increasingly erratic behavior.1️⃣ Bondi’s Perjury TrapHouse Democrats walked out of AG Pam Bondi’s closed-door Epstein files briefing Wednesday night. She showed up early, refused to go under oath, and then said she wasn’t even sure she’d appear for her April 14 subpoenaed deposition. “She’s got this choice to make,” Zev explained. “She can either protect the president and perjure herself, or she damages the president by telling the truth — in which case she’s doomed anyhow. It’s either jail, perjury, or political exile.” Reps. Dan Goldman and Ted Lieu have formally requested a special counsel to investigate Bondi for perjury after she testified in February that “there is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime” — despite Trump being referenced over 38,000 times in the Epstein files. Five Republicans voted for the subpoena. Impeachment articles have been filed. And today, Epstein’s longtime lawyer Darren Indyke is testifying behind closed doors. Dean drove home the through-line: “They’re all women. Every single woman he’s put out on the ice flow — Bondi, Gabbard, Noem. They are cannon fodder to him.”Five stories. One pattern. A president who invoked Pearl Harbor to justify a war his own intelligence says was unnecessary, while his cabinet faces perjury charges, his attorney general can’t answer a yes-or-no question, and Epstein’s lawyer sits in the deposition chair.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Today’s FiveStack is brought to you by GroundNews — FiveStack viewers get 40% off their Vantage plan. 5️⃣ SAVE ACT: TRUMP RIGS MIDTERMS LIVEThe Senate spent today in marathon debate on the SAVE America Act — a bill Trump says will “guarantee the midterms.” It requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, affecting 21 million Americans who don’t have easy access to those documents. It hands DHS — currently under investigation, currently leaderless — access to every state’s voter roll. As Zev reported in his investigation published yesterday, this is the legislative component of the same operation Warner named this morning: DOGE on voter rolls, Gabbard in Fulton County, the SAVE Act on the Senate floor. Sequential steps in a coordinated effort. The V-Dem Institute confirmed this week that U.S. democracy has dropped 22 points — from 79 to 57 — the steepest single-year decline ever recorded. As Zev said: the only thing standing between where we are and a full dictatorship is the elections. Everyone needs to be paying attention this November.4️⃣ THE NOEM/LEWANDOWSKI CORRUPTION RINGThree House committees launched a formal probe this morning into Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem’s special advisor — and, as Dean noted, her lover — who served as shadow chief of staff inside the Department of Homeland Security. They want Signal chats. They want contract records. Every contract above $100,000 apparently required approval from either Noem or Lewandowski personally, which is how you run a shakedown operation out of a cabinet department. According to Scott McFarlane’s exclusive, Lewandowski was going around to contractors and demanding 25, 50, 150 thousand dollars in exchange for access and approvals. Noem already told Congress under oath that Lewandowski had no role in contract approvals. Democrats say that’s perjury. She’s been referred to the DOJ. As Dean said: Tulsi, meet Kristi. It’s your future.3️⃣ IRAN: KILLING LEADERS WHO COULD END THE WARIsrael killed Iran’s intelligence minister this morning — the third senior Iranian leader killed in 48 hours. Netanyahu’s stated strategy is to assassinate Iran’s internal security leadership hoping to trigger a popular uprising. His own former generals don’t believe it will work. Johns Hopkins professor Vali Nasr put it directly: there’s enormous hatred of the Islamic Republic, but now there’s also considerable hatred of the United States and Israel. Four million people turned out publicly in Tehran for Larijani’s funeral. The regime is not hiding underground. As Dean noted, Israel is killing the very leaders most capable of negotiating a way out — and Netanyahu has good personal reasons to keep the war going, since it suspends his own bribery and fraud charges. Oil hit $108 a barrel. Gas is $3.84 a gallon, up 29% since February 28. Vance is calling it a blip. It isn’t. This doesn’t resolve before Halloween at the earliest, and the inflation from it hasn’t shown up in any official number yet.Today’s show is brought to you by GroundNews. Dean said it best on air: after watching Sunday pundits spin in circles, going to GroundNews is like a digital wash. The Iran story is the perfect example — U.S. outlets cover the strategic rationale for killing Iranian leaders. Pull up GroundNews and you see Arab press, European outlets, and Iranian diaspora media covering the same war in a completely different register. Same event, different reality. That’s media bias in real time.2️⃣ EPSTEIN’S LAWYER UNDER OATH THURSDAYTomorrow, Darren Indyke — Epstein’s personal attorney for more than two decades, manager of 64-plus shell companies, holder of power of attorney over Deutsche Bank accounts, and co-executor of a $577 million estate signed two days before Epstein died — testifies before the House Oversight Committee. Last week, accountant Richard Kahn confirmed five clients who paid Epstein: Wexner, Dubin, Sinofsky, the Rothschilds, and Leon Black. He also confirmed Epstein talked about Trump “a lot” — and that the estate settled a claim involving an accusation related to the president. As Zev noted, the Richard Kahn deposition video still hasn’t been released. Where is it, Chairman Comer? Meanwhile, AG Pam Bondi has been subpoenaed for an April 14 deposition and faces what Zev described as four separate subpoenas now converging on her — one of which apparently comes with some form of immunity offer if she comes in and tells the truth. She’s been very quiet lately. Jail face, as Dean observed. The financial architecture of how powerful men became subservient to Epstein’s network goes under oath Thursday.1️⃣ GABBARD LYING UNDER OATH Senator Mark Warner opened the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual worldwide threats hearing with a charge: Tulsi Gabbard organized an effort to misuse her national security powers to interfere in domestic politics and provide pretext for the president’s unconstitutional effort to seize the 2026 elections. Then he proved it in real time. Gabbard could not explain how Trump knew to send her to Fulton County before the warrant was even served. She admitted she was there “at the request of the president” while claiming she had no idea what was in the warrant — a story that falls apart the moment you ask the obvious question: then why was the president sending the director of national intelligence to a local FBI raid on 2020 ballots? On foreign interference, she admitted by omission — she couldn’t name a single foreign threat to the 2026 midterms, despite that briefing being required by law and requested by the committee for months. And on Iran, she cut the paragraph from her own written testimony stating Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated” with no efforts to rebuild — the paragraph that directly contradicts the president’s imminent threat justification for the war. The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

ZEV SHALEV AND DEAN BLUNDELL MARCH 17, 20265️⃣ Israel Kills the ExitIsrael killed Ali Larijani overnight — Iran’s de facto leader since U.S.-Israeli strikes wiped out the upper echelons of the Iranian government on February 28, and by all accounts the most pragmatic figure left in Tehran with the credibility to negotiate. The Israeli military also confirmed the killing of Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force. Zev put it bluntly: “Why is Israel killing the only people that America can talk to? If you want the war to end, you wouldn’t be chopping off the head every single time.” Dean noted that the IRGC, like the FSB, is built to survive decapitation — there are thousands ready to fill every position Israel eliminates. With every U.S. ally — UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia — refusing Trump’s demand to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, the war has no coalition, no exit strategy, and now no one on the other side with the standing or the will to make a deal.4️⃣ Trump’s Own Terror Chief: The War Is IllegalJoe Kent — Trump’s hand-picked director of the National Counterterrorism Center, an 11-combat-tour Green Beret whose wife was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019 — resigned this morning. His resignation letter, posted on X, was direct: “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. I cannot in good conscience support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people.” Kent is the highest-ranking Trump administration official to resign over the Iran war. Trump responded by calling him “weak on security” and said it was “a good thing he’s out.” Pentagon briefings to Congress had already contradicted the “imminent threat” claim — officials told lawmakers Iran was not planning to attack unless struck first. The U.S. now has no director of its National Counterterrorism Center during a war, and Trumpworld is bracing for a Tucker Carlson interview with Kent.3️⃣ Kushner’s $5 Billion War DividendWhile his father-in-law wages an unauthorized war across the Middle East, Jared Kushner is raising $5 billion for his private equity firm Affinity Partners — from Gulf sovereign wealth funds, the same governments Trump is pressuring to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. Kushner previously raised $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund while serving as a White House adviser during Trump’s first term. A White House ethics waiver allows him to conduct private business while advising on Middle East policy. The Strait of Hormuz closure has pushed oil above $100 a barrel, enriching the Gulf states Kushner is courting. As Dean put it, the financial architecture of Trump’s Middle East policy runs in one direction: toward people who are paying Kushner.2️⃣ Trump Eyes Cuba as the Lights Go OutCuba’s national electricity grid collapsed entirely today — a total blackout across the island. Hours later, Trump told reporters it would be a “big honor” to take Cuba. He is not speaking in the American “we.” As Dean noted, he is speaking in “I” — I can take it, I can do what I want, I can have it. Venezuela is already under U.S. control after the military capture of Maduro. Cuba’s energy crisis has been building for months, starved of Venezuelan oil now under American influence and Russian oil diverted by the Iran war. The next administration, whoever leads it, will inherit the bill for rebuilding countries Trump has decided to acquire. As Zev observed, America itself could use that investment.1️⃣ Narativ Investigation: The Plot to Steal 2026 Is in MotionToday Narativ published an investigation connecting what appears to be an operational network to interfere in the 2026 midterm elections — running from the Kremlin through DOGE, Palantir, Tulsi Gabbard, and Russell Vought, and now directly into America’s voter rolls. Democracy Docket reported this week that DOGE has been formally assigned to review state voter rolls. DOGE’s own depositions — aired on Narativ Live the night before — revealed auto-delete Signal, ChatGPT keyword lists used to discriminate, and all government data flowing into Peter Thiel’s Palantir. On January 28, Gabbard personally oversaw the FBI seizure of 700 boxes of voter rolls and ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, with Trump on speakerphone. Narativ’s Epstein files reporting establishes that Epstein introduced Thiel to FSB-trained operative Sergey Belyakov in July 2015 and to Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin in October 2016. Lev Parnas tells Narativ his sources reveal that Putin told Trump: it doesn’t matter who votes — it matters who counts the votes. As Zev said on air: “That is exactly what is happening.” Read the full investigation at narativ.org.The five stories today are not separate. They are one: a war built on a lie, an insider who said so out loud, a family member cashing in on the carnage, a hemisphere being reorganized by force, and an election already under attack. None of this is what democracy looks like.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you This Will Hold, Sushipheliac 🍣🍥🍣(Jen Rust), Kristen Lepionka, Pamela, Leah Anderson, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Before the countdown, breaking news: White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, with Trump announcing it on Truth Social just before noon. She plans to work from the White House full-time during treatment, raising immediate questions about who is steering the ship during a war with no exit strategy and a president who spent the weekend threatening reporters with treason.5. TSA Agents Walk Out as DHS Shutdown Hits One MonthOne month into the DHS funding lapse and America’s airports are falling apart. TSA agents missed their first full paycheck and hundreds have quit outright, with callout rates tripling from 2% to 6% and hours-long security lines crippling major airports in Houston, Atlanta, New Orleans and Austin. Airports in Denver, Seattle and Las Vegas are now begging the public to donate grocery gift cards and food to federal employees who are working without pay. “This is a father of three that lives at home with his mom, has a full-time job and they’re not paying him to do that job,” as one agent’s situation was described. “What they’re doing instead is saying, be a real patriot and show up and work for free.” The timing could not be worse — this is March break, the war with Iran has elevated security concerns, and the government cannot even pay the people keeping the skies safe.4. Afghan Veteran Dies in ICE Custody Within 24 HoursMohammad Nazeer Paktyawal fought alongside U.S. special forces in Afghanistan for ten years, earning distinguished awards for translating and protecting American troops. He was legally evacuated after the fall of Kabul, had a pending asylum case, a completed USCIS interview, and six children — one an American citizen. On Friday morning, ICE agents in unmarked vehicles arrested him in his Dallas driveway in front of his kids. By Saturday he was dead — the 24th person to die in ICE custody this fiscal year, putting the administration on pace to nearly double last year’s record. “If you think you are safe in the United States of America because you did work for the United States of America, no one’s safe in the United States of America,” Blundell said. “It doesn’t matter what you did for America.”3. Trump Is Losing the Youth Who Elected HimA Washington Post-ABC-Ipsos poll shows 70 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds disapprove of Trump, with only 51 percent of his young voters certain to vote in the midterms versus 77 percent of Harris voters. Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump in 2024, called the Iran war “so insane” and said Trump had “betrayed” his supporters. But the disaffected youth aren’t moving toward Democrats — they’re radicalizing further right into Nick Fuentes territory, with 31 percent of Republicans under 50 now self-identifying as racist and a majority of GOP men under 50 denying or doubting the Holocaust. “This griper movement is going to be much more violent than anything in the MAGA movement,” Blundell warned, pointing to Tucker Carlson’s embrace of Fuentes and the question of who inherits the party after Trump.2. Six Airmen Named as Every Ally Refuses to HelpThe Pentagon released the names of the six American airmen killed when their KC-135 refueling tanker crashed over western Iraq, bringing total U.S. deaths to 13 in a war Congress never authorized. Trump is now publicly demanding that NATO allies send warships to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz — and every single one is saying no. Germany’s defense minister asked what two frigates would accomplish when the most powerful navy on the planet has already “won the war.” Trump, in a Financial Times interview, warned NATO countries that their refusal would mean “a very bad future.” On Air Force One he accidentally told the truth: “I really am demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory because it is their territory. It’s the place from which they get their energy.” As Shalev noted, threatening to delay the March 31 summit with Xi Jinping may be the one smart move left — 60 percent of Hormuz oil flows to Asia.1. Trump Threatens Reporters With TreasonThe President of the United States said Sunday that reporters covering his war should be charged with treason — which carries a minimum of five years in federal prison and a maximum of life. In a 400-word Truth Social rant, Trump accused the media of spreading Iranian propaganda and said outlets publishing critical coverage “should be brought up on Charges for TREASON.” On Air Force One he doubled down, calling ABC “maybe the most corrupt news organization on the planet,” refusing questions from a female reporter he called “a very obnoxious person,” and declaring “I actually think it’s pretty criminal.” FCC Chair Brendan Carr immediately followed up by threatening to revoke broadcast licenses. “It doesn’t get more Putin-esque or North Korea-esque than that,” Blundell said. As Shalev pointed out, the real treason is being committed by a president providing aid and comfort to America’s enemies through a war that has enriched Russia, empowered China, and destroyed the American economy.THE PATTERNDay 421: Donald Trump started a war, lost control of it, can’t get a single ally to help clean up his mess, and is now threatening to imprison the reporters who tell the truth about it. As Blundell’s father Jimmy used to say: you catch more flies with honey than you do with s**t. And never beat the horses you’re trying to win the race with.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Ellie Leonard, Caro Henry, Robin Payes, Pamela, Don't Stop Me Now - TLawrence, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ DOJ Pregames the Midterm StealThe Justice Department has sued 29 states and Washington D.C. demanding unredacted voter rolls — driver’s licenses, partial Social Security numbers, all of it. They’ve lost in California, Michigan, and Oregon. Now they’re appealing. And buried in those emergency motions is the sentence that tells you exactly what this is really about: “Absent a final court determination on this matter, there is no other process to ensure a fair election in 2026.” They don’t need to win the lawsuits. They need the language. Lose the case, keep the quote, question the midterms in November. As Dean put it, Trump is “deathly afraid” of what the polls are already showing — and this is what fear looks like when it has lawyers.4️⃣ Marines to the StraitDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Strait of Hormuz. Up to 2,500 Marines, ships, jets, and armor. The USS Tripoli is being rerouted from Japan. Iran has struck at least three vessels since Tuesday, Brent crude is above $100 a barrel, and gas prices are up 65 cents nationwide. Dean didn’t mince it: Iran has been militarizing the strait asymmetrically for 47 years, they’ve effectively created an “Iran Easy Pass” letting China and India through while targeting American-aligned shipping, and sending Marines into that environment is “unmitigated disaster waiting to happen.” The war was supposed to be quick. It isn’t.3️⃣ Trump Hands Putin $150 Million a DayIn the middle of fighting a war with Iran, the Trump administration lifted sanctions on Russian oil. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced it Thursday night. The Kremlin’s reaction was triumphant. Ukraine said it was in mourning. Europe refused to follow. The Treasury Department issued a general license allowing 128 million barrels of Russian oil at sea to be sold anywhere in the world — and Russia is now receiving more than $150 million per day in extra revenue. “It’s plainly obvious who’s calling the shots here,” Zev said. Dean connected it directly to the desperation thread running through the whole show: a patch deal with Russia for oil, Cohen and Loomer weaponized against independent journalists — “it’s the last legs of this administration, of this regime.”2️⃣ Six Americans Dead in Iraq CrashAll six U.S. Air Force crew members aboard a KC-135 refueling tanker that crashed over Iraq Thursday are dead. It was a midair collision with another KC-135. Both aircraft had taken off from Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. Dean invoked Ken Harbaugh and Denver Riggleman — decorated veterans both, and both “beside themselves” over the loss. “My heart goes out mostly to the families of those soldiers,” Dean said. The crash brings total U.S. deaths in the Iran war to 13 — and the KC-135, the circulatory system of this air campaign, is an asset that cannot easily be replaced. The U.S. burned through four years of smart munitions in four days. Now they’re losing the planes that keep the remaining aircraft in the air.1️⃣ Iran’s Leader: Wounded, In HidingThree days after Mojtaba Khamenei was proclaimed Iran’s new Supreme Leader, he has not appeared in public, has not appeared on video, and has not issued a public statement. Three Iranian officials told the New York Times he was injured on February 28 — the opening day of the U.S.-Israeli attack — including injuries to his legs. Two Israeli intelligence officials independently confirmed the assessment. Iran’s state media has been calling him the “wounded war veteran” supreme leader. When the foreign ministry was asked directly whether he had assumed command, the spokesman said only: “Those who have to receive the message have received the message.” Dean’s read: it doesn’t matter. “The regime is not going away. Not going to stop.” The IRGC is layered, the sleeper cells are activated, and the ideology doesn’t require a functioning figurehead. The U.S. declared war on a country of 93 million people that has been preparing for this for 47 years — and nobody told Trump that.Before all of it — a note on what’s happening to this show. Michael Cohen went on Rumble with Lara Trump and announced a podcast with Laura Loomer. The same week, coordinated accounts seeded the FiveStack community trying to turn the hosts against each other. Different messages to different people. Classic friction operation. Dean addressed it directly: “There is no DM that’s going to get between us.” Zev: “This is a place where people can talk about things they care about — and if you’re here to throw us off our game, we’re going to ban you.” The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Lev Parnas, Ellie Leonard, This Will Hold, Centered America, Cat: Poli-Psych, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ DOGE Bros Can’t Define DEI Under OathViral deposition clips this week showed DOGE staffers testifying under oath about how they gutted America’s government — and it was worse than anyone imagined. A GSA-embedded staffer admitted the team used ChatGPT to generate a “Yes/No DEI?” column to decide which National Endowment for the Humanities grants to kill, then wiped their tracks by conducting all communications on Signal, the encrypted app banned on government devices. “They relied on AI that was given to them,” Dean said, pointing out they couldn’t do the job they were hired to do without a deep understanding of the programs they destroyed. In one exchange that captured the absurdity, a questioner asked whether the staffer could find “heterosexual” or “white” anywhere on the DEI target list — the young man in his college cardigan searched for thirty seconds and said no. Over $100 million in humanities grants were retroactively canceled, 65 percent of NEH staff fired, and Jewish-themed grants flagged and cut. Zev called it a complete failure: DOGE saved nothing on the deficit while causing immeasurable damage to the people who relied on that funding.4️⃣ Trump Hedges on Sleeper CellsWhen asked about Iranian sleeper cells inside the United States, Trump said he’d been briefed and that “we know where they are, we have eyes on all of them” — then added two words: “I think.” Zev zeroed in on the qualifier, asking why the president only thinks he knows, and warned it could be pretext-building for a future false flag event. Dean recalled that just days earlier on the Fivestack, they’d predicted a false flag targeting U.S. interests in Canada — and the next day, someone shot up the U.S. embassy in Toronto. “You can literally set your watch to the Putin playbook with this regime,” Dean said, drawing the line from the executions of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preddy to the Iran war to Venezuela, all justified by the same formula: they were going to come after us, so we had to go first. Zev noted Trump immediately pivoted to blaming Biden’s border policies, wetting the ground so that when something happens, the narrative is already built.3️⃣ Kushner’s Nine-Day Peace MissionJared Kushner was quietly appointed Special Envoy for Peace on February 19. Nine days later, Trump launched a war on Iran. Zev called him the most financially conflicted person in the history of the U.S. presidency — billions from the Saudis through Affinity Partners, huge payments from Leon Black’s Apollo while he was in the White House, and a relationship with Netanyahu that goes back to childhood, when the Israeli prime minister used to sleep in Kushner’s bedroom during visits to the family home. Dean laid out the real architecture: the appointment gave Kushner government immunity, shielding him from prosecution as a private citizen taking foreign money. CREW sent a letter this week demanding Kushner file his legally required financial disclosure within 30 days of his appointment — a deadline he’s expected to miss because, as Zev put it, filing would show exactly how much he stands to gain from the war he was supposed to prevent.2️⃣ Oil Hits $100 — Largest Disruption EverThe International Energy Agency said it in plain language: the Iran war has caused the largest supply disruption in the history of global oil markets. Twenty million barrels a day used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz; the IEA now calls it a trickle. Dean reported three supertankers sinking and on fire in the strait as they spoke. Thirty-two IEA member states agreed to release 400 million barrels from strategic reserves — the biggest coordinated release ever — and it didn’t stop the climb to $100 a barrel. Even Lindsey Graham acknowledged the U.S. has run out of ammunition, something Dean noted didn’t happen at the end of World War II. Meanwhile, Trump told crowds the Strait of Hormuz is in fine condition and declared victory.1️⃣ Khamenei Promises EscalationTrump stood in front of a crowd in Kentucky and declared “we won” — then in the same speech said “we don’t want to leave early, we’ve got to finish the job.” Hours later, Iran’s new supreme leader answered him. Mojtaba Khamenei, whose wife, sister, and niece were killed in the February 28 opening strikes, issued his first statement: the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, every U.S. base in the region will be attacked, and the Axis of Resistance fights on. Dean warned the situation is far worse than the administration admits, pointing to 93 million Iranians, tens of thousands of Shahed drones and missiles still in storage, and an asymmetric insurgency that hasn’t even begun. U.S. intelligence assessments completed after the war started found absolutely no sign of the regime weakening — the opposite, in fact, as the bombing has only hardened public support. “Donald Trump hasn’t just put you in danger in the interim,” Dean said. “9/11 might be light work compared to what we might see over the next several years.”The through-line: an administration that uses AI and banned apps to gut institutions without accountability, builds false-flag pretexts while blaming Biden, hands immunity to the most compromised man in government, and declares victory in a war its own intelligence says is nowhere close to over — all while Americans face generational consequences they haven’t begun to understand.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Nick Paro, Amy Gabrielle, Caro Henry, Karen Gordon, Jude T Conway, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ Kahn Names Epstein’s Five ClientsJeffrey Epstein’s personal accountant Richard Kahn sat for a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee today and confirmed the names of the five clients who paid money directly to Jeffrey Epstein: Les Wexner, Glenn Dubin, Steven Sinofsky, the Rothschilds, and Leon Black. Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam told reporters Kahn confirmed the Epstein estate reached a settlement with a person who accused President Trump, and also revealed a non-American head of state had financial transactions with Epstein. “This is the very first time we’ve got someone from Epstein’s community going, yep, we paid off an accuser, someone who accused Donald Trump of raping her as a minor,” Dean said. Zev speculated the unnamed foreign head of state could be Putin, noting Epstein bragged about managing wealth for the Russian president and that Russia appears in every corner of the Epstein files. Kahn managed every dollar of Epstein’s empire across 64 known entities for 22 years, yet Democratic members said he claimed inability to recall emails and texts he was directly involved in. Darren Indyke, Epstein’s longtime attorney and co-executor, testifies March 19.4️⃣ Zorro Ranch: Searching for BodiesWhile Kahn testified in Washington, a thousand miles away in the New Mexico desert, state investigators swarmed Jeffrey Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch searching for buried bodies. Investigators arrived Sunday after the latest Epstein file release on January 30 contained an anonymous tip from a former ranch employee claiming two foreign girls were buried in the hills and that seven videos from inside the property exist. Dean revealed that James Comer went on Jesse Watters and accidentally admitted Trump stopped an investigation into Zorro Ranch in 2019 — a confession neither host seemed to realize was explosive. “Why on earth would he stop an investigation into the grounds around Zorro Ranch looking for bodies of possible murder victims?” Dean asked. Zev connected it to the broader pattern: Bill Barr’s Justice Department shut down every Epstein investigation after his death, and those same files are being hidden again now.3️⃣ Trump Lies About the SchoolThe New York Times, CNN, BBC Verify, Bellingcat, NPR, and the Washington Post have all confirmed a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Minab school compound, killing between 165 and 180 people — most of them children at a girls’ school adjacent to an IRGC facility. Trump told reporters today he doesn’t know anything about it, the same lie he has repeated for 11 days since the strike. Dean laid out that weapons experts identified the missile as a U.S. Navy Tomahawk land attack missile, sold only to four allies and never to Iran, and that the school had been separated from the adjacent munitions site since 2016 — meaning the targeting data was outdated by a decade. Zev raised the question nobody in Washington will answer: who provided the targeting intelligence, and was the school strike a deliberate setup designed to destroy America’s moral standing?2️⃣ Strait of Hormuz on FireThree more merchant ships were attacked in the Gulf today, raising the total to 14 vessels hit since the war began. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard vowed not to allow a single liter of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s seaborne oil passes. The International Energy Agency announced a 400-million-barrel reserve release to stabilize markets while oil climbed past $120 a barrel — a windfall for Putin that could fund the restart of Russia’s military. Dean reported the U.S. Navy is flatly refusing to escort merchant ships through the strait and the USS Gerald Ford has left the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Canada inked an LNG and oil deal with India to replace what can no longer move through Hormuz, and the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia all announced arms deals with Ukraine for interceptor drones and drone technology — completely changing the equation for Zelensky.1️⃣ Witkoff’s WarZev called it Witkoff’s War: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held private, unsupervised phone calls with Russian official Yuri Ushakov — Putin’s foreign policy handler — on matters of war and peace, with no State Department or intelligence community oversight. On those calls, Ushakov told them Iran was on the verge of a nuclear weapon, a claim the IAEA had already debunked. Witkoff went on CNBC and said “we can take them at their word” while intelligence officials confirmed Russia was actively providing Iran with targeting data. “He’s their handler — there is no other term you could use,” Zev said of Ushakov’s relationship with Kushner and Witkoff. Dean connected it all back to Epstein: “Could it be as simple that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are two of Jeffrey Epstein’s best clients, and they’re willing to destroy the world around us just to hide their perversion?” Zev’s answer: this is a KGB operation from the 1980s designed to destroy America, with Epstein, Trump, and Putin as its three arms.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Robin Payes, Grace Lovelace, Angie T, Leah Anderson, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. 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This episode of The FiveStack is brought to you by Ground News — the app we use every day to find the stories that matter. Get 40% off the Vantage plan at groundnews.com/fivestack or just click this button.5️⃣ Iran War Day 11: 140 Wounded, 7 DeadThe Pentagon confirmed 140 American service members wounded, eight severely, with seven dead on Day 11 of the Iran war. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised the most intense bombing day yet while the IRGC vows Iran will decide when this war ends. Former Danish intelligence officer Jacob Carsbo, author of the bestseller “Subverted” and Denmark’s former top Middle East spook, joined the show and warned that Iran has 47 years of preparation behind it. “They seem to believe wars are a computer game,” he said of the Trump administration. “They didn’t even evacuate non-essential personnel at the embassies.” Dean put the real death toll closer to 20-22, saying “this is a regime of unprepared cacostocracists” fighting a war “only for hubris.”4️⃣ Witkoff and Kushner Trapped Trump Into WarZev laid out the Narativ thesis: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner walked Trump into a war that serves Russian and Saudi interests. Witkoff went on CNBC and said “we can take Russia at their word” that Moscow wasn’t sharing targeting data with Iran — while intelligence confirms Russia was doing exactly that. Kushner holds $2 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund with another $137 million payment due in August. “Jared and Steve go to Iran to negotiate in terrible faith because they know they’re going to attack Iran,” Dean said. Zev connected all three threads: America was lured into the war by Russian-compromised envoys, lured into bombing a girls’ school to destroy its moral standing, and had its post-war plan destroyed when the initial strikes killed the IRGC successors Trump planned to install.We checked the Witkoff-Epstein connection on Ground News and the bias meter tells you everything. Trump’s special envoy tied to Russian mob real estate, Jeffrey Epstein’s financial network, and now the architect of a fake diplomacy that trapped America into war — and it’s virtually invisible in right-wing media. It barely registers in mainstream outlets. The only places covering it consistently are independent journalists and a handful of left-leaning sources. That’s the kind of blind spot Ground News was built to expose. When you can see who’s covering a story and who’s burying it, the silence becomes the story. Get 40% off Ground News at ground.news/fivestack.3️⃣ Toronto Consulate Shot UpTwo men fired multiple rounds at the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue in Toronto at 4:29 a.m., making it the 15th attack on American diplomatic targets across five continents since the war began. Carsbo confirmed Iranian intelligence and the Quds Force have been nurturing sleeper cells worldwide for decades, from Scandinavia to Latin America. Dean warned the Trump regime will weaponize the attack to frame Canada as IRGC-friendly, noting Trump called Prime Minister Carney “his governor of Canada” the same day. “This war is coming home to North America quite quickly,” Zev said.2️⃣ U.S. Bombed the Girls’ SchoolBellingcat, the New York Times, BBC Verify, and CNN have all confirmed a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile struck the Minab school compound, killing between 165 and 180 people including students at a girls’ school next to an IRGC facility. Trump initially claimed Iran bombed the school, then said he was “willing to live with that report.” Zev raised the critical question nobody else is asking: “Who gave them that information? Because whoever gave them that information knew there was a girls’ school next to the IRGC facility they were trying to strike.”1️⃣ Trump Inc. Cashes In on WarEric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — whom Dean dubbed “Uday and Kuse” — merged their golf course holding company with Powerus, a Florida drone manufacturer now targeting the Pentagon’s $1 billion drone procurement budget. Ukraine offered the White House a $20 million drone defense system seven months ago and was ignored, while Trump’s sons filed the first RFP to supply drones to the military their father commands. Dean closed with Thomas Massie’s revelation that Trump personally threatened to destroy him for pushing the Epstein Act: “Everything we talked about today is to protect one man.”The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Ellie Leonard, Nick Paro, Robin Payes, Angie T, Pamela, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ Khamenei’s Son Takes PowerIran’s Assembly of Experts, 88 clerics in total, did not hesitate for a single minute in naming Mustafa Khamenei, 56, as the country’s new Supreme Leader — one week after a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike killed his father, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with his mother and brother. Mustafa was already considered more hardline than his father before the assassinations, and Trump’s response was to say he’s “not happy with the choice” and that the new leader “won’t last long.” As Blundell put it, “You’ve just put the craziest son of a b***h in the bloodline in power — the bloodline of the people that Donald Trump literally just murdered in cold blood.” The Ayatollah is not merely a head of state in Iran; he is seen as Allah’s representative on earth. A camel herder in Kuwait found empty ATACMS and HIMARS missile containers this weekend, confirming Kuwait allowed the U.S. to fire precision-guided munitions into Iran from its territory. Blundell called it what it is: “Donald Trump has started a generational blood war — signed on behalf of the United States when America has not given approval for this war.”4️⃣ Russia and China Join the War Against AmericaThe Washington Post confirmed what multiple U.S. officials have now verified: Russia is providing Iran with satellite imagery and targeting intelligence on the locations of U.S. warships and aircraft. This is the first confirmed evidence of a major U.S. adversary actively participating in the war effort against American forces. Meanwhile, China has deployed its Liawang-1 signals intelligence vessel to the Gulf of Oman and is supplying Iran with ballistic missiles and the chemicals needed to manufacture them. When asked about Russia’s targeting of U.S. forces aboard Air Force One, Trump said “I still trust Putin.” When asked about China’s intelligence ship, he said “I’m not worried about it.” An estimated 23 American service members are dead, some potentially from intelligence shared by Russia with Iran. Shalev called it plainly: “This is a Chinese-Russian-Donald Trump-Israel alliance to destabilize America. This is treason.”3️⃣ The Western Alliance Is ShatteredThe Western alliance that held together through the Cold War, two Gulf Wars, and the war on terror is fracturing in real time. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Parliament the UK would not join U.S.-Israeli offensive strikes, then reversed course and offered to send two aircraft carriers and 50 F-35Bs to help rotate American forces. Trump responded on Truth Social: “We don’t need people to join wars after we’ve already won.” This on the same day Iranian missiles pummeled U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait’s social security building burned to the ground. Blundell revealed exclusive intelligence that Trump’s next pretext to break Canada is already built around Iran — Canada’s Border Services Agency has been investigating 95 cases involving high-ranking members of the Iranian regime living in Canada, with 28 formally identified as inadmissible and only one removed. Blundell warned that Iranian sleeper cells may have already been activated and Trump will use IRGC networks in Canada as a ready-made excuse to escalate against America’s northern neighbor.2️⃣ Oil Spikes, Economy in Free FallG-7 leaders met Monday to discuss tapping emergency oil reserves as crude prices spiked to levels not seen since the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and walked away with nothing. Brent crude spiked overnight to just under $120 a barrel. Diesel hit $4 to $5 a gallon, strangling the supply chain that keeps the American economy moving. Roughly 400 oil tankers are sitting idle in the Strait of Hormuz while Iran dares anyone to try to pass. Trump’s solution, offered on Fox News: “Some shipping company’s got to have the guts to give it a go.” He then told Americans they should consider it “an honor” to pay sky-high gas prices because they’re taking out a terrorist regime.1️⃣ Trump Locks the Doors With the SAVE ActWhile war rages and the economy craters, Trump announced he will not sign any legislation until the Senate passes the SAVE Act — a bill designed to rig the November elections. Blundell’s detailed breakdown exposed the scope: the bill requires documentary proof of citizenship to register, but 146 million Americans lack valid passports and the bill does not accept driver’s licenses, Real ID, or even military ID. It kills online voter registration in 42 states, requires in-person registration for any change including moving apartments or changing your name after marriage. That last provision alone would disenfranchise an estimated 69 million American women whose birth certificates no longer match their legal names. The bill also creates criminal penalties for anyone who registers a voter without proper documents. Blundell was blunt: “Every single piece of this bill is designed not to suppress, but to gut voters’ rights. He’s coming for the female vote, the migrant vote, the color vote, the poor vote, the old person’s vote.”A transnational criminal organization has seized control of the United States, launched a treasonous war that serves Russia and China, and is now locking the doors so no one can vote them out.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. Thank you J Dziak, Cat: Poli-Psych, francine hardaway, Robin Payes, Niamh Cooper, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ Bloomberg Reveals Secret DEA Probe of EpsteinBloomberg’s Jason Leopold dropped a bombshell: the DEA opened a secret investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 centered on money laundering, drug trafficking, and procuring Eastern European women for high-profile clients. The probe grew out of Operation Chain Reaction, a long-running investigation targeting associates of the Genovese crime family. An informant told agents Epstein was funding and distributing ecstasy, ketamine, and methamphetamines. Former congressman Denver Riggleman, who joined today’s show, put it simply: “Criminals that crime usually do other crimes because they like to crime.” Dean Blundell connected it to Trump’s pardoning of the former Honduran president, a convicted Sinaloa cartel kingpin, and the administration’s dismantling of OCDETF, the very task force that built the Epstein case. As Riggleman noted, “Whether you get shot on purpose or shot on accident, you’re still getting shot” — the investigations are gone regardless of why.4️⃣ America Begs Ukraine for Drone HelpIn what Dean Blundell called “schadenfreude at its f*****g greatest,” the United States is now turning to Ukraine for help defending against Iranian drone strikes — the same country the Trump administration abandoned. Riggleman, a former Air Force intelligence officer who runs AI targeting company Rig, explained that Russia is providing Iran with specific coordinates and imagery to target American installations, while the U.S. military is burning through munitions firing hundred-thousand-dollar missiles at twenty-thousand-dollar Shaheds. Ukraine, out of desperation, built the world’s most advanced drone warfare capability — and during a recent NATO exercise, took out American troops with drones while the U.S. had no idea what to do. Riggleman warned that AI-powered drone swarms with no humans in the loop are coming next, and “America is not prepared because we’re shortsighted.”3️⃣ Epstein and the Oslo AccordsZev revealed new reporting connecting Epstein to the derailing of the 1990s Middle East peace process. Between the famous Rabin-Arafat handshake and the collapse of negotiations, Epstein made 17 visits to the Clinton White House. The Norwegian prime minister who helped negotiate the Oslo Accords was arrested last week for corruption tied to Epstein. Zev argued this isn’t ancient history — the same network, the same players including Netanyahu, who opposed the peace talks then and encourages war with Iran now, have controlled American foreign policy for decades. “We would never have gotten here,” Zev said, “if the peace talks back in the 90s had been successful.”2️⃣ Michael Wolff: Epstein’s Double AgentInvestigative journalist Ellie Leonard joined the show with explosive findings from 1,800 pages of emails between Michael Wolff and Jeffrey Epstein. Wolff signed an NDA to read an advance copy of James Patterson’s Epstein book — then sent the entire email thread to Epstein. He killed a New York Magazine piece by forwarding the photo editor’s correspondence directly to Epstein. Emails show Epstein telling Wolff about sending something to Bill Barr with the subject line “Mueller” — and Wolff never reported any of it. Zev posed the key question: if Wolff had unlimited access to both Trump and Epstein, was he serving as a go-between for two men who couldn’t be seen talking to each other? Leonard confirmed she’s only through 100 of the 1,800 pages. There’s much more to come.1️⃣ DOJ’s Vanishing Epstein FilesThe DOJ reposted thousands of Epstein files after Congress subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi — but not all of them. Of 53 missing pages containing allegations against Trump by a woman interviewed by the FBI four times, only 16 have returned. The longest interview — 37 pages — is still missing. Leonard described the returned documents as containing details so specific they’d be nearly impossible to fabricate: particular concerts, the population of a small island, a cologne that triggered the victim years later, traceable to the exact period described. Leonard and Zev noted a mysterious “Mr. Atkins,” described as an Ohio university financial administrator connected to Leslie Wexner’s territory, whose name cannot be found in any faculty records.The Fivestack runs deep on Fridays. Two guests — former congressman Denver Riggleman and investigative journalist Ellie Leonard — helped connect the DEA’s Epstein drug probe to Trump’s cartel connections, Ukraine’s drone supremacy to American military incompetence, and Michael Wolff’s double life to the DOJ’s desperate scramble to hide what’s in those files.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Jim Bourg, Robin Payes, Cathy Orten, Grace Lovelace, Andy Collen, and many others for tuning into my live video with Ellie Leonard and Denver Riggleman! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Lev Parnas announced he is running for Congress in Florida’s 27th District, and he joined me on the FiveStack to lay out his case. The former Trump insider who helped build MAGA told the FiveStack he’s the only candidate in any race who actually knows Trump’s inner circle from the inside — Pam Bondi, Corey Lewandowski, the whole operation. “I helped build MAGA, and I’m the only one that knows how to take MAGA apart piece by piece, truth by truth, fact by fact,” Parnas said. He’s running a grassroots campaign, no corporate money, no billionaires, in a district where Donald Trump himself would be one of his constituents. The primary is in August.4️⃣ Senate Kills War Powers Vote — AgainThe Senate voted 47-53 to reject a resolution blocking Trump from further strikes in Iran without congressional authorization. Only one Republican, Rand Paul, voted yes. Democrat John Fetterman voted no. It’s the eighth failed war powers vote since June 2025, and Congress still won’t call it a war. Meanwhile, U.S.-Israeli strikes continue across Iran, a fourth front has opened with Kurdish forces, the conflict is spreading to Azerbaijan, a thousand people have been killed since Saturday, and oil routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been disrupted. Oil prices climbing toward $80 will gut any Republican hopes of juicing the economy before November.3️⃣ Bondi Subpoenaed on EpsteinThe House Oversight Committee voted 24-19 to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi for a closed-door, taped deposition on the DOJ’s handling of Epstein records. Five Republicans crossed over to join Democrats — a stunning break in party discipline. Bondi will be the highest-ranking sitting official to appear before the panel. She either tells the truth, which devastates the president, or she dodges perjury while refusing to give the full story. Either way, terrible optics for Trump heading into November.2️⃣ DOJ Scrubs FBI Interviews With Epstein VictimThe DOJ removed and withheld FBI interviews with a woman who accused both Epstein and Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was approximately 13. The FBI interviewed her four times. Only the first interview was released — and that one doesn’t mention Trump. Three interviews totaling 50 pages are simply gone. There are also unconfirmed reports of another 50,000 Epstein files from the FBI set to drop.1️⃣ Noem Fired, Mullin Takes Over DHSTrump announced on Truth Social that Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of Homeland Security, replaced by Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma effective March 31. Noem threw Trump under the bus under oath on the $220 million ad campaign, couldn’t answer whether she had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski, called slain Americans domestic terrorists, and let her lover run the department. Mullin is a friend of Noem’s and an MMA fighter who will bring a harder edge to the immigration file — but the damage is done. This is the first real loyalist fired from Trump’s cabinet, and the cracks in the presidency are showing.The FiveStack returns tomorrow with Dean Blundell. Today’s show featured Lev Parnas as a special guest.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

5️⃣ Iran War Day 4: Holy WarThe United States is four days into an unauthorized war against Iran and the numbers keep climbing — the actual American death toll may be far higher than the six the Pentagon has confirmed, with embassies in Riyadh and Kuwait City shuttered and no U.S. diplomatic presence left in the Middle East. Iran has retaliated against at least eight Arab states. But the most alarming development came from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has now received over 200 complaints from service members reporting that commanders are telling troops this war is part of God’s plan to bring about Armageddon. Dean Blundell, who grew up in the evangelical church, read one of the complaint letters on air — an NCO describing how a senior officer told troops that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to start and cause Armageddon.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has crusader tattoos and “Deus Vult” inked on his body, truly believes he is ushering in the age of Christ with the world’s most powerful military. As Dean put it: “It’s ISIS in the West. That is what this regime is.”4️⃣ AI Used to Bomb Iran Despite BanAnthropic, the AI company behind Claude, refused to let the Pentagon use their technology for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons — so the Trump administration labeled them a “supply chain risk” and banned all federal agencies from using their products. Hours later, the Pentagon used Anthropic’s Claude AI to help select bombing targets in Iran anyway. Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI agreed to provide the Department of Defense with surveillance access, prompting nearly 900 employees at Google and OpenAI to sign an open letter called “We Will Not Be Divided” demanding limits on military use of their technology. Dean canceled his ChatGPT subscription on air and called for a consumer boycott, arguing that everyone should be running to Anthropic — the company that actually drew a line.3️⃣ Clinton Epstein Depositions ReleasedThe House Oversight Committee released roughly nine hours of deposition footage from both Bill and Hillary Clinton testifying about their connections to Jeffrey Epstein — the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress. Bill Clinton claimed he met Epstein in 2002, but Zev Shalev’s research into the Narativ archive of 83,000 documents shows the relationship goes back to the early 1990s, when Epstein made donations to the DNC and visited the White House at least 17 times. Hillary Clinton stormed out of her deposition after Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert secretly photographed her during testimony and leaked it online. Neither side, Zev argued, is asking the real questions — about the intelligence operation, the financial architecture, or the fact that Ken Starr prosecuted Clinton over Monica Lewinsky while simultaneously defending Epstein.2️⃣ School Shooter’s Dad Found GuiltyA Georgia jury convicted Colin Gray — father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray — of second-degree murder, the first time in American history a parent has been convicted of murder for a school shooting committed by their child. Gray gave his 14-year-old son an AR-style rifle as a Christmas gift and claimed he saw no warning signs. Dean offered a nuanced take, calling it a “sticky wicket” — acknowledging the precedent while asking the harder question: “Wouldn’t it just be easier to get common sense gun laws passed?” He called the focus on parental liability an NRA psyop designed to blame everything except the guns.1️⃣ Texas Primary — Election DayVoters went to the polls in what may be the most consequential Democratic primary of the 2026 cycle, with Rep. Jasmine Crockett facing state Rep. James Talarico for the Texas Senate nomination. Talarico outraised Crockett $20.7 million to $8.6 million and represents what Dean called “philosophical Jesus, not savior Jesus” — a Baptist who believes Christianity is about helping the vulnerable, not legislating biblical doctrine. Both hosts predicted Talarico would win, with Dean connecting the race back to the show’s opening theme: if Pete Hegseth is the model for what a Christian American looks like, maybe Talarico offers a different vision — one that could flip Texas.An unauthorized holy war, an AI rebellion, presidential depositions, a historic verdict, and an election that could reshape the Democratic Party — all in one day. That’s the Fivestack.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

The FiveStack threw out the playbook today, dedicating the full hour to former Congressman and military intelligence expert Denver Riggleman for a war special on Day 3 of the Iran conflict. Four U.S. service members dead, three F-15Es downed by friendly fire from Kuwait, the U.S. Embassy hit, nine countries under Iranian attack — and an administration that, as Riggleman put it, is “confused and incompetent” with no day-after plan. Riggleman, who tracked Qasem Soleimani in 2006-2007 as an F-15E intelligence officer and ran the Counter-ID Operations Integration Center monitoring Iranian EFP supply chains, brought firsthand expertise that cut through the noise.5️⃣ The Quagmire Is RealRiggleman laid out why this war has no exit strategy. The CIA warned Trump directly that killing Khamenei wouldn’t lead to regime collapse, but sycophants told him it would be like Venezuela — quick and easy. “You can’t topple a movement,” Riggleman said, pointing to 93 million Iranians, Hezbollah networks across the region, and Iranian sleeper cells that have been preparing since 1979. Dean drove the point home after Riggleman departed: Trump is “bucket listing” as a dying president who doesn’t care about consequences, standing at a podium saying “I don’t get bored” while stumbling through sentences.4️⃣ Draft EO 14248: Nationalizing ElectionsThe bombshell of the show was Riggleman’s analysis of a 17-page draft executive order on election interference. He traced the conspiracy pipeline from 2016 Stop the Steal through Italian satellites, Chinese servers, German server farms, Hammer and Scorecard, EO 13848, the December 18 White House meeting with Patrick Byrne, Michael Flynn, and Sidney Powell — all the way to the current draft order. “This is absolutely nationalizing elections,” Riggleman warned, noting the order targets specific swing counties, not all 50 states. With Texas primaries tomorrow serving as a bellwether for 2026, the timing is not coincidental.3️⃣ Three Reasons for WarRiggleman offered the sharpest framework for understanding why this war happened: election manipulation and rationalization for seizing election infrastructure, personal enrichment for Trump, MBS, and Netanyahu — including the Qatar jet, Air Force One billing, real estate deals, and Kushner’s Saudi connections — and cratering poll numbers, since wars historically boost presidential approval. MBS wants geographic control and oil dominance, Netanyahu wants a regional rival eliminated, and Trump needs a distraction. Dean added that Trump has now launched 626 bombing sorties on seven countries, three of which the United States has never attacked, timed precisely to Epstein developments and bad polling.2️⃣ The Missing Epstein TranscriptsFive days after James Comer promised the Clinton Epstein deposition transcripts within 24 hours, they still haven’t been released. The videos haven’t been released. As Zev noted in the closing, the question remains: why aren’t we hearing from Bill and Hillary Clinton directly, in unedited testimony, about what they said about Donald Trump? The Iran war conveniently buried that story, and as Dean’s data shows, you can set your watch to Trump’s distraction wars.1️⃣ Sabotage — The Anthem for 2026Dean closed with a moment that stopped the show — reading the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” lyrics and connecting them to exactly what’s happening in America. “Scheming on a thing, that’s a mirage. I’m trying to tell you now, it’s sabotage.” Written in 1994 by three Jewish rappers from Brooklyn who understood the government wasn’t their friend, the song maps perfectly onto 2026: the mirage of manufactured crisis, the push of a button to shut you up, the Watergate-level political interference. Zev connected it to the Iran-Contra playbook — sponsoring both sides of a war to control the outcome while using crisis for domestic policy influence. Putin’s playbook. Same sabotage, new century.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Lev Parnas, Ellie Leonard, Brodee Myers-Cooke, Cat: Poli-Psych, Cathy R. Payne, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Today’s show opened with breaking news: former President Bill Clinton testifying under oath before the House Oversight Committee at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. Clinton’s opening statement — “I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong” — set the stage for what Zev called “one of the most important days in the Epstein investigation,” noting that Epstein likely targeted Clinton as an intelligence asset and even claimed credit for setting up the Clinton Global Initiative.5️⃣ The Epstein Network Is CrumblingThe walls are closing in on the Epstein network globally. World Economic Forum CEO Borj Brande resigned after it emerged he attended three dinners with Epstein. The Telegraph ran a headline about Ariane de Rothschild pleading “don’t leave me over Epstein” — the same Rothschild family whose Edmond de Rothschild bank signed a $25 million contract with Epstein’s Southern Trust Company in 2015. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Commerce Secretary, was also in the spotlight after photos surfaced showing him on Epstein’s island with metadata confirming the location. “The network is unraveling,” Zev noted, “and it goes all the way to the Rothschilds, who have been connected to Epstein since 1987.”4️⃣ Trump Moves to Seize AIThe Pentagon gave Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei a 5:01 PM deadline to drop safety guardrails from Claude, the company’s AI model, so the military could deploy it without restrictions. Amodei refused. “This is not about national security,” Dean argued, “this is about surveillance and control.” Trump reportedly wants an ownership stake in Anthropic, and the administration is floating nationalization — which Zev called “hardline communism, pure and simple.” The AI wars are no longer theoretical; they are a live fight over who controls the most powerful technology on earth.3️⃣ War on Two FrontsSix countries have begun evacuating citizens from Iran as the USS Gerald Ford and massive American firepower positions in the Mediterranean. Nuclear talks between the US and Iran produced no deal. Meanwhile, China quietly shipped anti-ship missiles to Iran. In a separate theater, Pakistan bombed Taliban positions in Kandahar, Afghanistan — the first strike of its kind. “You’ve got two active war fronts developing simultaneously,” Zev said, connecting the military buildup to Rothschild banking interests in the Gulf region.2️⃣ Media Mega-MonopolyNetflix dropped an $83 billion bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, while Paramount and Skydance offered $111 billion — a deal that would absorb CNN, TNT, TBS, the Cartoon Network, Discovery, and the entire Warner empire. Combined with Larry Ellison’s CBS takeover, where he installed Barry Weiss to turn the network into what Zev called “Trump regime state media,” the consolidation leaves virtually no independent major media voice standing. “We can tell you about the Rothschilds until we’re blue in the face,” Zev said, “but you won’t see that on CNN.”1️⃣ Trump Moves to Steal ElectionsA group of right-wing activists working with the White House is circulating a draft executive order that would give Trump unilateral power to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines before the 2026 midterms. The basis is a debunked conspiracy theory that China interfered in 2020. Dean warned that Maduro could become central to the scheme, with the administration pressuring the captured Venezuelan president to corroborate claims of foreign election interference. The SAVE Act died in the Senate, but an executive order could still strip voting access from an estimated 130 million Americans who lack passports. “Don’t boo — vote,” Dean said, channeling Obama. “It’s going to be so vitally important that we go full Obama in 2026.”From Clinton under oath on Epstein to Trump seizing elections, AI, media and war — Day 38 of the second Trump administration is a roadmap to authoritarianism, and it’s happening in real time.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Dean Blundell, Stephanie G Wilson, PhD, Robin Payes, Iulia Huiu, Sue Ploeger’s script to novel, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

BREAKING NEWS: Hillary Clinton testified behind closed doors today before the House Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York, with Bill Clinton set for tomorrow. Clinton demanded the hearing be public, telling Chairman Comer, “If you want this fight, let’s have it in public.” Comer refused. Then Rep. Lauren Boebert broke committee rules by passing a photo from the closed-door deposition to conservative influencer Benny Johnson, who posted it online, pausing the hearing. Clinton’s opening statement was direct: “I had no idea about their criminal activities. I do not recall encountering Mr. Epstein.” She then delivered what Dean called “a stake in the heart of Comer,” noting that the committee held zero public hearings, refused media access, and that not a single Republican member showed up for Leslie Wexner’s deposition. The real question, as Zev put it, is why the committee is interrogating someone with no connection to Epstein while the man with 5,400 mentions in the files sits in the Oval Office untouched.5. Armed Cubans Shot Off CoastA Florida-registered speedboat carrying ten armed Cuban nationals opened fire on the Cuban Coast Guard about a mile off the coast, seriously injuring the commander. Cuban forces returned fire, killing four and wounding six. They seized assault rifles, body armor, and Molotov cocktails. Dean, who broke the story on his Substack, raised the Gulf of Tonkin comparison, pointing to a pattern of incursions including an incident where Americans planted a flag on a Mexican beach from Elon Musk’s Space City. “They are actively trying to start a war with Cuba,” Dean said, noting the Trump administration’s oil embargo has already crippled the island. Rubio said he didn’t have enough information, which Dean found hard to believe from the Cuban-American Secretary of State who has openly pushed Cuba as the next target.4. Trump Juicing the EconomyMortgage rates fell below 6% for the first time in three years, and Trump took credit at the State of the Union. What he didn’t mention: he ordered Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to buy $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds to push rates down. “That’s not a free market move,” Zev explained. “He’s doing this only to win the next elections. It’s one of the first signs we’re seeing of him juicing the market to get the economy humming so he can win in November.” Dean compared it to Ontario’s premier handing out cheap booze and rebate checks before elections. “It’s just another cooked up bribe,” Dean said, while warning that it actually works and Democrats shouldn’t assume November is in the bag.3. Trump Plans Election EmergencyA Washington Post exclusive revealed that pro-Trump activists coordinating with the White House are circulating a 17-page draft executive order declaring a national emergency over elections, claiming China interfered in 2020. The order would let Trump ban mail ballots and voting machines by executive fiat, bypassing Congress and the Constitution. The SAVE Act died in the Senate, so this is Plan B. Dean imagined a bingo wheel in the White House spinning through countries to blame: Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy, Iran, and now China. “The Chinese had no interest in helping Biden get elected in 2020,” Zev noted, pointing out that China rolls out the red carpet for Trump, not his opponents. Combined with the mortgage rate manipulation, these two stories reveal Trump’s full midterm strategy: juice the economy and rig the rules.2. Democrats Say DOJ Running a Cover-UpNPR identified more than 50 pages the DOJ withheld from the Epstein file release, including four FBI 302s from a woman who testified under oath in 2019 that Trump and Epstein sexually abused her when she was between 13 and 15. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and dozens of major outlets have now confirmed the story. Rep. Robert Garcia called it a “White House cover-up” and opened a parallel investigation. “Pam Bondi, on orders from the president, took it upon herself and the entire DOJ and the FBI to delete these files out of the public record,” Dean said. “These are 302s. These are victim statements under oath.” The DOJ said it would “review and republish.” They got caught.1. The Rothschild-Trump-Epstein NetworkNew Narativ analysis published today reveals the financial architecture connecting Trump and Epstein. Zev reported that Wilbur Ross, who ran Rothschild’s bankruptcy practice in the United States for two decades, bailed out Trump’s Atlantic City casinos by convincing bondholders to keep Trump in control. Three years earlier, Baron Elie de Rothschild personally endorsed Epstein to Leslie Wexner. Both men then moved through the same banks for decades. The Commerce Department seat went from Rothschild’s man Ross to Epstein’s man Howard Lutnick, whose photo with Epstein and his two sons on Little St. James Island surfaced during the show. Newly uncovered emails from the Epstein files show Epstein claiming descent from the Ritter von Epstein banking dynasty of 1870s Vienna, a claim accepted without question by the Rothschilds themselves. “No one’s asking those questions,” Zev said. “They’re not actually concerned about the organized criminal ring trafficking underage girls. They’re trying to score points against the Democrats.”The Clintons testify while Trump hides. Fifty pages vanish. The financial network stays invisible. And the committee asking questions is looking everywhere except where the evidence points.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you This Will Hold, Brodee Myers-Cooke, Cathy R. Payne, Iulia Huiu, Karen Gordon, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Hours before Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address, the Epstein case detonated on multiple fronts — and the FiveStack brought Denver Riggleman and Lev Parnas along for a special prime time broadcast to cover it all live. NPR confirmed what Roger Sollenberger first reported on Substack: the Trump Justice Department has withheld or removed 53 pages of FBI interviews with women who accused Trump of sexually assaulting them as minors. One woman was interviewed by the FBI four times — credible enough for four separate sit-downs — and only the first interview, the one that doesn’t mention Trump, made it into the public database. A second woman described being taken to Mar-a-Lago as a minor, where Epstein introduced her to Trump and said, according to the FBI document, “This is a good one, huh.” That interview was removed from the database after publication and restored only after Sollenberger flagged it. “They basically covered up for the president of the United States,” Zev said. “And they have no interest in giving us the truth.”Meanwhile, Ryan Goodman at Just Security documented a bombshell buried in the newly released files: five days after Epstein’s arrest in July 2019, the FBI directed NYPD’s Special Victims Unit to stand down on all Epstein investigations. The email in the files reads: “SVU has been directed to stand down and that all Epstein stuff needs to go to and through us.” By January 2020, an FBI agent wrote that after the order, “our assumption was obviously that they closed anything they had after his death.” New York was ground zero for Epstein’s crimes, and the FBI shut down the investigators best positioned to reach co-conspirators. “This is a pattern of shutting down parallel investigations,” Zev noted, pointing out that New Mexico’s investigation into Zorro Ranch was also closed in 2019 at the request of SDNY.Congressman Thomas Massie went to the House floor and named three men from the Epstein files that the DOJ should investigate: Leon Black, the billionaire former CEO of Apollo Global Management; Jes Staley, the former head of JP Morgan’s investment bank; and Leslie Wexner, the founder of L Brands whom the FBI internally labeled a co-conspirator in 2019. “Those aren’t the first people that come to mind in terms of rape, although they are associated with rape,” Zev observed. “But those are the first people that come to mind when you come to think of financial crimes related to Jeffrey Epstein. Leon Black, very connected to Russia. Les Wexner, very connected to Israel. Jes Staley was Jeffrey Epstein’s best friend while he was in charge of the private wealth bank at JP Morgan, who funded this huge organization. And guess who else they funded? They funded this man who’s giving the speech right now.”As Trump spoke, Epstein survivor Annie Farmer sat in the gallery as a guest of Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia. She had told CBS earlier in the day: “We’re not going away until the law is followed.” Her sister Maria Farmer, the first person to report Epstein and Maxwell to law enforcement in 1996, sent a statement read on air: “I’m so proud of my sister Annie for representing us both since I’m unable to fly. We are all deeply honored to be part of the awakening Virginia’s cause. Thanks to all whose minds are recognizing the significance of her sacrifices.” Dean drove the point home throughout the broadcast: “That man on our screen right now, the president of the United States, has been credibly accused of or settled 31 different rape and sexual assault suits. And as a man, I have a problem with that.”The show closed with the hosts refusing to watch another minute. “I’d much rather listen to Annie Farmer than to Donald Trump,” Zev said. “This is the night for the survivors,” Dean said. This is a night for the people who have fought so hard to bring this man to justice.” Zev’s final message was direct: “Reply to everybody, everywhere — Jeffrey Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein — because that is the only story here tonight.”The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you John Liccione, ESBC NFL And SportsBetting, Robin Payes, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Elaine Cimino, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell and Lev Parnas! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

Lord Peter Mandelson — one of the most powerful figures in British political history — was arrested today at his London home, led out in handcuffs by plainclothes police officers. The charge: misconduct in public office for allegedly leaking sensitive government documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Gordon Brown’s business secretary. Police raided his mansion near Regent’s Park and a second property in Wiltshire. Files show Mandelson shared EU bailout plans, Brown’s resignation details, and government property sales with Epstein, who allegedly sent him £56,000 in return. This comes four days after Prince Andrew was arrested on the same charge for leaking confidential information while serving as Britain’s trade envoy. “It’s massive that we’ve had Prince Andrew and now Lord Mandelson,” Zev said. “This is happening with the permission of the crown. It should terrify everyone involved in this network, especially Donald Trump.” Dean pointed out that Mandelson is reportedly ready to start telling investigators who he was working with. “Two for the UK, zero for the United States,” Dean said. “The walls are closing in — in London. The question is when it reaches Washington.” Tomorrow night, at least 10 Epstein survivors will sit in the Capitol gallery as Trump delivers the State of the Union.5️⃣ Kash Patel Parties at the OlympicsWhile an armed man was breaching Mar-a-Lago and Americans were sheltering in place across Mexico, FBI Director Kash Patel was chugging beer in a locker room in Milan with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team after their gold medal win — the first in 46 years. Videos of Patel spraying beer went viral, drawing fierce criticism. “He spent $250,000 of taxpayer money flying to Milan so he could get shithoused with Team USA and record viral videos,” Dean said. Zev called it “a new low for the FBI director” and noted that Patel found time for political investigations and partying but not actual crises. Trump invited the team to his State of the Union — “because there is nothing this man can hang on his mantle as far as his own accomplishments that makes America great,” Dean said.4️⃣ Binance Funneled $1.7B to IranThe New York Times reported that internal investigators at Binance discovered $1.7 billion flowed from two accounts to Iranian entities linked to the Revolutionary Guards Corps, a designated terrorist organization. When investigators flagged the transactions, Binance fired or suspended at least four of them. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, and his family’s crypto venture World Liberty Financial has business ties with the exchange. “Nobody is doing anything about the profit-taking and theft through crypto, through Bitcoin, through digital assets,” Dean said. “Donald Trump knew that his only way to truly enrich himself and get away with it is to do it through crypto.” Zev connected the dots: “Meanwhile, Kash Patel’s partying in Milan. Nothing to investigate. No crime anywhere.”3️⃣ Cannon Seals Smith EvidenceJudge Aileen Cannon blocked public release of Jack Smith’s classified-documents report, burying detailed evidence of Trump illegally retaining defense secrets so sensitive that senior national security officials didn’t know they existed. Cannon called Smith’s investigation “a brazen stratagem.” Dean called it judicial protection of presidential crimes: “There’s only one reason a judge would say Americans aren’t allowed to see the criminality of Donald Trump — it’s too explosive. And it’s got nothing to do with the rule of law and everything to do with her fealty to the guy who put her in that position.” Zev noted that First Amendment groups are appealing to the 11th Circuit, but the damage is done — Trump addresses Congress tomorrow with the evidence of his crimes sealed by his own judge.2️⃣ El Mencho Killed, Mexico BurnsMexican special forces killed “El Mencho,” leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, after U.S. intelligence helped track him through a romantic partner to a small town called Tapalpa. At least 62 people were killed in the retaliation that swept across a dozen Mexican states — highways blocked, banks and supermarkets torched, Puerto Vallarta locked down with tourists sheltering in place. Dean, whose partner had family on the ground in Puerto Vallarta, offered context: “The cartel lit buses and cars on fire and blocked intersections. The Mexican government has it in hand. Puerto Vallarta is one of the safest tourist destinations in the world.” Both hosts noted Trump’s attempt to claim credit for the operation, which Mexican President Sheinbaum firmly rejected. “All these stories are somehow connected,” Dean said. “There’s an earthquake happening in the world right now. And the people who were in power for criminal purposes are losing it,” Zev said1️⃣ Mandelson Arrested for Epstein LeaksReturning to the top story, Zev laid out the deeper significance. Mandelson’s arrest connects to a web that includes the Rothschild banking family, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, and the broader Epstein intelligence operation. Mandelson was found on Deripaska’s yacht in Corfu with Nate Rothschild years ago — and now those same connections run through the Epstein files. “Peter Mandelson was pulled out of the United States because he is so guilty of working with a pedophile network,” Dean said. Zev noted that 17 or 18 countries have now launched independent Epstein investigations. “The Epstein network is being dismantled in real time — in London,” Zev said. “The question Americans should be asking: when does it reach Washington?”Five stories, one thread. The criminals who operated in darkness are losing their grip — and tomorrow night, Epstein survivors will sit in the gallery and watch the president try to pretend none of it is connected.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you This Will Hold, Cat: Poli-Psych, Cheech Previti, John Liccione, Beth Cruz, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: SCOTUS STRIKES DOWN TARIFFSThe Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Donald Trump never had the authority to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Gorsuch, Barrett, and the three liberal justices, held that IEEPA does not grant the president the power to set tariffs — and no president in the law’s half-century history ever tried to use it that way until Trump. Over 60 percent of all tariff revenue collected last year came through IEEPA, and economists now estimate $175 billion is at risk of refund. Trump called it a “disgrace” and immediately tried invoking Section 301 and Section 232 as alternatives, but as Zev noted, “Roberts has already indicated this is b******t, and you’re going to have to re-litigate this entire process.” Dean pointed out that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — standing right next to Trump during his furious rant — had been buying up tariff refund claims from struggling businesses at pennies on the dollar through Cantor Fitzgerald, positioning himself to collect billions now that the tariffs have been ruled illegal. The ruling also killed Trump’s plan to announce $2,000 tariff dividend checks at Tuesday’s State of the Union. Dean delivered the Canadian perspective with particular satisfaction: “To all of those people who chastised Mark Carney for not getting a deal done with Donald Trump — now you know why.”5️⃣ Hamas Retakes GazaWhile Donald Trump told the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that “the war in Gaza is over,” an IDF assessment presented to Prime Minister Netanyahu tells a very different story — Hamas has reasserted control over 90 percent of the populated areas in Gaza. The group appointed five new district governors linked to its armed al-Qassam Brigades, restarted 14 of 17 government ministries, and is collecting taxes on imports by force. The U.S.-backed technocratic committee led by Ali Shaath hasn’t been allowed to enter the territory. Dean described the Board of Peace roster as “mafia states” and the inaugural meeting as “broken English open mic night” during which Trump repeatedly fell asleep, at one point drooling and sweating with his mouth hanging open. “That is the president of the United States and a show of strength with the biggest losers in the world,” Dean said, “and he couldn’t stay awake for any of it.”4️⃣ Allies Fracture Over IranBritain told the United States no. Prime Minister Keir Starmer blocked American use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for any preemptive strike on Iran, citing the legal reality that lending a runway makes you a party to the war. France also refused to make its bases available. Trump retaliated by torpedoing U.S. support for the Chagos Islands sovereignty deal one day after his own State Department endorsed it. Two aircraft carriers are now moving into the region, and Trump gave Iran a 10-day deadline for a nuclear deal. Dean argued that Trump’s military posturing is theater: “He is so scared to death of starting a war — more scared than any president in the history of the presidency.” Zev pointed to Russia’s coordinated drills with Iran as the real tell, noting that Trump never moves without Putin’s coordination on geopolitical strategy.3️⃣ Wexner Names Names Under OathLes Wexner’s congressional testimony became the most riveting moment of the Epstein investigation this week. Under oath, the 88-year-old billionaire began naming names — the Queen, the Rothschilds, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, the Saudi prince — while his own lawyer grew visibly agitated, at one point leaning in and telling him “if you give another answer that’s more than five words, I will f*****g kill you.” Zev noted the lawyer received a text message that changed his entire demeanor, and identified four separate interventions to shut Wexner down. Wexner also revealed that Epstein had worked for the Rothschilds before joining him in 1987 — a fact Zev said he had never encountered despite years of research. The emails in the Epstein files tell the rest of the story: Epstein once wrote to Wexner, “We did gang stuff. You owe me. I owe you.” When Epstein got caught, Wexner replied: “You broke our number one rule.” As Dean put it: “This is the beginning of the great sellout of everybody that was involved.”2️⃣ Andrew Arrested — Epstein WidensThe first arrest of a senior British royal in nearly 400 years happened on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to forwarding confidential government trade reports to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. He was held for 11 hours, and police are still searching his former Royal Lodge residence through Monday. Met Police are now asking Andrew’s former protection officers to consider whether anything they witnessed — including visits to Epstein’s island — is relevant. Virginia Giuffre’s family said “our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.” Trump called it “very sad” and “a shame” without once mentioning Epstein’s name. Zev connected Andrew to the same Al-Yamana arms deal network that linked Douglas Lees, Adnan Khashoggi, and Epstein — noting that Andrew’s arrest came the same day Wexner named the Queen under oath.1️⃣ Bombshell J6 Texts From Denver RigglemanDean Blundell’s exclusive interview with former J6 investigator Denver Riggleman produced never-before-published text messages revealing the origins of the fake elector scheme. A November 4, 2020 text from then-Energy Secretary Rick Perry to chief of staff Mark Meadows laid out the plan: get Republican-controlled state legislatures to declare election results invalid and send their own electors to be ruled on by the Supreme Court. The next day, Don Jr. texted Meadows a detailed blueprint for stealing the election through fake electors, culminating with: “We have multiple paths. We control them all. We have operational control. Total leverage. Moral high ground. POTUS must start second term now.” The texts also identified Justice Clarence Thomas as their “ace in the SCOTUS hole” — his wife Ginni Thomas was already working the independent state legislature theory that would have given state legislatures the power to override election results. Riggleman told Dean that Liz Cheney blocked him from going public with the Clarence Thomas material because of “familial relationships” between the Cheneys and the Thomas family. Riggleman has thousands more texts and plans to release them weekly.The walls are closing in from every direction. The Supreme Court gutted Trump’s tariffs. His allies are refusing him war bases. Wexner is naming names under oath. Andrew’s been arrested. And now the original texts proving January 6th was a planned coup are finally seeing daylight. Tuesday’s State of the Union has never looked more precarious.The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.Thank you Lev Parnas, This Will Hold, Nick Paro, Cat: Poli-Psych, Stephanie G Wilson, PhD, and many others for tuning into my live video with Dean Blundell! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.narativ.org/subscribe