5️⃣ The government shutdown entered its third day with Trump weaponizing the crisis to purge Democrats and minorities from federal agencies. The GOP controls every branch of government but blames Democrats for refusing to fund healthcare for undocumented migrants—a complete fabrication. Democrats want to preserve Medicaid for Americans about to lose ACA coverage. Trump’s real goal is using the shutdown as cover to fire anyone who voted Democratic, is LGBTQ, or doesn’t fit the regime’s image. Federal agencies posted partisan “Democrat Shutdown” countdown clocks and forced employees to send political emails from government accounts, likely violating anti-lobbying laws. Meanwhile, Adelita Grijalva sits unsworn in Arizona, denied her seat to keep the 218th Epstein files discharge petition signature out of reach.
4️⃣ FBI Director Kash Patel fired an agent trainee for displaying a gay pride flag on his desk during the Biden administration. The termination letter cited “poor judgment” for a flag that wasn’t even on the trainee’s desk anymore, invoking Article 2 powers as justification for discrimination. Patel—who made millions claiming the Epstein files were real before becoming FBI Director and declaring they weren’t—is now handing out challenge coins featuring his personal brand logo, a Punisher skull, and crossed pistols. The Hatch Act violation is blatant, the Nazi imagery unmistakable, and the message clear: if you’re LGBTQ and work for the federal government, they’re coming for you.
3️⃣ Democrat Abigail Spanberger holds a commanding 12-point lead over Trump-aligned Republican Winsome Earl Sears in Virginia’s governor race. The bellwether election shows Spanberger winning independents by 27 points while 56% of voters oppose federal job cuts. Every special election since Trump returned has delivered blue wave results—from Adelita Grijalva’s Arizona landslide to now Spanberger’s impending victory. Trump knows these numbers, which explains his increasingly desperate moves. The military crackdown, the government shutdown, the targeting of cities—all of it screams panic from a regime watching its 2026 prospects collapse in real time.
2️⃣ Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military killed four more people on a boat near Venezuela, bringing the extrajudicial killing total to 21 across four vessels. No evidence, no due process, no legal justification for these assassinations in international waters. Hegseth claims “the intelligence community identified them without a doubt” but won’t show the receipts. Standard procedure for actual drug interdiction involves disabling the motor and making arrests—not vaporizing entire boats. Venezuela’s Maduro accuses the U.S. of using these operations as cover for invasion plans, and while he’s a dictator, he’s not wrong about the escalation. This would be the biggest story in any normal administration, but it barely registers amid the chaos Trump has engineered.
1️⃣ Rep. Robert Garcia is calling for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify immediately after Lutnick’s podcast bombshell directly contradicted FBI Director Kash Patel’s sworn testimony. Lutnick—who lived next door to Jeffrey Epstein for 21 years—described walking into a room filled with cameras surrounding a massage chair where Epstein bragged about giving “the right kind of massage” every day. He called Epstein “the greatest blackmailer ever” and theorized Epstein traded incriminating videos to secure his 2008 plea deal. This obliterates Patel’s claim under oath that there’s no credible evidence Epstein trafficked victims to other people. Garcia told CNN he would “100% support a subpoena” for Lutnick. The timing reeks of self-preservation—Ghislaine Maxwell recently mentioned pedophiles in Trump’s cabinet, and suddenly Lutnick is on podcasts saying “it wasn’t me.” Trump hasn’t been seen publicly since Tuesday’s disastrous generals meeting, leaving his cabinet members to fend for themselves as the walls close in.
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.
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with ! Join me for my next live video in the app.
