Update (1655ET): In addition to Elon Musk offering to cover TSA workers’ paychecks during the ongoing shutdown, President Trump has threatened to place U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at airports if Democrats don’t agree to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia, who have totally destroyed, with the approval of a corrupt Governor, Attorney General, and Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, the once Great State of Minnesota,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

The post comes after Politico reported that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is “planning to put a stalled” bill to fund DHS “on the House floor a third time next week.”

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The Department of Homeland Security shutdown entered its 36th day on Saturday after Senate Democrats blocked yet another funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, and other federal agencies, triggering weeks of chaos at airports nationwide, including long TSA checkpoint lines during the peak of the spring break travel season.

Early Saturday morning, Elon Musk, closely tracking the DHS funding lapse, wrote on X that he would personally pay the salaries of TSA agents to get them back to airports and help avert further chaos.

“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk said.

I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2026

On Friday, a motion to advance a funding bill failed 47-37, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote “yes” on the DHS funding bill. Sixteen senators from both parties were absent for the vote. This marks the fifth time Democrats have blocked the Homeland Security Appropriations bill since DHS funding ended in mid-February.

Democrats have been absolutely furious over any funding bill for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that does not include reforms to immigration enforcement operations. That is mostly because they are watching President Trump erode their political power by deporting the very illegal aliens their party allowed to invade the nation under the Biden-Harris regime. Remember, these illegals are the future voting bloc of the Democratic Party, meant to seize political control by disenfranchising citizens.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is planning to force a vote sometime today on a proposal to fund the TSA.

“The chaos at TSA is reaching a boiling point. We need to reopen it as quickly as possible. That is what Senate Democrats are intent on doing,” Schumer said.

Related:

• “Problem Is Solvable”: Airline CEOs Urge Congress To End Shutdown, Pay TSA Workers

By the end of the week, 10% of all TSA workers did not show up for work – just below the record 10.22% absentee rate set at the start of the week. Nearly 400 agents have quit so far in the months-long shutdown, according to DHS. These workers have been without pay since mid-last month, when the Democratic Party began using these agents as political pawns.

The severity of the government shutdown this time has not yet reached the crisis level of travel disruption seen during the 43-day shutdown late last year, when air traffic controllers were used as leverage in political disputes, disrupting air travel nationwide. To prevent such issues in the future, perhaps privatization talks for these agencies should begin.

Is it possible that an unhinged, left-wing judge might try to block Musk from offering to pay TSA agents’ salaries during the funding lapse?

*  *  * GRAB A MULTITOOL OR THREE

Christmas is right around the corner… pic.twitter.com/TXc7STNYQW

— ZeroHedge Store (@ZeroHedgeStore) November 3, 2025

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna appeared on Bill Maher’s show and confirmed what the Epstein document dumps have long hinted at: the former president wasn’t just flying on the Lolita Express — he was operating under an entirely different identity in the files.

This revelation lands as the House Oversight Committee presses forward with its investigation, following the Justice Department’s release of millions of pages under the Epstein Files Transparency Act signed by President Trump. Lawmakers and victims are still pushing for the remaining 2.5 million documents that remain hidden or heavily redacted, according to recent reporting.

Bill Clinton’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein runs deep and documented. The former president flew on Epstein’s private jet multiple times in the early 2000s, often for Clinton Foundation-related trips, and maintained social ties with both Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell long after red flags emerged. He has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes or visits to the island.

👀 Rep. Anna Paulina Luna says documents show Bill Clinton had a “COMPLETE OTHER ALIAS” tied to Jeffrey Epstein.

BILL MAHER: “You have Hillary Clinton come in? This is like three gazillion pages of men behaving badly. And the witness you want is a woman?”

LUNA: “She was issued… pic.twitter.com/v9ZyN1mVfw

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) March 21, 2026

Via @VigilantFox

Luna laid it out plainly during the interview. When Maher questioned bringing Hillary in, asking, “You have Hillary Clinton come in? This is like three gazillion pages of men behaving badly. And the witness you want is a woman?”

Luna shot back: “She was issued a bipartisan subpoena, meaning the Democrats wanted her in, too. Cause Bill Clinton was all over those logs.”

She continued: “We can get at the whole Jeffrey Epstein ties because I actually talked to Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton specifically about that, presenting them with the actual document that showed that he had a COMPLETE OTHER ALIAS.”

Maher responded: “You get a lot of information that we don’t all have.”

Luna replied: “I’m happy to come back.”

Maher closed: “We want you. I appreciate it.”

What was Bill Clinton doing with another alias? The question hangs heavy. In the files of a convicted child sex trafficker, a second identity isn’t a coincidence — it’s a red flag screaming for answers.

This isn’t the first time the Clintons have scrambled to contain the Epstein fallout. Bill Clinton’s chief of staff raged after half-naked photos of the former president surfaced in the latest Epstein drop.

Back in 2024, reports also revealed Clinton allegedly threatened Vanity Fair to kill articles about his “good friend” Jeffrey Epstein.

The pattern is clear: suppression, denial, and now — an alias. While the Clintons sat for depositions earlier this year, insisting they saw nothing wrong, Luna’s committee work keeps peeling back layers the deep state hoped would stay buried.

The American people are watching. The files don’t lie, and neither do the subpoenas. Every new detail like this alias proves why the fight for real accountability matters — because when the powerful hide behind fake names in pedophile networks, it’s not just scandal. It’s a warning that the old guard still thinks the rules don’t apply.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Summary

• Natanz nuclear site attacked: Iran says “no nuclear radiation” detected, even as attacks on core sites like Isfahan nuclear facilities signal clear escalation despite earlier Trump signals of maybe “winding down.”

• War expands with furthest ever Iranian missile launch: Iran fires missiles at Diego Garcia in a failed but unprecedented long-range strike.

• US claims”degraded” Iran’s threat to traffic through Hormuz: CENTCOM says Iran has lost “significant combat capability” after 8,000+ strikes, and bunker-busting attacks on coastal facilities tied to control of the Strait of Hormuz.

• 23 ‘allies’ sign statement of support for Hormuz traffic safety, signaling their readiness to support secure transit through the Strait,

• Kharg invasion risk rising: US still weighing a high-risk seizure of Kharg Island as more US warships and Marines surge to the region, raising odds of boots-on-the-ground escalation.

*  *  *

Natanz Nuclear Site Suffers Direct Attack – No Radiation Leakage 

President Trump’s late in the day Friday comments proclaiming “I think we’ve won” suggested he might be readying the announcement of an offramp or at least de-escalation, but that speculation has proven premature as things definitely escalated overnight. 

For apparently the second time of Operation Epic Fury, Iran’s flagship enrichment site at Natanz nuclear facility has come under attack. Iran’s nuclear agency confirmed the strike but is keeping details deliberately vague, saying nothing about how it was carried out or what weapons were used. What it did emphasize, however, is that “no nuclear radiation” was released.

Natanz – alongside the Isfahan nuclear facilities – sits at the core of Tehran’s nuclear program, long viewed as a prime target in the US-Israel campaign to cripple Iran’s ability to produce an atomic bomb – though it remains that even Iran’s current wartime leadership is saying it has no intent to produce a nuclear weapon. The AP says Natanz was earlier struck at least once at the opening of the conflict, writing: “The facility, Iran’s main uranium enrichment site, was hit in the first week of the war and several buildings appeared damaged, according to satellite images.”

All of this, along with steady the overnight and early morning heavy bombing of Tehran marks a definite escalation despite Trump having floated the idea of “winding down” operations in the late Friday comments.

Iran Vastly Expands Threat Radius: Diego Garcia

Another huge escalation and development: British officials are staying tight-lipped after an attempted Iranian strike on the key Indian Ocean air base on Friday reportedly failed, offering no details on what exactly happened. But this risks pulling in the UK, which has appeared reluctant to directly participate in Trump’s operation. Britain has generally condemned “Iran’s reckless attacks.”

Just hours after Iran targeted the Diego Garcia base, Britain confirmed US bombers can continue using UK facilities – including the same base – for operations aimed at stopping Iranian attacks on shipping in Hormuz.

“Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.-U.K. military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, according to multiple U.S. officials,” The Wall Street Journal details. “Neither of the missiles hit the base, but the move marked Iran’s first operational use of IRBMs and a significant attempt to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten US-UK interests.”

“One of the missiles failed in flight, and a U.S. warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, according to two of the people,” the report added. “It couldn’t be determined if an interception was made, according to one of the officials.”

Which is odd, because Araghchi said…

Speaks for itself:

Feb. 25, 2026: “We are not developing long-range missiles… we have limited the range below 2,000 kilometers” — Iran’s FM Araghchi (IRNA).

March 20, 2026: Iran fires missiles at Diego Garcia—ranging 4,000 kilometers (WSJ). ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/F4ncRLSGq3

— Brett McGurk (@brett_mcgurk) March 21, 2026

The geographical expanse of the war just got greatly expanded, given Diego Garcia lies about 4,000 kilometers from Iran.

23 ‘Allies’ Signal Support For Secure Transit Through Hormuz

Following the degradation of IRGC forces in the Hormuz area, a coalition of 23 Western and allied nations (UAE, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, and 15 others) issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping, energy infrastructure, and the strait.

The countries signaled their readiness to support secure transit through the Strait, including coordination efforts and preparatory planning. In other words, this is a major diplomatic breakthrough to reopen Hormuz.

23 nations just issued a joint statement on the Strait of Hormuz. This is a major diplomatic escalation.

∙ Signatories – UAE, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia + 15 others condemn Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and civilian energy infrastructure… pic.twitter.com/vPjqlPlMDi

— DA Sails (@da_sails) March 21, 2026

Iran and some regional proxies continue attacking US military sites and interests across the region:

Drone strike triggers massive blaze at US-linked Baghdad airport facility

Iran-backed militia Ashab al-kahf claims responsibility for the attack#israel #iran #war #strikes #drones #attack #hezbollah pic.twitter.com/GZnmWWEv8l

— WION (@WIONews) March 21, 2026

Iran’s Threat To Hormuz Traffic “Degraded”

On Saturday morning, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command and the official overseeing Operation Epic Fury, released an update on day 22 of the combat mission and stated:

Iran has lost significant combat capability over the last three weeks. We are taking out thousands of Iranian missiles, advanced attack drones, and all of Iran’s Navy, which they use to harass international shipping. Their navy is not sailing. Their tactical fighters aren’t flying. They have lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at high rates as seen at the beginning of the conflict.

Cooper then focused on the Hormuz chokepoint, stating that U.S. forces had “destroyed intelligence support sites and missile radar relays” along the critical waterway that the IRGC used to monitor commercial shipping traffic and conduct targeting operations.

“Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz has been degraded as a result. And we will not stop pursuing these targets,” Cooper noted.

“Iran’s capabilities are declining…” – Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander pic.twitter.com/FC3TgpEGpJ

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 21, 2026

A quick summary of the overnight U.S. military operations to degrade IRGC forces around the Hormuz chokepoint, which could allow tanker traffic to resume in some greater capacity next week as the world, and Asia in particular, faces an unprecedented energy shock:

U.S. forces have destroyed Iranian radar and surveillance nodes used to track shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, struck underground anti-ship missile facilities, and hit multiple coastal military sites, as Cooper assesses that Iran’s combat capability has deteriorated over the first three weeks of the war.

Cooper’s push to neutralize IRGC forces in the Strait of Hormuz comes as shipping traffic through the waterway remained subdued last week.

Pentagon Touts ‘Obvious Progress’; Bombs Underground Facilities

CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper has said in an operational update that Iran “has lost significant combat capability” in the three weeks since the war began, also at a moment of reports that more IRGC leadership has been taken out in airstrikes. He said the US has struck more than 8,000 military targets, including 130 Iranian vessels. “Our progress is obvious,” Cooper boasted.

He described that multiple 5,000-pound bombs were dropped on an underground facility on Iran’s coastline, part of a strategy to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “We not only took out the facility but also destroyed intelligence support sites and missile radar relays that were used to monitor ship movements,” Cooper said.

Domestic fallout amid rising prices at the gas pump looks to grow in US:

Question: I’m a waiter at a local restaurant in Queens, a full time college student who sleeps an average of four hours a night and is still thousands in debt. How is a war in a country half the world away funded by the taxes pulled from my check, helping me in any way? pic.twitter.com/QVgzfSSQZ8

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 21, 2026

Trump is still said to be mulling a very high risk Kharg Island takeover, which to accomplish would most definitely require ground troops. A second deployment of US troops to the region was authorized earlier this week, and three warships and thousands of additional Marines are en route to the Middle East.

One among many problems in even getting to Kharg Island is that hundreds of miles of Iranian coastline must be passed by any ship hoping to reach Kharg, which lies over 300 miles deep and northwest of the Strait of Hormuz.

*  *  * ORDER BY SUNDAY NIGHT

Authored by Martin Young via CoinTelegraph.com,

The major gold trade association, World Gold Council, and the Boston Consulting Group have proposed a new platform to modernize how the precious metal operates in digital financial systems.

The World Gold Council said on Thursday that it published a white paper on “Gold as a Service,” a new platform to “support the issuance and operation of scalable, interoperable digital gold products.”

The open platform would connect the physical custody of gold with the digital systems used to issue and manage tokenized gold products. 

“By standardizing essential market processes such as custody coordination, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption, the model aims to reduce operational complexity, improve access, and enable greater consistency across digital gold products,” the World Gold Council said. 

Crypto-native tokenized gold products include Tether Gold or Pax Gold, which have formed their own custody, compliance and redemption models, but the World Gold Council’s standard could have more sway with institutions due to the trade group’s prominence.

Features include audits, fungibility, and liquidity 

Key features of the Gold as a Service would include standardizing tokenized gold issuance and management, increasing digital gold’s fungibility, embedding audits and assurance, enabling interoperability with existing finance rails, and improving liquidity in lending and borrowing markets. 

World Gold Council CEO, David Tait, said that financial services are undergoing a “rapid and pervasive digital transformation” and gold must also evolve to maintain its role in the global financial system. 

“Shared infrastructure can help gold become more accessible, more easily traded and fully integrated into modern financial systems — ensuring it remains as relevant tomorrow as it has been for millennia,” he added.

Matthias Tauber, a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, said, “The question is no longer whether gold will be digital; it’s how it can participate in modern financial systems without compromising physical integrity.” 

Commodities are 20% of tokenized asset market

According to RWA.xyz, tokenized commodities such as gold account for around $5.5 billion, or 20% of the total on-chain value of tokenized real-world assets, a segment that has grown by 340% over the past 12 months, as demand for gold has skyrocketed. 

Tokenized gold and commodities represent 20% of the entire tokenized RWA market. Source: RWA.xyz

Tether’s tokenized gold product has a market capitalization of $2.6 billion, up 17% over the past 12 months, while Pax Gold has a market cap of $2.3 billion, according to CoinGecko. 

On Thursday, crypto exchange Bybit launched a yield-bearing tokenized gold product that lets users earn interest on Tether Gold. 

Trevor Milton, founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt Nikola, is trying to mount a “comeback story”.

Through social media, interviews, and bold public claims, Milton once convinced investors that Nikola was on the verge of delivering breakthrough technology with trucks. Now he’s going to attempt the same in the aircraft business, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

He has reemerged in the aviation sector through his involvement with SyberJet, a company focused on developing a small business jet known as the SJ30. The aircraft itself is not new; its design dates back decades and has changed hands multiple times through bankruptcies and restructurings. SyberJet acquired the program and has since promoted plans to bring the jet into full-scale production, emphasizing its speed, range, and efficiency relative to competitors in the light jet category.

Milton’s involvement has drawn attention because it places him back in a leadership context tied to capital-intensive, technology-driven manufacturing—an environment similar to the one in which he previously operated. 

SyberJet’s core asset, the SJ30, is designed to fly faster and higher than many comparable business jets, with a focus on long range and fuel efficiency. The aircraft has received FAA certification in the past, but production has been limited, and the program has faced persistent financial and operational hurdles. The company’s current strategy centers on securing sufficient funding and industrial capacity to restart manufacturing and deliver aircraft to customers.

The company has also outlined ambitions to expand beyond the existing SJ30 platform, including potential future aircraft development and broader participation in the private aviation market. These plans depend heavily on capital access, supply chain execution, and the ability to convert interest into firm orders—challenges that have historically constrained the program. As with many aerospace ventures, timelines have proven difficult to meet, and progress has often been slower than initially projected.

Milton’s reappearance at SyberJet comes at a time when private aviation demand has seen periods of strength, particularly following the pandemic-driven shift toward private travel. However, translating demand trends into sustainable aircraft production requires significant operational discipline and long-term investment. The company’s path forward will likely hinge on whether it can stabilize funding and demonstrate consistent manufacturing output.

Milton has described SyberJet as more than just a traditional aircraft manufacturer, outlining ambitions to integrate advanced software and artificial intelligence into both aircraft operations and the broader private aviation ecosystem. He has suggested that AI could be used to optimize flight performance, maintenance, and routing, as well as to enhance the customer experience through more automated and efficient service models.

From WSJ:

He said the avionics the company is developing will integrate some level of AI and that he hopes “to display that in the coming one to two years to the public.” He said he wants SyberJet eventually to be the first to produce fully autonomous corporate jets. “Eventually everyone is going to have to do what we do, but they’re probably just going to buy our platform,” he said.

In public statements, he has also pointed to longer-term plans that extend beyond the existing SJ30 platform, including the potential development of new aircraft and aviation-related technologies. These claims position SyberJet not simply as a jet producer, but as a technology-driven aviation company, though many of these initiatives remain conceptual and dependent on future execution.

 Nikola was first exposed by short seller Nathan Anderson, founder of Hindenburg Research, after the startup released a 2020 promotional video, which showed its Nikola One truck rolling down a hill to simulate full functionality.

In 2023, a jury found Milton guilty of lying to investors about Nikola’s electric and fuel cell semi-truck technology and sentenced him to four years in prison. He was then pardoned by Donald Trump and attempted to sue both CNBC and Hindenburg Research, but his lawsuit was thrown out in December and costs were awarded to both CNBC and Hindenburg. 

Robert Mueller, the former FBI Director and Special Counsel who led the high-profile investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and potential ties to Donald Trump’s campaign, has died at age 81 – passing away Friday night, according to AP. No cause of death was disclosed in initial reports.

In response, President Trump took to Truth Social to dance on his grave – writing “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people! President DONALD J. TRUMP.” 

The Russia Investigation

As part of a Clinton campaign / deep state smear campaign legitimized and laundered through US intelligence and the FBI, Mueller was appointed Special Counsel in May 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and was tasked with examining Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election and any coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The probe, which lasted nearly two years and cost an estimated $32 million, produced a 448-page report released in redacted form in April 2019. Key findings included:

• No conspiracy or coordination: The report concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
• Russian interference confirmed: It detailed extensive Russian operations, including hacking Democratic emails and a social media disinformation campaign by the Internet Research Agency.
• Obstruction of justice: Mueller did not reach a conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice, stating the office could not exonerate him but also could not charge a sitting president under DOJ policy. The report outlined 10 potential instances of obstruction but left the matter to Congress or future prosecutors.

Trump and his allies repeatedly described the investigation as a “witch hunt” and “hoax,” pointing to the lack of collusion charges against campaign officials (though several Trump associates, including Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and Roger Stone, faced unrelated convictions or guilty pleas). The investigation had flawed origins, such as the unverified and infamous Steele dossier (funded in part by the Clinton campaign and DNC via Fusion GPS), FISA warrant abuses targeting Carter Page, and exculpatory evidence allegedly withheld from surveillance applications. Later reviews, including the 2019 Inspector General report and the 2023 Durham report, criticized aspects of the FBI’s handling, including confirmation bias and procedural errors in the Crossfire Hurricane probe, though Durham’s own prosecutions yielded limited results.

In July 2019, Mueller testified to Congressional investigators in a low-key appearance where he largely stuck to the report’s language, declining to expand on obstruction or deliver a dramatic verdict, and generally appeared elderly and confused. After the probe concluded, Mueller largely retreated from public life. 

Dirty Deeds

Mueller’s career as a high-level Justice Department official and FBI Director involved him in several major investigations where official records, congressional inquiries, and whistleblower accounts have documented questions about the handling of powerful foreign and domestic interests. During the early 1990s Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal, Mueller, as Assistant Attorney General heading the Criminal Division, personally took charge of the DOJ’s task force. The Senate inquiry into BCCI detailed how the bank operated as a global money-laundering network serving drug traffickers, arms dealers, terrorists, and intelligence operations, with deep ties to Saudi and Pakistani networks. While Mueller’s team ultimately secured indictments against prominent figures like Clark Clifford and Robert Altman, congressional reports highlighted delays in pursuing leads aggressively and limitations placed on fully exposing broader foreign-intelligence connections, including alleged CIA overlaps. The investigation ended with significant convictions but left key aspects of the bank’s elite protections and global operations incompletely resolved.

Enron

Following his appointment as FBI Director in September 2001, Mueller oversaw the Bureau during the Enron collapse in late 2001, the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history at the time. He quickly assembled the Enron Task Force, deploying top prosecutors and agents who built cases around accounting fraud and obstruction of justice, leading to multiple convictions. This period overlapped with the 2001 anthrax attacks, which killed five people and heightened national fears in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

Destroying Steven Hatfill’s Life

The FBI’s multi-year investigation under Mueller initially centered on biodefense scientist Steven Hatfill, whose prior work at USAMRIID gave him access to the Ames strain of anthrax and whose background included biothreat scenario presentations and multiple Cipro prescriptions around the time of the mailings.

The focus on Hatfill lasted several years and profoundly disrupted his life. The FBI conducted repeated raids on his home and storage facilities, placed him under constant surveillance for more than two years, tapped his phone, and publicly identified him as a “person of interest” through statements by Attorney General John Ashcroft. Media leaks fueled widespread speculation about his guilt, resulting in the loss of his job at Science Applications International Corporation, the collapse of a potential teaching position at Louisiana State University due to Justice Department pressure, and severe financial and emotional strain. Hatfill described the period as one of intense personal turmoil, with his reputation publicly shattered through a sustained drumbeat of innuendo. In 2003 he filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department and FBI, citing violations of his privacy rights. The government settled the case in 2008 for $5.8 million without admitting liability, and shortly afterward formally exonerated him in a letter confirming he had no access to the specific anthrax strain used and played no role in the attacks. Only after Mueller shifted investigative leadership in late 2006 did the probe pivot to Bruce Ivins, who allegedly died by suicide in 2008 before charges could be filed; a later National Academy of Sciences review pointed to scientific limitations in the evidence tying the spores exclusively to Ivins’ lab.

9/11 and the Saudis

Then there’s Mueller’s involvement in the Saudi connections uncovered in the 9/11 hijackers’ support network through Operation Encore, the FBI’s follow-up investigation launched around 2007.

Mueller was sworn in as FBI director on September 4, 2001 – days before the attacks, and immediately oversaw the PENTTBOM investigation—the Bureau’s massive probe into the hijackings—and directed its command center to operate from FBI Headquarters in Washington rather than a field office. In the early months post-9/11, Mueller’s leadership shaped how the FBI handled emerging leads on potential Saudi support for hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi in San Diego and Los Angeles. According to accounts from agents involved, including former San Diego counterterrorism chief Richard Lambert, Mueller’s deputies instructed staff to frame the Saudi role narrowly when preparing his September 26, 2002, testimony before the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001. The guidance was that “the bureau’s position is that there was no complicity” in the plot. In his public testimony, Mueller emphasized that the hijackers “effectively operated without suspicion, triggering nothing that alerted law enforcement,” downplaying the possibility of an established support network in the U.S. that might have warranted closer scrutiny.

During Operation Encore, the FBI’s follow-up probe into the Saudi links, internal FBI records show field agents compiled evidence of logistical support (housing, banking, introductions) from Saudi nationals with government ties, but headquarters decisions – spanning Mueller’s era – often deemed it circumstantial or unwitting, reassigning resources and classifying materials.

Of course the inception surrounding 9/11 goes one level deeper – which we’ll let you discuss below. 

*  *  *

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

WASHINGTON—The Senate will hold a weekend session as it debates the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require citizenship verification and photo identification in federal elections.

President Donald Trump, who strongly backs the SAVE America Act, has called on lawmakers to add provisions banning men from women’s sports, outlawing gender-altering surgery in minors, and restricting mail-in voting.

The legislation made it out of the House on Feb. 11, where it was backed by Republicans and opposed by almost all Democrats.

The Senate initiated debate on March 17, less than two weeks ahead of a scheduled recess.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has opposed what some call the standing filibuster, citing misgivings from many of his GOP Senate colleagues about an approach that could, in theory, exhaust a filibuster of the SAVE America Act.

Senate Republicans are continuing a debate on the act even as they stare down the 60-vote filibuster threshold, a significant barrier given the current party breakdown in the upper chamber.

As the debate kicked off, Thune told reporters, “How it ends remains to be seen.”

“There will be a point at which it will end, and there will be a series of votes that come with that,” he said.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told reporters on March 20 that he would be glad to see the Senate stick around to debate the Iran War, but not because of the SAVE America Act, which he described as legislation that “everybody knows is not going to pass.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), lead sponsor of the SAVE America Act, doubled down on his commitment to the measure.

“The SAVE America Act will pass[.] The Senate must keep debating it until that happens,” he wrote on X on March 20.

On Truth Social, Trump reiterated his support for the measure on March 20, ahead of the Senate’s weekend work.

“The SAVE America Act must be passed by the Senate. There is nothing more important for the U.S.A.,” he wrote.

Lawmakers have submitted multiple amendments to the bill, including some intended to implement Trump’s proposed changes to it.

An amendment to the SAVE America Act from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to ban men from competing in women’s sports is now on pace for a March 21 vote.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also teed up a procedural vote related to funding the Transportation and Security Administration, though one removed several steps from a vote on the floor.

In addition, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) filed for cloture on Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s (R-Okla.) nomination as Homeland Security Secretary.

Thune’s move brings up a March 22 vote in the Senate.

On Thursday, Scott Bessent told Fox News that the US is considering unsanctioning Iranian oil, thereby making the 140 million barrels stuck on Iranian tankers, available to any buyer in the world and not just China, to ease the supply-chain bottlenecks that emerged after the Strait of Hormuz was blocked. In doing so, another formerly sanctioned US nemesis would be allowed free access to global markets, after Russia received a similar “temporary” permit a week earlier. 

“In the coming days we may unsanction Iranian oil that’s on the water, about 140 million barrels,” he said on Fox Business, adding that “In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days, as we continue this campaign.”

🚨 WOW! Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent just announced plans to use Iran’s own oil AGAINST THEM

The strategy: un-sanction 140 million Iranian barrels already on the water, and UNLEASH 10-14 days of supply

“We’d be using the Iranian barrels AGAINST the Iranians to keep the price… pic.twitter.com/zY84IDzTJ4

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 19, 2026

Just one day later, the idea moved from concept to reality when late on Friday, the US Treasury announced it had eased oil sanctions on Iran, including permitting the sale of Iranian crude and refined products into the United States, when it issued a general license for energy that’s already on vessels as of Friday, with such purchases authorized through April 19. The measure follows similar moves for Russian oil on the water in a bid to ease an unprecedented fuel supply crunch caused by the war.

BREAKING: US Treasury eases oil sanctions on Iran, including permiting the sale of Iranian crude and refined products into the United States.

Scott Bessent calls it a “narrowly tailored, short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea.” pic.twitter.com/ANNjqpSHm9

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 20, 2026

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the Iranian oil waiver a “narrowly tailored, short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea,” in a post on X, adding that the measure will release about 140 million barrels. He also said that Iran “will have difficulty accessing any revenue generated.”

Iran is the head of the snake for global terrorism, and through President Trump’s Operation Epic Fury, we are winning this critical fight at an even faster pace than anticipated. In response to Iran’s terrorist attacks against global energy infrastructure, the Trump…

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) March 20, 2026

For now, the vast majority of Iran’s oil is bought by Chinese customers, mainly independent refiners known as teapots. While the US waiver would widen the pool of potential buyers, any new customers would still face the challenge of structuring deals while other restrictions on Iran, including its access to international financial markets, remain in place.

Iran disputed the figure, with oil ministry spokesman Saman Ghodousi saying on X that the nation has no floating crude, nor a surplus that’s available for international markets. Ghodousi said the US was simply trying to provide psychological support to the oil market.

In the US, Congressional Democrats slammed the measure, arguing Trump’s move is an economic gift to Iran in the middle of a war that the president started.

“Clown show doesn’t begin to describe it,” Virginia Democrat Don Beyer said in a post on X.

In addition to sanctions waivers, the Trump administration released more than 45 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves and temporarily waived a century-old shipping mandate in order to lower transport costs.

Brent crude settled Friday above $112 a barrel, the highest level since mid-2022, before easing in post-settlement trading after Trump said he was considering “winding down” US military efforts against Iran.

Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

The private credit crisis is spreading to another corner of the market that I warned about back in October, when I wrote about 10 parts of the market I’d avoid.

For years I’ve been warning that buy now pay later (“BNPL”) industry was built on a pretty fragile foundation. The quality of the loans was always the obvious problem. The entire business model revolves around extending instant credit with minimal underwriting to consumers making small purchases.

Companies whose primary innovation is allowing consumers to split a $40 online purchase into four installment payments probably aren’t lending to the most creditworthy segment of the population.

If anything, the model practically guarantees the opposite. When financial companies create products that allow consumers to finance extremely small discretionary purchases, they are effectively targeting borrowers who either don’t have the liquidity to cover those purchases outright or who have already exhausted more traditional forms of credit. When consumers are putting things like f**king Chipotle Burritos and Hostess Twinkies on layaway, the borrower pool you are dealing with is not exactly prime.

It is the same dynamic that has been visible in peer to peer lending and fintech credit for years. Platforms like Affirm, along with payment ecosystems tied to firms like Block, built massive growth stories by expanding credit access to people who historically would not have qualified for traditional lending products. For a while that looked like financial innovation, especially when they could find buyers for the loans. In reality it mostly meant pushing unsecured credit deeper down the credit spectrum.

That approach worked beautifully in a zero rate environment where capital was abundant and investors were desperate for yield. It worked great during a 3 year period of Covid where liquidity was unlimited from the Fed. It is slightly less impressive once interest rates rise and credit markets start behaving like credit markets again. In fact, we are watching the “con” of this being called “innovation” being laid bare…first in names like Carvana, then in private credit, now in BNPL. Subprime lending and accounting tricks are simply not innovation, no matter how much of a polish you put on them.

Chart: FT

The latest example comes from a report in The Wall Street Journal describing stress inside a private credit fund managed by Stone Ridge Asset Management. The firm runs the Stone Ridge Alternative Lending Risk Premium Fund, commonly known as LENDX, which buys whole loans and securities tied to loans originated by fintech lenders. That includes buy now pay later loans from Affirm along with personal loans from LendingClub and Upstart. The portfolio also includes merchant financing tied to payments platforms like Block and Stripe.

Recently investors in the fund tried to withdraw far more capital than the structure allows, and Stone Ridge informed clients that it would only be able to honor about 11% of the redemption requests. The fund is structured as an interval fund, which means investors cannot simply exit whenever they want. Instead they are given limited redemption windows and the manager is only required to repurchase a small percentage of shares each quarter, typically around 5% with some flexibility above that. This structure works perfectly well as long as investors remain calm and redemption requests stay modest. The problem appears when investors collectively decide they would prefer their money back. The underlying loans in these portfolios are illiquid and cannot be sold quickly without taking significant discounts, which means the easiest solution is simply to gate withdrawals.

None of this should be particularly shocking. Years ago I wrote that peer to peer lenders and fintech credit platforms were essentially extending loans to people who historically would never have qualified for traditional credit products like mortgages, auto loans, or even standard credit cards. Banks avoided these borrowers for decades for a fairly straightforward reason. When economic conditions tighten, default rates tend to rise rapidly among the weakest borrowers. The fintech model did not eliminate that dynamic. It just delayed it while capital markets were willing to fund the experiment

The broader private credit market is beginning to show similar signs of stress. In recent weeks a number of funds tied to large asset managers have already been forced to limit investor withdrawals after redemption requests exceeded the quarterly caps built into their structures. Funds connected to Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and Cliffwater have all faced similar pressures.

That concern was reinforced days ago by comments from John Zito of Apollo Global Management, who warned that many parts of the private markets industry may be carrying assets at valuations that simply do not reflect current economic conditions. Zito argued that private equity deals completed between 2018 and 2022, particularly in the software sector, were often executed at far higher valuations than comparable public companies. If those businesses run into trouble, he suggested recoveries on the associated loans could fall somewhere around twenty to forty cents on the dollar. He was even more blunt about valuation practices across the industry, saying he believed many private equity marks were simply wrong and that firms risk losing investor trust if they refuse to adjust them.

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All of this is happening at the same time the economy is finally starting to feel the effects of positive real interest rates. For most of the past decade credit markets operated in an environment where money was essentially free. That allowed questionable lending models to flourish because refinancing risk was minimal and investor demand for yield was enormous. Once rates rise and liquidity tightens, the underlying quality of the loans suddenly matters again.

In my opinion that is exactly what we are starting to see. The combination of stress in buy now pay later lending and growing redemption pressure in private credit funds looks like an early reminder that the credit cycle has turned. Investors still appear remarkably comfortable with firms like Blue Owl Capital, Ares Management, and the broader universe of BDCs, along with BNPL lenders and even some regional banks that have meaningful exposure to these areas. Personally I still think most of that space is worth avoiding.

Looking ahead, my expectation is that stress will accelerate across both BNPL and private credit as the effects of higher interest rates continue working their way through the system. One area that could easily be next is commercial real estate, where property valuations still look suspiciously optimistic given the current financing environment.

Eventually the Federal Reserve will almost certainly step in and engineer some kind of liquidity backstop if the situation deteriorates far enough. The playbook is pretty well established at this point, and policymakers have never shown much hesitation about stabilizing credit markets when things start breaking. But historically those interventions tend to arrive only after markets go through at least a brief period of forced deleveraging. If that process has started in fintech lending and private credit, the awkward phase where investors rediscover what their assets are actually worth may still lie ahead. And that is usually the part nobody enjoys.

Now read:

• Three Microcap Stocks I’m Watching Very Closely Right Now
• Why I Have Doubts About The “Next Global Financial Crisis”
• The Oscars Died This Weekend, Did Anyone Notice?
• Wealth Taxes Raise Less Revenue Than You Think
• Private Credit Exec Admits “All” Marks Are “Wrong”
• Mamdani’s Estate Tax Will Suffocate NYC’s Middle Class

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This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. If you see numbers and calculations of any sort, assume they are wrong and double check them. I failed Algebra in 8th grade and topped off my high school math accolades by getting a D- in remedial Calculus my senior year, before becoming an English major in college so I could bullshit my way through things easier.

The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

Three weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the Trump administration’s central focus now is very clear: reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore the normal passage of crude and LNG tankers through a maritime chokepoint that carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG flows.

On Saturday morning, Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command and the official overseeing Operation Epic Fury, released an update on day 22 of the combat mission and stated:

Iran has lost significant combat capability over the last three weeks. We are taking out thousands of Iranian missiles, advanced attack drones, and all of Iran’s Navy, which they use to harass international shipping. Their navy is not sailing. Their tactical fighters aren’t flying. They have lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at high rates as seen at the beginning of the conflict.

Cooper then focused on the Hormuz chokepoint, stating that U.S. forces had “destroyed intelligence support sites and missile radar relays” along the critical waterway that the IRGC used to monitor commercial shipping traffic and conduct targeting operations.

“Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz has been degraded as a result. And we will not stop pursuing these targets,” Cooper noted.

“Iran’s capabilities are declining…” – Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM Commander pic.twitter.com/FC3TgpEGpJ

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 21, 2026

A quick summary of the overnight U.S. military operations to degrade IRGC forces around the Hormuz chokepoint, which could allow tanker traffic to resume in some greater capacity next week as the world, and Asia in particular, faces an unprecedented energy shock:

U.S. forces have destroyed Iranian radar and surveillance nodes used to track shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, struck underground anti-ship missile facilities, and hit multiple coastal military sites, as Cooper assesses that Iran’s combat capability has deteriorated over the first three weeks of the war.

Cooper’s push to neutralize IRGC forces in the Strait of Hormuz comes as shipping traffic through the waterway remained subdued last week.

Overnight, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Japan’s Kyodo News that Tehran is prepared to facilitate the safe transit of Japanese vessels. Japan imports roughly 90% of its crude from the Gulf, a dependency shared by much of Asia, including China and other major economies.

Following the degradation of IRGC forces in the Hormuz area, a coalition of 23 Western and allied nations (UAE, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, and 15 others) issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping, energy infrastructure, and the strait.

The countries signaled their readiness to support secure transit through the Strait, including coordination efforts and preparatory planning. In other words, this is a major diplomatic breakthrough to reopen Hormuz.

23 nations just issued a joint statement on the Strait of Hormuz. This is a major diplomatic escalation.

∙ Signatories – UAE, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia + 15 others condemn Iranian attacks on commercial vessels and civilian energy infrastructure… pic.twitter.com/vPjqlPlMDi

— DA Sails (@da_sails) March 21, 2026

Additional Hormuz headlines:

• Iranian Navy guided an Indian LPG tanker through the strait on a pre-approved route following diplomatic engagement

• Iranian officials have become unwilling to discuss reopening Hormuz

• Brent  still around $112/bbl (+54% since the conflict began)

Energy market:

• US temporarily eased sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea in a bid to cool surging crude prices, signaling a tactical reversal of its prior “maximum pressure” stance as the war enters week four

New developments on Iranian missile capabilities:

• Iran launched ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia US-UK base, demonstrating missile range beyond previously known capabilities

• Iran unsuccessfully targeted Diego Garcia base according to UK official source

• The base suffered no damage according to a person familiar with the matter

Latest on the Trump administration:

• Trump said he was considering winding down US military efforts against Iran, claiming the US was close to achieving its objectives

• The U.S. is ramping up strikes on Iranian drones/naval assets and preparing to deploy ~2,500 additional Marines, adding to ~50,000 troops already in the region.

Most critical reads:

• IEA Chief Warns Gulf Flows May Take Six Months To Restore After Biggest-Ever Energy Shock

• Qatar LNG Repairs To Take Up To Five Years, Cost $20 Billion In Lost Revenue, Cripple Chinese Supply

• Qatar Dethroned As ‘LNG King’ As U.S. Seizes Throne, Reshaping Future Of Gas

• Demand Destruction Has Arrived

Polymarket bets on a US-Iran ceasefire by April 15 currently stand at 21%.  

All eyes on the Hormuz chokepoint next week.