5️⃣ COMEY’S SHOW TRIAL
James Comey was indicted on two counts of lying to Congress about 2020 testimony - charges based on statements he never actually made. The indictment, filed by an insurance lawyer who was Miss Colorado, claims Comey said things about not authorizing FBI leaks that don’t appear in any transcript. Trump celebrated on Truth Social but couldn’t explain what the lie was, while attacking the Biden-appointed judge - laying groundwork for his inevitable loss. This isn’t about conviction; it’s about creating doubt, warming Americans to the idea that maybe Trump’s prosecutors were the real criminals. As Dean noted: “He’s using the Department of Justice to go after his enemies in a way that you would order a pizza from a pizzeria.”
4️⃣ THE TARIFF SHELF ILLUSION
Trump claims his tariffs brought in $29.5 billion in August, projecting $400-500 billion annually - money he says sits on “the tariff shelf.” Yet with a $1.7 trillion deficit and looming government shutdown, this windfall vanishes when Americans need healthcare. The math doesn’t work: even if true, you’d need those numbers for 20 years to dent the deficit. Either the money doesn’t exist, or Trump’s hoarding half a billion dollars while people suffer. As Dean put it: “He sells Bibles to poor people in trailers that can’t afford food. He is not above stealing this $500 billion.”
3️⃣ NETANYAHU’S EMPTY THEATER
Benjamin Netanyahu addressed rows of empty UN seats as diplomats walked out en masse, leaving him declaring Israel will “finish the job” to about ten people. The Israeli PM, wanted for war crimes in 112 countries, ordered loudspeakers around Gaza and hijacked phones to broadcast his speech - dystopian desperation masquerading as strength. Only Trump stands with him now, two leaders clinging to power through legal immunity, funded by the same Adelson money, representing not their people but the mob syndicates that manufactured them.
2️⃣ HEGSETH’S LOYALTY PURGE
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth - a Fox News drunk turned Pentagon chief - ordered 800 generals to abandon global posts and report to Quantico Tuesday for a “warrior ethos” speech. Sources say it’s about “getting the horses into the stable and whipping them into shape” - get on board or have your career shortened. When a retired general compared this to Hitler’s 1935 loyalty oath assembly, Hegseth tweeted: “Cool story, General.” Malcolm Nance called it the dumbest thing he’s ever heard: concentrating America’s entire military command in one location while adversaries monitor our empty guard towers, creating what he termed a “kill box” for American leadership.
1️⃣ EPSTEIN’S BILLIONAIRE BLACK BOOK
House Democrats dropped 8,544 Epstein documents revealing a December 2014 entry: “Elon Musk to island Dec. 6 (is this still happening?)” The question mark tells everything - even Epstein’s staff wondered if the world’s richest man would visit a convicted pedophile’s private island. Peter Thiel had lunch scheduled in 2017, Steve Bannon breakfast in February 2019 - months before Epstein’s death. The documents show Tesla funding requests through Epstein, contact information carefully logged, cultivation of power that Musk now denies while attacking Trump over the very files that expose him. Zev describes meeting Peter Thiel at a Fire Island party.
The thread connecting today’s stories isn’t subtle. From revenge prosecutions to phantom tariffs, from empty UN halls to military purges, from Epstein’s calendar to Netanyahu’s isolation - we’re watching the machinery of accountability being dismantled by men who need power to avoid prosecution. They’re not building democracy; they’re building immunity. And the only question left is whether America’s generals will swear that oath on Tuesday.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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